Invitation to Germany 3 of 7
Chapter 11
Donaueschingen, Stuttgart, to Schwäbisch Gmünd
%DONAUESCHINGEN
As we wandered through the Black Forest, we drove from one little village to the next, enjoying both the towns and the scenery between. Donaueschingen has a castle and a monumental fountain, constructed in the 1800s, that officially marks the start of the Donau (Danube) River.
As with so many elements in life, the “official” and the “real” are at least two different things. Actually there are two small rivers, the Breg and the Brigach, that merge near Donaueschingen to be called the Donau. The Donauquelle (spring) is the actual beginning of the river at an elevation of about 3,537 feet where the Breg River begins — details, details.
DONAU (DANUBE) RIVER
In either case, from here the Donau flows 402 miles through Germany, and then either crosses or borders six other countries, with three capital cities, Wien (Vienna), Budapest, and Belgrade on its banks, until it finally arrives at the Black Sea 1800 miles away.
The Donau is navigable after it passes Ulm, and years ago, small barges called “Ulm Boxes” were used to carry cargo to Wien. They were broken up and the material used for something else, as it was easier to build a new one in Ulm than to bring the old barge up-stream from Wien to Ulm, for re-use.
With its source in mid-Europe, and its mouth at the Black Sea, the Donau has been a highway for invaders headed in either direction. The Romans, Charlemagne, the Crusaders, and Napoléon from the west, and the Bulgarians, Mongols, and the Turks from the east.
We have seen the great difference in the size of the Donau (Danube) near its origin at the Donauquelle, and its great width by the time it reaches Passau, Wien (Vienna) and Budapest. One thing though, Strauss wrote about the “Blau Donau” (Blue Danube), but the only time it is even approximately “blue” is here, near its source. During the 1,800 miles to the Black Sea, barges, ships, ferryboats, the countryside, and thousands of cities, towns, and villages all contribute to the pollution of this great river.
%VILLINGEN / ROTTWEIL
The wall and several entrance gates in the town of Villingen have spires with different colored roof-tile designs. In Rottweil, dozens of buildings have two or three-story bay-windows extending from the second, to the third and fourth stories. They all have different trim and motif, but the basic style is similar.
HOHENZOLLERN CASTLE
At the legendary Hohenzollern Castle, we decided to change our usual style and take the guided tour. The castle, bristling with blue-roofed towers, is built at the top of a cone-shaped hill, much like our favorite, Haute Koenigsbourg, in the Alsace of France. The sharp spires can be seen from miles away.
In a heavy rain we drove part way up the hill to a parking lot, then bought tickets for a VW van to take us the rest of the way to the castle. Prior to touring the castle interior, the ten people in our tour (except for the handicapped elderly lady) slipped on heavy felt slippers to cover their shoes. The slippers kept shoes from scratching the hardwood floors, and also helped keep the wood, stone, or tile floors very clean and shiny. Many stately rooms are furnished with very uncomfortable looking furniture, and the Chapel of St. Michael has the oldest stained glass windows in Germany.
We were really surprised to see a display of letters between the King of Prussia and President George Washington, concerning the Prussians who came to the US to fight on our side in the Revolutionary War. It was interesting to see a letter of thanks written by President Washington just minutes before he left office, perhaps his last official act.
Newspaper clippings mentioned the Centennial celebration in New York City, when members of this family visited for the Centennial (100th anniversary) of the Revolutionary War. (A bit of trivia — Jim’s grandmother was born in 1876, and her middle name was “Centennial”.)
%TÜBINGEN
The well-preserved old town of Tübingen, with its narrow crooked streets and gabled houses, has many features of interest. University of Tübingen, now with 20,000 students, was built near the Neckar River over 500 years ago, and was the first to re-open in Germany after WW II.
Several university departments are now housed in the old castle that was built above the town in about 1050. Tübingen Stift (college) has been a center of Protestantism since 1536, and a long list of famous intellectuals were educated here.
Das Rathaus, built in the 1400s (and restored in 1968) with a little pulpit above the entrance and a beautifully painted façade, has a baroque decorative gable, and several little windows in the steep roof. There are hundreds of City Halls in Germany that are attractive and deserve attention, but we don’t remember one that is more pleasing, or more resplendent than Das Rathaus in Tübingen. The nearby bronze Neptune fountain (built in 1617), was refurbished in 1948 — it’s now good for another few centuries.
The asymmetrical old market square, sometimes called “Tübingen’s guest parlor,” slopes in several directions from City Hall, and is particularly lively on market days. We bought some fruit and vegetables, including some of the very large red radishes mentioned earlier. Peasant ladies, dressed in regional costumes, were selling flowers among the market stalls, and made this a picture-spot for camera-toting tourists.
Theaters, restaurants, second-hand stores, Golden Arches, and antique shops abound on the little crooked up-and-down-hill streets and alleys. Hermann Hesse, the Nobel Prize winner mentioned earlier, once worked as an apprentice in the Heckenhauer book store. The Holzmarkt is the home of street merchants and street musicians, and a long narrow island in the Neckar is a well-planted city park.
%STUTTGART
Stuttgart’s city center has many blocks of pedestrian-only shopping streets, with a complete set of shops and department stores. An amazing number of castles are found in and near downtown, and parks are spread throughout.
Stuttgart is worth a visit and we had several hours to kill. We had found a Dodge RV on the parking lot of the US Army Base nearby (Robinson Barracks), and had time to spare while we waited to meet the Major and his family, to discuss the possible purchase of their RV.
On top of a small mountain to the east, the observation platform and the restaurant near the top of the TV tower, provide a view over the whole valley. Ordinarily we find it’s almost impossible to get an ice-cube in any kind of drink, anywhere in Europe, except in the fast-food restaurants that have been imported from the US. But in this restaurant, high over Stuttgart, Emmy’s fluent command of the German language resulted in a cup of coffee with an ice-cube, instead of the dip of coffee-flavored ice-cream she thought she had ordered. Kaffee-Eis or Eis-Kaffee, who knows!
The city has generous park land, 900 acres of vineyards on the hillsides, and fifty-three percent of the city area is covered with gardens, fields, woodland and green open spaces.
Stuttgart calls its eighteen springs the largest mineral water resource (5,000,000 gallons per day) in Germany, perhaps the largest in Europe except for Budapest. While there are over 250 spas in Germany alone, we have traveled extensively throughout the United States and have heard about relatively few of them. Are there only a few, or aren’t Americans very interested in the ones that do exist?
Near our home in the Palm Springs, California area, the several spas with hot springs seem to be more a vacation spot than a medical facility, as many are in Europe. The most famous and exclusive spas in Europe are housed in beautiful stately old buildings, and a spa in many parts of Europe and a spa in the Palm Springs area have little in common except for the water temperature.
There are 170 publishing houses in Stuttgart, and they have a pre-Christmas “Stuttgarter Buchwochen” (book-week). It would be nice to take home some samples of the best known products from the factories near Stuttgart, but just a drive-by of the Mercedes and the Porsche auto factories must suffice.
