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1 Oct 2010
From Nuremberg today, we will be making a day trip to the city of Bamberg for which its old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. In medieval times, Bamberg was ruled by Prince-bishops and was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The town was first mentioned in 902CE and was the centre of the Holy Roman Empire for a short time in the 11th Century. Bamberg is home to Rauchbier (smoked beer). A wonderful dark beer that has a barbeque flavour to it. The surrounding areas of Bamberg is one of the places in the world with the highest densities of breweries. Before catching the train to Bamberg on the €28 Bayern Ticket, we walked to the Hauptmarkt in Nuremberg for breakfast.€€€
St. Lorenzkirche in the morning
Closer look at the circular window pattern
St. Lorenzkirche up close reveals some interesting things
Breakfast at the Hauptmarkt, sausages in bun!
One long one
One shorter one, yummy!
Behind is the 4D gelateria where we had the €1/scoop ice-cream
Lost?
We caught the double decker train to Bamberg
Complicated train toilet door operators
Press the right flush! The red button looks like it will jettison you from the toilet seat
Arrival at the Bamberg train station (Bahnhof), we started with the blue route shown below by walking down Luitpoldstraße.
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Overall walking routes around Bamberg: Blue -- From train station to the famous Altes Rathaus then out to Altenburg Castle, Green -- Back tracking from Altenburg, to Michaelsberg Abbey, Red -- To the Cathedral, New Residence and finally to Schlenkerla for dinner.
Braurei Spezial, one of the places near the train station to have the local Rauchbier (smoked beer)
Down the Grüner Markt (Green Market)
At St. Martin Church (St. Martinskirche) on Grüner Markt
Inside the church
Fake dome created by perception painting
The Pulpit
Continuing down the road, we arrive at the iconic Altes Rathaus (Old City Hall) that is in the middle of the Regnitz river.
The Altes Rathaus up ahead
Houses by the river ahead forms the "Little Venice" of Bamberg
Coat of arms above the old town hall
Walking under
Saw this on the building on the other side, many builds have nice decorational statues
The Altes Rathaus, it was built in 1386CE.
The frescos on the altes rathaus
Nice red creepers
Finding our way slightly out of town to the Altenburg Castle
The long walk out to the castle
Altenburg Castle in a distance
Looking back at Bamberg town centre. It will be about an hour's slow walk from the main town area to Altenburg castle
Nearing the castle
Finally, almost there
Bridge to the castle gate
Entrance to the Altenburg Castle (1109CE). It was the residence of the Bamberg bishops from 1305-1553CE. The highest of the seven hills of Bamberg.
Castle tower
They used to keep a real castle bear here
There is just one restaurant up here, nothing else
What a waste, we were hoping for good views of Bamberg but the sky was overcast.
Walking back to Bamberg
Michaelsberg Abbey on the left, Imperial Cathedral on the right
Nice buildings
Attempting to navigate to Michaelsberg abbey took us to some dead ends
Navigating via landmark, the abbey up ahead, it is on one of the seven hills of Bamberg
We got lost at this point
Nice serene town
Pathway up to the Bamberg Residence
We finally found a small gate that led up to the back of the abbey
The back of Michaelsberg Abbey (Kloster Michaelsberg), a Benedictine abbey founded in 1015CE
View from the Michaelsberg Abbey
The Franconian Abbey Brewery Museum in Michaelsberg
Really small Guinness
Lots of Coasters
Different kinds of roasted malt used for beer
The front of Michaelsberg Abbey
Inside Michaelsberg Abbey
The Pulpit
The Altar
Next, we left the abbey and walked to Domplatz where the Cathedral and New Residence are.
The Cathedral (Bamberger Dom), a late Romanesque building built in 1012CE
Inside the Cathedral, big and plain
Bamberg New Residence (Neue Residenz, 1704CE), used by the prince-bishops and more recently by the disposed King Otto of Greece
360 video of Domplatz, the Bamberger Dom and the Neue Residenz
New Residence entrance
The New Residence Rose Garden
Stairway upstairs, it closes early in October and we missed it
Tired from all the walking, we headed to our final destination, Schlenkerla, for the famous Rauchbier and dinner.
Entrance to Schlenkerla, this place is first mentioned in 1405CE and is a historical brewery tavern
There are few separate dining areas inside, and they have an English menu
Rauchbier! (smoked beer), the default is the Märzen, €2.40 for half litre, comes straight from the barrel. It's fantastic, tastes like a barbeque!
Bamberger Zwiebel recommended by the waitress, its meat stuffed onion with smoke-beer sauce €7.80
Bamberger Sausages
Rauchbier Wiezen style, comes from a bottle at €2.60 for half litre
A small courtyard where you can buy the bottled rauchbier to bring home, I bought a Märzen and a Wiezen. Should've bought more.
Toilets with copper taps!
Walking back to the train station, the Bamberg "Little Venice" along the river
Back in Nuremburg with the €1 ice-cream from 4D
Too tired to walk further we took the Nuremburg U-bahn back to our hotel.
That ends our day trip out to Bamberg. Very manageable from Nuremberg with no need to rush. Bamberg is a very pretty town with nicely maintained buildings and sculpture. Unfortunately, the walk out to the Altenburg castle wasn't as fruitful as it turned out to be. Unless the skies are clear for pictures and good views I wouldn't suggest embarking on that. The Rauchbier more than make up for it though and is something that everyone should try. Tomorrow we will be leaving Germany for good and heading to Prague in the Czech Republic.
Check back for the next post soon.
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