JOURNAL: DAY-TO-DAY DETAILS
This narrative follows the videotaped segments I took during the trip. That sequence dictated the flow of this journal. Since I concentrated on the camcorder, I relied on a fellow traveller, David Smith, for his photo skill. Hope you can make sense of this and don’t mind the historical digressions. I relied on Google for much of the factual information.
Monday, DAY 1, March 12th Depart
Annette drove me to the airport and dropped me off at the international departures area. I departed on Northwest flight #46 from Minneapolis to Amsterdam at 08:00 pm and arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol, Netherlands at 10:15 am on Tuesday, Mar 13th. The flight lasted 7 hours and 20 minutes and covered 4155 miles. The seating configuration was 2-4-2. Since Annette canceled her trip, I lost the aisle seat that should have been assigned to me. Fortunately, I was able to change my seat via nwa website.
Tuesday, DAY 2, March 13th Arrival Netherlands
Our plane arrived earlier than expected in a very dense fog that covered the Amsterdam airport. A very friendly couple from Oxford, Mississippi and I were met at the airport by a Grand Circle representative and transferred to the pier to embark on our river cruise ship.
Our ship. The River Harmony had rooms for 140 passengers, but our group numbered 129 because of a larger than usual number of single reservations. Grand Circle had three guides to serve us: Martin Kummer (senior guide), Mert Uger and Rebecca Reiss. The passengers were divided into three groups (of a little over 40 per group) and colored coded with yellow (gold), red (or orange) and blue. I was assigned to the golden group and Mert (pronounced with an a sound) served as my guide.
We enjoyed a light lunch of salads, hot dogs and sauerkraut. The balance of the day was spent at
leisure to relax and to make up for jet lag. After a nap, really a snooze, in my Room 102, I joined the gang in the lounge for a ship briefing. We became better acquainted with our Program
Directors and traveling companions over a Welcome Drink. Each day during the cruise, whenever we had leisure time along our route, we received a briefing about the pier area and town prior to arrival.
For dinner starters that evening we had mussels prepared and served in their black shells. I have always avoided things like clams, snails and such, but I knew Annette would have been proud of me to try the mussels. I made a face, but then relished the king fish entrée and Dutch pancake/ice cream dessert that followed. From day one the restaurant staff did an excellent job of serving not only excellent food and drink, but good cheer as well.
Weds., DAY 3, March 14th Canal Boat Tour/Van Gogh Museum
After a high calorie breakfast I joined a canalboat tour of Amsterdam’s famed canals, providing a matchless perspective of the city’s remarkable architecture.
The boat we used was one of those long sleek glass-covered rigs that offered good viewing possibilities. Our River Harmony can be seen in the background on the video along side another cruise ship on the Oosterdok. The gentleman sitting next to me on the boat had served on the Ohio River, and he provided added insights on water control. The first observation we made from the boat was the massive volume of bikes along the canal in Amsterdam. Bikes were parked everywhere and there were even parking ramps of multiple layers. No doubt the use of bikes contributed to the quality of good air here.
We passed by Oude Lutherse Kerk, a circular structure with a large dome that made up most of the roof area. It is a bare, mostly fourteenth century church. Within was a memorial tablet of Rembrandt’s first wife, Sakia van Uylenburg. The church was originally the place of worship of the nearby fishing community. The guide for our craft alerted us to an upcoming scenic site of a canal bridge. Luthersekerk and then the Russian Orthodox Noorderkerk followed this.
We cruised past the Anne Frank House on Prinsengracht. This is the house where diarist, Anne Frank lived with family and friends for two years while World War II exploded around them. On an earlier trip here, we visited the secret attic apartment that is still sheltered by the swinging bookcase door.
Anne Frank
Although we did not visit the Rembrandt Huis and the Zuidekerk we did have a nice view of them from the canal. Rembrandt lived here in Amsterdam’s Jewish quarter from 1639-1660, until his debts forced him to move into a less expensive district. The Nazis emptied this Jewish area where Rembrandt lived in the 1940s
Our boat docked nearby and we got out at the rear entranceof a diamond factory, one of many in the city. Amsterdam has been an important center for the world’s diamond trade since the 16th century. In this city, the world’s largest (the Cullinan) and the world’s smallest 0.00012 carats with 57 facets) diamonds were cut. Free refreshments were offered at a small building on the grounds, but some others and I took the early bus that left for Museum Square.
