Challenge! I've been working in Alte Saxony the last few weeks,

[hedgehog]

and have sampled several specimens of what I think is a local specialty:

It's a 2"-3" thick cheese cake with poppy seeds and cherries swirled though it or layered between it and a 1/2" base of white cake. Everything is topped with streusel and served with whipped cream. Sometimes the cake base is replaced with a dry cookie (as in lemon bars) but I prefer the cake.

So - I can figure out the cheesecake part, and swirling in cherries and poppy seeds is easy, but how do I bake a cheese cake atop a white cake without burning one or the other? Any thoughts?

(since my German is limited to Bitte while pointing at what I want with a smile, I can't ask for any local advice!)

[grasswire]

1. can you give us a name for this pastry?

I have a book of German baking, and other German cookbooks.

Maybe there's a sign at the bakery that you could copy?

Or you can ask something like "Wie heisen diese kuchen" (What is the name of this cake)

[SaveOurDemocracy]

2. Different, but similar to your description ... Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Cheescake.

Maybe you can glean some clues from this recipe:

http://shamecake.com/2012/02/08/meyer-lemon-poppyseed-cheesecake/

[hedgehog]

4. That looks lke a good place to start. Thank-you!

[Bibliovore]

3. Are they necessarily baked together?

Junior's Deli (which has AMAZING cheesecakes, by the way -- look for the cookbook!) does some layered cheesecakes, but those call for baking the cake and cheesecake separately and then assembling. The cheesecake gets frozen first, to make assembly possible. Here's an example:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/devils-food-cheesecake-recipe.html

Any chance that'd work for you for this?

[EDIT: It's late and I'm tired, and I missed that the base you're talking about is only 1/2" thick. Junior's usual crust is roughly 1/2" of sponge cake and works beautifully; that method should also work for the white cake, I'd think. Bake the cake base first in your springform pan, leave it in the pan, and cover the pan base and sides in one or two single-sheet layers of heavy-duty foil to prevent water-bath leaks. Layer whatever else you want on top of the crust in the pan, then the cheesecake filling, then do any swirling you want. Place the foil-protected springform in a bigger pan, pour water in the bigger pan to a depth of about 1" (the water bath), put the whole assembly in the oven, and bake as per your cheesecake recipe. I'd love to hear how it turns out for you!]

[grasswire]

5. googling brought up many possibilities

....and made me drool!

Take a look at this one:

http://pudding-girl.de/sweet-girl/cakes/dresden-custard-cake/