Pre-Christmas Bavaria, part 2
The list of cities that I would like to see was not small. It is one thing to want, and another thing to get what you want. Walking around Nuremberg in the evening, we decided that in the morning, looking at the weather, we would adjust our plans for Sunday.
Today is a day off, so we can all go together. The guys lived for some time in Bamberg, having arrived in Germany. And on the way there is a small town of Buttenheim (But-tenheim), which houses the Levi Strauss Museum. The town is very small, but pretty. We arrive there 10 minutes before the opening of the museum (I don’t remember at 10 or 11 it opens), but we are not alone. We look around, waiting, a small brewery, Buttenheim Pfarrkirche (very pretty inside and absolutely deserted).
Together with us, another 10 people enter the museum, the entrance is paid, a few euros, I don’t know for sure. For Russian speakers, they give a printout with a story, and everyone else has an audio guide. To be honest, I did not know why the museum is here. It turns out that in this house on February 26.1829, Levi Strauss was born, who can be called the inventor of the jeans that the whole world wears today. Documents survived that the Strauss family lived in one of the old houses at 33 Marktstrasse Street. This house was repaired, whitewashed, the beams, windows and doors were painted in an unusual blue, "denim" color for these places. On two floors and in the attic there is an exposition of the museum, which includes an extensive collection of jeans from all times. There is also a shop where we buy jeans. As the husband said, he may not really need them, but he just wanted to. Classic models from 90 euros and above, there are discounted 40-50 euros. They take the card, pay, we are satisfied and go to Bamberg.
We decide to start with a tour of the Altenburg Castle, they say that it is very beautiful to look at the roofs of the city from the walls. They are beautifully snow-white now, the snow has fallen . There are very narrow and steep roads in the city, so there are mirrors for drivers at some intersections. otherwise you won't see the car. We stop almost at the very bottom, somehow we did not dare to go further, although there is a parking lot in front of the very entrance to the castle. There are very few people, not everyone will rise here in winter. You need to go along the road, because. the Germans close all the stairs in parks and castles for the winter, we later saw this more than once. Admission is free, is there something like a museum, I don’t know, it was empty.
We have been traveling for a long time, we go down to the city and understand that it is time to eat. I don’t drink beer, but even at home I knew that the guys should definitely try the Bamberg smoked beer Rauchbier, which is brewed here. There are more people, tourists can be seen immediately, Russians are nowhere to be heard again. Having descended from the castle, we parked in the underground parking lot, went to look for the Schlenkerla Brewery.
Smoked beer Echt Schlenkerla, like any other Bavarian beer, is brewed according to the law on the purity of brewing from 1516. But there is one important difference with regard to malt processing: green malt, germinated barley, is loaded in its own malthouse on a fine wire mesh and dried by the heat generated from the fire below. The smoke generated during the combustion process tightens the wire mesh, and at the same time, smoked malt is obtained from green malt, with its own specific taste. Conversely, with ordinary malt, drying is carried out only due to the release of heat. The smoked malt is made from beech logs that have been stored for at least three years. This top-quality wood is cut down in the Franconian Jura, and it is this that ultimately gives the “Echt Schlenkerla smoked beer” its specific aroma and dark color.
It seemed that there were so many people, there would be no place to sit down, but it turned out that there was enough space for everyone. There are many tourists, but it is clear that there are many locals. Beer for the guys, lemon over for me and Alina. We will eat, of course, sausages. In such establishments there is a persistent smell of stewed sauerkraut, I like it, some do not. They don't have fried potatoes or fries for such dishes, they only serve fries with chop, but potato balls are a bit specific food, but you can eat it. They ate, warmed up, they say that they liked the beer. They gave me a try, but I still don’t understand The price of a dinner for 4 with a tip is 32 euros.
In the cathedral (Bamberger Dom) they listened to the rehearsal of the children's choir. In the evening there should be a concert, they arranged chairs, we sat down, they sang a couple of songs, they really liked it.
All the main sights were examined, the foot sticking out of the wall of the Old Town Hall was photographed (there are some tourist chips that I don’t always follow). A very nice town, certainly beautiful in the summer, although when it was snowing and everything swept and circled before our eyes, it was great. A short day in winter makes you move towards Nuremberg.