Here we had a visit to the museum of our choice -- either the Van Gogh or the Rijksmueum. Since I toured the Rijksmueum last time, my choice was the Van Gogh Museum. This museum contains the largest collection of paintings by Vincent van Gogh in the world: some 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and 700 letters, as well as the artist's own collection of Japanese prints. The collection originally belonged to Theo. van Gogh, Vincent’s younger brother.
We entered the museum by a poster with a self-portrait of the impressionist master so I used that to introduce this section on the museum. We had pre-purchased tickets and walked right in. On the ground level, the museum has a large collection of works by other 19th-century artists: contemporaries and friends of Van Gogh's—among them Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec—as well as older artists whom he admired, such as Jean-François Millet. Photography of paintings was not allowed so I limited myself to taping only spectators walking around exhibits and close-up of pictures sold outside the museum. The museum was one of the highlights of the trip. Vincent (Willem) van Gogh (b. March 30, 1853,) is generally considered the greatest Dutch painter and draughtsman after Rembrandt. With Cézanne and Gauguin the greatest of Post-Impressionist artists. He powerfully influenced the current of Expressionism in modern art.
The main exhibition chronicles the phases of Van Gogh's life, from his childhood to his various emotional stages through his death. I personally was not impressed with his earliest works. To understand his paintings one does well to review the stages of his life. His uncle was a partner in the international firm of picture dealers Goupil and Co. and in 1869 van Gogh went to work in the branch at The Hague. In 1873 he was sent to the London branch and fell unsuccessfully in love with the daughter of the landlady. This was the first of several disastrous attempts to find happiness with a woman, and his unrequited passion affected him so badly that he was dismissed from his job. He returned to England in 1876 as an unpaid assistant at a school, and his experience of urban squalor awakened a religious zeal and a longing to serve his fellow men. His father was a Protestant pastor, and van Gogh first trained for the ministry, but he abandoned his studies in 1878 and went to work as a lay preacher among the impoverished miners of the grim Borinage district in Belgium. In his zeal he gave away his own worldly goods to the poor and was dismissed for his literal interpretation of Christ's teaching. He remained in the Borinage, suffering acute poverty and a spiritual crisis, until 1880, when he found that art was his vocation and the means by which he could bring consolation to humanity.
I especially appreciated his artwork after 1880. His masterpieces, all of it produced during a period of only 10 years, hauntingly conveys through its striking color, coarse brushwork, and contoured forms the anguish of a mental illness that eventually resulted in suicide. From 1881 to 1885 van Gogh lived in the Netherlands, sometimes in lodgings, supported by his devoted brother Theo., who regularly sent him money from his own small salary.
In keeping with his humanitarian outlook he painted peasants and workers, the most famous picture from this period being The Potato Eaters (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam; 1885). Of this he wrote to Theo.: `I have tried to emphasize that those people, eating their potatoes in the lamp-light have dug the earth with those very hands they put in the dish, and so it speaks of manual labor, and how they have honestly earned their food'.
In 1885 van Gogh moved to Antwerp on the advice of Antoine Mauve (a cousin by marriage), and studied for some months at the Academy there. Academic instruction had little to offer such an individualist, however, and in February 1886 he moved to Paris, where he met Pissarro, Degas, Gauguin, Seurat, and Toulouse-Lautrec. At this time his painting underwent a violent metamorphosis under the combined influence of Impressionism and Japanese woodcuts, losing its moralistic flavor of social realism. Van Gogh became obsessed by the symbolic and expressive values of colors and began to use them for this purpose rather than, as did the Impressionists, for the reproduction of visual appearances, atmosphere, and light. `Instead of trying to reproduce exactly what I have before my eyes,' he wrote, `I use color more arbitrarily so as to express myself more forcibly'.
In February 1888 van Gogh settled at Arles, where he painted more than 200 canvases in 15 months. During this time he sold no pictures, was in poverty, and suffered recurrent nervous crisis with hallucinations and depression. He became enthusiastic for the idea of founding an artists' co-operative at Arles and towards the end of the year Gauguin joined him. But as a result of a quarrel between them van Gogh suffered the crisis in which took place the famous incident when he cut off his left ear (or part of it), an event commemorated in his Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear (Courtauld Institute, London).
