Bamberg

Bamberg. Anyone heard of Rauchbier?  My son-in-law probably has.  It means smoke biers. Once all beers were smoke beirs.  The ancient kilning methods of drying green brewer’s malt over open fires to ensure all the grains picked up smokey flavors.  Today because of the change in brewing methods they are a rarity.  Several of the Bamberg breweries still use this method.  Because it is bold, it is great with  bold, rich foods and is perfect wtih saugsages.

Bamberg was founded in 1007 on the Christan faith by Emperor Heinrichs II.   St.Michael’s Abbey built in 1012 made it the center of the Holy Roman Empire.  It was the captial of his reign.  The emporer and his wife are buried in the Abbey.  In the 17th century when the Protestant Reformation  had the Witch Trials there. Five of Bamberg’s Mayors were found guilty and burned at the stake.

It became a vibrant cultural center in the late 17th century.  They founded a University and rose to prominence in the 18th Century when it became the center for enlightenment of Southern Germany.

It is one of hte few cities not destroyed by WWII  The City was laid out according to medieval planning rules as a cross with churches at the four cardinal points.

 City Hall.  It is built in the river.  After 5 mayors were burned at the stake for witchcraft the city leaders decreed that a city hall could not be built on the land of Bamberg..... so they built in in the river.

 Side of the City Hall

 The city slaughter house. You can see the cow on the front of the building.  During hte iddle ages they had pictures of things since most people did not read. The building is open over the river so the “remains” could be discarded into the river.  Needless to say downstream was the slums.

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Back of City hall in the river.

Wurzburg

This day was a bit of a disappointment.  It seems Viking decided because it was Christmas and no one could shop, that no one would want to see the town of Rothenburg.  It is one of Germany’s most scenic routes.  It is  the best preserved medieval town in Germany with a 1.5 mile city wall from the middle ages.  The last time we tried to see it the river was low and they also cancelled it.  Writing a letter about this grrr.

We did however get to go to Wurtzburg.  There is only a tiny part of the palace that was not detroyed in WWII.  We got to go into those rooms, but could not take pictures because of the frescoes.  I have to think, “Hmm our tax dollars at work,” to have restored all of these palaces.

It was orginally built between 1720 and 1744 for the Prince Bishop Joahh Philipp Franz von Schonborn.  These Prince Bishops had both political and religious power which seemed to be quite a gravy train.  

Note: the dates on all the pictures are wrong.  I bought a “new used” camera and did not get it set right.  I wanted the dates  on the pictures because in the past when I took pictures my daughter called me a liar and accused me of buying all the pictures......so I allowed the dates and it is wrong so she will still say I lied about taking the pictures but ANYWAY!

 When coming for a visit with the Prince Bishop your carriage would approach the doors from the right.  Your status was dtermined by  how many horses pulled your carriage.  The doors would be opened to the right (the grand stairway would be on your left as your carriage entered)and your driver woudl make a U turn  placing you at the foot of the grand stair case.  The steps are low and gentle so that guests could easily ascend the long stairway in their finery a gowns.

 One third of the palace today is used for city offices, private business offices and university classrooms.

City of Wurzburg at the foot of the palace.

 You can see the Prince Bishop’s residence seeking over the city buildings.

The palace was built so that the Prince Bishop would not have to make the long commute from his residence.  This is what the old residence looks like from the Palace.

My Jim.  The trip was really hard for him.  

The first chance you get...HATE PARKINSON’S DISEASE.  It steals the very essence of a person’s being.  It is a long, sad painful process.

The best part of the palace for me was the incredible wine cellar deep below.  We sampled Germany’s renowned Reisling wine.  It was very good, however, I have to mention that the number 2 Reisling in the world is produced in the Coumbia Valley at the Cave B (Or is it B Cave) Winery in Quincy, Washington.   (Where my grandparents lived.

These pictures are not too good.  It was pouring rain outside.....they would not let us into the Christmas day mass.....so we drank Resisling.

Wertheim was a charming town where the Main (pronounced mine) river meets to Rhine. It is in the state of Franconia.  Franconians are known for not being the most positive people.  If they visit you and have a nice time their comment might be, “It wasn’t as dreadful as I thought it would be.”

 This was the walkway from the ship to the main part  Wertheim.

The Rhine divides Franconia from Bavaria the state that has quite a snobby reputation..BMW, Mercedes etc. Less known than Pisa there is also a leaning tower here, The Pointed Tower.  Originally it was built as a lookout.  If danger was spotted they....played music!  Its was once a prison for “Drunkards and Shrews”.  This tower leans because of 800 years of flooding along the river.  Since the town is at the intersection of two rivers it floods quite frequently.   As you walk along the shops and houses you will notice flood lines with dates recording the floods.  Shops are on the first floor  and residences are ont he upper floors so living quarters will not be flooded.

Notice the tiny window in the middle?  That was so the man could keep up wtih what his neighbors were doing.

Jim standing by our ship the Viking Freya