Category: holidays

On Christmas Eve we went to Speyer which has a lovely Christmas market. I bought a feurzangenbowle where a rum soaked sugar cube is lit on fire over a glüwein.

We walked around the market and bought food to share. I had to have spatzle one more time.

The cathedral is the largest Romanesque Cathedral in Europe and built in 1093. Several German emperors are buried there.

On Christmas day we went to a lake, Vogelwoog, in Kaiserslautern. It was a good walk outside on a freezing cold day.

After Christmas we went to Trier, which is on the Luxembourg border. Everything was closed but walking around the historic district was beautiful and cold!

The black gate, Porta Nigra, was a beautiful entrance to the area and was built in 170 AD. Trier is known as the Roman capital north of the Alps and many emperors lived here.

The Nanstein castle built in Landstühl in 1150 protected the trade routes through the Palatine forest. The medieval knights declined in power in 1523 after the knight, Franz von Sickingen, who lived in the castle tried and failed to overthrow princes and the church. He had fortified the castle with a round tower and gunpowder was used for defense. He died in the fighting.

On the walk up we saw several forest witches (Hexe in German) made from forest and everyday materials. These are made by locals to add a little of mystery to the walk to the castle. In Germany there ar many stories inspired by the Grimm, but these ar just for fun.

This was pretty ingenuous. There is a hole on each side of the wall but they cannot see each other. On the inside of the castle entrance it is a hole that gives a wide view of people on the other side.

Today there is a large regional medical center in Landstühl that cares for the American military stationed in nearby Kaiserslautern and elsewhere in the world.

I ate at IKEA, recommended by Nicole because of the red cabbage and duck served there. It was pretty good. I never tried the Kartoffelknödel which is really potato and a flour mixed together then formed into a ball. It was a doughy, sticky potato that I had seen in some of the Christmas markets.

Heidelberg was also settled by the Romans and considered a Roman frontier. The Heidelberg castle was constructed in the 13th century. It became the residence of the powerful rulers (Electors of the Palatinate) of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1386, Heidelberg University was founded and it is the oldest university in Germany. The city was the center of learning, humanism, and the protestant reformation. In the 17th century, Heidelberg sustained heavy damage in the 30 years war and the War of the Palatine Succession when the French troops destroyed much of the city and the Castle. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was no longer a political center but increased fame as a center of Romanticism, and therefore attracted poets, philosophers, and artists. It was spared the destruction that happened to most German cities in WWII.

The Old Bridge has some fascinating artifacts. On the bridge are flood water depths and dates of the massive flooding that occurs on the Neckar River. The monkey statue dates back to the 15th century when there used to be a stone statue of the monkey. It was considered a mischievous and provocative creature. It’s bare backside is facing across the River to antagonize and mock the Bishops of Mainz (the rival territory on the other side of the river.) The monkey also holds a mirror, which is meant to reflect the viewers own nature and to encourage self-reflection. In the Palatinate War, France claimed rights to the power in the area. When other countries challenged this, the French used scorched earth tactics and destroyed parts of the city and the castle. During the Palatinate War of Succession, both the bridge and the monkey were destroyed. The monkey was not replaced for three centuries though there was many stories told about it over the years. The current Brückenaffe is popular. Rubbing the mirror is said to bring prosperity.

The statue of Prince Karl Theodore with deities. He commissioned the present stone bridge in 1786.

Heidelberg is seen as a place where opposing ideas were debated and led to the shaping of European thought. One of the professors was Hegel who refined and taught his system of philosophy. His way of thinking, the dialectical method, consisted of an initial idea (thesis), a conflicting or opposing idea (antithesis), and some higher understanding that resolves the conflict (synthesis). The terms in parentheses were given later, but the central way of thinking was part of his history of German philosophy. I took a philosophy walk across the bridge and up the hill on the other side then down to another bridge. I think you are meant to ponder and debate as you walk. I did see the city walls.

The church of the holy Spirit was built between 1398 and 1515. An older Roman church used to be on this site.

St. Peter’s Church is the oldest surviving church dating back to 1196.

i also toured the castle.

They also have a pharmacy museum in a section of the castle.

In the gift shop they had funny candies for “remedies”.

And of course I went to the Christmas market as well.

On the way back to the train station, I saw more of the plaques in the sidewalk commemorating Jewish people and what happened to the during WWII.

I traveled to this city to see my friend Nicole. We worked together the first year in China and I have not seen her for 6 years. Actually the last time was the Christmas before COVID started…

The area was settled by the Celt’s and then the Romans (structures can still be seen today). In the 12th century, Roman emperor Fredrick I “Barbarossa” built an imperial palace Kaierpfalz, which is the ruins in one of the pictures below. He named the city using Kaiser (emperor) and Lautern (of the river). The city became protestant during the Reformation and was heavily damaged during the 30 years war and the French and Germany.

During the Napoleanic wars, it was under control of the French. After the defeat of Napolean, it became part of Bavaria. It is known for its textile production and was heavily damaged during WWII.

It has a 2000 year history shaped by emperor’s, wars, and rebuilding.

We spent the first day going around the Christmas markets and some of the sights. This city actually has an American Air base (Rammstein) and a university so it is very international. Both have heavily influenced the economy and culture.

The next morning we went to walk in the Palatinate Forest to a very old stone tower (Humbergtum) to look at the views.

It was a beautiful day and the views from the top were amazing.

We also noticed that there were some holes in the ground, possibly a badger or hedgehog.

This one had fresh dirt outside the entrance.

Wiesbaden is a short train ride from Mainz. It was founded in 6 CE and became an important spa town for the Romans. in fact, there is a fountain where the hot spring runs near the surface, called Thermalquelle Kochbrunnen.

