Snow Road Trip to Czech & Saxony, Germany - Day 10: Bamberg
Day 10 was the last day of the road trip and the last chance to explore the Old Town of Bamberg since we didn't have much time to do so on the day before. First we walked up to a restaurant called Eckerts Wirshaus for breakfast. It was still dark around 7:30am. The cheerfully bright Christmas tree in front of the restaurant was welcoming. The location of the restaurant was interesting. The building stood in the middle of the Linker Regnitzarm river!
The interior was contemporary. We were seated at a window table facing to the river although we couldn't see much before sunrise.
J had "THE CLASSIC" - two bread rolls from the local organic bakery Postler, butter, different cold meat, cheese, egg, Eckerts homemade jam and orange juice. My choice was "SIMPLE & TASTY" - two bread rolls from the local organic bakery Postler, butter, Ekerts homemade jam and orange juice. The naming was right. It was simple and tasty.
After the breakfast, the sky got brighter. The Old Town of Bamberg is "an outstanding and representative example of an early medieval town in central Europe, both in its plan and its surviving ecclesiastical and secular buildings," according to UNESCO. Bamberg became an important link with the Slav peoples, especially those of Poland and Pomerania, a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, in the 10th century. Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, who became King of Germany and the Holy Roman Emperor made Bamberg the seat of a bishopric in 1007, intended to be a 'second Rome'.
The narrow cobbled streets must be the early medieval features. Those pastel colored houses would look prettier during summer with greens, flowers and sunshine.
We went up hill. We saw a red squirrel running and jumping on the tree. He was somewhere on the tree. Across from the tree was St. Stephen's Church, which was originally consecrated in the 11th century. We found the door was locked at that time and the squirrel was running to the back of the church.
One of the house on Eisgrube street had a doorknob with face, which caught my eye. Later I learned that was a replica of a famous door knob in the Old Town (the original is on display in the Historical Museum Bamberg). The face is that of "Apfelweibla" or Apple Woman, an old lady who appears in "The Golden Pot," a novel written by the German writer, composer, artist and draftsman E.T.A. Hoffmann and first published in 1814. He lived in Bamberg in early 1800s and his friend lived in the house with the historical doorknob. It is believed that the character of living doorknob "Apfelweibla" was born in Hoffmann's head when he was visiting his friend.
Up and down and up... the Old Town was hilly. In fact Bamberg was established on seven hills. Each hill is crowned with a church or a castle.
We arrived at Our Lady's Parish Church, also known as "Upper Parish." Built between the 14th and 16th centuries, the parish church is only purely gothic church in Bamberg. It was also closed at that moment.
We walked down through a park and saw Bamberg Cathedral with its remarkable four towers upon one of the seven hills, called the Cathedral Hill or Domberg. We walked up there again.
Bamberg Cathedral, or St. Peter's and St. George's Imperial Cathedral was originally built in the early 11th century by Emperor Heinrich II. However, it was destroyed by fire in the late 11th century and so did its successor in the 12th century. The third cathedral was completed in the early 13th century, which we can see today. Because the construction went through the transitional period from the late Romanesque to the early Gothic, the cathedral consists of elements in the two different architectural styles.
It was Sunday. The cathedral was getting ready for a service. We didn't have a chance to see the inside. Again.
In front of the cathedral was the New Residence, the former prince-bishop's residence. Today the massive 17th century Renaissance palace houses the Bamberg State Library and museums including the State Gallery of Bamberg (Old German and baroque sections) and the three furnished historical apartments.
Next to the cathedral was the Old Court, which was the former palace of Emperor Heinrich II as well as the bishop's former residence before the New Residence was built. The Old Court currently houses the Museum of History and St. Katherine's Chapel. There was a spacious cobbled courtyard, which would be suitable for a kind of medieval fair.
Those museums were not opened yet. We kept walking and looking at the Old Town's architecture. Bamberg was like an open-air museum.
Before finishing our town tour, we went and saw the Old Town Hall. We walked by the building on the day before while we were looking for a place for dinner, but we didn't have time to pay attention to it well. The Old Town Hall was built in the 14th century in the middle of the Regnitz river. It is said that because the bishop didn’t grant the citizens any land to build a town hall, the citizens created an island on the river and built a town hall on it. The citizens would be very proud to know that not only their ambitious idea became a reality but also the achievement has been around for hundreds of years.
One of the highlights of the building is the frescos on the eastern wall. They were originally painted by the Rococo artist Johann Anwander in the mid-18th century. His three-dimensional painting playfully creates a visual illusion. Today's vivid colors of the frescos resulted from the restoration in the mid-20 century.
We were walking on the bridge that was connected to the northern side of the building. At the west end of the bridge was Heller Haus. We couldn't miss the beautiful Wedgewood blue building with elegant white stucco ornaments when crossing the bridge. Built around 1730-40, Heller Haus was the birthplace of the art scholar and collector Joseph Heller, who invested his entire fortune in his ever-growing passion for books and art.
We skipped walking on the bridge that was connected to the middle of the Old Town Hall. Perhaps next time.
Instead we crossed the next bridge so that we could see the southern side of the Old Town Hall, which is probably the most famous appearance of the building. The architecture of the building was mainly influenced by the Gothic period. In the 18th century, elements of baroque and rococo styles were added to the building while the half-timbered part on the southern side still remains its original shape. Was it only me who thought that the Old Town Hall looked like a ship from this angle?
