Bam, Bam, Bamberg

Friday, August 4, 2006

Can you hear the beer mugs? Bam! Bam! Bam! in time on the long wooden plank tables….

I had my first REAL German beer (Cologne doesn’t count – they serve baby beers) sitting with my host, Johannes, at a local brewery in Bamberg. This is a wonderful little off-the-beaten track town, recommended, and rightly so, by my dear German friend Achim. Bamberg is known for its breweries – with nine in this small little town, it ranks the highest brewery per capita in the world. Unlike most who come to Bamberg, though I didn’t come for the beer. I had decided to make a quick run through Germany, a top tourist site, a small town, and a large city, saving the rest of my railpass for Switzerland. Bamberg was a great stopping point between the castle and Berlin, and a nice break from the madness of Neuschwanstein and Salzburg, being more a tourist destination for Germans than for the world.

Bamberg is an interesting little town – quaint in that German way with high pitched roofs and brown wood accent pieces on the colored stucco walls. It is well-maintained, having escaped the bombing during World War II that most vibrant town centers faced. In fact, Bamberg is recognized as a World Heritage Sight for having one of Europe’s largest intact old town centers, with over 2,000 historic houses, numerous museums and art works, both beautiful and curious architecture, and a rich history. Its fortune began when a childless couple bequeathed lands and money to the church so as to be remembered throughout history despite their inability to carry on the family name. Money might not buy you love, but it can definitely buy you a spot in heaven. They were both canonized for their contribution to this little town.

The Cathedral is impressive, but I thought less impressive than many - or maybe I have just seen too many at this point. It does some interesting features such as the famous Bamberg Horsemen, an equestrian statue that has set on the north pillar of the St. George choir for about eight hundred years now. Crafted by an unknown medieval sculptor around 1230, it is considered the first monumental equestrian statue since classical antiquity. The Cathedral is also the final resting place for Pope Clemens II and the only Papal burial place north of the Alps.

I actually found St. Michaels more lovely than the cathedral. It is a monastery situated on a hill just above the city. Rather than the traditional ceiling works of stone or fresco, the ceiling of St. Michaels is white washed with beautifully painted representations of hundreds of medicinal plants with commendable botanical accuracy in each of the corner crossovers of the vaulted sections of ceiling. Personally, I was enthralled by the sculpture of the saint whom I lit candles before. Her expressions seemed to change for the twenty minutes or so I sat in communion with her. Sometimes she smiled serenely, sometimes she seemed almost to laugh, others she had the patience of a mother, and sometimes a look of empathy so profound I thought she might cry. The exchange was so intense, I began to wonder if I was about to have an enlightened encounter. When I finished my prayers (it takes a long time to pray for all of you!), I was so deeply moved I forgot to even see who she was.

From St. Michaels, I wandered down into the town and quite by accident passed the town’s third most famed attraction – the Old Town Hall. It was constructed in the 14^th century on an artificial island in the middle of the River Regnitz. Why you ask? It was an attempted marriage of church and state, placed equidistant between the clerical city on the hills and the merchants Island city; the “citizens” and the “church”. The building is both beautiful and curious in its little spot in the middle of the river. From the Old Town Hall, you can see the area known as Little Venice – accessible by small river boats, these houses sit right on the river’s edge, beautifully adorned with overflowing flowerboxes.

I didn’t make it up one of the seven hills to experience the renowned beergartens – a concept similar, I think, to Vineyard hopping, but I did get to try two of the local brews courtesy of my host Johannes. The second was a smoked brew – an interesting experience indeed. I actually felt like I was drinking smoked sausage. I enjoyed chatting with Johannes over both beer and breakfast - a lovely experience indeed to breakfast in the garden of their artistic and feng shui flowing home. Johannes is a glass artist and his wife a herbal specialist and reflexology therapist. Unfortunately, she was out of town so I did not get to meet her. Their house was amazing. Four floors in a building almost five hundred years old. The design was a cross between minimalist and cozy southern – an interesting combination indeed. The walls were painted great chakra colors – reds and oranges, yellows and Asian greens, always in blocked lines with a two foot white blocked space at the top. The colors and blocking created a vibrant energy in the home – it really felt like the house of an artist and herbologist! Johannes is one of those rare people who brings vision into reality. He spent hours walking me through his website and the many projects he has seen to fruition from Che Guevara photo reproductions and exhibitions to his growing Domino Club. He was preparing for an exhibition while I was there this weekend of his glass work. Currently he works with a two-pane suspended design that I found stark and warm at the same time in an appealing play of emotion and light. I would love to buy a large one for a room division in the loft chakra apartment I have been designing in my head. You can see some of his work and other interests on his website www.schreiber-glaskunst .de though unfortunately there is not a flattering picture of the double-paned form he is working with now.

I learned all sorts of fascinating things in my time at Bamberg between my conversations with Johannes and the well-done tourist guides. For example, did you know that the Murano glass artisans were practically prisoners of the island? The Venetian powers-that-be were terrified of losing their financially profitable monopoly on glass making if the secret recipes were to be recreated outside Venice so all glass makers who were privy to the knowledge were bound to the island – facing fine and even death if they left without permission. A pretty stringent trade secret regulation! I also found it interesting that the town has its consistent baroque appearance thanks essentially to tax incentives. Any citizen who turned over rights to construct a façade to their house to the state received a three year reprieve on their taxes. Any citizen who undertook the façade themselves at their own expense received a twenty year reprieve! Johannes said that many of the houses turned over to the state are actually like houses inside houses, with the facades located several feet in front of the actual house. Funny to think of tax incentives hundreds of years ago -we think of it as such a modern issue.

If I had more time, there were many more things worth seeing in Bamberg. I would especially enjoy a sunset brew in the hills above the city. But it is ideal for a quick overnight stop on the train between Munich and Berlin just to taste a little of the more peaceful German countryside and days of old.