At the US Army’s Robinson Barracks on the north side of town, they had just opened a Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors ice cream shop next to the PX, and GIs and their families by the dozens were waiting for a taste of “home.” After holding our “number” for about a half hour we were finally able to spend our US dollars for a malt and a sundae. We didn’t know if we were allowed to do that, but nothing ventured, nothing eaten.
Near the Robinson Barracks the very complicated traffic circle has been named “Mox-Nix corner” by the GI’s. In slang German that means “it doesn’t matter” (“Es macht nichts”). Once we got in this traffic mess we found it didn’t matter where we wanted to go, we were just happy to get out of there.
HOTEL BEDS
In 1983 before we found the RV, we spent a few nights in hotels in different towns, but that was enough for Jim to get a very bad cold. Hotel beds in Germany are often covered with one very thick, heavy feather quilt. Jim covers himself when he gets too cold, and kicks it off when he gets too hot, and manages to get very sick within a very few nights.
One night we stayed on the third floor in a hotel in a town with the interesting name of Kornwestheim. The hotel had a restaurant and bar on ground level just below our room, and the town’s train station was a block away. The hotel manager said she thought it was a very quiet third-floor room, no one had ever commented on the noise from the bar or the trains before. But believe it, not one of the hundreds of campsite we have visited was that noisy, that late in the night.
%ESSLINGEN
Just south of Stuttgart, medieval Esslingen sits along the Neckar River with vineyards ranging high into the hills above. In the center of town a tiny building sits on the bridge pier, extending over the stream that flows to the Neckar, and the old Rathaus (City Hall) is a half-timbered lavender/pink building with wooden beams sticking out here and there.
Esslingen’s Stadtkirche (Church of St. Denis), has two spires (not a matched set), with a bridge connecting the two, high above the church. We never did determine if visitors were allowed to cross on that walkway.
One night was spent at the Hotel Traube (Hotel Grape), high on the side of the mountain overlooking the city astride the Neckar River. We never know what amenities to expect when we check into a hotel or campsite, but this time the men waited in vain for Emmy to change her mind and join them at the co-ed nude sauna, just below our bedroom window.
%NELLINGEN BARRACKS
We bought the Dodge Transvan Recreation Vehicle from a US Army Major who was stationed at Nellingen Barracks, on the hill across the river from Esslingen. We had first seen the RV with a “For Sale” sign in the PX parking lot at the Robinson Barracks on the north side of Stuttgart, and later came to the Major’s home in Nellingen to complete the transaction.
US / GERMAN PAPERWORK
The US Army’s dedication to paperwork was demonstrated when the Major and Jim had to make a five-hour round-trip (that included a huge traffic jam caused by an accident on the Autobahn) to an Army office in Mannheim, then waited just a few minutes for someone to use five different rubber stamps on three copies of five forms. All those miles for all those rubber stamps.
A visit to the local German Auto License office convinced us they were not interested in issuing a license without creating as many problems as they could devise. Our experience in other years at the vehicle license office in Merzig indicated they would cooperate, so off we went with the US Army plates still in place. We made a promise to promptly return them to the Major, so he could complete the transaction with the Military.
By the time we arrived at Cousin Toni’s in Mettlach, Jim’s cold had gotten the better of him and a failed water pump had gotten the better of the RV. The water pump was hard to find and expensive to replace, but Jim only required a few day’s rest, and we were ready to go. Within a day or two, at nearby Merzig, the license plate paper work was completed without mishap, and the Army license plates were returned to the Major at Nellingen Barracks.
This Dodge RV served as our travel headquarters in Europe for about nine months and 24,400 miles in 17 countries, over two trips. Between trips, it was stored for 20 months in a garage near Emmy’s cousins. At the end of the second trip, we boarded the Polish Ship TSS Stefan Batory in Rotterdam (with the RV squirreled away in the hold), spent one day in London, 10 days on the Atlantic to Montreal, Canada, then drove the RV to our home in California. An outstanding way to return from Europe. This is the only time we have crossed the Atlantic Ocean without a jet-lag problem.
%LUDWIGSBURG
A few miles north of Stuttgart is the 452-room Baroque Royal Residence in Ludwigsburg. Some Duke was impressed with the Palace at Versailles, near Paris, and like many others, tried to build a small (if 452 rooms can be called small) copy of that magnificent palace. Very formally patterned gardens surround this building, and perhaps more visitors are attracted by the gardens and the park, than by the palace building itself.
One brochure mentions that a meeting room for 400 people is available in the “Ratskeller.” (“Rats” for Rathaus [city hall] “Keller” for cellar.) At other places, restaurants named “Ratskeller” are located in the “Keller” of the Rathaus, or City Hall.
%HEILBRONN
The Neckar River winds its way north to Heilbronn with its St. Kilian’s Gothic church and a very nice downtown area. The US Army base, complete with family housing, was on the east side of town.
One Friday evening, with our RV sounding a little wounded, we stopped at a garage on the US Army base and asked a mechanic (who worked on civilian cars owned by US Army personnel) if we could safely make it through the weekend. He wasn’t allowed to fix anything, but he poked here and listened there and said yes we could, and he was right. On Monday, while the mechanic near Mannheim was preparing to do this or that, Jim spied a broken rubber hose. A quick low-cost repair solved both the rough idle and the non-working cruise-control problems.
NECKAR RIVER
If time permits, continue north along the Neckar, enjoy Bad Wimpfen with its castle overlooking the town and the river below, and other towns and the countryside in the Neckar Valley.
Eberbach is just a few miles from Heidelberg, and even if the last visit was within the week, Heidelberg must be seen again, if only to enjoy the drive along the right bank of the Neckar to view the ruins of the old Schloss on the hillside above Heidelberg. On the other hand, if time does not permit … . But hurry back.
%WEINSBERG
Ten miles east of Heilbronn, and a half hour climb up the hill near Weinsberg, is the Weibertreu ruins. In 1140, according to local legend, Weibertreu was under siege by an enemy who, for some reason, decided to be “nice guys.”
They told the besieged citizens the women could leave the castle without harm, but they could take with them only what they could carry. That demand was followed to the letter as the wives paraded proudly down the hill with husbands perched precariously on their backs.
%SCHWÄBISCH HALL
Another twenty-five miles east is the steep hillside along the Kocher River, and the old town of Schwäbisch Hall. Built in tiers extending from the river, Fachwerkhäuser roofs step one above the other, past the Marktplatz to the forest above the town.
The Marktplatz, a few blocks above the river, slopes up from the elegant baroque Town Hall, to where fifty-three wide steps lead to the entrance to the Münster St. Michael, built in the mid-1100s. In front of the church is the Marktbrunnen (Market Spring), and nearby is the headpiece and the three iron collars of the old pillory.
