More or less all of the history. Take Trier, for instance. It’s a town I love, founded two thousand years ago by the Roman Emeperor Caesar Augustus. In the Middle Ages it was considered one of the oldest towns in the world and became a town of pilgrims and tourists. That’s why wandering through Trier means wandering through the past, especially the Roman past. The Eifel begins not far from the town. This impressively deserted landscape is of volcanic origin. It’s an unparalleled nature reserve, a walkers’ paradise, with groundwater reserves well worth exploiting: in Gerolstein it is marketed as mineral water and in Bitburg it is used to produce one of Germany’s most famous beers.

Trier can also boast some famous sons who are duly celebrated, occasionally with some reluctance. The birthplace of Karl Marx is extremely photogenic. But wandering through Trier also means discovering one of the earliest Christian settlements. Its significance as a western European metropolis goes back almost two thousand years.

In contrast to ancient Trier, Mainz had its heyday in the Middle Ages and for good reason earned itself the epithet “golden Mainz”. The city’s archbishop was also Primas Germaniae, the Arch Chancellor of the German Empire. Like Worms and Speyer, Mainz has a majestic cathedral where Karl Cardinal Lehmann, chairman of the Congregation of the German Bishops, holds high office. I must admit I have a real weakness for holy mass in light-flooded Roman cathedrals of which there is no lack in this particular state.