Friday 2 November 2012

Bamberg anyone?

The reality of my working life came crashing in upon me this last week.  
There was such a lot to do as a result of the conference I attended!  No time could be given over to the pleasures of writing another post.
But now all is under control and I am free once more.

Speaking of the conference, it was in Budapest and while I was there I was able to take up a kind offer proffered by Jane and Lance Hattatt.  I spent a rather pleasant evening attending a dinner party at their lovely residence in the heart of the City.
It was nice to meet people with whom I felt instantly at home.  Their other guests - R, W, H and B -  were equally charming people and most welcoming to me, a stranger within their midsts.  I hope to return to Budapest in more leisurely circumstances, at a later date and with AGA in tow, to 'see the sites'.

* * * * * * *

So anyway, there we were in Quedlinburg; but our holiday didn't end there, and after a couple of days we decamped and motored south.
The journey there was made amidst the wonders of a perfect autumn day.  The sky was bright and the colours were wonderful!
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
And so at length we approached the city of Bamberg.


Have you been there?

It is well worth a visit, as you shall see.


This photograph of Bamberg was taken by Kirk Dale.  The cathedral is in the middle of the photograph but I have no idea who that person is in the foreground.
Getting into Bamberg proved to be something of a challenge thanks to its unusual, and most extensive one way street system that encompasses both old and new town.  After having been lost for a good half an hour I decided that the only course was to ask a policeman.  Spotting a police station I drove in and while AGA waited in the car I went inside and met my first German Police Sergeant: An extremely helpful man who printed out a map and then drew direction so that we should not get lost again.  When I got back to the car AGA pointed out that the two undercover 'cops' that I thought the sergeant had been speaking to prior to assisting me, were in fact the gardeners...  However it had still been an exciting experience and so, accompanied by Christoph Willibald Gluck, Iphigénie, Oreste, Pylade, King Thoas and the rest, (directed by the incomparable Marc Minkowski) we came rollicking dramatically into the fair city late in the evening.  

A late dinner and then to bed.

The next morning we breakfasted and then set off to explore the town.

Quedlinburg had been a fairly well-to-do town and was at its peak during the Middle Ages after which a lack of money meant that not much in the way of new building took place and the town remained fairly much unchanged.
Bamberg on the other hand had always been a prosperous place, ruled over by a Prince-Bishop, and until 1803 was an independent city.  It contains palaces, magnificent churches and monasteries, a well endowed university and wonderful streets filled with fabulous houses.  I would call it a Baroque city myself.
Please allow me to show you around...

This building is the Altenburg, a castle built on one of the seven hills upon which Bamberg stands.  This view is from our hotel balcony and while I admit that I used the camera zoom, it was still close enough to walk to:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale
This is a view of the old St Michael's monastery.  It sits on another hill: The Michaelsberg.
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
Here is the 'centre' of town.  The old Town Hall is the building in the middle of the photograph.  It is actually on an island and you get to it via a grand bridge:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
 Built in the 14th Century, it now houses a museum containing an impressive collection of porcelain  (mostly Meissen) known as the 'Ludwig Collection'.  It includes these lovelies!
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
 This tulip vase:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
 And this very nice tureen:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
Here on the outskirts of the old town of Bamberg lies 'Little Venice'.  Each house fronts the river:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
Here is the Cathedral of Bamberg.  This year (2012) marks the 1000th anniversary of its founding.  There was a very interesting exhibition within the Diocesan Museum, which AGA and I visited.  The treasures of the Cathedral are include many early medieval garments such as the robes of St Kunigunde and the only existing robes of an early medieval Pope (these were owned by Pope Clement II who lies buried within the cathedral).  Unfortunately no photographs were allowed within the museum. 
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.  It looks rather dull but I am not sure why - probably the fault of the so called Photographer!
Opposite the Cathedral is the New Residence (Neue Residenz) which was home to the Prince Bishops and later served as a home for the exiled King Otto of Greece and his wife.  I never knew much about him but the museum within expanded upon his life and he sounded like a very nice man.  Here is a detail of this very, very large building:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
And here is as much of it as I could get into a photograph:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
Bamberg is renowned for its breweries.  There are eight of them, one of which is a restaurant as well.  The large coppery brewery vats are set amongst the tables.  I am rather partial to a glass of beer or two and so I was able to try a different type of beer each night we were there:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.  AGA is holding the glass to give an idea of size.
And while we are on the subject of eating and drinking I should add that we ate a lot of rather delicious Franconian cooking such as this schwein haxe (pork knuckle) with potato dumplings.  I enjoyed it but didn't care for the green mush.  It smelt and tasted like cabbage. . . blech!
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
 And then there were the cinnamon apple fritters with ice-cream and cream:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
Here is another view of the old town centre.  The old Town Hall is on the right.  It really was a very charming spot, and that white house on the left had a lovely book shop on the ground floor facing the street.  We made a couple of purchases there and the lady said she would look after our bags while we continued to explore.  Later I noticed that the house had a lovely garden that bordered the river and I wondered whether the lady lived there.  I hope so:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