In our opinion, “colorful little men sitting on perches from Nice” spoil the view of the city. I don’t know if they were transported from Nice here, or if they were different, but somehow they looked a little ridiculous against the backdrop of chic cathedrals. Maybe it's not forever
I do not describe all cathedrals and monasteries. Well, somehow I can’t remember all this, and much more I like just to see it all. I know that those who are interested will find a lot of information at home, before the trip. In every city, there are maps in the information center, not always in Russian, in the Bamberg Cathedral, for example, there was a diagram with a description in Russian, they took it and walked around, checking it with the plan.
We just enjoyed the picture around.
I just came across pictures from this town somewhere, and the distance is short, an hour by train, so it ended up on our route.
It's time to master the German railways. Sasha is trying in every possible way to teach us some words so that we do not get lost, we were given a local telephone number, we just smile. They know that we will not get lost, and we know that sign language and some kind of English will not let us get lost.
Together we go to the station, on foot for about 15 minutes, to study the ticket machine. I know that there is a Bavarian ticket, but there is also a Nuremberg ticket, under which we can travel today. Bavarian has recently been worth 22 euros for one plus 4 for the next, a total of 26 for two. But Nuremberg is valid from the very morning, and not from 9, and most importantly for 2 it costs 16.20 euros. (http://www. vgn. de). There are 2 options for buying a ticket in an automatic machine - you choose a route, date, quantity and take a ticket. But if you know for sure that you need the Bavarian or Nuremberg, you choose it right away. They argued, made noise, tried, took it for 16.20 and ran to the train, they made it.
Sasha was worried that we only took a one-way ticket, but everything was correct. Controllers go all the time, the first one checked the ticket and that's it, and the second gave a pen and ordered to enter the last name, there is a place, we just didn’t see it or forgot. Yes, at the station a couple of times they offered to sell a Bavarian ticket to those who passed the check and did not enter their last name.
The map of the city was printed out, so we did not take it at the information center, it costs like 30 cents there. The city is small, not spoiled by tourists in those days when there are no music festivals.
Not far from the station is the Margrave Opera House - one of the most beautiful theaters in Europe. On the poster of the theater you can see that the hall is simply gorgeous, but from the outside it is a very modest building. At one time, Milan's La Scala made the same impression outwardly. It seemed to me then that she was generally pozha at our Shevchenko theater. I know that external and internal appearance are two big differences. But we do not try to get inside.
The grand opening of the Opernhaus took place on September 23.1748. Many Italian, French and German operas were staged on its stage. In 1870. Richard Wagner visited Bayreuth. Fascinated by the Opernhaus, he decided to stage his new opera Der Ring des Nibelungen here. The composer moves to the city with his wife and children and spends the last ten years of his life in Bayreuth. It is Wagner who organizes opera festivals in Bayreuth, the tradition of which continues to this day. The city has many buildings and monuments associated with the name of the great composer. One of them: Villa Wahnfried - the house-museum of Richard Wagner. From Opernhaus to Villa Wahnfried ten minutes walk along Richard Wagnerstrasse. Villa Wahnfried is one of the most visited museums in the city. It is known that Wagner put a lot of mental energy into the creation and arrangement of his house, which he affectionately called the 'fantasy house'. Here, if his last operas were written, here he received his friends and guests, and during the days of opera festivals, the house served as a kind of office for the composer. Richard Wagner and his wife Cosima, daughter of Franz Liszt, are buried in the back garden. We were next to him, but he's on revitalization.
The time is early, there are almost no people, it seems that the Christmas market starts to work at 11 o'clock. We turn to the side, seeing the turret, we must go into the courtyard.
Only by looking at the photographs at home and trying to remember what we took on them, rummaging again on the Internet, we find out that we were passing by the Old Palace (Altes Schloss), a beautiful building.