In May 1889 he went at his own request into an asylum at St Rémy, near Arles, but continued during the year he spent there a frenzied production of tumultuous pictures such as Starry Night.
He did 150 paintings besides drawings in the course of this year. In 1889 Theo. married and in May 1890 van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise to be near him, lodging with the patron and connoisseur Dr Paul Gachet. There followed another tremendous burst of strenuous activity and during the last 70 days of his life he painted 70 canvases. But his spiritual anguish and depression became more acute and on 29 July 1890 he died from the results of a self-inflicted bullet wound. When Annette and I visited Auvers-sur-Oise we toured places associated with him and the burial sites of the artist and his brother.
He sold only one painting during his lifetime (Red Vineyard at Arles; Pushkin Museum, Moscow), and was little known to the art world at the time of his death, but his fame grew rapidly thereafter. Annette and I are mostly familiar with his later paintings done in France in the Seine River area – thanks to the Grand Circle tour Paris and the River Seine. That trip also provided access to the Musee D Orsay Paris that has a treasure trove of Impressionistic art.
On the night of 7 December 2002 two of Van Gogh's works were stolen from the Van Gogh museum: View of the Sea at Scheveningen (Zeegezicht bij Scheveningen) and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen (Het uitgaan van de hervormde kerk te Nuenen). On December 12, 2003, Octave Durham was arrested in Puerto Banus, Spain. Henk Bieslijn was arrested on an unspecified date in 2003 in Amsterdam. On April 8, 2005, Durham was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, and Bieslijn was sentenced to 4 years. They were also ordered to pay EUR 350,000 in damages. To date, the stolen paintings have not been recovered. Due to loopholes in Dutch law, both men may be able to claim ownership of the stolen works after 20 to 30 years.
After we toured our respective museums we reassembled at a designated spot on the park grounds by the underground bus parking area. Our bus trip back to the River Harmony proved to be quite interesting. Our first treat was the Royal Palace, Koninklijk Paleis, on the Dam is one of the three Palaces that the State has placed at the Queen's disposal by Act of Parliament.
It was originally built as the city hall for the magistrates of Amsterdam. In the 17th century it was the largest secular building of Europe. It is used mainly for official state functions, for example state visits, the Queen's New Year reception and other official receptions. Every year, it provides the setting for the presentation of various official and royal prizes. Today, the National Monument can be found, positioned in the center of the square. The Dam Square serves as home to the late-Gothic Nieuwe Kerk. According to Grand Circle this church was built in about 1400, and was not allowed to have a tower because the city council feared that it might overshadow the Stadhuis. Our driver took us past St. Nicolaaskerk Church where Emperor Maximilians’s actual crown is housed. Rembrandt’s grave was recently discovered in this church
I had a special invitation to eat at the Captain’s table tonight, because of my Grand Circle veteran status.
After dinner a number of Grand Circlers took a walk through the Red Light District of Amsterdam.
Prostitution is legal here and is marketed openly by scantily clad women in storefront windows. The government also permits (licenses, regulates and taxes) pot that is sold in licensed shops called coffee houses. There are approximately 500 or so in Amsterdam and many others throughout the country.
This may seem strange given statistics that the country is nominally 40% Roman Catholic, 24% Dutch Reformed and 9% other Reformed Churches. Although the name Lutheran may be used in the names of some churches, these churches are of the Reformed (Calvinistic) tradition. In Minnesota, the German Reformed (like those around Mountain Lake), and Dutch Reformed, such as those in Iowa, (City of Pella and around Dort College), tend to stress outward disciplined lives, something not so much in evidence here. Dutch society can be summed up as pretty much secular, although they do maintain an extensive welfare system. The Dutch are well known for their tolerance of just about anything. Muslim extremists have tested the Dutch celebrated tolerance for others recently – especially following the murder of a Van Gogh family member simply because of his writings.
Thursday, DAY 4, March 15th Cologne City Tour
Cologne Cathedral
This morning we continue sailing and entered German waters. The rising sun provided a Kodak picture moment. We arrive in Cologne in the afternoon, docked just north of the Hohenzollernbucke and disembarked for an included tour.
The tour would have been too much for my wife, Annette, even though most of our gang weathered it quite well.
Our first major attraction to visit was the Protestant Church of St. Martin the Great, whose sturdy tower and four turrets is a distinctive feature of the city skyline.