It has been and is still known as a spa town and is one of the wealthiest in Germany. It suffered less damage during WWII and has generally been a protestant city.

Roman wall

Schloss Biebrich. I really wanted to visit this palatial house but it was closed for the season.

Mainz was founded by the Romans in 13 BCE and called it Mogontiacum. It had a large population as it was a military and administrative center, helping to protect Roman front lines to the north through the use of the Rhine River. Roman walls were found when excavating for construction.

It became an important Christian city in the 8th century. In 1450, Gutenberg revolutionized printing by using moveable type. He was born here and there is a great museum in his name here. It uses many different types of the chnology to explore and explain printing changes through the years and how people’s lives have changed. They have some very old books in their possession including two original Gutenberg bibles. Of the 180 that were printed. Only 49 have survived. Two of them ar hermano in a vault that you can see. Each column has 42 lines of text. These were printed d in 1454.

I found the different maps that were on exhibit fascinating. Depending upon the printer, it showed what was known of that day or what that person believed was most important. For example, there is no Americas in this map as it had not been “discovered” yet (1493).

The Hammer of Witches was printed for those to identify and deal with witches. It unfortunately was used heavily after printing in 1486.

They used a special media card that would display information when placed under the scanner.

There are other museums in the area. Landed museum Mainz has Roman and medieval history.

Kurfürstliches Schloss, a 17th century palace.

Schlosstor, Castle gate that is beside the Rhine.

Other sights in Mainz:

Fort Josef

I had not tried wienerschnitzel yet, and I found a restaurant (Stadthaus Schänke) with a peppercorn one. It was delicious.

And of course the Christmas markets

Like other areas of West Germany, they were under Napoleanic rule, part of Prussia, and largely destroyed in WWII.

I took another day trip first to Godesburg. Bad means bath in German. The hill that the castle is built on (just ruins now) is part of a dragon rock legend. The rocks underneath are volcanic and have several possible legends attached to it:

A dragon once lived in the caves of the volcanic cone until banished later by a monk and is not protected OR a pale figure known as the white lady haunts the ruins. She was the daughter of a noble an who could not marry her beloved and befell a tragic death OR a gatekeeper helped opposing forces by bringing in explosives. He was either buried alive or thrown from the tower and his restless soul still walks the grounds OR there is a sleeping army that is in the volcanic cone that will come to life in Germany’s greatest need.

Anyway it was a stronghold of the cardinals of Cologne in 1210 and was actually one of the first fortresses to be blown up by mines.

Below the castle is the castle cemetery. It is pretty cool and peaceful. Some important people are buried here including Beethoven’s mother.

I then traveled to Köningswinter and the Drachenfels. I walked around the town first. It is small but the people are really friendly and there was a large amount of antique stores and many were open in the Sunday I was there. This is a popular tourist area so that would make sense. I enjoyed walking through each one. Lord Byron wrote about the Drachenfels in the 19th century.

Drachenfels means Dragons rock and refers both to the part of the Siebengeberg range and the Castle ruins at the top

Another building the Schloss Drachenburg is there as well. It is a castle that was made in the 19th century to be more like a villa and also became a hotel. Not a true castle. It was closed for a Christmas event and I did not have the chance to go inside. I took the tram (Drachensfelbahn) where the castle was and walked the rest of the way to the ruins. It is a pretty steep path.

The Drachenfels mountain is a 321 meter tall volcanic mountain in the middle Rhine and is an important landmark. It was a fortress to protect the territory of the archbishop of Cologne and built in 1138 and destroyed in the 30 years war in 1630.Donkeys were used to carry materials up the hill and is the reason you see donkey statues in the town.

Drachenfels is also known for the Nibelungen legend. In the legend, the hero Siegfried slays a dragon here and bathes in his blood to become invulnerable except for the spot on his back where a linden leaf had fallen. It is a story from the medieval epic Nibenlungenlied and Wagner’s opera.

The views from the top was amazing.

This is my last night staying in Bonn. Tomorrow I am going to Cologne and pretty excited to see that town as well.

Limburg is a well preserved medieval town that has many of the timber houses still intact. When I think of Old Germany, that is what I wanted to see. It was a long train ride from Bonn but worth it especially since you can also stop at Koblenz on the way back.

I thought that these ornaments on the house were amazing.

This house is known as the house of the 7 deadly sins. It dates back to the 700’s but was rebuilt after partial collapse in 1567. Its face is decorated with carved wooden masks (“heads”) that represent the seven Biblical vices (sins): pride (Hochmut), envy, greed (or avarice/Geiz), lust (Wollust), gluttony / intemperance (Unmäßigkeit), wrath (Zorn), and sloth (Trägheit) — a vivid visual representation of the “seven deadly sins.”

The castle which is under repair.

One of my connections was Koblenz, so I decided to spend a few hours here as well. Koblenz has importance in history as the Moselle river meets the Rhine and was important for moving materials and military fortification beginning with the Romans. It also has a history of being under the rule of many and heavily damaged in WWII.

I was cold and tired and decided not to tour the fort across the Rhine.

Equestrian statue of Wilhelm I at the confluence of the two rivers.

Interesting that there is still a Woolworth here! I wish I had time to go inside but I was on the way to the train!

From Bonn, I took a day trip to Düsseldorf. As with many towns in the area, there is evidence of Roman civilization but it was not organized into a town until the 12th century. After rule during the Napoleanic era, it became part of Prussia in 1815 and during that time it was an industrial hub of the area. During WWII, it was heavily damaged and much of the old town was destroyed.

Stadterhebungs monument commemorating city rights to the town.

Kaiserpfalz Kaiserswerth is the ruins of a Monastery that dates back to 700. This area is a little bit outside of Düsseldorf and many of the buildings are still intact.