Germany: A Tapestry Of Tradition

This up-to-date entry in the "Video Visits" series is an amiable tour of some of the visual highlights in West Germany. Beginning with a brief historical overview, the cameras travel to Alsfeld, where a building supervisor discusses the painstaking restoration work being done on medieval buildings. In the Black Forest we meet a maker of cuckoo clocks, and then journey to Mittenwald, where a violin maker talks about the demanding nature of his craft. Other stops include the gorgeous castle at Neuschwanstein, a gingerbread honeycake shop in Nurnberg, and the traditional celebration of Oktoberfest in Munich. This is a good travelogue which suffers only from the often unorganized approach of many travel videos. While the itinerary is filled with eye-pleasing visuals and interesting tales from the local citizenry, the directions taken seem arbitrary. Since the focus is on mini-stories about West Germany, past and present, this video is a documentary. Specific information to assist would-be travelers (money exchange, transportation, lodgings, etc.) is not given. But this video postcard from a historically rich country is indeed pretty to look at. Recommended. (Available from: Video Textbooks, 341 Mowetza Drive, Ashland, OR 97520.)