The city planning here makes me want to cry tears of joy. There is a ring road with bicycle lane…read morearound the church Heilig Kreuz in Kreuzviertel, with street parking on both sides, making large asphalt parking lots unnecessary. Outside has seating where passerbys can stop and rest, doggy bag dispensers, and a lending book library. Inside is a food pantry, a household goods library, and a children's area with toys in addition to the more traditional prayer area and main sanctuary. The church also hosts Taichi, meditation, children's choir, and activities for the elderly, including teaching them how to use smartphones! Churches and other religious buildings are supported by a tax on adherents. This ensures that all the buildings are well taken care of. It also relieves them from having to charge visitors and varying the upkeep by the popularity of the building to visitors. Unfortunately, this also means that many leave their religious organizations because of this tax. As far as we can tell, the tax proceeds have been well spent in not just supporting buildings, but community-centeredness. We loved how many German homes have windows that open two ways: (a) push open/ close like a door and (b) pull open so that the gap is at the top of the window. Great to have options when trying to ventilate a room! The external roller shutters make it possible to completely block out the light from a room - much more effective than black-out curtains. While not many homes have garages/ driveways, many have space for bicycles!