Mert pointed out an overhead business sign with a goat’s head and noted that the goat is the symbol for the city. Mert then introduced us to metal statues of Tunnes and Schal, a comedy team of the Mutt and Jeff mold – a straight man and his opposite. We then viewed St. Martin’s from the front and then walked around the stone-like interior. In the middle of the square was a statue of a gentleman who, according to legend, garnered money to court a young lady, only to end up spurning her.
Then over to the Rathaus square we saw some remains of the old Roman Wall The Roman Gate near the cathedral was once part of the medieval town walls. Cologne was a Roman settlement called Colonia Agrippina after AD 50 and came under Frankish control in the fifth century. During the 15th century, the city flourished as a member of the Hanseatic League. The Gothic and renaissance-style Old City Hall was rebuilt in 1964.
Not far from here,the remains of a Jewish ritual bath (Mikwe) dating back to the 12th century are located underneath a glass pyramid. Mert told us of hostility directed against the Jews because some perceived a relationship between their ritual washing and the mounting death toll during the Great Plague.
On the south side of the square, a youthful band with many drummers struck up some lively music. Mert thought they were trying to draw attention to a museum behind them.
Off to the right was a small unpretentious building with a red awning. This neo-gothic structure is known as the 4711 House and its fame is due to its connection (first sale) with the toilet water that has been named after the city. Eau de Cologne sells the scented water first developed at this ad- dress by Italian chemist Giovanni Maria Farina in 1709. Originally cologne was used to hide the stench of aristocrats who rarely bathed.
Our guided tour ended at the south side of Cologne's (Koln’s) magnificent Gothic Cathedral. The side view from the square here helped us get an idea of its actual size. One of the most interesting things about Cathedral Koln is just how long it took to complete it. Construction began in 1248 in order to house the alleged relics of the three Magi. Due to multiple halts in building, it took over six hundred years before the cathedral was complete. Originally built on the site of a Roman temple, Cologne Cathedral is an amazing feat of both beauty and architecture. I
The interior of this German cathedral is absolutely massive. The space inside is the equivalent to over six hundred houses. The Cathedral Koln has twelve bells, including the bell of St. Peter; weighing in at 24 tons, and this bell is the largest free-swinging bell in the world. Needless to say, the support structure of Cologne Cathedral is quite strong. Given the size and age of the structure of Cologne Cathedral, construction is perpetually underway somewhere on the church.
It suffered 14 hits throughout World War II by Allied bombers but it did not collapse and by 1956 the restoration was complete. There's evidence that Allied forces had orders to avoid damaging this beautiful structure.
In the center of the transept is an elegant bronze and marble altar that can be seen from all parts of the cathedral. Behind the high altar, in the chancel, is the Sarcophagus of the Magi. This great sarcophagus is from the 13th century and is considered to be the largest reliquary in the western world. The sarcophagus is alleged to hold the remains (bones) of the three wise men. Also of note in the church is an altar painting of the city's patron saints as well as Gero Cross--the oldest crucifix in Northern Europe.
Before leaving the Cathedral, I taped a stained glass portrayal of the three kings from the East bringing their gifts to the Christ Child at Bethlehem.
Outside the church young performers interacted with the bystanders. One particular mime dressed as an aristocrat. Younger children wondered if the character was actually a living person. Another performer drew a considerable crowd and pulled in assistants from the crowd. The crowd itself was composed of some interesting looking individuals. Just south of the cathedral, skateboarders had erected cone barriers to hone their skills -- and to do some hotdog performances.
I walked back to the River Harmony by retracing my footsteps, but not before a stop to record some beautiful pansies. After dinner we had onboard interactive entertainment brought to us by a funny magician.
Fri., DAY 5, March 16th Koblenz City Tour
We disembarked this morning for a walking tour of Koblenz, set at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers.
Our ship was tethered just past the Baldinbrucke and conveniently positioned along the famous Promenade. In the photo to the right we were docked in middl of the direct center of the picture. Originally established as an outpost of the Roman Empire and named Castellum apud Confluentes, the town became a city in the 13th century and served as the home of French refugees during the French Revolution.
During our tour we saw the highlights of the Old Town, starting with the Catholic Frauenkirche. The church presents an unexpected harmonious combination of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque architecture. Onion-shaped spires top the twin towers. The history of this church spans the 12th to 18th century.
