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Suddenly the song: "Above the clouds, freedom must be limitless".

It's just there and buzzing around in your head.

Why?

Another day in Germany when you are not allowed to travel.

I am traveling in Berlin, and only in the corner of my eye suddenly this street sign appears: balloon driver route.

That would be it now to hover somewhere up there - to ride, as balloonists say.

But wait, why is this street called that?

It is located near the Südkreuz train station and is reminiscent of the airship station that was located here until 1900.

From the meadows nearby, balloonists took off on their practice flights.

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This was the cradle of aviation, and not far from it, on today's Tempelhofer Feld, later the real planes took off, at the Berlin-Tempelhof airfield, from 1923 to 2008.

Balloon rides used to be popular, as this postcard from 1900 shows

Source: pa / akg-images

Watching the balloons was a leisure activity at the turn of the century.

One dreamed of being in the air - easy to understand.

Now I'm standing in front of the street sign: Nice to take off!

Roads are reminiscent of the journeys of researchers

The ambition is awakened.

Which streets stir up the wanderlust, the longing to travel, reminiscent of globetrotters?

Who could you follow on one of the many walks?

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It would of course be very easy to walk on Seumestrasse in Friedrichshain - Johann Gottfried Seume was the pedestrian par excellence, as his book success testifies: “Walk to Syracuse in 1802”.

And of course: the Humboldthain!

And three Humboldtstrasse in Berlin.

Named after the explorer Alexander von Humboldt, or in other words: after Alejandro de Humboldt - that's the name of a park in Havana, Cuba.

The German lived there in 1800 on his long journey.

Sucre also has an Avenida Humboldt in Venezuela, and Tijuana in Mexico still honors the German explorer with an Avenida Alejandro Von Humboldt.

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Columbus was of course much earlier in this part of the world, or rather: Cristóbal Colón, also known under his Italian name Cristoforo Colombo.

In Hamburg, the city of seafarers, there is of course also a Columbus Street.

The explorer set off with his three ships in Spain, stopped in Tenerife, where he is honored with an Avenida Cristóbal Colón.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Columbus Circle in New York is famous - a place that is tossed by traffic like a ship in a storm.

Munich honors Maria Sibylla Merian

One of the first travel pioneers, Maria Sibylla Merian, traveled through South America in the 17th century.

The Frankfurt nature and insect researcher explored the Suriname jungle and brought back wonderful pictures from there.

Munich has been honoring them with a street since 2017 - in a new development in the Allach-Untermenzing district.

The spirit of research is now spurred on: Where else are there Marco Polo streets?

In Venice, of course, more precisely on the Lido: a Via Marco Polo.

And at the other end of the trip?

In 1275 Marco Polo arrived, probably, one must say, in remote China.

In Zhangye you can actually find a Marco Polo Street, in the original it is called like this:

Source: WORLD infographic

Appropriately, the train station is there.

To travel on.

This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.

We will be happy to deliver them to your home on a regular basis.

Source: Welt am Sonntag