If there is only one city you can visit during your short stay in Berlin and if you are a sucker for beautiful architecture with a plush past, there is no better place to explore than Magdeburg, a two-hour drive west of the country's capital. It is now a bustling and thriving cultural capital in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The city's perseverance can be felt in its aura, being the center of allied bombing during World War II. Magdeburg houses significant historical locations, such as the burial site of Otto the Great, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, in the Cathedral of St.Mauritius and St.Catherine - one of Germany's most spectacular architectural monuments and the country's first Gothic cathedral. The city is one of the finest examples of a medieval town still in pristine condition.