Churches, Castles and Contracts
Trip Start
Jul 07, 2005
1
6
14
Trip End
Sep 03, 2005
Schwangau,
Germany
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Last Sunday, 17 July, was churches day. Originally I had planned to go to the Bavaria Film Studio just so I could take pictures of the set of "Das Boot." Taking pictures of a real submarine in the Deutsches Museum meant that I wouldn't need to do that. Then I thought I would drive to the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak. But the weather has been cloudy, and so far all I would be able to see from there is the inside of a cloud. So, after getting directions from reception, I went to the Matthäuskirche, an Evangelisch-Lutheranische church. The building is fairly new - certainly after WWII / and is built in an oval. I enjoyed the service but especially the organ music
01 St. Michaels
. The postlude was a Bach partita on the pipe organ.After lunch I walked around Munich for a while. I visited St. Michael's church and the cathedral (again). St. Michael's has a Baroque interior - there are lots of those, since the Baroque architecture in this area came as a result of and received impetus from the Counter Reformation. In contrast to the north and east, southern Germany (Bavaria) remained catholic and wanted to show it. A lot of the artwork and architecture is inspired by Italy.
Finally I made my way to Marienplatz and took the elevator to the observation platform. This is the only tower I've been to in Europe that has an elevator all the way to the top; most of them have *lots* of stairs to climb. The views of Munich were great. Of course, photos never do them justice, but I took a few anyway.
When I came down I walked to the Theatiner church on Odeonplatz and went inside. Once again, thoroughly Baroque. (But not "Flat Baroque" - bad pun for anyone who remembers the Carpenters song.) A Volksfest was going on in Odeonsplatz, so I watched and film a little before heading to the Altes Rathaus. From there I walked through the Viktualienmarkt (deserted on Sunday afternoon) and eventually found myself on Sendlinger Strasse on the way back to Sendlinger Tor Platz, which is where the church I had attended in the morning is located.
Walking along Sendlinger Strasse, I stumbled upon the Asamkirche, a small church designed and built by the Asam brothers. Although labeled "Late Baroque" (there's the Baroque again!), it really is Rococo - wild Rococo
02 Frauenkirche
. This church definitely fits one definition of the style I jokingly tell my students: Baroque on acid. One guidebook called the Asam brothers "rococonuts." Be sure to check the pictures of this church!Back at the hotel I checked e-mail, read the paper, had some tea, and sent out the account of my trip to Landshut the week before. You can tell how much I'm keeping up with things!
So that was my nice and relaxing Sunday.
On Monday I headed toward the Austrian border and visited the "Königsschlösser" (King's castles) of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Surprisingly there weren't a lot of people there, so I was able to get a (German) tour right away (for English I would have had to wait). The only way to see the insides is to take a tour - clever marketers, those Wittelsbachs. Unfortunately, unlike at Linderhof, they don't allow pictures of the inside of either of the castles, though they encourage exterior shots and even say it's okay to shoot out the windows from the inside. I was amazed by how well everyone observed the request.
After a leisurely hike up to Hohenschwangau I looked around outside and went into the "Castle Shop" while waiting for the tour. (I'm certain they hope everyone goes inside the shop; they also hope that, unlike me, people buy things.) Just a few useless factoids from the tour: the original name of the castle was Schwanstein. When the Wittelsbach family came into possession of the castle, they adopted the swan as family symbol as well. The original 12th-century castle was destroyed by Napoleon
03 New City Hall
. Maximilian II (Ludwig II's father) rebuilt it and re-named it. He called it Hohenschwangau to distinguish it from the nearby town of Schwangau. The interior walls are painted with scenes from history and legend, including medieval life, great moments from Wittelsbach history, the Wilkinga Saga, and - of course - Lohengrin, the Swan Knight. In the family dining room the ceiling has the Wittelsbach Swan (of course) and the Prussian Eagle. "Wait!" I hear you cry. "What is the Prussian Eagle doing in a Bavarian Castle?!" You see, King Max II married a Prussian Princess and wanted her to feel a bit more at home, so he had the eagle painted on the ceiling. The king's rooms were on the floor above the queen's rooms. Each had a central room (either the family dining room or the Festsaal), reading room, office, living room or reception room, dressing room, and bedroom. The king's bedroom was immediately above the queen's bedroom and connected by a hidden spiral staircase. On the queen's level the door could be opened only from inside the queen's bedroom. When Max II died and Ludwig II took over, he had the ceiling of his bedroom painted with a nighttime sky because he loved the night. A lot of Ludwig's and his brother Otto's childhood was spent at Hohenschwangau, and it has a much homier and lived-in feel than Neuschwanstein - which was never lived in at all.After the Hohenschwangau tour, I took the shuttle bus to Marienbrücke, a bridge above Neuschwanstein. The views are spectacular. Then I hiked further up the trail and enjoyed some even more spectacular views. On the way back, I stopped and took the picture of a family; then I had one of them take my picture so that those of you who have asked can actually see me at one of the places. Then I hiked down to the castle for my tour. More useless factoids: Ludwig II died with only 1/3 of the interior finished
04 Old City Hall
. Within 6 weeks of his death, people were already visiting the castle as a museum, so it has never been finished. The "throne room," which has no throne (never got built), was designed on the model of a Byzantine Church. Behind the throne pedestal are paintings of 6 kings who are also saints. Above them sits Christ as King of Kings. Ludwig was really trying to tie himself in with the greats of history. Ludwig's bedroom includes a 4-poster bed with a model of Jerusalem in wood on top. The swan motif used throughout the castle has 3 associations: the original heraldic device, a symbol of purity, and Lohengrin the Swan Knight. Even after he was declared insane, Ludwig was allowed to come here from time to time for day trips. There is a lot of controversy involved around Ludwig's insanity and death. Was he really insane or did the Parliament get someone to deliver the diagnosis so they could stop the massive hemorrhaging of the Bavarian treasury with all the castle building? Did Ludwig commit suicide or was it an accident or was he murdered? There are convinced proponents of each view. Following Ludwig's death, his brother Otto - who really was insane from his war experiences - was determined unfit to rule, so the regency passed to their Uncle Luitpold and then to Ludwig III, the last King of Bavaria.When we had finished the tour, I watched an interesting multimedia presentation on Ludwig II and his castles, had lunch in the castle café and hiked back down into "town."
