Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hello, again, Blogonauts!
On Wednesday, my planned path landed me in Bamberg, a smallish city about an hour north of Nürnberg.
Bamberg's old city center has received accolades as a World Heritage Site. Indeed, the primary reason for its inclusion on my itinerary is that the place is just so bloomin' cute! (Click on the Photos tab above to find the album labeled "Bamberg.")
Similar to Rome, the city is surrounded by seven hills, most of which have a church and/or monastery near the peak. (Unlike protestant Nürnberg, Bamberg emerged from the Reformation and the Thirty-Years War still largely Roman Catholic.)
The city's center is burgeoning with Baroque and half-timbered buildings. Both the Regnitz River and a parallel canal give plenty of opportunity for scenic riverbank and bridge walks.
Bamberg's photographic highlight is its Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus), which sits astride an island in the river and is connected to both banks via a bridge that runs through the Town Hall's ornate archway. The building itself dates from the 14th century but was rebuilt in the 18th, and it is coated with colorful and cartoonish murals suggesting mythology and courtly life.
In contrast to the Gothic leanings of Nürnberg's churches, Bamberg's ecclesiastical interiors are unambiguously Baroque. High ebony altars are filled with as much filigree as Ivanka's wedding cake. (Google it, if you dare.) Directly across the street from my apartment, the Frauenkirche, plus the church attached to the Carmelite Cloister provided eye-popping examples of the high Baroque.
Unfortunately many of the town's churches are presently under restoration. Some of this affected mostly the interiors (e.g., the cathedral), but some blocked all access (e.g., St. Michael's Abby). Even so, this prompted me to push on, eventually to reach Altenburg, high on a hill a mile or two from the city center.
This medieval fortress offers glorious views of Bamberg proper and the surrounding farmland. It also apparently used to have a drawbridge, a moat, and a caged bear. The too-small cage is left to remind visitors of the kaputt private zoo.
Today I'm again on the move, this time to Dresden, in Saxony. Other than a couple of days I spent in Berlin several years ago, this will mark my first time visiting the former GDR, a.k.a., East Germany. The countryside seems lush, and the only thing remarkable about the journey is the presence of a young American stow-away who is trying to woo the woman sitting in front of me into buying him a ticket.
There's more upcoming! Come join me as we together become acquainted with Dresden.
Blog to you later!
- comments
Cindy As always, beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing this wonderful trip!