Walpurgis Festival: celebrated on the last evening of April throughout the towns and villages of the Harz Mountains, Walpurgis is a ghoulish event that bears a slight resemblance to Halloween. Some communities light bonfires to usher in the spring weather.

Heidelberg Illumination: the castle at Heidelberg is bathed in floodlights and feted with extravagant firework displays. The celebration is sponsored by the local university and carries on for three months.

Hockenheimring may not be the flowing track it once was, but its current technical layout is equally captivating.