Never Left Home

Schwetzingen is famous for two things: its asparagus and its Schloss.  Other towns, like nearby Bruchsal, may boast of being #1 in asparagus production but Schwetzingen certainly has the bigger asparagus festival, held every May.  The artwork shown here is in the plaza directly from Schwetzingen’s Schloss. It features a hardworking asparagus lady sorting and preparing the wonderful “spargel” or white asparagus that this region, north of Stuttgart, is famous for.

Once you’ve had your fill of asparagus, it’s time to visit the Schloss, former summer home of the Carl Theodore, one of the Prince Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, who lived here in the late 1700’s.

The Schloss itself isn’t all that impressive by the standards of that time.  It’s more of a “hunting lodge” than palace.  But the gardens and surrounding grounds are incredible.  I visited on a January morning so the gardens weren’t in their full glory.  But the lakes and structures, even in winter, were beautiful.

One of the quirky structures on the grounds is a decorative mosque, built in the “Turkish style” that was popular at the time this was built, 1779-1791.

Statue of Three Kings in downtown Schwetzingen

Imperial Crest

The Diet Chamber

This weekend we went to the Bavarian city of Regensburg.  Regensburg is often overlooked in guidebooks or little attention is given to it.  That’s a shame because this medieval town is one of the few of its size in Germany that escaped bombing in WWII.  The result is an interesting combination of modern structures and the original buildings that once played an important part in German history.  The Diet of the Holy Roman Empire met in the Rathaus, shown here, from 1663 to 1806 and its interior remains almost exactly the same as it was then.

The Rathaus When the Emperor was unable to preside over the Diet for some reason, the prince of Thurn and Taxis took over.  The Turn and Taxis family is one of the wealthiest in Germany and their palace still operates from its location on the edge of town.  The current prince, who is 30, still lives with his family in the castle.  Unfortunately, he didn’t know Tanya and I were in town so we were unable to share a brew with him.

 

 

The family still operates a brewery on the grounds, although it was sold to Paulaner a few years ago.

Another great place to visit is the St. Katharinenspital (St. Katharine’s Hospital) on the north bank of the Danube in Regensburg.  There’s a brewery on the grounds of the former hospital and they’ve been brewing Spital beer since 1226.  Money from the brewery and restaurant/pub help fund the operation of the complex which now serves as a home for the elderly.  Another great living possibility for Tanya and me when we get old and infirm.

 

 

 

The Stone Bridge, built between 1135 and 1146 still stands.  It was used by the Knights of the 2nd and 3rd Crusades to cross the Danube on their way to the Holy Land.

 

And, of course, what would any self-respecting medieval city be without a cathedral.  Regensburg’s only took about 600 years to complete.  Construction started in 1275 and it was finally completed in 1869.  But it is stupendous and the silver altar, built between 1695-1785 is truly amazing.

 

 

We celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary on December 21st in Leipzig.  We enjoyed a great German meal and wine in the historic Auerbach’s Keller in downtown Leipzig.  This was our third visit to Leipzig at Christmas time and we enjoy this city so much that we have to keep coming back.

Here are some shots to give you a bit of the flavor of Leipzig:

While on our late November trip along the Fairy Tale Road, we stopped in Hameln and Bremen to visit the Christmas markets and refresh the memories of our last trip here 15 years ago.

Hameln, of course, is where the legendary Middle Ages figure, the “Rattenfänger of Hameln”, lured all the children of the town away after the townspeople refused to pay for his previous service in leading all the rats out of town.  Regardless of whether this ever really happened, the town has made the most of the story and thousands of people visit each year, mostly to look at the Rattenfänger’s statue and imagine the legend.  Just another example of how never to let the facts get in the way of a good story and then milk that story for all it’s worth.

The Brothers Grimm hold a very strong place in German culture.  While they didn’t actually write the fairy tales many of us grew up with, Hansel & Gretel, Snow White, Rapunzel and so on, they did compile these folk tales into collections that became accessible to the rest of the world.  In 1998, we took our first trip along the Fairy Tale Road, re-tracing the steps of the Grimm brothers.  At that time we visited Hanau, where the brothers were born, Steinau, where they once lived, and several of the places which inspired the tales in the first place.  In late November, we re-visited some of the places along the Fairy Tale Road.

Two places along the route, which really don’t relate to fairy tales but are noteworthy nevertheless, are Lauterbach and Bodenwerder.

Lauterbach is famous for two things:  First, it’s where the famous German gnomes are manufactured.  Secondly, it’s the home of the tale of the “Scalawag who lost his sock”.  One of the most popular versions of this story is that a young man got a job in Lauterbach working at a factory.  The young man however began having an illicit relationship with the factory manager’s wife.  The manager ran him out of town so fast that the young man, this “scalawag”, lost his sock and didn’t dare go back to retrieve it.  The message on the statue commemorating this scoundrel: “In Lauterbach hab’ ich mein strumpf verlor’n” translates as, “I lost my sock in Lauterbach.”  There’s also a tune:

“I lost my sock in Lauterbach, without it I don’t go home.
That’s why I return to Lauterbach, to get back that sock of my own.”

While didn’t sample any of their beer on this trip, Lauterbach also is home to Lauterbacher Bier.  The brewery is in town and apparently has been operating since 1889.

Further north, along the Weser River, is the small town of Bodenwerder.  This city is noteworthy for essentially one thing:  it was the home of the the famous blowhard, Baron Hieronymous Carl Friederich von Münchhausen.

The Baron was famous for his fantastic tales of heroic exploits in battle.  I may not be getting this all correctly, but one of his stories concerns him riding so fast on his horse, Bucephalus, that he doesn’t realize until later that the Turks had blown his horse in two.  This even is memorialized by the statue here, located in town.  Meanwhile, down by the river, someone is retrieving the back half of the horse.

Other stories include the Baron riding a cannonball over the Turkish ramparts to deliver a lethal blow personally.

And, in this story, the Baron hitches a ride with a flock of geese who rescue him from a sinking ship.

As we’re winding down the year and in the middle of the Christmas mayhem, we’re trying to include as many of the places we visited this year in our blog.  Last month, one of the German cities we visited was Würzburg, in northern Bavaria.  This was our second visit to Würzburg and we really enjoy it because it reminds us a little bit of Prague, although without the hordes of tourists.  The Alte Brücke, or old bridge is reminiscent of the Charles Bridge in Prague and in the moonlight, with a glass of wine, it is very romantic.

The Würzburg Residenz

Unfortunately for Würzburg, the city was heavily bombed during the final weeks of World War II.  On March 16, 1945 it took only 17 minutes for 225 British bombers to destroy 90% of the city, including virtually all of the city’s monuments, churches and cathedrals.  The medieval city center was targeted with incendiary bombs designed to burn as much of the town as possible and people ran for their lives, jumping into the Main River to save themselves.

But now the city is practically 100% restored and it’s a fun place to visit.

The Juliusspital, hospital founded in 1576

On a parking lot wall

Another landmark is the Marienberg Fortress, originally built in 707 AD, sitting high on a hill overlooking Würzburg.  It was a bit of a hike but we enjoyed the walk and view.

Marienberg Fortress

Oh Tanya, you’re such a card!

Cherub playing frisbee

Maybe a little too much wine in her lifetime

Woman preparing for the shotput