The 21st century has brought profound changes to the world of travel. Why do we travel? How do we travel? What do we want to see and experience when we travel? All this has changed and continues to change; the covid pandemic has done its part to intensify this trend. Our new kind of travel is motivated by a growing desire for slowing down, feeling at home, enjoying the comfort of closeness and security. Against the challenges of globalisation and speed, taking our time, looking around, exploring and discovering are becoming more and more important to us and to the way we spend our holiday and leisure time. The beautifully illustrated slim volume "Heart of Magdeburg" is apt to offer inspiring guidance. Strolling from the Cathedral to the Elbe through 1,2000 years of culture, visitors and locals alike will gain interesting insights into both the present and the past of this commercial and residential city located half-way between Prague and Hamburg. Following the inner-city route mapped out and expertly explained by this pioneering guide affords a gratifying experience of easy learning, cultural enrichment and aesthetic pleasure.

Prof. Dr. Christian Antz, born 1961, is an art historian and cultural manager. After the completion of his studies, he worked as Consultant (1992-98) and Head of Department ((1998-2021) in Sachsen-Anhalt's Ministry of Economic Affairs at Magdeburg. In 2011 he was appointed Honorary Professor at the Fachhochschule Westküste (University of Applied Sciences West Coast) in Heide, Schleswig-Holstein. From 1992 to 2006 he was instrumental in setting up Sachsen-Anhalt's tourist projects "Straße der Romanik - Reise ins Mittelalter" (Road of Romanesque Art - Journey into the Middle Ages), "Blaues Band - Wassertourismus in Sachsen-Anhalt" (Blue Ribbon - water tourism in Sachsen-Anhalt) and "Gartenräume - Historische Parks in Sachsen-Anhalt" (Gardenscapes - histporical parks in Sachsen-Anhalt). Moreover, collaborating with the Christian churches in Germany, he has since 2000 developed the concept of a future "Spiritual Tourism", and since 2009 undertaken research on the growing market of "Slow Tourism". From 2017 to 2021 he advised Magdeburg, the Capital City of Sachsen-Anhalt, on its application in 2025 for the title of European Capital of Culture.