One year, someone’s version of “art” consisted of an ugly yellow wooden structure that covered the flight of steps to this church. When so-called art does not obstruct, the Haller Open Air Theater is held on the church steps. Some half-timbered gables nearby indicate what this square must have looked like before a town fire in 1728. The Rathaus, built after that fire, displayed pictures of extensive damage suffered during WW II.
%BENEDIKTINERKLOSTER COMBURG
About four miles south of Schwäbisch Hall, the fortified Romanesque Benediktinerkloster Comburg (built in the 1000s) sits high on a hill, protected by a double wall. Several buildings, in addition to the Kloster, are inside the wall. Furniture, an entrance door, a chandelier, and an altar front, all Romanesque, are worth a visit. While the interior and its contents are certainly interesting, for us the walls, the church, and the other buildings inside those walls, make a walk up Comburg’s steep hill worthwhile.
%SCHWÄBISCH GMÜND
Forty miles south, precious metals and silver cutlery are produced in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Many large homes stand around the baroque Marktplatz, and the former town hall and the hospital remain from medieval days.
Heiligkreuzmünster (Holy Cross Cathedral) has no towers, but the exterior is flamboyant (having wavy lines and flame-like forms) and the west gable is Gothic. The interior contains renaissance choir stalls, and many statues in the radiating chapels.
Chapter 12
Ulm to the Bodensee
%ULM
They laid the cornerstone in 1377, and only 513 years later, in 1890, Ulm’s Gothic cathedral was completed. The single spire is the world’s tallest church steeple (528 feet high), and while Emmy sat this one out, Jim personally counted each of the 768 steps to the top. The last hundred or so steps are a narrow circular staircase enclosed in the lacy Gothic tower — he could reach out and touch a cloud. Jim was in such physical condition that when he reached the top he wasn’t even breathing hard — in fact, he almost wasn’t breathing at all.
The ticket seller explained that these 768 steps are the most available for the public to climb (up), anywhere in the world. That “honor” belonged to the Washington Monument (555 feet, 5 1/8 inches high) in Washington, DC, until a rule change a few years ago. The last we heard, the elevator is required for the ride up, but there is a choice between the elevator or the stairs to get down.
Years ago Jim did climb the 898 steps (both ways) in the Washington Monument, but since that staircase is continuous with no windows until arriving at the very top, he proclaims that it was very boring and does not compare to the thrill of climbing the several different staircase designs to the top of the spire at Ulm. We highly recommend a climb to the top of as many cathedral towers as possible — the view of the town, and the mosaic roof-top panorama is well worth the time and effort.
Sometimes it seems as if “… a cathedral is a building partially covered with scaffolding.” We have pictures of the Ulm Cathedral with the right front under repair during one visit, then at another time, the left front was being renovated. It’s almost a surprise to see one of these ancient buildings without a scaffold. Sometimes repairs take a dozen years or more, but we have heard more than one tourist exclaim that “… they just had to repair it this year, the only chance I have to see it.”
The Deutsches Brotmuseum (German Bread Museum) in Ulm, has an interesting collection of equipment, including bakery ovens from the stone age up to the present.
On our second day in Germany during our first trip, we saw a horse pulling a delivery wagon in Ulm and just assumed that was a normal way of life. About fifteen years later, after many months and thousands of miles in Germany we finally saw another — and in both cases, the horse was more an advertisement or just for fun, rather than an official working animal. In later years, we did see a few working farm-horses in former East Germany.
%SIGMARINGEN
The unusual castle high above Sigmaringen seems to have grown right out of the steep rock cliffs near the top of this little mountain. Spires and towers, a variety of façades, and numerous small “eye-lid” windows peek out of the red tile roof. Looked like a beautiful place, but the sun was shining just wrong to be able to get a picture that would do justice to the scene. We did drive up the hill and through the town, then parked and walked for a while.
%PFULLENDORF
Pfullendorf’s city gate is topped by a pleasant little tower with a green tile roof. The road is routed around the tower gate, and we snapped a picture of an elderly lady sitting in the window of her home, built into the upper floors of the tower. In the nearby countryside, many cattle were grazing in the fields; we also saw the first oil derricks we have seen in Germany.
%ÜBERLINGEN
One night was spent on the shore of the Bodensee, a mile or so west of Überlingen with a beautiful view across the lake. It had been very foggy the last several mornings, but that particular morning the fog painted a pretty picture on the lake and the hills beyond. We drove into town, walked through the shopping area, found a bakery, and bought our daily bread.
The local clock-maker still makes alarm clocks in the pattern and style of long ago. His clock was designed for the days (and nights) when there were no lights to turn on to see the time. With this timepiece, a chain is pulled and the chime will strike the hour that had been last struck. At best, the bells were within an hour of the correct time, but that’s better than no time at all.
An English-speaking gentleman at the campsite mentioned that he was gaining weight while on his vacation. Jim said getting fat was better than not having anything to eat. The man laughed and said that when he surrendered to the American Army near the end of WW II he sure did not have enough to eat.
He explained that many tens of thousands of German soldiers surrendered at one time and place, and the Americans just weren’t prepared for the crowd. Although for a few weeks there just wasn’t enough food for all the US soldiers plus the German prisoners, he had been very happy that the war was nearly over and he was still alive.
We have asked many Germans if they felt they would be living better today, if Germany had won WW II. Their response, each and every time was something like, “How could it be better than this? Even at the best, no one promised or imagined our lives would be this good.” One man said that early in the war when Germany was “winning” and the propagandists were proclaiming how great and wonderful Germany was, it dawned on him he wasn’t at home enjoying the “victory,” he was in Greece, with the German Army, making sure they didn’t have the way of life they preferred.
BODENSEE
The Bodensee (Lake Constance) is the largest lake in this part of Europe; Lake Geneva, on the southeast corner of Switzerland on the border with France, is just a little larger.
The Bodensee, 827 feet at its deepest, is formed by the Rhein River flowing into the eastern end of the lake, and is emptied by the Rhein flowing out at the western end. The lake is bordered by Austria on the east, Switzerland on the south, Germany on the north, and the Fürstentum (Principality of) Liechtenstein near the southwest “corner” of the Lake. As they advertise, “One lake, four countries, and a thousand possibilities.”
%KONSTANZ
The city of Konstanz is located on a little tip of Germany on Switzerland’s side of the lake. Its Basilica was built over a period of 600 years from the 1000s to the 1600s, and while it looks mainly Romanesque, parts of the Münster reflect other building styles.
Just across the Rhein River from Konstanz, and still on the south side of the lake, Mainau Island is a surprise for this part of the world. Here, in the midst of the Alps and surrounded by a lake that freezes occasionally, palm, orange, and lemon trees stand at the approach to a castle and church. A rose garden, hibiscus flowers, and banana trees thrive. Tulip trees, lime trees and magnolias grow on the castle esplanade. How can these plants and trees grow this far north, we wonder, surrounded by snow-capped mountains for many months of the year?
