I would advise either the Rhine valley or Bavaria.

It is along the Rhine that you will find the most ancient historical sites of Germany. Very little remains of the ancient Cologne, but Trier has significant Roman sites. Aachen was once the center of Charlemagne's realm. The Mosel valley between Trier and Koblenz has quite a few castles. Luxembourg is very close and worth a visit too. Further south, Mainz has a rich history and was once heavily fortified.

In Bavaria, there is much more to see than Munich. Passau, Bamberg, Rothenburg, Regensburg, Ingolstadt or Kempten have very interesting buidlings. Add to this the royal castles ( and quite a lot of older medieval fortresses). Although, it's hard to include them in a list of touristic places, Bavaria also has places for memory that help us not forget ( Nuremberg and Dachau )

I could be totally wrong about the reason (there may be no reason other than it was just your turn), but it was the only thing I could think of.

Have fun planning your trip to Germany! :)

Ah yes that cathedral. I had to spend a night at the train station, I saw that cathedral so much. Beautiful as it is, you do get tired after the 4th hour or so.

70% of the city was destroyed during WW2, and that indeed reduces the interest of walking around. There quite a few nice museums though. The Römisch-Germanisches Museum for instance. Combined with Mainz and Trier, it forms the basis of a trip along the "limes germanicus". There is also a "nice" (well, not nice, interesting) museum about life under the third Reich ( I think located in what was the seat of the Gestapo , not fully sure though ) . And for art lovers, a lot of thing to see ( too modern for my own liking though )

I agree but the first few minutes is like WOOWWWW!!!!.

War sucks balls.

I think The-Business already gave you a good overview of some places you could go to, it mainly depends on what you and your companion enjoy which place may be best for you. I do agree that bigger cities might be your best option, specially considering you don't speak german. There are many germans that do not speak english well or at all. Cities that are used to tourist should have a much better ratio of english speakers. Also, germany is not very disability friendly ( compared to the US), meaning that the infrastructue is often not set up in a way that a disabled person will be able to go everywhere and often features for disabled might not be available. Eg. just because a place has diabled parking do not assume you will actually be able to use it, many nondisabled people will just park there, etc. So when you plan your trip, make sure to asked very specific questions about features that are nessesary for your companion and don't just ask if they are available, ask if you can rely on using them the way you need to.
And don't forget to plan in visiting some castles, I believe they are quite a highlight for many american tourist ;)

I'm amazed that no one has mentioned Heidelberg yet. It seems to be the city everybody comes to. The lack of being able to speak German will also not be a problem. During the day half of the people you meet in Heidelberg are US-American and the other half will be Japanese. :-) Seriously though, it's a very beautiful city with a nice castle and is one of the 'must sees' when you visit southern Germany.

Other favourite spots have been mentioned already. If you are a tech nerd, the best museum to visit is the Deutsche Museum in Munich (largest science and technology museum in the world, I think). And if you visit the North, Bremen is very beautiful. Also, if you are in the North and are tired of cities, the Friesian islands are very nice to visit for a day at the sea. And if you go to the very north (Schleswig Holstein) you should also visit Haithabu, an ancient Viking village that has been partially restored as a museum.

If you are interested in History, Cologne and Aachen are historically important cities to visit, which are conveniently close to each other. Other beautiful cities of historical interest would be Trier and Speyer, for example.



Kopernikus: RMXE

I don't know about cities to visit but I will offer some advice. Don't put off doing any shopping till later in the day. They close seriously early (most at 6, with 8 considered late) and I don't think there is any 24-hour anythings outside of major cities.

Seriously? Give it a try in Munich... ;-)