Dessau is more of a must-see destination for architecture fans than for the masses. But a trend guide for the coming year now strongly recommends the Bauhaus city – alongside the cultural capital Chemnitz, for example.
Design fans shouldn’t miss Dessau next year: This is the advice of the new “Marco Polo Trend Guide 2025”. The Bauhaus city in Saxony-Anhalt ranks first in the new book’s list of the 15 best travel trends for the coming year in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Behind it are Wuppertal and Chemnitz, the so-called Saxon Manchester.
In 2025, Chemnitz will be the European Capital of Culture alongside the Slovenian-Italian twin city of Nova Gorica/Gorizia (German: Görz). ”When, if not 2025?” asks “Marco Polo” of the municipality that was called Karl-Marx-Stadt during the GDR era. The year of the Capital of Culture will show that the image of the grey industrial city of yesterday and the giant skull of the communist revolutionary Marx are not the only attractions of Chemnitz.
“Where are you headed? – The Marco Polo Trend Guide 2025” presents a total of 40 destinations or activities worldwide “that are new on the tourist map, that will be hosting a special event in 2025, that will surprise with completely new offers or that are ahead of the game in terms of sustainability”. These include, for example, “pilgrimage routes in the Alpine region”, “travelling with a folding bike” or destinations such as Liège in Belgium, Thessaloniki in Greece, North Macedonia, the Japanese metropolis of Osaka and the West African island state of Cape Verde.
Why Wuppertal is a travel tip for 2025
It is said that Wuppertal is currently becoming a kind of art stronghold: “Anyone who travels through Wuppertal will not believe their eyes. Hyperrealistic, poetic, surreal and abstract murals are displayed several meters high on the facades.” They are part of the “Urbaner KunstRaum Wuppertal” (UKW) project, which will bring color to the neighborhoods by the end of 2025.
Other recommendations include the Rhine-Ruhr region, not far from Wuppertal: In the Ruhr area cities of Duisburg, Mülheim, Essen, Bochum, Hagen (and also in Berlin), the World University Games (FISU World University Games) will take place in July 2025. “Summer Olympics? They won’t happen again until 2028 in faraway LA. In 2025, you can only experience something similar in the Ruhr area while exploring the region’s highlights.”
In the footsteps of Sigmund Jähn and James Bond
Another tip is the Bernese Alps with the Schilthorn, where a new and probably the steepest cable car in the world will be open from 2025. It leads to the revolving restaurant Piz Gloria – known from the James Bond film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” (1969) with George Lazenby.
And not only in Switzerland, but also in Saxony, more precisely in the Vogtland, there is something new: Sigmund Jähn, the first German in space, once saw the light of our planet in Muldenhammer in the Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz district. An exhibition was set up in his honor at the end of the 1970s, which developed into a pan-German space museum after 1990. “How unique it is in Germany is also demonstrated by the fact that the exhibition is getting a new hall for almost 9 million euros, which is due to be completed in 2025.”
Bauhaus in Dessau
Back to the Bauhaus city of Dessau. The trend guide writes: “Founded in Weimar in 1919, the legendary school for art, design and architecture moved to Dessau in 1925, where it set up shop in Walter Gropius’ brand new Bauhaus building at the end of 1926.”
The double 100th anniversary will be celebrated extensively from September 2025 to December 2026. A series of exhibitions will showcase outstanding architecture. As an insider tip, “Marco Polo” offers overnight accommodation in the simple 1920s ambience of the studio house right next to the famous Bauhaus building.
Around 200 “Marco Polo” authors submitted suggestions for the 2025 trend guide. The “Marco Polo” editorial team developed a shortlist, and a jury then made the final selection. The jury included futurologist and trend researcher Anja Kirig, travel guide author Jens Bey, editor Jan Düker, Sinus Institute managing director Silke Borgstedt, Professor Harald Zeiss (Harz University of Applied Sciences in Wernigerode with a focus on sustainability and international tourism) and MairDumont publisher Stephanie Mair-Huydts.
“Where is the journey going? – The “Marco Polo” Trend Guide 2025″
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
