![[German flag]](http://www.io.com/~rstrauss/demap.gif){kind=small}
Because of its size, this journal is in two parts -- Part I, which follows, and Part II, which can be accessed via the hyperlink.
In July, 1996 we spent 21 days in Germany, travelled approximately 3000 km and visited 12 cities in Germany and one in France. Most of the places we saw were within 250 km of Frankfurt. These included Mainz, Heidelberg, Trier, Rothenburg, Bad Homburg, Ruedesheim,Triberg, Rhein Cruise from Bingen/Ruedesheim, Bacharach, Braunfels, Bamberg, Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Strasbourg, France. Memorable sights included the following:
A description of some of the highlights of each major city follows.
Our trips to other cities are described in Part II
Our first trip was to Mainz and we parked along the Rhein River. The river wasn't as wide as I had imagined, but there was a lot of activity on it -- pleasure cruises and barges loaded with coal. We walked to the DOM zu Mainz, St. Martin's Cathedral, one of Germany's most important Catholic cathedrals. The Romanesque basilica, dating from A.D. 975, reached its present form in the 13th and 14th century. Many of the pillars along the aisles are decorated with the statues of French and German saints, and several important persons are buried beneath the floor.
We walked along some of the picturesque streets and stopped for coffee at Korfmann's Coffee house. Obtaining a table was a bit of an experience. There isn't a hostess there to seat you. You keep your eye on a table that is about to come available and beat everyone else to it. The food was typical German fare -- coffee and Black Forest Cherry cake (Swarzwaelderkirsch Torte). One thing we noticed is that the cakes are not as sweet as they are back in the USA. For a group of six the bill wasn't too steep -- 50 marks, which is about$30. We were educated on the art of tipping properly in Germany. It seems that tips of up to 10% are given, but since they are given 10% of the bill by the establishment, an amount of 3-5% is more common, or nothing at all if the service was not acceptable.
The temperature was very cold for 6 July. It must have been about 50 degrees. We all had lined coats or sweaters on, which barely seemed adequate as the evening approached.
It was about 60 miles to Heidelberg from Ruesselsheim. Our first stop was the Schloss Heidelberg. It is a huge red-sandstone castle which is reached by walking up a very long steep hill or taking a cable car. For those who walk up and are not used to exercising regularly it is very tiring and you vow to get into better condition. The castle is in poor shape, having had parts of it blown up by the French in the late 17th century. From the Gun Park you can look down upon the town of Heidelberg and the Neckar Valley. It is a great spot for photo opportunities. We took a one hour tour of the castle in English, which was a must. Otherwise, you can't make sense of what you are seeing because there are so many different parts to the castle. One section of the castle that was less destroyed than the other parts is the palace of Friedrich IV, erected from 1601-1607. We thought it to be rather plain inside. One interesting item is a 55,000 gallon wine vat in the cellar of the castle. It was only filled twice since it was built in 1751. We had our first experience in paying to use the rest room -- a charge of 50 pfennigs.
We walked through town along the Hauptstrasse. Starting with the Marktplatz in front of the Rathaus, we passed the Church of the Holy Ghost, built in about 1400, then a famous old mansion, Zum Ritter, built in 1592, and now operating as an inn. We stopped for coffee and cake in a coffeehouse and had a nice break from our walking tour. There is a MacDonalds on the street where the kids tried out the french fries (very good) for about 2.5 marks. It was raining as we left the coffeehouse and we had to cut our walk short. Altogether we spent about 3 hours in town. We left several museums and places of interest unseen.
Today we got an early start and went to the Roman ruins at Saalburg. It is near Bad Homburg, about an hour away. The trip involved my first experience driving on the Autobahn. Although Bad Homburg was only about sixty miles away, the driving experience made it seem much longer. There are frequent exits and entrances to the Autobahn and the cars in the left lane are passing you at a high rate of speed, all of which requires the driver to maintain a high state of concentration.
The Saalburg Museum is in a recreation of a Roman Fort, the original of which was built in the first century A.D. and lasted until the Germanic peoples occupied that territory and pushed out the Romans in 260 A.D. The museum contains many artifacts from that period, and one of the things that surprised us mostly about their implements was how much they looked like modern day hand tools. There were some excavations of the original Roman houses, baths, wells and other permanent structures such as baking ovens. About 200 yards from the fort was a section of the original Limes, an earthen wall that was constructed in about 85 A. D. and marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire.
Trier is about 220 km away from Frankfurt , through Mainz and Kaiserslautern. It took 2-1/2 hours of high speed driving and lots of looking over my shoulder to make sure that another car wasn't overtaking me in the fast lane. Traffic in Trier is abominable. Narrow circular streets, mostly one-way with little or no directions to the part of the city I wanted to be at. Once I parked the car I didn't use it again until we were leaving. We stayed at a very nice hotel, the Altstadt Hotel, near Porta Nigra. It cost 220 DM/day for a triple room with a bathroom and shower. Breakfast was included.