Bamberg has some very interesting buildings but I will show them in another post as I don't want this one to be too long!  I shall therefore end with this photograph of some brave roses who remained in bloom even though the chill of winter was in the air:
This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.
Here is an update for you: It consists of one more photograph.  I am putting this in for Mark Ruffner. who liked the look of it.  The ornate part of the old Town Hall is actually the archway for passing across the bridge. It forms the entrance to the Council Chambers which occupy this building, as well as the space over the arch:

This Photograph was taken by Kirk Dale.

20 comments:

  1. Greetings, Kirk -
    I'm in Scandinavia catching up on my favorite blogs with spotty internet. Perhaps next time we'll try a different hotel :( Enjoyed your wonderful photos and tour of picturesque Bamberg. Seven hills and glorious historic buildings / sites....divine!! Love everything except the green cabbage and pork knuckle. And a dinner party with Jane and Lance? I'm sure you all had a fabulous time.
    Cheers,
    Loi

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    1. Dear Loi,
      Bamberg is divine! The town is just lovely and with large areas being pedestrians only, it makes for a very pleasant visit.
      I hope you are enjoying yourself 'up north'. We want to visit Sweden next summer if we can.
      Speaking of internet problems we had a similar issue in Bamberg. It is rather frustrating isn't it because normally we don't take our computers with us en vacance but this particular time we needed to and of course the hotel had 'problems'.
      Thank you for your nice comments my friend
      Kirk

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  2. What a lovely town Bamberg is, the sort of place where you are just happy to wander around and absorb as much of the architectural details as you can.
    I enjoyed seeing the tulip vase - I did a post on tulipmania in which a tulip vase featured. They are quite rare and of course being Delft extremely valuable.
    The more I see of Germany the more I like it. It is not a country that has been on my radar, but since our visit last June, I want to return again.
    I loved your autumn leaves at the beginning of the post.

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    1. Dear Rosemary,
      I have to admit that before we came here, Germany was not even a blip on my map of places to visit but I have to say that it has some truly lovely countryside and age old towns that a pleasure to visit. I've seen a few of those tulip vases around the traps and i think there is at least one at Kensington Palace.
      I have another post to write on Bamberg - with distinctive floral elements that I think you will enjoy!
      Bye for now,
      Kirk

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  3. Dear Kirk,

    Thanks for the tour of Bamberg — I can imagine it must have been a lovely day for just wandering the streets, let alone visiting the great public building. The building next to the old town hall caught my eye — I like what appear to be painted columns and other rich Baroque decoration.

    And I sense from one line of your posting that you might have read the diaries of Sir Samuel Pepys?

    Best wishes, Mark

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    1. Dear Mark,

      Thank you for your comments.

      And so to bed?
      Yes I have read 'The Diaries' and I quite like them. Pepys is such an gossip sometimes - a little bit like Walpole. Actually I used the words unconsciously perhaps because when I read them in Pepys I liked them and they stayed with me, eager for a chance to pop out now and then!

      I have also included another photograph for you. It shows the sumptuous Baroque decoration you noticed. This building is the main part of the Town Hall.

      Bye for now,

      Kirk

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    2. Dear Kirk,

      Thanks so much for adding the extra photo! It merits a big "WOW!" from me, and makes me dream of painting centurions on the front of my small house! What a treasure!

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    3. Yes it is quite spectacular isn't it.
      That is why I think I took about 20 photos of it!
      I think you should paint your the front of your house in Baroque extravaganzas and when you do I shall come and visit!

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  4. Dear kirk, all photos interesting, but I have never seen anything like the painted building. Extraordinary. And I love the brilliant orange leaves. Looks like a wonderful holiday.

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    1. Thanks catmint. It is amazing isn't it. You often seen buildings (especially grand ones such as public buildings or townhouses of the wealthy) painted like that.
      The autumn colours in that part of Germany were pretty spec I can tell you. You could be taking photograph after photograph, speaking of which that book you recommended is discounted on Amazon and I intend to get it!!!