We moved on to Munz Platz where I left the group to video a yellow house in which Meternich the famous Austrian diplomat and architect of the 1815 Congress of Vienna was born. I rejoined the yellow people where they were viewing the Rathaus (center), formerly a Jesuit college. Close by was the former Jesuit Church of St. John the Baptist (Roman Catholic). In 1959 the heavily damaged church (bombed in WW II) was rebuilt behind the 13th century Gothic façade.
In the courtyard behind the hall is a fountain dedicated to the youth of Koblenz called Das Schangelchen or The Spitting Boy. When the fountain is turned on those standing nearby, right where our people are standing, receive a surprise watering every three minutes.
From here we walked down a street that had been hastily rebuilt after 1945 because of the immediate need. Hence the buildings lacked decorative roof fronts, except one that had recently been enhanced with an angelic lady figure.
We next concentrated on a monument on Joseph Gorres Platz dedicated to the 2,000th anniversary of the city.
The yellow dot people dispersed here. I decided to walk over to the Rhine (see map) and then to the end of the peninsula.
This led past a beautiful blossoming magnolia tree – with St. Castor’s Basilica (Roman Catholic) in the background. I had been here last year and personally thought the best view of the church was of this backside of the structure with the rotunda.
The Basilica of St. Castor had been consecrated in 836 AD, but the church received its present predominately Romanesque structure from 1160 to 1208.
Next was the famous (or infamous) statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, the unifier of Germany, posed on top of
a massive foundation, dominating the Deutsches Eck, or German corner. Actually Otto von Bismarck unified Germany, but Wilhelm was the first emperor at that time.
Note: Otto Pflanze the leading authority on Otto von Bismarck just died this month (Minneapolis Star/Tribune, March, 2007). He had taught at the University of Minnesota and his three volumes set on Bismarck remains the standard work on the subject. He was a guest lecturer at Martin Luther College and I recall his presentations and when members of the
college History Department ate with
him at the Kaiserhof in New Ulm.
Across the river stood the Festung Ehbrenbreitstein fortress network. At the point of the peninsula was the Deutsches Eck. A ship was cruising on the Mosel and just reaching the Rhine as I videotaped the setting. Then, turning and facing the Mosel, I zoomed in on the River Harmony that was waiting for our return.
Sat., DAY 6. March 17th Walking tour of Mainz/Opt. Ruedesheim Dinner
Today was to be a greatly rewarding experience -- to see magnificent castles along the way to Mainz in what could be called “castle alley.” In the morning, the ship cruised along some of the most beautiful and inspiring parts of the Rhine. We had a nice fold out map that identified the castles we passed. Many of the castles were "robber-baron" castles, extortion stops — built by princes back when there were 350 independent little states in what is now Germany. Towns grew rich when the merchants had paid their duty. Along this stretch, there were customs stops about every six miles.
The first castle I videoed was the Marksburg Castle at Braubach on the east side of the river.
Then on the west side of the river at St. Goar was Rheinsfels Castle. Rheinsfels Castle is the largest ruined castle on the Rhine. It became the family seat of Count Dieter V of Katzenelnbogen and the scene of lively cultural activities. The castle was built it in 1245. In the 16th and 17th centuries theHessian landgraves converted the building to form both a residence and a fortress. Rheinsfels stood impregnable against a siege by French troops in 1692, but was later partially destroyed by the French
Revolutionary Army in 1797.
Then on the opposite bank at St. Goarhausen was the Katz Castle.
The powerful Rhine has long been treacherous to navigate. Boats generally pass on the right. Since downstream ships can't stop or maneuver as freely, upstream boats are expected to do the tricky do-si-do work. Large triangular signals, posted before troublesome blind bends in the river, warn of oncoming ships. Each triangle covers a segment of the bend — the lowest triangle being nearest. They warn of approaching ships. If the bottom side of a triangle is lit, that sector is empty.
The most dangerous bend in the river swings around a rocky bluff called the Loreley. Because of reefs just upstream, many ships never made it safely past the Loreley — and the rocky cliff remains steeped in myth. Sailors blamed their misfortune on a Fräulein — so wun-darbar — whose long blonde hair almost covered her body.
This legendary siren flirted and sang her distracting song from this rock. Located near the rock is a statue of the famous lady.
