From 30th July 2009 to 16th August this year the event which was formally called the Olympic Park Summer Festival, will bring the spirit of Oktoberfest to Munich’s Olympic Park under the new festival name of Impark09.

The event attracts hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers each year and is an exciting collection of carnival rides, roller coasters and Ferris wheels which is a paradise for children and people taking family holidays. For adults, the world famous Bavarian speciality is the beer garden.

A highlight at the festival includes the “historical boatman’s tournament”, which sees boatmen on the Olympic Lake aiming to capsize their opponents’ boat using a pike. This annual competition rather resembles the log event at the Northern American ‘lumberjack’ competition.

The park provides a large amount of family entertainment from street performers to stalls and music and is great for families who are looking to take a city break holiday with their children this year.

A little earlier this year on 13th June there is an annual, two day event in Munich which celebrates the birthday of the finding of Munich by Duke Henry the Lion. Stadtgründungsfest celebrates the occasion with truly vast quantities of sausages and beer along with local and international music, street performances/entertainment and street processions with local people dressed in colourful medieval costume.

Those who are considering taking bargain holidays or city breaks to Berlin next year will be able to witness several commemorative events as it is the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall.

The exact date when the Wall came down was 9th November in 1989 and so on the 9th November 2009 the highlight of the year’s celebrations will culminate in concerts and a great street party in the city.

There are also plans for an open air exhibition at Alexanderplatz, which will run from May through to November, focusing on Berlin events from 1989 and 1990.

There are other tourist attractions throughout the city directly related to more recent history, such as the GDR Museum, the Berlin Wall Documentation Centre, the Berlin Wall cycling trail and the Stasi Museum.

Those who take a holiday in Germany can also visit historic destinations to learn about the Cold War and the history of the country, including Mecklenburg, which hosts various exhibitions and museums.

In Thuringia, there is also a bookable ‘experience reality’ at the Waldhotel Rennsteighohe, where guests can actually stay in a former bunker, which was operated by the ministry for state security.