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  5. Hi Kirk, thank you for your kind comment on my blog. i enjoyed it very much! Somehow I had a feeling you knew Jane and Lance, and I was happy to read I was right! :-)

    The dinner party must have been lovely! We still look back with joy to our visit with J & L.

    The photo's of your trip look wonderful. How pretty Bamberg looks in autumn.

    Madelief

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  6. Dear Madelief,
    Thank you for your kind comments. Bamberg is a lovely place. Would I visit again? Yes!
    Bye for now on this rainy Sunday afternoon,
    Kirk

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  7. Hello Kirk:
    What glorious architecture is to be found in Bamberg, a town that we must confess we have known very little about until now. There looks to be so much of interest to see and do, a Baroque gem to be sure.

    We were most intrigued to see a little of the very fine Luwdig porcelain collection which is, we understand, on permanent loan to the town from the private collection of Peter and Irene Ludwig. As it happens, this couple also gave the founding paintings for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Budapest, the only Ludwig collection in Eastern Europe. They made their money from chocolate......A small world!!!

    And, thank you so much for your kind link to our blog. We were thrilled that you could join us for dinner but fear that this must have been rather a baptism of fire with R, W, B and H. We do so hope that you will return with AGA when we can show you more of the hidden secrets of Budapest.

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    1. Dear Jane and Lance,

      Bamberg really is a lovely place to visit and you can 'do' it in two or three days. I think that you both would enjoy visiting it very much.

      That's interesting about the Ludwigs. I see that they set up museums all over the place including one in Cuba! And the family made their money in chocolate - I like that.

      I think that a return visit to Budapest is definitely 'on the cards' for next year.

      Kirk

      PS
      It was my pleasure to link to your blog.

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  8. Dear Kirk,
    Thank you for a lovely post--and a trip down memory lane! As a child, my aunt in Geneva would take us on a month-long tour of Europe every summer, but her rule was that we would never visit a major city or tourist area: only the "real" Europe for us! (Very frustrating for those of us who wanted to see the Louvre, etc., but never mind-- it really was fabulous.) Bamberg was one of the places we visited, I wish I could remember more in detail... Your photo of the enormous beer instantly brought me back to the medieval monasteries where we would stay, and see the nuns at breakfast with beers just like that one! It sounds like your trip was a wonderful one! I so enjoyed seeing Bamberg again, and hearing about your dinner with Jane and Lance, and the exquisite Ludwig Collection porcelains. Thank you!!!!
    Warm regards,
    Erika

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    1. Dear Erika,
      What a lovely aunt you had! I too would have been secretly kicking the walls and wanting to go to Paris or Rome but I think I would have liked visiting places such as Bamberg too. I'm glad that my photos have bought pleasant memories back for you.
      Actually your own blog has bought back memories of my uncle for whom writing was a pleasure and who spent time and care in writing letters, at his desk with his fountain pen. I am hoping to set up our desk here with proper desk furniture, as proposed by your posts. I will let you know how I go.
      Bye for now and thank you for your kind comments.
      Kirk

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    2. Dear Kirk,
      Thank you for your kind words-- I'm still pondering those wonderful trips through the villages of Europe... If I only knew then what I know now!!!!

      I'm so interested to hear about your writing desk project-- I'm sure that on your travels you will find lovely writing tools and furniture. I look forward to hearing all about it!
      Warm regards,
      Erika

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  9. Hello Kirk

    Bamburg is a fascinating area of Germany. Your opening image of the leaves in oranges remind me of a beautiful silk scarf..

    the Ludwig porcelain collection is beautiful.Thank you for showing the tulip vase, new to me.

    Have a wonderful week

    Helen xx

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    1. Dear Helen,
      Thank you for your comments.
      At one time those tulip vases were all the rage but I think that they look, and would make the tulips look, somewhat awkward - but then that's seventeenth century taste for you!
      As for those autumn leaves; the colours were just wonderful and I could have happily wandered around taking photographs of them all day long.
      Bye for now,
      Kirk

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    2. I've been fortunate to be in Bamberg on three occasions, two of them as a day trip while visiting the Wagner Festival at Bayreuth. Bamberg is a real gem, a very beautiful city and really easy to walk around. The third and latest time I was there was with Fritz as we were on a Budapest to Amsterdam river cruise that gave us almost a whole day to walk, visit and eat. Delightful!

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