We were extremely fortunate to have this lovely lady (Mert wearing a tight skirt and donning a long blond wig) parade through our lounge. Our captain was not distracted, however, and we sailed safely past the dangerous stretch.
At Oberwessel (right) we had a nice view of the Church of Our Lady
... and the nearby Tower and Schonburg ruins.
A massive fortress Gutenfels (right) was located at Kaub on the east bank.
On a river island at Kaub a toll station called Pfalz (above right) , was conveniently built to collect money – like a drive through bank. I took a break for a while, but returned to taping when we came to Trechtinghausen with the Soonneck Castle, Reicherstein Castle (2 views) and the Rheinstein Castle. The scenery had been great! Thus satisfied with castle watching, I headed for the dinning room for a hearty lunch.
The River Harmony approached Mainz.
We docked at Mainz (just left of Offenbach on the map) where we went ashorefor a walking tour. We broke into smaller group and were then led by local guides.
As soon as I knew who our personal city guide would be I asked her if there was any truth to the account that Mainz is the supposed birthplace of Pope Joan (John Anglicus), the woman who, disguised as a man, was elected pope, and served for two years during the Middle Ages. A movie was madedepicting the alleged pope.
Our Grand Circle Guide on the Heart of Italy tour believed this story to be true. A book has been written on Pope Joan and our Italian guide said it was worth reading. The guide in Mainz said she had read the book, too, and believed it to be truthful. She went on to say that the actual birth site is just outside the city. Some listings of the popes include Joan, but some have omitted her name. I myself have not researched the issue. Most scholars say it is a myth. Our Italian guide had been extremely critical of the papacy and I believe she harbored a strong bias
We started with a section of the city of more recent origins, a product of the master builder Mr. Kreyßig The Mainz master builder constructed a number of state-of-the-art public buildings, including the Mainz town hall — which was the largest one of its kind in Germany at that time. He chose Norwegian marble or much of his construction projects.
We crossed an overpass over a main thoroughfare to reach the new Gutenberg Museum—justopened in 2000. The inventor Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz, probably in 1397. He began his career selling Bibles and sometimes supplemented his income by creating and selling indulgences-papers that could be purchased and used as "coupons" by the faithful to “absolve them of some of the time they had earned in Purgatory”. The Archbishop of Mainz had arranged his position from Pope Leo X and needed money to pay off the hefty loan.
ALBERT (1490-1545), elector and archbishop of Mainz, and archbishop of Magdeburg, Having
studied at the university of Frankfort-on-the-Oder, he entered the ecclesiastical profession, and in 1513 became archbishop of Magdeburg and administrator of the diocese of Halberstadt. In 1514 he obtained the electorate of Mainz, and in 1518 was made a cardinal. Meanwhile to pay for the pallium of the see of Mainz and to discharge the other expenses of his elevation, Albert had borrowed a large sum of money from the Fuggers, and had obtained permission from Pope Leo X. to conduct the sale of indulgences in his diocese to obtain funds to repay this loan. For this work he procured the services of John Tetzel, and so indirectly exercised a potent in-fluence on the course of the Reformation. Tetzel’s activities prompted Luther to write a letter to Albert, dated October 31, 1517; the same day Luther posted the 95 theses in Wittenberg.
It was probably in an effort of Gutenberg to absolve himself of some of his own monetary debts, that he began looking for ways to produce more indulgences for the Archbishop. His search led to the printing press when he created uniform sized metal molds for letters that allowed him to create error-free repeatable text. This was the beginning of the creation of moveable type that transformed the world. Martin Luther who had translated the Bible into a common German language (though not the first German translation) benefited from this timely invention.
Our tour started with a demonstrationof the printing process from a replica of the Gutenberg press. When it came time to actually print, the guide called upon the audience to participate.
Gutenberg’s most important contribution was the printing of the Bible. The museum had original copies of his Bibles, but we were not permitted to use cameras or camcorders in the room.
Next came the town’s great eleventh-century Romanesque Cathedral. Mainz Cathedral, formally known in English as St. Martin Cathedral (in German Mainzer Dom, sometimes Der Hohe Dom zu Mainz), is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city. Mainz Cathedral is predominantly Romanesque in style, but later exterior additions over many centuries have resulted in the appearance of various architectural influences seen today. It stands under the patronage of Saint Martin of Tours, although the eastern chancel is christened Saint Stephen.