Since I was so close, I decided to drive to Reutte, Austria, and check out the ruins of Schloss Ehrenberg. When I got there, it was at least a ½-hour hike to the nearest ruins. Because it was getting late and threatening rain, I decided to save Ehrenberg for another day
05 St. Peter in the Asamkirche
. Besides, the signs indicated that serious work will take place between now and 2007, when the whole area will have a serious information center and other informative and historical additions. Instead, I drove back to a scenic lookout I had passed and took pictures from a distance. Once I got the pictures and got back into the car, it began to storm - a real "Gewitter." Had I taken the hike, I would most certainly have been caught in the storm, not a pleasant thought. On my drive back to Munich, it rained, blew, thundered and lightened all the way - sometimes very hard. Between Garmisch and Kochtal and Aspen branch had blown down across a couple of lanes on the other side of the Autobahn. Police were working to get it off the road.Safely back at the hotel I had dinner, wrote in my journal and typed a travel entry.
So that was my Castle Monday.
On Tuesday I had planned to go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany's best-preserved medieval town. But I have already been there and decided to make a couple of day trips elsewhere rather than an overnighter to Rothenburg. Besides, the weather report predicted rain, and I figured I could do a city like Augsburg - as opposed to either Rothenburg or the Zugspitze - in the rain. So, I headed for Augsburg.
Once I arrived in Augsburg I found a short-term parking garage and parked. On my way out I saw a "meter maid" and asked her where I could find long-term parking. Since I'd already paid I left my car where it was to take a quick look around, go to the Tourist Information office and have lunch
06 Asamkirche
. The first street sign I saw was for "Barfüsser Strasse" (Barefooters Street). I knew there had to be some history associated with a name like that, and I was able to find it. A short distance down the street I came to the "Barfüsser Kirche." It was the first known Franciscan church north of the Alps and was founded during St. Francis of Assisi's lifetime - around 1220. Franciscans were mendicant monks and went barefoot. Poverty was a key vow for them. The current church is but a remnant of the original structure, and it had to be rebuilt after WWII. Now a Lutheran church, this church's other "claim to fame" is that it was Bertolt Brecht's church when he was a child. He was baptized and confirmed here. Although Brecht later became a "confirmed" atheist and communist, the Bible permeates his work. In his play "Galileo," one scene has dialogue consisting entirely of Bible verses. A major reason Brecht rejected Christianity was that the church of his time was extremely class conscious and refused to admit the poor as equals of the rich.From the church I walked up to the Rathausplatz and found the TI. They gave me a map and some information, including how to find the Maximilian Museum where there was a special exhibit. (More about that later.) After getting help, I walked around the corner to a Schnellimbiss (Quick-bite place) and had lunch. Then I moved my car to long-term parking.