A few miles west from Konstanz, the island of Reichenau lies in the Untersee (an extension of the Bodensee) and is now nearly covered with glass houses used for market gardening. The church of St. George at Oberzell was built in the late 800s, and the old abbey at Mittelzell, with a robust Romanesque tower, a Gothic apse, and a rococo grille was built from the 700s to the 1100s.
%MEERSBURG
An auto ferryboat crosses the lake from near Konstanz, and lands at the town of Meersburg on the north side of the lake. The harbor and a shopping street are at lake level, and the sports complex a couple of blocks east of the ferry dock includes a large swimming pool. The main market place sits high above the lake, and is reached by walking up the 176-step staircase, a very steep sidewalk, or by driving on a street complete with a lot of sharp switch-backs.
The first (of two) time(s) we visited Meersburg, the roads leading to the town and the streets and parking lots were crowded to overflowing. We drove our higher-than-a-car RV towards the center of town and soon found ourselves facing a low arch across the street. As we tried to leave, we luckily backed right into an empty parking place/space. As happens so many times, when we give up trying to park legally, we sometimes have better luck.
It should be mentioned that there is a panoramic view over the lower town and the Bodensee, from the terrace in front of the Neue (new) Schloss (castle), right next door to the Altes (old) Schloss. Meersburg was crowded with people visiting the street market, listening to a high school band, and enjoying the free champagne. Merchants displayed their wares in the middle of the street, and the crowd was packed store-to-store, moving to the beat of the band. With all the crowds and fanfare we found it hard to believe the man who insisted it was just a normal market day — but maybe it was.
%FRIEDRICHSHAFEN
After buying some meat and bread, we found a place along the lake to stop for lunch. Later we drove through Friedrichshafen, where the Zeppelins were built. For some reason we never thought about a visit to the Zeppelin Museum until much later — a “must” for our next visit to the Bodensee area.
%LINDAU
When we arrived in Lindau, we discovered more palm trees, and a city center located on an island near the shore of the Bodensee. The Hauptstrasse (Main Street) is lined with interesting half-timbered buildings with many oriel windows (large bay windows), characteristic of this part of Germany.
Once we were in Lindau on a Monday morning when most of the stores were closed, and another time when the town was crowded to overflowing with tourists. In the latter case, be prepared to park on the mainland and walk to the island.
Chapter 13
Alpenstrasse, Füssen
to Garmisch
ALPENSTRASSE
The Alpenstrasse (Alpine Road) starts in Lindau, and runs east for nearly 300 miles to Berchtesgaden, in the extreme southeast corner of Germany, near Salzburg, Austria. Much of the time the road travels along the foot of the mountains, sometimes through the mountains, but always near extraordinary natural surroundings and magnificent castles. Side trips to mountain spots and across the border into scenic Austria must be a part of a trip, if time permits. Be sure to study maps and guidebooks before traveling through this part of Germany. There are just so many points of interest and beautiful lake and mountain vistas — it would be a shame to miss a site that might have been the favorite.
%FÜSSEN
We especially enjoyed Füssen, on the Lech River near the man-made Forggensee (lake), just a mile or two north of the Austrian border. One time as we approached the border from Austria, just outside Füssen, we saw several nuns dressed in voluminous black “habits,” riding their bikes towards Germany. We wondered just what they were required to do at the border, and if they were asked for their identification. What did they say when asked if they had anything to declare?
Between the border and the town of Füssen, the Lechfall (Lech River Falls) tumbles to the bottom of a rock gorge, and a nearby bridge permits pedestrians to return to Füssen through the town park and garden. The shopping streets are delightful, and we bought some of the best French bread we have bought anywhere — including France. During a visit in another year, the flat, round bread was identified by the sign as Turkish, and was acclaimed by us as delicious.
When we find an extraordinary loaf of bread in Füssen (and several other places), an excellent radish in Freiburg, some incredible toffee in London, a delicious carrot (still covered with mud) in Helsinki, huge cherries in Milan and on the Budvanski Riviera below Dubrovnik, a magnificent porterhouse steak in Rome, or a sensational quarter-kilo of butter in Reims, an item that tasted especially good, we wonder how that same product from the same store tasted yesterday or will taste tomorrow. Is it really extra delicious, or is it a combination of other things such as the state of our taste buds that day and/or how hungry we are? Probably just as well we never find out for sure.
One year we arrived in Füssen on a rainy Saturday morning, and in addition to buying the necessities of life, in an antique store Emmy found an “old” brass charcoal heater. (Well, it looked quite old and well used, and the metal was cold, so most likely it was somewhere between an hour and a century old.) It was about eighteen inches in diameter, twenty inches high, with six very heavy solid brass legs. The peaked lid was pierced and etched, and had a decorative handle. As happens sometimes, she just couldn’t make up her mind to spend the money before the store closed for the weekend. (Most times an “Emmy-spending-delay” is a synonym for “momentary.”)
Saturday night was spent on the shore of the nearby Hopfensee. That evening Jim walked from our campsite to visit some nearby farms at milking time. The cows looked very healthy and the barns were substantial, but little was done to keep the milking area clean. If the Pennsylvania milk inspector from sixty years ago (when Jim had to keep the barn clean) had inspected these barns, the farmers would have been out of business until the place became spotless.
We visited several charming sights during the weekend, and Sunday night was spent at Garmisch-Partenkirchen (site of the 1936 Winter Olympics) fifty miles from Füssen. Guess what? Monday noon we found ourselves back in Füssen waiting at the door for that antique store to open. Emmy insists that she saw a brass charcoal heater (not nearly so nice) at a store in the US, and the price was five or six times as much. It may be difficult (and heavy) to get some of our purchases home, but brass and copper items sure travel easier than porcelain and crystal.
Füssen could be the center of a beautiful vacation at any time of the year. A multitude of lakes, rolling hills, high mountains with skiing galore, interesting towns, and fairyland Königsschlösser (Kings Castles), are found within fifty miles of Füssen.
NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE
The dream-like Neuschwanstein Castle, built for King Ludwig II in the 1870s and ‘80s, is just outside Füssen. The first sketch was made by a theatrical designer, rather than an architect, and the result is one of the most photographed castles in the world. During one of our visits a light dusting of snow garnished the castle and the surrounding trees — an enchanting sight.
Neuschwanstein was designed before airplanes were invented, so we can’t imagine they built with the aerial view in mind. But if they had planned it, they couldn’t improve the aerial photographs taken from the east, showing the castle silhouetted on the Alpsee (lake) and snow-capped mountains in the background.
To visit the castle there is a choice: Walk up the path/stairway, take a horse-drawn carriage, or ride a bus. We’ve done them all. The walk is long and steep, the horse carriage is interesting, but for the most spectacular view of the castle (short of an airplane ride), the bus stops near the Marienbrücke (named for Ludwig II’s mother) which spans the Pöllat gorge. It’s then but a short, downhill walk from the bridge to the castle.