The interior of the cathedral houses tombs and funerary monuments of former powerful
prince-archbishops, or Fürsterzbischöfe, of the diocese and contains religious works of art spanning a millennium. The cathedral also has a central courtyard and statues of St. Boniface and The Madonna on its grounds.
After leaving the church (and seeing more external beauty of the edifice), we visited the Altstadt (right) with beautiful half-timbered buildings.
There was a Protestant church (St. John’s Evangelical) on the corner. Down on the waterfront where the Harmony was docket was a commemorative marker to Conrad Adenauer.
This evening we had an optional dinner outing at the cobbled Drosselgasse wine alley in Ruedesheim. Those who signed up piled into a nice modern bus for the trek.
A wine tasting started off the evening and we sat at long tables set with platters of tasty mild cheese and olives – and regional white wine. From here we proceeded to a dinner and dance at the Lindenwirt. A band (accordion, trombone and sax) played for us as we ate our traditional German dinner. Our table was on the central ground floor, kind of like on the stage, giving David and me good positions for taking pictures. The establishment brought out a long board with attached drinking cups, designed so half a dozen patrons could drink up at the same time. Then the trombone player started a snake dance that weaved through the restaurant. Just as the dance finished, everyone joined in the universal chicken routine.
Sunday, DAY 7, March 18th Explore Mainz or Optional Heidelberg Tour
This morning I took the optional Heidelberg full-day tour, and found that the extra cost ($95) was money well spent. Heidelberg is a scenic city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, halfway between Stuttgart and Frankfurt. As of 2005, 140,000 people live within the city's 109 km area. Heidelberg lies on the Neckar at the point where the river leaves its narrow, steep valley in the Odenwald to flow into the Rhine valley where, 20 kilometers northwest of Heidelberg, it joins the Rhine at Mannheim. When our bus reached Heidelberg we headed to the impressive ruins of the city’s Gothic castle (setting for the opera
The Student Prince).
As the bus ascended the higher grounds, on a winding road, we passed what guide Martin called the home of the famous German architect Albert Speers. In the summer of 1922 Speers got to know Margaret Weber from Heidelberg 1905-1987). They married in Berlin on August 28, 1928 despite the fact that Speer's mother was against this relationship. Possibly their courtship took place in Heidelberg.
Albert Speers is shown here in this photo with Adolf Hitler. Speers displayed a genius for organization. Hitler so admired his abilities that in 1942 he put him in charge of Germany's entire war economy. He became famous for designing massive shrines in Hitler’s building construction agenda, one of which we will visit in Nuremberg
Then we entered the grounds of the historic Heidelberg Castle. It was during the reign of Louis V that Martin Luther came to Heidelberg to defend one of his theses (Heidelberg Disputation) and paid a visit to the castle. Louis’s brother, Wolfgang, Count Palatine, showed him around and in a letter to his friend George Spalatin, praises the castle's beauty and its defenses. In 1556-59, Prince Otto Henry introduced the Reformation. In 1563 Elector Frederick III imposed Calvinism. The Heidelberg Catechism became the prayer book of the Reformed faith.
We entered the castle through the main gate and an old stone bridge over a moat-like area. The Gate Tower (right) served to protect the main entrance. Once inside the Castle courtyard, we saw quite clearly that parts of the castle were built at different times in different styles. It really was quite impressive. To our right was the courtyard fountain. In the left hand corner of the courtyard, as we faced theriver Neckar, was the Otto Henry (Ottheinrich) Building.
The Ottheinrich Building, the most beautiful of the early German Renaissance works. Of its builder, the Elector Ott-Heinrich (1556-1559), the humanist on the throne of the Palatinate, the historian Rott said: "If anyone by his aspiration to an existence full of perfect beauty can be called the Prince of the German Renaissance in the 16th century, he has earned this title of honor". His rulewas sufficient to bring about a complete transformation of the religious and scientific life, the reformation of the church according to Luther, the reform of the university, in which he was helped
by Melanchthon.
We proceeded to the cellar where a large wine barrel stood, but a little further on was the Grosses Fass (Big Barrel). This big barrel is in fact the biggest wooden barrel ever to have been filled with wine. The barrel was constructed in 1751 and can hold over 221,000 liters of wine! Martin gave us information and pointed out the wooden walkway that permitted a closer look.
