Worms in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
We visited Worms, a city in the Rhineland-Palatinate region recently. Having some traces of settlements that go back more than 6,000 years, Worms is one of the oldest towns in Germany. We were curious what we could see such a historic place. We walked in the old town and came to the Ludwigsplatz with a large obelisk and a city logo. It looked like the city's main square. Where is the letter O?
We saw several dragon statues while we were wandering in the old town. Later I learned that Worms is the main setting for The Nibelungenlied (The Song of the Nibelungs), a 13th century German medieval heroic epic poem. Its core story is about Siegfried the dragon-slayer, the son of King Siegmund of Niederland in the lower Rhine region who visited the city; married Kriemhild, a Burgundian princess of Worms; involved in a conspiracy of Kriemhild's brother Gunther's marriage with the Queen of Iceland, and eventually was murdered by a relative of Gunther. That's how Worms is related to dragons. I don't know if the medieval poem includes the details of the dragon story- when, where and how many dragons Siegfried kills; Wiki says Siegfried killed a dragon 'near' the city of Worms.
The stone statue of Siegfried was also in the old town.
Dom St. Peter, or The Worms Cathedral was the centerpiece of the old town. Built in the early 12th century, the Romanesque church is one of the three imperial cathedrals on the Rhine (other two are Mainz Cathedral and Speyer Cathedral). The building has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, which made both outside and inside of the church look somewhat new.
We took a short walk from the cathedral to another city's famous sight-seeing spot: The Holy Sands, the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe. About 2,500 graves been have survived and the oldest gravestones date from the year 1058/1059. The cemetery was used until 1930s and today it is still preserved peacefully, registered as a UNESCO World heritage site.
Lunch time! We tried a German restaurant to have a hearty dish for a chilly and cloudy day. "Die Pfälzer" Restaurant is specialized in German Palatinate cuisine. The dining room was bright and the host was very friendly.
For a starter, we shared Leberknödelsuppe (liver dumpling soup). A giant meatball was floating in a clear soup. Traditionally German Leberknödel is made with beef liver but in Palatinate region pork liver is used instead. I think this one was made with pork but I didn't taste liver much. The soup was very nice.
We ordered two main dishes to share. One was the restaurant's speciality: Rinderroulade. I made the German classic beef roll dish by myself for Christmas dinner in 2022. Since then I was looking for a chance to try the dish at a traditional German restaurant to compare. This restaurant version had a kind of meaty stuffing. The sauce was thick and savory. Overall I prefer this to mine. The sides were red cabbage and boiled potatoes. The red cabbage was not so sweet but tasty. The simplicity of the potatoes were very appreciated to make a quick escape from the strong flavors of meat and cabbage. The host told us that Queen of Sweden visited the restaurant and also had the dish and she liked it! I found a news that Queen Silvia of Sweden officially visited Heidelberg in May 2023. She stopped by Worms at that time, maybe?
The other was Saumagen, a regional specialty. According to the original Saumagen recipe that the restaurant's host kindly gave us, the ingredients are coarse and fine ham meat, potato cubes, spices and salt. They are stuffed in a pork stomach, simmered in a hot water (70-75 degrees C) and then baked in the oven at 180 degrees C. During baking, brush the Saumagen with a little beer for the nice and crispy casing. Slice the cooked Saumagen into 1cm thick to serve along with sauerkraut and farmer's bread or mashed potatoes. I guess the restaurant's version was close to the original. It tasted like sausage. The texture was light and spongy. Mustard was a good condiment. The sides were sauerkraut and Bratkartoffeln (German fried potatoes), which went well with the Saumagen.
I enjoyed the both dishes and couldn't save a space in the tummy for desserts. We thought we walked around the old town enough and decided to go home after quick visiting a French bakery outside of the old town. For me, the highlight of the short visit to Worms was the lunch!