The place where the palace directly stands has long been called the palace hill (Schlossberglein). Previously, this hill was fortified - on one side there was a fortress wall and a moat flowed, on the other sides the palace was protected, like the whole city. However, Bayreuth never belonged to cities with a good defensive position - the whole city is located in a lowland, besides, there has never been a fortress here, a landmark in the history of the New Palace was a fire on January 26.1753: Margrave Wilhelm forgot to extinguish candle, and the whole building burned down. The palace was soon restored, but was somewhat modified. More or less in this form, the palace has survived to this day. During World War II, Bayreuth was bombed. A third of the city's buildings were destroyed. For example, the barracks and the Reizenstein Palais, the most magnificent building in the city, were badly damaged. They were never restored. The old palace, on the contrary, was restored, but since all the interiors burned down, the museum was not opened here. There is simply nothing to show here. As a result, the financial service of Upper Franconia (Finanzamt von Oberfranken) and a number of other regional institutions were transferred here. Today, the Old Palace is a decoration of Bayreuth, and no one guesses that it is a remake and that behind the beautiful multi-colored facade of the medieval palace, not openwork cande labras are hidden, but suspended ceilings and multi-tiered racks with folders
Deep in the Altes Schloss is the Schlosskirche. The austere and even ascetic facade of the Schlosskirche contrasts with its magnificent baroque interior decoration. The inside is really very beautiful, I posted a photo in the album. Today it is a Catholic church. Unlike southern Bavaria, where Catholicism predominates, in Bayreuth the number of Protestants and Catholics is approximately the same. Schlosskirche is also interesting because it is here that Margraves Wilhelmina is buried. This woman played a special role in the history of the city and is still revered by the townspeople. Wilhelmina was a Prussian princess, the daughter of Friedrich Wilheim I. Having married Margrave Friedrich, she moved to Bayreuth in January 1732. Here Wilhelmina lives until her death in 1758. She did a lot to ensure that a small provincial town gained fame and greatness. It was on her initiative that new beautiful palaces in the Baroque style appeared in the city, while the former buildings (Eremitage, Hofgarten) were given a metropolitan shine. Wilhelmina founded the first university in the city, as well as the Academy of Arts, invited leading foreign architects, scientists, and musicians to Bayreuth.
There is another one - the Hermitage Palace (Altes Schloss Eremitage), located on the outskirts of St. Johannis (Sankt Johannis) and built on the model of the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. We didn’t even plan to go there, because. this should be seen in the summer or spring.
We approached Villa Wahnfried after walking around the city, going through the old Hofgarten, where you can admire wonderful sculptures and architectural monuments. Among them: Neues Schloss - a palace built on the orders of Wilhelmina by her favorite architect Saint-Pierre. The festive decoration in the Rococo style still delights many visitors today. They can see the main halls of the palace, get acquainted with the curious archaeological collection that has been gathered here for several centuries. In one of the adjoining pavilions, the former greenhouse, today the government of Upper Franconia works.
And nearby is the Stadthalle building, once built by Saint-Pierre as a riding arena, later rebuilt and expanded many times before turning into a modern cultural center. Today, numerous festivals, carnivals, performances and concerts are held here.
Here we took a walk, but once again I will say that this should not be seen in winter. The fountain in front of the entrance was sewn into a wooden house, so it turned out to be a small pyramid. We didn't go to museums.
There are many interesting houses in the city, in one of the houses on Maximilianstrasse (central shopping street) a pharmacy has been located for almost 400 years. There is a lot of greenery in the city, which we can only guess about in winter, we see trimmed bushes covered with snow.
We liked everything, maybe this is not the most winter city, but we did not regret that we went.
The city greets us with rain, we have only one umbrella, we even pass a couple of stops on the tram, because. all tickets give the right to free travel in public transport, we go to the shops several times, when it is really pouring heavily, we are all going to buy an umbrella. Nature took pity on the tourists, the rain stopped, and we successfully implemented all the plans.
Having traveled by tram, we get off near the cathedral dedicated to St. Kilian, he was the first bishop of Wü rzburg. Before leaving, I read that the cathedral was under reconstruction until the end of the year. I don't really go into styles, but I really liked the inside. The cathedral appears to have been recently reopened. Outwardly, it looks modest, but inside there is a lot of everything, an underground crypt, in some places some modern buildings. On the other side, we walked around the cathedral already in the 2nd half of the day, the views are completely different, but we didn’t go anywhere, we didn’t see the courtyard.
Near the cathedral there is a very old church - Neumü nster (Neumü nster), the brown baroque facade of which cannot but be distinguished from the general background of the street quarter. But we didn’t go in, apparently embarrassed by the flags and the announcement of concerts, although, to be honest, we didn’t see the incoming ones, it might have been closed.
The Christmas market takes place near the Chapel of St. Mary, on the Market Square. There is also an information center in the so-called Falkenhaus (Falkenhaus). The house is very beautiful, just playing in the sun. It seems to me that in the sun the whole area looks great, we were lucky, we saw the sun there.