We then stepped out to Belvedere Terrace and were rewarded with great views of the old town and Neckar River below.
Then, turning around to face the castle, we observed the Baroque Frederick Building.Friedrich IV (1592-1610 who chose this site between the Hall of Mirrors and the Frauenzimmer Building because an older building that also contained the castle chapel, had to be pulled down on account of its dilapidated condition built the Friedrich Building, besides the Ottheinrich Building, the most important palace of the castle.
Then we came upon The Powder Tower. This blown-up tower, built about the middle of the 15th century, originally only three-storied, diameter 80 feet. The central beam of the cylinder interior had a shift towardsthe interior of the castle so that the circular wall is reinforced in the direction of the enemy from 11 feet to 21 feet. The fourth story with a smaller diameter, erected under Friedrich IV (1592-1610) permitted a free outer gallery. The French miners did a thorough job here in the year 1689 when they blew up the tower from the center.Nevertheless, the excellent masonry of the blown-up part has held to the present day. By the blasting there is a free view into the vaulted construction, which rests on a central support. The loopholes for firearms and lighter guns can be recognized, too. There were shafts for letting out smoke and for fresh air. In the lowest dome-shaped story the gunpowder was sometimes stored, hence the name of the tower.
Martin escorted us to our next site. The Elizabeth's Gate, erected by Friedrich in 1615 in the style of a Roman triumphal arch for his "well-beloved wife Elizabeth" formed the southern access to the Gun Park,which he had changed into a pleasure garden. Tradition says the gate was built in a single night as a surprise for the Electress. The charming little gate was severely weatherworn and was partly restored in 1949. The unique pillars are noteworthy with their leaf work and artistic flowered capitols.
Our castle tour completed, the bus driver took us down to the river front bus stop at Neckarmunzplatz. From here we walked to a quaint German restaurant, the Schnukkel Loch, near the Café Knoeser. This traditional Gasthaus has been part of Heidleburg's Old Town for centuries. After lunch, local guides took us over to the Old Bridge for the start of a walking tour of the Altstadt. Elector Karl Theodore built this stone bridge in 1786-1788. On the city side the round towers are much older and were part of the city’s fortifications.
We walked down Stengasse to the Protestant Church of the Holy Spirit, This Gothic hall church begun in 1398. Its upper galleries once housed the Bibliotheca Palatina, a famous library taken to Rome in 1623, during the Thirty Years’ War. As so often in history, the booty was not returned. The city was destroyed in 1693 (by the French, of course) leaving this as the only church to shelter worshippers.
In a spirit of cooperation, a dividing wall was erected between the chancel and the nave, and these were assigned to the Catholics and Protestants respectively. This arrangement lasted until 1936 when the church became the city’s Protestant parish church.
From here we went on to the Market Square and the City Hall, but I did not videotape them. We then visited the Jesuit Church. The façade was typically Jesuit, just like standard Loyola’s designed Jesu
Church in Rome. As usual, a statue of Ignatius Loyola was on the left, balanced by a statue of Francis Xavier on the right. The interior of the church was attractive, but the decorations were never completed. The church is not Jesuit anymore, but still remains Catholic.
Our guide led us to the marketplace where the Hercules Fountain was located. In medieval times petty criminals were chained to the fountain and left to face the townsfolk.
Heidelberg not only boasts a medieval castle, but it also is home to one of Europe'Karls University, more commonly known as the University of Heidelberg. On the video are the University Library and a scene from inside the Students’ prison. Many generations of students immortalized themselves by applying watercolors and candle smuts to decorate their “cells,” to which they gave names like the “Grand Hotel.” If students misbehaved or got drunk they wee were punished for up to two weeks in this prison.
During his stay here in 1518, Martin Luther conducted a formal dispute with professors of the University about his criticism of indulgences. Luther was an Augustinian canon, and the annual convention of the order was held in Heidelberg that year.
Grand Circle gave us some free time to explore the city on our own; then we met our buses for the trip home. Because of mechanical difficulties, one bus could not be used and volunteers were asked to stay behind. Those noble souls then hunkered down
in a local beer hall at Kulturbrauerei
Heidelberg Hotel und Brauhaus. Martin, who sought refuge with us, ordered the establishment to provide beer and German pretzels until a bus replacement arrived. No one seemed to mind “the inconvenience.”
GO ON TO 2007 GREAT RIVERS PART II
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