Neuschwanstein took seventeen years to build, but Ludwig II only lived there 102 days. A tour of the castle takes an hour or so to see all the beautiful but extravagant rooms. Besides the hot and cold running water in the kitchen, rising hot air in the chimney turns a rotisserie and this movement rotates the spit for cooking game and poultry. (As invented by Leonardo da Vinci.)
We wouldn’t discourage anyone from taking the tour, but we have always enjoyed the exterior views, and have not been overly thrilled with the interior of most castles we’ve seen. Remember, “ … to each his own,” see what is of interest. We give commentary, not itinerary.
HOHENSCHWANGAU CASTLE
Across the valley from the Neuschwanstein Castle, we could see the childhood home of Ludwig II, the golden-hued Neo-Gothic Hohenschwangau Castle. As he grew up he could see the spot where he wanted to build his castle, and later through a telescope, from his bed-chamber he watched construction of Neuschwanstein — his dream come true.
LINDERHOF CASTLE
Ludwig’s visit to Versailles in 1867 gave him all kinds of ideas about castles. He is not the only one; small copies of Versailles are found in Saint Petersburg, Tokyo, Vienna, and other places in Germany. Between 1874 and 1879, Ludwig tried to copy some of the grandeur of Versailles in the rather small cream colored Linderhof Castle, about fifteen miles east of Neuschwanstein. There’s such an excess of adornment — renaissance, baroque, a room of mirrors, imitation tapestry — that it almost looks as if it belongs.
HERRENCHIEMSEE CASTLE
About forty miles east of München (Munich), on an island in the Chiemsee, Ludwig II spent another 20,000,000 D-Marks on Herrenchiemsee Castle. Here again, a Hall of Mirrors, fountains, gardens, and a façade embellished with columns, resulted in another small replica of Versailles. Building progressed from 1878 to 1885, when Ludwig II, or perhaps the whole government, ran out of money. Ludwig did have the pleasure of living here for almost a week. He died three days after he was deposed as king. On June 13, 1886, he jumped out of a boat he was rowing on the Starnberger See. The doctor who was in the boat with him was also drowned.
WIESKIRCHE
In the meadow, just off the road from Füssen to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Bavarian rococo Wieskirche (Meadow Church) stands. This church has just about as much Rococo decor as can be packed into one place — and the amazing thing is that it looks beautiful, not gaudy. The church interior was designed by Johann Baptist Zimmermann, and the exterior of this masterpiece was designed by his brother, Dominikus Zimmermann. Dominikus loved it so much that he spent his last ten years in a house nearby.
%OBERAMMERGAU
One year we thought we had arranged for tickets to the “Passion Play” at Oberammergau, but something happened, or rather didn’t happen, so we have yet to see this renowned extravaganza. Every nearby resident has the opportunity to join the cast of the play, and it has been performed each decade, for centuries. Just maybe it will still be there a few years from now, during another one of our trips to this neighborhood.
The first time here (we thought) we drove around town looking for the Passionsspielhaus (Passion Play House), but we found nothing that looked large enough for such a huge production. After asking some school children, we discovered we were a few miles too far north, in Unterammergau (Unter means lower), instead of in Oberammergau (Ober means upper).
%GARMISCH - PARTENKIRCHEN
This area is Germany’s Snow Stadium. Meteorological conditions almost guarantee good snow conditions all winter. The 1936 Winter Olympics were held here, and dozens of winter-sports competitions are held each year. The two skating rinks can hold 12,000 spectators, and 30,000 people can watch ski-jumping and other snow events.
The campsite near Garmisch-Partenkirchen is one of the few places we found “banks” of refrigerators for rent. They were installed like the lockers found in an airport or train station, and could be rented for days or weeks at a time. Looks like a great way for a campground owner to add to his revenue. In our RV we had a refrigerator that operated on propane gas, 220 volt electrical, or the 12-volt vehicle battery, but most European caravans (camping trailers), and certainly the tents, do not have a place to keep food cold. Even the nicest homes in Europe have small refrigerators, at least small by US standards, and the home-maker shops for her groceries almost daily.
ZUGSPITZE
The Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain at nearly 10,000 feet, is located right on the border with Austria, a few miles south of Garmisch. The Eibsee, at the base of the mountain, is the spot from which a cable-car heads to the Zugspitzgipfel (top of the mountain), that for many years was the location of a US Army Rest Center.
The Bayerische Zugspitzbahn, is a railway that travels 2.5 miles through a tunnel in the mountain to the Schneefernerhaus, a hotel at 8,700 feet elevation, that overlooks a large ski amphitheater. Ride an elevator to the fifth floor of this hotel, then another cable-car that travels on to the top of the mountain. The German/Austrian border goes right along the very peak of the Zugspitze. To visit the restaurant and ski-lodge located in each country, we passed through the mountain-top border control point. What an eye-catching view we had on that bright sunny morning. There are thousands of cog-railways, cable-cars, ski-lifts, and other ways to reach mountain tops throughout Europe. They are generally expensive so we haven’t traveled on many, but we did venture on a few.
Chapter 14
München to Obersalzberg
%MÜNCHEN (MUNICH)
Founded in the 800s München is not one of the older cities, as European cities go. One king after another ruled this area for hundreds of years. Ludwig III was the last, and after Germany’s defeat in November 1918, he was forced to abdicate. In 1938, München was the site of the parley where British Prime Minister Neville Chamblerlain in a derby hat, with umbrella firmly in hand, was convinced that Hitler really meant, “Peace in our time.” That “time” lasted for about 6 months.
Our first visit to München was a couple of years before the XX Olympics in 1972. The 951-foot-tall Olympiaturm (TV tower) was already in place, and the large revolving restaurant, 630 feet above ground, permitted a view down into the stadium, the sports hall, the swimming pool, and other facilities that were then under construction.
In downtown München, the streets were torn up for subway construction, but we were thankful they didn’t try to modernize the Neues Rathaus (new city hall), and the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady). In the tower of the Neues Rathaus in the Marienplatz, the nearly 300-foot-high Glockenspielturm (largest carillon in Germany) plays its melody and displays moving enameled copper figures, at 11:00 AM daily.
On our first visit to München we parked (half on the street and half on the sidewalk, like everyone else) on a street next to the Rathaus. When we returned a couple of hours later, we found the parking rules had changed an hour ago, and ours was the only vehicle still there. The “ticket” on the windshield was a polite note that almost said, “We know you can’t read the sign, so maybe it isn’t your fault, but next time, please … !”
During that 1970 visit we ate dinner in the Ratskeller, the restaurant in the cellar (keller) of City Hall (Rathaus). Along with our meal, we requested ice water to drink. After the small glasses were quickly emptied several times, the elderly waitress had a great idea and appeared at our table with a big smile and a large chunk of ice in a big pitcher of water. Over the following years, would that other waitresses and waiters been so attentive to our need for a drink of ice water.
