We left Nuremberg this morning, our destination – Bamberg, taking in Wurzburg on the way.
The weather was threatening to dampen our spirits, but we rolled into Wurzburg ready for some sightseeing. We parked the car and bravely headed towards the Old Main Bridge when the heavens opened. We ran for shelter and found a small cafe with other rain refugees. Little did we know that this shop, near the Neumünster Catholic Church, specialised in flamkuchen – a traditional food of this area known world wide. Imagine bread dough rolled out really thinly in the shape of an oval, covered in crème fraîche, thin-sliced onions and ham and then baked. It was amazing and a great way to wait for the rain to stop.
Once we were full and ready to go, the rain had eased to almost nothing so we set out to see the old town of Wurzburg.
The Old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke) has views of the Fortress Marienberg and its vineyards.
The Four Tubes Fountain (Vierröhrenbrunnen) has origins back to 1763 and is located near markets in the Market Square.
The Würzburger Cathedral is also known as St Killian Cathedral and is a feature of this busy little town.
The Old Main Bridge is probably the biggest attraction in the city. It was built between 1473-1543 and has 12 statues of saints that were added in 1730.
We stood on the bridge and watched a barge come through. To allow the barge through the bridge uses a complex lock process that raises and lowers the boat. It was great to just be standing there watching something that is so common place to the locals, but so entirely alien to us.
Once the barge was through, we left Wurzburg to head off to Bamberg. As we’ve mentioned before we try to take the roads less travelled instead of highways as there is always so much more to see. We are often rewarded and this short trip was a perfect example.
Driving through a little town called Ebrach, we saw some activity at what seemed to be a plain but large church and we decided to explore. It turned out to be called the Klosterkirche and the grounds also were home to the Ebrach Monastery and some beautiful gardens. Nothing could have prepared us for what we found inside. This was one of the most spectacular churches we had seen anywhere in the world. Apparently many people make pilgrimages to this place and we had stumbled upon it.
The first place we stopped in Bamberg was the hotel, where we parked and checked in. The hotel is only a short walk from the old town so we decided to explore and find some dinner.
Bamberg is an amazing little city where the Old Town (Altstadt) and the newer areas are separated by the Gerberhäuser am Ludwig Canal with three main bridges. We set off to cross the bridges and explore the sights.
We came across the Sculpture Centurione by artist Igor Mitoraj with it’s modern design from 1987.
The Untere Brücke (Lower Bridge) is home to a statue of Empress Kunigunde. She died in 1040, was canonized by Pope Innocent III in 1200 and is the patron saint of the city of Bamberg.
Heller Haus is the Blue building built in 1730 by Joseph Heller, a famous German Art Scholar.
Also visible from the Lower Bridge is the back of the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall).
It continued to drizzle throughout the day giving the narrow cobbled streets of the Old Town an uncanny heritage sort of feeling.
The Bamberg Cathedral was completed in the 13th century. Since 1993, the cathedral has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Town of Bamberg”.
The Old Court Building was the focal point of a strange eclectic courtyard.
After having a look around for a while we made our way back through the old town.
As we walked over the Obere Brücke (Upper Bridge) to the front of the Old Town Hall, we found people kayaking on the rapids of the river.
By the time we had been all through the town we needed to find somewhere for dinner. We found a tiny little pub that did traditional food and settled on Schnitzels. The pub was called Eulenspiegel and the food was great.
Full from dinner and feet sore from walking, we headed back to the hotel. We discovered a little statue of an odd man out the front of the Bamburg Theatre (near our hotel). The statue was of E.T.A. Hoffman who was a German romantic author of fantasy and gothic horror, a jurist, composer, music critic and artist. Despite the spookiness of the statue, we slept well that night.
Cool Stuff We Did 