Once I had parked the car in the new spot, I started a walking tour of the city, a Stadtrundgang. First stop was the Dom. Amazingly, although catholic it wasn't Baroque; it was gothic. Then I returned to Rathausplatz and went inside the Rathaus (City Hall - no jokes about politicians being rats; "Rat" means council, so this is simply the Council House) and visited the Goldener Saal
07 Hohenschwangau
. It's a gorgeous, large room that has, I'm sure, had a lot of important history take place inside it. It certainly is a wonderfully rich room. Skipping the Perlach Tower, I headed back down Barfüsser Strasse and turned into Schlachthausgässchen (Slaughter House Alley), which fittingly leads to where the city once had a slaughter house. The names of streets are often clues to a lot of a town's past. Finding my through Metzgplatz (Butcher Square), I made my way to Schiedgasse (Smithy Alley), passing the Bert Brecht Haus, where Brecht grew up, as I went. Turning into the Jakoberstrasse, I made my way to the Fuggerei. This was a "gated community" founded in 1516 by Jakob August Fugger "the Rich" for industrious, innocently impoverished citizens of Roman Catholic faith. It's the world's oldest "social housing" complex, has 52 houses and 147 apartments, and rents for 1 Rhenish Gulden (=1 Euro) per year. It is obviously still in use. Next I made my way to the Vogeltor, on of the medieval city gates (from 1445). Deciding to cut the tour short a bit, I cut across to Maximilianstrasse and walked past the Hercules fountain and the Mercury fountain until I reached the Maximilian Museum.Inside the museum was the special exhibition: "Als Frieden möglich war; 450 Jahre Augsburger Religionsfrieden." ("When peace was possible; 450 years of religious peace in Augsburg) [This was the "Contracts" part of the title - the various treaties for religious peace.] The exhibit was excellent
08 Neuschwanstein
. My only complaint was not being able to take pictures. They had a lot of paintings, artifacts and excellent explanations. Some of the most significant documents I saw included the Peace of Augsburg, the Treaty of Utrecht from the Peace of Westphalia, and the Edict of Nantes. The exhibit put the Peace of Augsburg in its historical context very well. Under the motto of "cuius regio, eius religio" (whoever's region, his religion), the Peace of Augsburg was one of a number of treaties signed during this general time period that helped mark the transition from religious unity as necessary to political stability (Holy Roman Empire) to political unity apart from religious unity (modern nation states). At first the Peace applied officially only to Catholics and Lutherans. Later Calvinists were added (since the Palatinate was Calvinist and an Elector of the Holy Roman Emperor), and eventually other "sects" received something like equal footing. Naturally some princes were more tolerant of divergences within their territories. The Peace of Augsburg applied only to Christians. Jews and other non-Christian groups were protected - and persecuted - under imperial laws and decrees that went back as far as the Romans.Following my visit I had dinner at a sidewalk table of the Restaurant "Zum Weissen Hasen" (White Rabbit Restaurant). Their Schnitzel "Wiener Art" (a pork cutlet) was excellent
09 Neuschwanstein and I
. Earlier I had said that I thought I could handle Augsburg in the rain. It rained 3 times today: when I was in the Rathaus, when I was in the museum, and when I was under the restaurant's spacious umbrella - so I came through the day totally dry.After dinner I went to St. Anne's Church (attached to a former Carmelite nunnery). Martin Luther stayed there when he was in Augsburg. Then I took pictures of the Perlach Tower, Rathaus and Augustus fountain at the Rathausplatz and headed for Munich. On the way back, I made a very short detour to drive by "Western-City." It is based on the western writings of Karl May. May was a novelist in the 1800s. Although he never left Europe, he wrote about the American west, Afghanistan and the Middle East, and other places throughout the world. His research was good enough that if he said something was there, it was there at that time. One of May's most enduring and popular characters is the Apache chief Winnetou. He appears in a number of May's western books. The name has proven so popular that it now appears on the German government's list of officially acceptable German names. The Western-City was closed, but I think I'd like to go back and see it some day, especially during their Karl May festival.
Coming back into Munich, I was unable to proceed directly to my hotel
10 Ehrenberg
. As I tried to go under the railway overcrossing, I discovered it was closed. Everything around the main train station was blocked off, and there was a tremendous police presence. When I got to the hotel I asked the desk clerk what was going on, and he told me that there was an economic conference going on with officials from Iraq. It lasted three days; I guess I had missed it because I had been traveling south the other days (and the train station was north of my hotel). The Iraqis had previously met in Berlin and requested that this meeting occur in Munich. On Wednesday morning there was an article in the paper about the conference. It was an economic conference, and the Iraqi officials had wanted to meet in a place where they thought they could have contact with German businesses that could invest in their infrastructure. They wanted to meet in town, so the German officials set up the conference, reserved the rooms and space at the hotel in the train station, and *then* informed local officials. The Bavarian newspapers, radio and TV all complained about the choice of locations, saying that is was about as insecure as you could get, and the massive security measures unduly disrupted the city. Not only were roads closed, but busses and trams had to be re-routed, and everyone entering the train station had to be searched. I'm glad I didn't have to go through the train station during the conference!That was an interesting end to Tuesday
11 Barfüsser Kirche
.Rather than letting this get too long, I think I'll close for now. Later I'll see if I can find an Internet Café that lets me upload from a floppy disc so I can send this and any accompanying pictures (which I still need to edit).
So once again,
Es wuenscht Euch allen Gottes reichsten Segen
Robert
Comments
a born shutterbug, Robert!
Your photographs are stunning! What model camera are you using?
Baroque on Acid
Yes I would have to agree! Thank you for sharing your vacation.