36 » OpenRoad Driver
Berlin’s Charlottenburg Palace reveals
the creative lives and visionary work
of contemporary monarchs, Queen
Charlotte and son, Frederick the Great.
sky-high fortress. Emerging near early canonry, we stroll past
barracks, armoury, and the 13th-century chapel. Anna conducts our
“inspection” of the officers’ quarters. And in a central building, we
come across a 152-metre deep well – an early engineering marvel.
A pathway below the surrounding wall leads us to a yellow
hexagonal cottage. “Augustus II hosted lavish parties inside, wining
and dining fellow nobles while enjoying views of the Elbe River
Valley. From 1591, this fortress served as a royal retreat, storage for
state treasures…and a prison. Strangely, Augustus II’s success story
involved imprisoning Böttger here for failing his agreement to create
gold. To repay his debt, Böttger initially constructed the world’s
largest wine barrel. No one went thirsty in this fort,” Anna smiles.
“Then, applying his alchemist talents, Böttger began experimenting.
Baking kaolin-rich clay at high temperatures, he replicated Chinese
ceramics!”
An added excursion investigates Volkswagen’s local downtown
Transparent Factory. Exterior glass reflects the alluring greenery
of 350 surrounding trees. To keep birds from crashing into these
gigantic windows, we learn that automated speakers chirp them
away. From elevated galleries inside this ultra-modern structure,
we observe a quiet, clean, and elegant assembly line. Thirty-four
large components and 1,200 parts are robotically transferred to
mechanics. Ergonomic machinery reduces all heavy lifting. Up until
2016, the Factory robots painted 10 to 28 custom VW Phaetons
daily. As of 2017, the assembly has switched over to the production
of the VW e-Golf.
This modern factory reopened later as a showcase for electro-
mobility. Loving creativity, Augustus II would have praised the
21 st century’s Transparent Factory and its repurpose as a venue for
advanced automotive technology.
Travel has always offered a world of fun, opportunity and new
perspectives. This journey rewards us with intriguing insights into
the German ingenuity that made Saxony one beautiful success story.