Our notes mention (and we still have the menu), that $7 covered the cost of a complete steak dinner for four — but that was in 1970, quite a few years ago.
This was Emmy’s first experience with being charged (not just a tip) a few pfennig for use of the restroom, and an additional few for washing her hands. Like most Americans, she thought the use of toilet facilities should be a service provided by the restaurant. Since she had left her purse at the table, it was a little embarrassing.
Nearby, Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), the most photographed symbol of München, with distinctive onion domes on top of its twin towers, was carefully restored after suffering major damage during WW II. Since the front of the church doesn’t face a large square, it’s impossible to take good photographs of the entire church façade, including the towers. The pictures usually seen of the Frauenkirche are taken from a distance, and generally show its roof, the two onion topped towers, and roofs of other nearby buildings.
From Marienplatz, west to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), Neuhauser Strasse is a broad pedestrian shopping street with department stores, specially shops, sidewalk kiosks, restaurants, and all kinds of places to spend time and money. A couple of blocks east of the Marienplatz we found an outdoor food market where we bought more of those huge delicious red radishes; we also purchased some very good yellow English cheddar cheese.
Schloss Nymphenburg and the Botanischer Garten, just west of downtown, is another example of a replica of Versailles. The Castle grounds include a hall of mirrors, a carriage museum, a kennel for hunting dogs, and in the garden, as at Versailles, there’s a Grand Canal, hothouses, flowers, and trees galore.
Castles, museums (especially the Alte Pinakothek and the Deutsches Museum), art galleries, shopping streets, theaters, and concerts abound, so München can keep a tourist busy for a long vacation. For the traveler who wishes to stay put in one hotel for several nights, day-trips to the mountains south of München, from Füssen on the west to Berchtesgaden on the east, are within easy driving distance. Usually we don’t spend much time in large cities, and since beer, breweries, and the Oktoberfest are of no interest to us, we have only spent a short time on each of our visits to München. But for thousands of people, the Oktoberfest is the ideal vacation time, perhaps their real reason to visit München.
%DACHAU
A few miles northwest of München is the town of Dachau, the location of one of the notorious WW II concentration camps. Dachau is an old artist town, but recent history ensures it will not be remembered as a place of beauty. At the camp, two of the original barracks have been rebuilt, and foundations of the others are preserved as an impressive way to display the dimension of this camp.
Dachau was not one of the big camps where millions of people were killed — we were told that “only” 38,000 people died here. Thousands of Jewish Rabbis, Protestant Ministers, and Catholic Priests were imprisoned at Dachau, and special churches have been constructed in remembrance of the ones who died here.
On our first visit to the town the gasoline station operator had a different story to tell. He had been in the Germany Army and away from Dachau for the years of the war, but he insisted the stories we had heard about Nazi Concentration Camps did not apply to the one at Dachau. He complained that real criminals were in the prison, and there was a crime wave in the area after the conquering armies released the prisoners. We were not convinced. While some prisoners may have been criminals, the original story was confirmed when we talked to a former prisoner, and visited the extensive displays that told a more complete story.
At the former prison camp we were greeted by the Protestant Minister (a former prisoner) who said that just a few days earlier a visitor to his church was a man who had been a prisoner at this camp in the late 1930s. They had known one another, and each thought the other had been killed years ago.
At Dachau’s headquarters building, now serving as a museum, thousands of photographs, posters, and pages from newspapers and magazines, displayed the rise and fall of the Third Reich with a wallop no amount of history books, TV documentaries, or professorial dissertations could match. The word on the sign at the entrance to the camp states: “Gedenkstätte” — a memorial, a place to think about, a place to remember — and it certainly is.
We have visited the Nazi Concentration Camps at Buchenwald and Dachau (twice), Germany, Auschwitz and Birkenau, Poland, the prison at Breendonk, Belgium, and the remains of Oradour sur Glane, France. There is nothing but horror to see at any of these dreadful places, but these monuments to the revulsion of WW II must be visited.
%BERCHTESGADEN
One hundred miles east of München, and a half-hour drive west of Salzburg, Austria, Berchtesgaden is surrounded by some of the most outstanding mountain scenery in this (or any) part of the world. We’ve been here five different years, and each time we have visited Berchtesgaden it has rained and rained. Of course if it wasn’t for all the rain, the countryside wouldn’t look nearly so nice as it will if we ever get here when it isn’t raining.
Two or three times we stayed on the Autobahn between München and Berchtesgaden, and did not take the opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty and the little towns along the Deutsche Alpenstrasse, the road that runs through the mountains near Germany’s southern border. Occasionally the Autobahn may be necessary and useful, but usually it’s a fast way to miss the very things we’ve come to see.
The map shows the German border drops south to include the Königssee, then returns north, just west of Salzburg, Austria. We have no idea who formed this border, but Germany managed to retain the most phenomenal scenery imaginable. The tourist trade in this tip of Germany is so intense that on summer weekends the roads may be blocked by wandering vacationers.
One rainy Sunday, people by the hundreds were dressed in dark green Lodenmantel, or Bavarian costumes, enjoying their stroll through Berchtesgaden. The men wore green knickers or lederhosen (leather shorts), a short jacket, and a felt hat with a tuft, or badger’s tail. The ladies wore full-sleeved blouses, dirndl skirts, and short aprons. We never did ask if they were dressed this way for a particular celebration, but it appeared for many people, it was just the way they wanted to dress for a Sunday afternoon’s outing.
The Salzbergwerk (salt mines) have been active since the early 1500s, and the Berchtesgaden area produces 120,000 tons of refined salt annually. We were told that miner’s clothes are required for those who tour the mine on the small train, and at one place the tour-group boards a raft to cross an underground lake.
In thousands of locations along hundreds of miles of mountains from France, across Switzerland, southern Germany, northern Italy, and into Austria, the natural beauty of the mountains is most often enhanced, not diminished, by the addition of man-made structures.
Sprinkled along the mountainsides, Alpine houses with overhanging balconies supporting planter boxes filled with cascading red and white geraniums, are embellished with a decorative motif. Cows and sheep grazing in the deep green grass add splendor, and mounds of hay and little barns complete the picture. Mountain villages, tourist hotels, and ski resorts scattered among the natural beauty, all look as if they really belong. It demonstrates that mountainsides can be used and not abused.
KÖNIGSSEE
A two hour electric boat trip on the Königssee (King’s Lake) provides a view of some magnificent mountain scenery. The long narrow forest green lake bordered by steep mountains, is reminiscent of fjords in Norway. To ensure the deep green color, the marvelous clarity of the water, and the peacefulness of the neighborhood, only electric boats have been permitted on this lake since 1909.
As the boat passes a certain point along the shore, it stops, and a bugler plays a duet with his echo. About half-way down the lake we left the boat and visited the Chapel of St. Bartholomä. A fifteen-minute walk through the woods brought us to the little Chapel of St. Johann und Paul, near a clear mountain stream. Continuing the boat ride to the far end of the Königssee, and after a ten or fifteen minute walk, there is the Obersee, the little lake that was separated from the Königssee by a prehistoric landslide.
