Germany 2016 10 - Bamberg Cathedral

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Vacation 2016

August 29, Bamberg
Bamberg Cathedral Hill

Dukes of Henneberg Knights of Gebsattel

The ensemble at Cathedral Hill is the center part of the Bamberg World Heritage Site. It consists of the Cathedral, the Old Court (left) and the New Residence (right).

The Old Court - alte Hofhaltung in German - (above), was built in the 15th century under the reign of Prince Bishop Philipp von Henneberg. It was the official residence of the Bamberg Prince-Bishops from 1475 until 1602.
Work on the New Residence - Neue Residenz in German (below) started in 1602 under Prince Bishop Johann Philipp von Gebsattel. From 1803 until 1918, it was the Residence of Bavaria's Kings.

Most famous part of the New Residence is Germany's second oldest Rose Garden. Second only to Lenné's Rose collection on Potsdam's Peacock Island, roses have been blooming here for over 200 years.
A first garden was built at this location in the 16th century, but originally, the garden mostly showcased tulips, the most popular flowers of the Renaissance. In 1806, Bavaria's first Queen, Caroline of Baden ordered the construction of a rose garden. It was her declared goal, to outshine the biggest rose garden of the time, that of Napoleon's wife Josephine in Paris.
Today, the garden is internationally famous, displaying 4,500 roses in over 70 beds.

The garden was designed in the style of an antique Roman garden.
Part of the design are statues of Roman deities created in 1761 by royal sculptor Ferdinand Dietz.
Among them are (below, from left to right) Venus, Mercury, Neptune and Jupiter.

From the rose garden, we enjoyed the view over the town and Michaelsberg Abbey; then, we moved on to the downtown area.