In fact, the main goal was to visit the Marienberg fortress, because. According to all reviews, there are magnificent views of the city from there. It is necessary to cross the old bridge and follow the signs. Reading the reviews, I came across a comparison that this bridge is similar to the Charles Bridge in Prague. So curiosity calls ahead.
I will say right away that it was similar to us only in that it is a bridge. Tourists love to give sights their own characteristics, but for me Charles Bridge is one and only, Venice is unique, I adore Amsterdam and no canals can compare with it. So is this bridge, it is Wurzburg and that's it. It is not easy to walk along it, because. the hand all the time reaches for the camera, then the frame forward, then back, then to the right, then to the left. I really like to photograph reflections in the water, a regular camera does not always pull out, but I continue anyway.
I read in the reviews that a walk to the fortress and back takes at least 2 hours, so let's drink a cappuccino before climbing, get a little warm and go. The arrows point the way, easily and clearly. The steps are also closed here, but a winding asphalt path leads up. No one goes except us, but it seems that there is no other way here. We pass by small dachas, I called them that, I don’t know whose houses, but they are beautiful, well-groomed, they really resemble country houses. In some places, something like decorative alpine towns, gardens. Again I catch myself thinking that in the summer it is beautiful here.
Probably, on this trip we saw so many fortresses for the first time. Each time we thought that this was the biggest one or this one, but we had never seen such thick walls and such labyrinths when approaching. There is parking for cars and buses, but there was no one at all. There were 5 of us in the fortress. Entrance to it is free, only the museum is paid.
As usual, 100 shots were taken left and right, they looked into that loophole, and stood on this bridge. The beauty of winter is that we are almost alone, no one bothers us, no one runs and does not occupy the frame. We look at all the battlements of the cathedrals, the beautiful new bridge in the distance, the river below and, of course, the huge vineyards around. This area is famous for its wines, but somehow we forgot to go to the store.
Descending from the fortress, we found the Vineyard Fountain, went around St. Killian's Cathedral, looked at the University Church, once again went through all the pavilions at the fair, bought another angel.
While still at home, I came across a photo of the Protestant Church of St. John (Johanniskirche) in one of the reviews. This, of course, is a modern building, but it has a very unusual shape. I agree with the author of the review, it is worth seeing this original building from the outside and very ascetic, as expected, inside. You can see it when you stand near the entrance to the Archbishop's Residence (Fü rstbischö fliche Residenz).
I saw a photo inside, it's just amazing, in front of the building there is a fountain and gazebos. Must see this in the summer
We also looked at an unusual fountain, about which we also got a review. Located on the Star Square (Sternplat), around the stone-marble star there are bronze figures of a nymph, a satyr and a ram, behind which, to top it all off, a fish lurked (“water” theme was explained by the fact that earlier on This square used to be a fish market.
The author of the review, I certainly don’t remember where I found it, gives a link to the original creation story (http://www. lothar-forster. de/planfenster/04. htm)l , and if someone who speaks German well could write a translation, it would be very cool. What he translated is: “At first, the sculptor, a certain Lothar Forster, planned to portray the nymph in approximately the same position as the satire. However, “there was a hubbub and barking”, local feminist activists almost picketed the mayor’s office, arguing that a woman’s butt is designed to sit on it, and not expose it, and in general, women have no buttocks, but only buttocks . The statue had to be reworked, the sculptures of the nymph and the faun were censored, but suddenly there was a problem with the fish (there were originally 5 of them, and almost all of them had claims). Here I have already lost the thread of the story, but I realized that further we will talk about some kind of fish with a female breast, which gave rise to an even greater high than the “story with the backside”... In general, everyone had a lot of fun. And today's composition, apparently, is a heavily edited and smoothed version of the idea that was in the head of the sculptor.
Somewhere else a lot of interesting things are lost in the city, among the residential buildings there is a huge building of the Stift Haug Church, just beautiful houses.
The day in winter is short, of course, it is interesting to see the city in the evening illumination, because it is completely different, but we need to go back. There is also an evening Nuremberg, and you need to tell your friends what you saw.
For the first time in all our organized and self-guided trips, we don't have time to watch what's filmed. The family asks for a photo, the husband makes 2 links and we will see everything else only at home. Rest is also work, no less difficult than work.