%OBERSALZBERG
Hitler, and other Nazi officials, built summer houses in the foothills at Obersalzberg. These houses were bombed on April 25, 1945, and were later completely destroyed to make certain they would not become a shrine. For the next forty-five years these grounds provided a golf course for summer recreation, and a place for snow sports in the winter, for US military personnel and their families. The nearby General Walker Hotel, formerly the Hotel Platterhof (built to house the faithful who would come to show their loyalty to Hitler), served as a “Rest and Recreation” center for US Forces personnel and their families. The hotel and sports facility were returned to German control a few years ago.
Many of the roads in this area are very steep (24% at one place) and twisty, so it’s frustrating that the driver must pay such close attention to what he is doing (and the back-seat driver is so busy back-seat driving), that no pictures can be taken. There’s a very good reason we can’t stop at the side of the road — there is no side of the road. The narrow shoulder of these steep, twisty roads does not provide a place for us to stop and take pictures.
HITLER’S TEEHAUS
To visit the top of Kehlstein and see Hitler’s Teehaus, 6,017 feet above sea level, cars are parked at the Kehlstein bus station and passengers ride the Bundespost (post office) bus, the only vehicle authorized to drive the last several miles of narrow, twisting road. This road is one lane wide, with a passing place half-way up, or down.
One bus leaves the top, another leaves the bottom station at about the same time, and the first to reach the only wide spot then waits for the other to pass. Reminds us of riding a cable car or a funicular railway, where the cars counterbalance each other and pass half-way between the top and bottom stations.
After a quarter mile walk into a tunnel, there’s a large elevator paneled in very bright and shiny brass and copper panels. Many scenes in movies or newsreels have shown a car being driven into the tunnel to deliver some important personage to this elevator. The 400-foot elevator ride leads to the Eagle’s Nest, or Teehaus, now called Kehlsteinhaus. There are some famous photos of Hitler standing at the huge plate glass window, but a guidebook says that he only visited here about five times.
The weather cooperated during only one of our several visits to this area, and on that day the scenic view from the Eagle’s Nest, from the parking lot at the bottom of the elevator, or from the valley floor, was absolutely spectacular. There isn’t much else to say, it’s that old problem of finding a description. A thesaurus helps, but the view is too delightful for words.
THERE’S MORE TO SEE
We have not seen all of Germany, and if we marked a map with all the places we have visited, there would be large areas with no marks at all. This book is not intended as a guidebook and we do not copy information from guidebooks just to “fill” space with information about places we have yet to visit.
There’s no reason to believe the places we have yet to see, aren’t just as magnificent and thrilling as the places we have already visited.
Chapter 15
Landshut, Nürnberg, to Bamberg
%LANDSHUT
The buildings that line the wide curved main street of this elegant medieval city, forty-five miles northeast of München, look as if they might have been planned for Amsterdam. On some the gables are rounded, and on others the façades are “stepped” to the peaked gable — the windows and the roof-lines looked very Dutch to us. Landshut’s main street was completely torn up the time we visited, so much of the charm we would expect to see today was then hidden by barricades, equipment, and piles of construction rubble.
The roof-line of the red brick church of St. Martin’s rises far above the other buildings in town, and the slender 436-foot steeple, with a clock on four sides, rises far above that. Go inside and enjoy the particularly well-lit interior, and notice that the many beautiful octagonal pillars look almost too fragile to support the vaulting (ceiling) 170 feet above. Near the rear of the church, a circular staircase leads to a recent excavation of a portion of a building built years ago.
%REGENSBURG
Spires atop the twin flamboyant towers of St. Peter’s Cathedral, present a lacy picture as downtown Regensburg is approached. Crossing the Donau (Danube) River on the Steinerne Brücke (the old stone bridge), permits a beautiful view of the cathedral and the substantial buildings of this town.
It’s interesting to stroll from a modern department store past an old, old building or an even older ruin, to another modern store. The contrast is impressive. Many times in department stores in Europe there will be an escalator to an upper floor, but then stairs, or perhaps an elevator, must be found for the return to the ground floor. At this Horten Department Store (a chain of large stores, found in major cities throughout Germany) there were two escalators going up (one from each direction) and just one escalator coming down.
WALHALLA / VALHALLA
Less than ten miles east of Regensburg, on a bluff high above the left bank of the Donau, a Doric temple was built by Ludwig I as a memorial to great soldiers, artists, and other illustrious men of Germany. The building, modeled on the Parthenon in Athens, contains commemorative plaques and busts of German personages. Walhalla comes from Nordic mythology, as the name for the final resting place for heroes’ souls, and is spelled with a “V” in English and with a “W” in German.
What we call the VW (auto) is pronounced approximately “Vo Vay” in German, and that little box on the pharmacy shelf almost looks like a familiar box of “Vicks,” but it’s labeled “Wicks.” The product, the colors, and the pronunciation are all familiar.
%PASSAU
Passau is at the junction of the Donau (Danube) River, the River Inn (325 yards wide), and the small River Ilz, with Austria just across the Donau. The merging of these three rivers almost doubles the volume of the Donau, which at Passau becomes a very large river. On the left bank of the Donau, the wooded hillside is crowned by the fortress of Oberhaus. On the right bank, the town sits on a narrow promontory, topped by the magnificent cathedral.
A Gothic Dom (Cathedral) dedicated to St. Stephen was destroyed by fire, then reconstructed (1680s) in the Baroque style, by Italian master builders. The east end of the building is a remarkable work of flamboyant Gothic, with a slender domed belfry atop the cupola. Here the world’s largest church organ, resounds with 17,000 pipes.
When a travel book is read, it may be expected the writer will describe what he has seen, but there’s just no way to describe the beauty of this, and many other churches we have visited. Any description we have seen, or have attempted to write, just sounds schmaltzy, and that’s not a good description. The decorative stuccoes, the three-dimensional sculptures, the frescoes, the magnificent pictures on the ceiling are astonishing. In particular, the paintings in the chapels show great skill on the part of the artist.
As we have found in most European locations, the local McDonald’s is quite subdued, with only small Golden Arches marking this eating/restroom place. Passenger boats were loaded with passengers, waiting their chance to visit either up or down this famous river. From here, the boats sail east to Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and on to the Black Sea, or west through the Main-Donau canal to cities in Western Europe. The town, as it extends from the river to the hilltop, provides a beautiful photo opportunity from the bridge over the Donau.
%AMBERG
We find it interesting to discover what is determined to be the “focal point” in many towns. Sometimes the pictures on brochures are of buildings or other scenes that we don’t find too impressive, but then when we tour the town, we find other structures and scenery we think are more interesting than what’s advertised in the tourist literature.
