Bamberg

We left Nuremberg early in the morning and took a quick train ride 41 km from Nuremberg to Bamberg.  Bamberg is the town  that Martin spent about a year in the early 70's when he was stationed in Germany while in the Army.  Unlike Munich and  Nuremberg, and many other German cities, Bamberg was virtually untouched during the Second World War, because  they lacked at the time any major military bases, or industries. So unlike those other cities all the medieval buildings, and churches in Bamberg are truly the original buildings that have been there for hundreds of years, and they are not reconstructions.  Most of Bamberg has been designated a World Heritage Site.

We just happened to arrive in Bamberg in the middle of an annual beer festival, that apparently is sponsored by one of the churches.   So there was more people in the streets than usual and lots of beer and food sold by vendors and consumed under tents and in the open.  Also some great live German music.

The building above and below are two views of the same building, the Altes Rathaus, or old city hall.  This is one of the more famous buildings in Bamberg  and as can be seen below a portion of the building seems to hang precariously over the Ragnitz River which runs through the center of the city.

A view of  some of the festivities going on in Bamberg when we were there..

A beautiful statue  of the crucifixion on one of the bridges leading up to the Altes Rathaus.

The same statue below with someone getting their picture taken.

Another attempt at a selfie, with the Altes Rathaus in the background.

Two branches of the Regnitz river run through Bamberg, and the river is very active commercially as well as recreationally.

 Our hotel sat right on the bank of the river.  It's the half timbered building on the left connected to its restaurant (Eckerts) on the right.

Actually the hotel hung out a little bit over the river as can be seen from the view from our rooms window.

Also visible from our hotel window was this sculpture that sat on a pedestal overlooking the river.  This was called the "Dom Anniversary light sculpture"  and changed colors at night.  The Dom is the name of the cathedral in Bamberg which is pictured below these two pictures.

 The Bamberg Cathedral sometimes called The Dom.  The first Cathedral on this site was consecrated in the year 1012. It burned down twice and this current cathedral was built in the 13th century.  It's very common to see constant reconstruction and maintenance work going on around these very old churches and other building all over Europe.  It's a full time job to keep them up and prevent them from deteriorating.

In one of the crypts of the cathedral is this actual well that has been there since the first cathedral was built a thousand years ago.

Above is the burial place of an early bishop and on the right is the tomb of Heinrich 2nd and his consort Cunigunde who were early patrons of the church.  The tomb was made in 1513.  There is also a very early pope (Clemens II - 1046/47) entombed elsewhere in the Cathedral.

Above is the altar of the Virgin Mary by Veit Stoss in 1520.  On the right is the beautiful main altar with the huge bronze chandelier hanging above.

Below is the famous Bamberg Horseman, the best known and most significant work of art in the Cathedral.  It was created around 1235 by an unknown artist and it uncertain who the rider is supposed to portray.  This statue is the symbol of Bamberg.  The right hand picture below is a  much smaller silver statue of the Bamberg Rider that sits in Martins office at home.  It was given to him by his unit when he left Germany.

Across from the Cathedral is this large building above, which is called the Neue Residenz.  This was the palace of the reigning Prince-Bishops of Bamberg since 1604.  The palace has over 40 state rooms. 

The view of Bamberg from the Neue Residenz and Dom.

The US Army had large elements of the First Armored Division stationed in Germany up until just a few years ago.  One of the reasons we put Bamberg on our itinerary for this trip was to revisit the city where Martin was stationed for a year.  The Army post in Bamberg was called Warner Barracks when the Army was there, but they left a few years ago and the post went back to the German Government.  It is now the headquarters of the German Federal Police Force, equivalent to our FBI.  We found a great Taxi driver who was familiar with the history of this place and agreed to take us by.  Officially there are no pictures supposed to be made, he told us, but he drove by slowly so we could take a few out the window.  The above building is where Martin worked during the time he was in Bamberg.

A final toast to Bamberg and to a wonderful trip that is just about to end.