Germany 2016 09 - Bamberg Regnitz

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Vacation 2016

August 29, Bamberg
Bamberg - Around River Regnitz

Bavaria Bamberg

The next day, Julia had booked a guided tour in the nearby historic town of Bamberg, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. It turned out to be one of the best tours I ever took.

The tour started downtown at the tourist information and first led along the historical Ludwig-Canal. Its location near the confluence of rivers Regnitz and Main earned Bamberg the title "Bavarian Venice."

In 1846, after 12 years of construction, Bavarian King Ludwig I opened the Danube-Main Canal, also known as the Ludwig Canal.
The Canal fulfilled a thousand year-old dream of bridging the European continental divide, by a water way that eventually would link River Rhine and the North Sea with river Danube and the Black Sea.
A first attempt was made as early as 793, when King Charlemagne ordered the construction of the Charles-Canal.
His water way, the Fossa Carolina did indeed work, though ships had to be pulled on logs part of the way; but it was discontinued after only a few years.

The Ludwig Canal, on the other hand, was navigable for 100 years. It sustained heavy damage in World War II and was eventually replaced by the modern Rhine–Main–Danube Canal.
The Canal was 107 miles long and had 100 locks to traversed a change of altitude of 866 feet. The last one of the locks - "Lock 100" - remains until this day an engineering monument.

Walking past the historical Felt Mill and a ferry across the river, we approached the first of Banberg's architectural gems: Villa Concordia.

The baroque castle was built in 1722 by architect Johann Dientzenhofer. It was originally owned by Ignaz Tobias Böttinger, a high ranking official in the service of prince-bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn.

Today, the building is the home of an international artist's colony, funded by the state of Bavaria. Every year, twelve European artists receive a one-year scholarship to live and work at Villa Concordia - all expenses paid.

Continuing on our way along river Regnitz, we came across some of Bamberg's many studwork houses.

Then, we arrived at one of Bamberg's crown jewels, the Böttinger House (below).
Built in 1713, it was once owned by the same Ignaz Tobias Böttinger who owned Villa Concordia. Both building illustrate the rise of a bourgeois middle class in the 18th century that often upstaged the nobility of old.

Next stop was one of Bamberg's oldest churches, the Church of our Lady, also known as the Upper Parish.
The cornerstone for this rather large church was laid in 1338, but - partially due to the Hussite Wars - the last tower wasn't finished until almost 150 years later in 1481.
Originally, the entire church was built on Gothic stile and the exterior still represents that. But in 1711, after the church's late curator Johann Philipp von Franckenstein left his entire fortune to the church, the interior was "baroquized."
The church is frequently visited by pilgrims as the 14th century Madonna statue at its altar is said to have healing power.

The most famous piece of art in this church is Tintoretto's "Ascension of Mary" from the mid of the 16th century.

From here, we continued to Domberg, or Cathedral Hill - the center of the World Heritage Site..