In 1953, the 'staircase street' which cascades downhill between the Hauptbahnhof station and Friedrichsplatz became Germany's very first planned pedestrianised shopping street. With its flower beds, fountains and city views it is still one of the prettier ones in the country, despite the shop vacancies in the modest 1950s buildings lining the street. Halfway up (or down) there's a small display of volcanic rock from the region; the geometric basalt pillars are 60-million-year-old crystallised lava, while the smaller Kugelbasalt rocks are 'bombs' that were ejected from volcanoes.