Amberg is a nice little city with a beautiful Rathaus, cobbled streets and blocks of old buildings, and they advertise the “Stadtbrille” as their town symbol. It’s interesting, but not as spectacular as other parts of town.
What is a Stadtbrille? Well, “Stadt” for town, and “brille” means a pair of spectacles, and in Amberg a bridge with two round arches crosses a small stream and the reflection, sometimes, is two circles, much like a pair of spectacles with round lenses, or “town spectacles.” Really. Now we don’t wish to underrate or make fun of this symbol, but — well, we found the town delightful, and the Stadtbrille, well, not a spectacular focal point.
This portion of Germany is not saturated with tourist sights, so campsites are rather few and far between. In a parking lot we met a neatly dressed US soldier and asked if he could help us find the nearest campsite. The stylishly dressed, beautiful Fräulein who was in the car with him was able to give us detailed directions to the campsite, about ten miles south of Amberg.
It was a good thing we had instructions as there were none of the usual signs directing RV traffic, and it would have been difficult to find the campsite without her help. As we checked in for the night, it appeared most of the occupants were older German couples who were enjoying an extended outdoor summer vacation, rather than tourists stopping for a week, or just for the night.
%NÜRNBERG
Schöner Brunnen (the Beautiful Fountain) was about the only structure that remained standing among the rubble in Nürnberg’s Hauptmarkt (Main marketplace), as seen in pictures taken at the end of WW II. This Gothic fountain, built in the 1300s, is the city’s best-known monument. The Glücksring im Gitter (lucky brass ring) is enclosed in the lacy iron trellis of the fountain, and turning this ring is reputed to bring happiness in love. (It sure didn’t hurt.) Come to think of it, we have seen this “fountain” during several trips, and have yet to see any water.
Across the marketplace, Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) is the center of attention at noon when the ornamental clock, “Männleinlaufen” (little men running), strikes twelve and the statues of seven electors move round and round to swear allegiance to the Emperor Karl IV. Nürnberg’s world renowned Christkindlesmarkt (Christmas Fair) is held in this market square each December.
During one visit, photographs measuring several feet in each dimension, showing WW II bomb damage suffered by major buildings, were displayed so “then” and “now” could be seen in contrast. The difference between the photos and the reconstructed buildings, was almost beyond belief.
For someone with an interest in medieval cities, Nürnberg is the place to visit. During WW II the city had been reduced to a disheartening heap of rubble, and arguments waged on what to do with the remaining mountains of nothing. Some advocated leaving the ruins as a warning against waging war. Others demanded a slavishly built copy of the original, complete with narrow houses, little streets, and crowded conditions.
It was finally decided that the Königstor (King’s gate), St. Lorenz-Kirche (Gothic church), the Hauptmarkt (Chief market place) with the Schöner Brunnen (Beautiful fountain) and Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), St. Sebaldus-Kirche (another Gothic church) and to the massive hill-top Kaiserburg (castle), all be preserved as salient features of the old city. Whatever else they did, they wanted to preserve those historical structures whose foundations had survived. Loads of rubble were used to raise the banks of the unruly Pegnitz, so its waters could be kept under control.
They have carefully rebuilt walls, gates, and many buildings and bridges. The Heilig-Geist-Spital (Holy Ghost Hospital) is built on two arches, and straddles part of the Pegnitz River. From a bridge that spans the river, flower bedecked stream-side cafes, an interesting half-round tower with a crooked roof, and the half-timbered Weinstadel (wine hall) is certainly not a view expected in the center of a major metropolitan city. The towers, buildings, and courtyards of the massive Kaiserburg on the hilltop a few blocks south of the marketplace, provide a high place from which to observe Nürnberg’s 128 towers, and rooftops to the horizon.
Near the Tiergärtner Gate, just beneath the castle, the Dürerhaus, the home of the artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) Nürnberg’s most famous “favorite son,” is open for a visit. This is perhaps the finest square in Nürnberg, and a particularly pleasant place for a summer evening’s rendezvous for a concert, a snack, and an ice-cream cone. The Louvre in Paris displays Dürer’s 22 by 17 inch “Self-Portrait,” painted while he was in Strasbourg when he was 22 years old.
We have seen thousands of old, old buildings in a thousand old, old cities and towns, and we think Nürnberg’s medieval stone buildings are about the most appealing in any large European city.
In the 1930s a 400,000 seat stadium was planned to be built in Zeppelin Field, southeast of the city-center. Hitler had selected Nürnberg as the location for the annual spectacular Nazi party rallies, and until the stadium was built there was a need to present an impressive meeting place. A “cathedral of light” was created by what can perhaps be called “luminescent architecture.” One hundred and thirty anti-aircraft searchlights were placed around the field at forty-foot intervals. Pointed straight up, their beams blazed far into the sky, serving as pillars of infinitely high walls. Other spotlights and thousands of huge flags served to create an impressive masquerade.
Unfortunately, photos of those meetings show they were more than very successful. Since so many of the pre-war Nazi meetings were held here, the Allies felt it appropriate to hold the WW II War Crimes Trials in the Palace of Justice in Nürnberg.
Newsreels taken after WW II show a huge swastika, high above the famous Nürnberg stadium, being blown to bits. Now the stadium is mostly a ruin, and does not serve its original function as a site for sports and throngs of people. An auto-race, utilizing a portion of the stadium floor and adjacent streets, was scheduled for the week-end following one visit, and bleachers, refreshment stands, and traffic control were all being put in place for that spectacle. We didn’t care to stay and watch an auto-race, but wouldn’t it have been nice if 60 years ago an auto-race had been held instead of the Nazi spectacle.
ELIZABETH AND AXEL
During two of our visits to Nürnberg we spent the evening in Oberasbach, a western suburb of Nürnberg, to visit with a family who had been friends of Emmy’s sister. Elizabeth’s family had lived in this area before WW II, and as a child, Axel and his family escaped from Eastern Germany ahead of the occupying Soviets, just after WW II.
Our first visit included dinner in their beautiful, park-like backyard. The main course was three kinds of Franconian roasted sausages, the specialty of this part of Germany. Dinner included sauerkraut, potatoes, salad, pretzel bread, and Swiss cheese for desert. But they were shocked that we would select ice-water or Coca-Cola instead of Franconian wine.
Their two-story home can certainly be called palatial. Marble floors, large rooms, and with a huge back yard that is really a charming park. Their home (and the homes of many of Emmy’s Cousins) are constructed with thick stone or cement walls, and a tile roof; floors and stairways are marble, stone, or decorative terrazzo; all in all they should last for hundreds of years.
What a contrast to the wood and stucco homes (even those that cost millions of dollars) built in Southern California. Wood and stucco are flexible and will swing and sway in a California earthquake. Since stone and cement are stiff and unyielding, they would be more likely to crack and crumble.
Elizabeth worked in the Government tax office, and Axel worked for a Public Relations firm. Jim told about the cartoon that shows two men in a stable, cleaning up after
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