Trier's history began in the middle of 1C BC, when Gaius Julius Caesar conquered Gaul and integrated the Mosell region into the Roman Empire. In 16 BC Emperor Augustus established a city here. This makes Trier Germany's oldest city. It was the home of Roman Emperors. Many imposing historical Roman and medieval buildings have survived to this day. Toward the end of the 3C Emperor Diocletian made Trier his residence and the capital of the western territories of the Roman Empire. At the beginning of the 4C none lesser than Emperor Constantine himself resided here and he directed that many of the currently existing Roman buildings be erected.
![[Porta Nigra]](portanig.gif)
Once situated we started sightseeing right away at the Porta Nigra, the largest surviving Roman gate north of the Alps. Built in the last third of the 2C, it was the northern gate of the city walls. The imposing monument is 36m wide and 30m high, built of sandstone which has turned black thru the ages.
Next we moved on the extremely impressive Trier Cathedral (Dom) and Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche), which originate from a double church built in the 4C. The Dom was destroyed at least twice and the current structure was rebuilt starting in 977. Both churches are truly impressive structures with much worth seeing, including stone statuary from the 12C and the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The Dom includes a relic which is said to be the original tunic of Christ for which the Roman soldiers diced. It was found in the 4C by the mother of Emperor Constantine, St. Helena. It is enclosed, out of sight, in the Heiltumskammer, at one end of the church.
The Hauptmark (Main Market) forms the center of Trier's Old Town, and is an interesting place to sit and observe the events of the day. We had coffee in front of the Steipe, a building built in 1430-1483 as a drinking house for the City Council. It was destroyed in 1944, but has been faithfully rebuilt in its original style.
The Roman Basilica (Aula Palatina) is one of the most impressive buildings of late antiquity. It was built at the direction of Emperor Constantine in the early 4C. It comprises a single huge rectangular building with an apse a the northern end -- 67m long, 27m wide and 30m high made of sandstone bricks. Its design is such that one finds it hard to believe that it is not a modern brick building.
From there we went to the Imperial Baths, which were also built for Emperor Constantine. It was a massive complex of rooms, fireplaces for heating the water and complex underground passages and piping systems. The original facility is clearly visible, although it is in ruins.
Most of Trier can be seen on foot, although we certainly were tired by the end of the day and we had only seen half of it. That evening, on the recommendation of Michael Hitzler, which I obtained over the Internet, we ate at the Warsburger Hof on Dietrichstrasse. It is right up the street from the Franken-Turm, a thousand year old tower which looks like a castle. Three of us had a good meal and a bottle of wine for 75 Marks. It was cold all day and we kept our lined spring jackets on the whole time.
![[Amphitheatre]](amphi.gif)
The next morning after our hearty complimentary breakfast we set out for the Amphitheatre. For the first time during our trip so far we were comfortable in just a tee shirt. The temperature was in the upper 70s. It was a good 30 minute walk from the Porta Nigra to the Amphitheatre. Our legs were still aching from the walking the day before. Dating from around 100 AD, the oval arena is the oldest surviving Roman structure in Trier. Gladiatorial contests were presented here to audiences of up to 20,000 people in three rows of stone seats. The seats are now gone, but the circular arena wall, the arched gates and several other entrances are still intact. Chambers in the wall open to the arena and were probably animal cages. There is a cellar under the arena floor, which can be visited.
![[Roman Bridge]](rombrid.gif)
From there we walked down to the Mosel River and viewed the Roman Bridge. Five of the surviving seven piers date to the Roman period. The bridge was built in the 2C. The present bridge arches were built in 1717/18. Down the river a couple hundred yards are the Old Mosel River Cranes. One was built in 1413 and the other in 1774. Though no longer used they are in excellent shape and the original mechanical pedal wheels which powered the cranes can still be seen.
On the way there we passed by the St. Barbara Baths, built around 150 AD. These were the biggest baths of the antique world, and included baths, indoor swimming pools, saunas, gym changing and wash rooms. They remained in use for several hundred years. Parts of the baths have been excavated and can be seen from the street. We did not go into the baths because there was a charge and the view from the street was adequate for our purposes.
We made one more stop at the Rheinisches Landesmuseum, which includes many exhibits of archeological finds from the Prehistoric, Gallo-Roman, Frankish and Modern times. All the exhibits are from Trier and the surrounding area. At this point we were bone-tired and did not take advantage of the excellent exhibits as we could have.
Just north of Bad Homburg is Hessenpark. The park contains groups of historical buildings moved from their original location in Germany and re-erected in groups which represent villages from where they came. The buildings date from the 1600s to the late 1800s and include furnishing from that period. We spent 3 hours there and only touched the surface of what was available. It was well worth the time. At the end of our visit we had lunch at the restaurant in the park. The service was poor -- the waitress spilled the beer and was rude. By this time I was getting used to eating french fries as my luncheon meal as it is cheap and tasty. For 3 adults and 2 children we spent 60 Marks.
We finished the day up at the Bath house in Bad Homburg. It has several swimming pools and jacuzzis that were heated from mild to warm temperatures. You can stay either 2 hours, 4 hours or the whole day. We stayed 2 hours, which was long enough for us.
Comments or questions? Drop me a note at rstrauss@io.com