2020. Corona. Travelling is a different game. Yet our Fernweh acted up too often. So we arranged a train trip to Germany and Austria. Specifically to Leipzig in Saxony, several spots in Bavaria and returning home with ÖBB‘s Nightjet from Innsbruck in Tyrol to Brussels in Belgium.

The Thurn und Taxis princely palace museum in Regensburg. Neuschwanstein Castle. The Museum of Bavarian Kings in Schwangau. The Hofburg in Innsbruck. On four occasions during our Germano-Austrian autumn train trip in 2020 taking photos inside was not allowed.

It’s happened before, obviously. Out of memory, I remember the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican to be a no-photo area. 

But why?

“No flash” is a no-brainer. Flashes of light damage old fabrics, paintings and textures. Fine. 

Some, active deeply religious places are understandable as well. Usually those place are still active places of worship and worshipers don’t want tourists making photos disturbing their worshipping. Fine.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey in London are also no-photo. That’s not really a religious area within the Abbey. So the religion excuse doesn’t work all the time. 

The Sistine Chapel is so popular. So many people want to see it. So there’s no time to allow people to stand, stop and make tons of pictures, videos and selfies. Annoying, but fine.

Sometimes, usually in art galleries, it’s a copyright issue. The David Hockney exhibition at Bozar in Brussels was and is a no-photos zone. That’s also very annoying but I get it. Slightly. But that’s just greedy, isn’t it? You smell money. 

In non-pandemic times, Neuschwanstein is a tourist factory producing a 15-minute tour every fifteen minutes. I get that. But still. The tour is really not that great. Just let us make photos, will you? 

The others on the list? You have no excuse. Sorry Thurn und Taxis, sorry Bavarian Majesties, sorry Vienna‘s Hofburg lesser-known sibling in Innsbruck. You’re not A-level. You have no excuse for such diva behaviour. Copyright issues? No, your collection is not exclusive enough. 

21st century

This is 2021. Already the third (!) decade of the 21st century. Everyone is a photographer, everyone is a reporter. Get over it. 

Do you really think not allowing photos attracts more visitors? People who want to see your exhibits will come anyway. Those who don’t, won’t. I’m confident only a few people will not come “because they already saw images”.

So losen up. Now.

Previously on this adventure

1. The delicious German state secret: dining onboard Deutsche Bahn.
2. VIDEO | Leipzig Hauptbahnhof.
3. Leipzig Bayerischer Bahnhof.
4. EAST GERMANY | Zeitgeschichtliches Forum, Leipzig’s GDR museum.
5. Hyperion Leipzig.
6. Leipzig.
7. By ICE from Leipzig to Nuremberg.
8. Nuremberg Transport Museum / DB Museum.
9. Novotel Nuremberg City Centre.
10. Documentation Center NS Party Rallying Grounds in Nuremberg.
11. Nuremberg’s Zeppelin Field with the Norisring.
12. Memorium Nuremberg Trials.
13. Nuremberg’s real-life Playmobil Imperial Castle.
14. You need at least two full days in Nuremberg.
15. DB Regio from Nuremberg to Regensburg.
16. Thurn und Taxis princely palace museum in Regensburg.
17. Eurostars Park Hotel Maximilian Regensburg.
18. Regensburg.
19. With Alex from Regensburg to Munich.
20. BMW Museum & BMW Welt in Munich.
21. Munich’s Olympiapark.
22. Sofitel Munich Bayerpost.
23. Deutsches Museum’s Verkehrszentrum or Transport Centre in Munich.
24. Deutsches Museum’s main site on Munich’s Museuminsel.
25. By train to Neuschwanstein.
26. Only 15 Minutes and No Photos in Schloss Neuschwanstein Castle.
27. Museum of the Bavarian Kings in Schwangau near Neuschwanstein.
28. Füssen in Bavaria, the gateway to Neuschwanstein.
29. Münchner Stadtmuseum – Munich City Museum.
30. MUNICH | Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum / Pinakothek der Moderne.
31. Five days and four nights in Munich, including Neuschwanstein.
32. By train to Lindau and Lake Constance.
33. Lindau at or in Lake Constance.
34. Hotel Bayerischer Hof Lindau.
35. Trainspotting at Lindau.
36. By train from Lindau to Garmisch-Partenkirchen via the Ausserfern railway.
37. Staying firmly on the ground in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
38. Mercure Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
39. Visiting Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze.
40. Mountaineering in Germany part 2: The Alpspitz.
41. Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Innsbruck via Mittenwald on DB Regio.
42. Habsburg Schloss Ambras Castle in Innsbruck.
43. Ibis Innsbruck.
44. Imperial Palace Hofburg Innsbruck.
45. Ferdinandeum Tyrol State Museum in Innsbruck.
46. Innsbruck.
47. Nightjet Vienna/Innsbruck to Brussels, or how we got thrown off the train in Aachen.
48. More than, but also sausages: rich cuisine of Germany’s heartland Saxony, Franconia and Bavaria.