Germany 2016 12 - Bamberg Townhall

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Vacation 2016

August 29, Bamberg
Bamberg Town Hall

Bamberg City Seal in 1211

After crossing downtown and its beer gardens, we approached the historic town hall.

In the Middle Ages, Bamberg was divided into the Hill Town - under regency of the Bamberg Bishop - and the independent, bourgeois Island Town. River Regnitz marked the border between the two quarters.
The town hall was supposed to represent both quarters. Since neither side was willing to give up property for the town hall, an artificial island, resting on 200 oak pillars, was erected in the middle of the river.
A town hall at this island was first mentioned in 1387. The current building was erected between 1461 und 1467. Originally it was built in Gothic style. Between 1744 and 1756, architect Johann Jakob Michael Küchel remodeled it in Rococo style, incorporating large murals done by Johann Anwander.

The mural has a couple of intriguing three-dimensional pieces (above).
The Rococo-Balconies (below) were designed by Jos. Bonaventura Mutschele.

There are a couple of monuments at the bridges leading to the town hall. At the Upper Bridge, there is a statue of Sait John of Nepomuk, the patron saint of bridges and a Calvary Sculpture, created by Leonhard Gollwitzer in 1715.

At the Lower Bridge, there is a copy of a statue of Bamberg's patron saint, St. Cunigunde.
Originally, In 1750, sculptor Johann Peter Benkert created six statues to adorn Bamberg's oldest bridge. When a flood in 1784 destroyed the bridge, Kungundes statue was the only one to prevail. The original is now kept in St. Jakob Church. A copy has been placed at the bridge in 1992 and has by now become more popular than the original.
A totally different piece of art is Igor Mitoraj's creation just a few steps away.
In 1987, the Polish sculptor was a recipient of the Villa Concordia grant. Mitoraj has sculpted created several sculptures trying to express the influence of the roman Empire on the arts. His half heads show how much is still left in us of that great epoch.
His sculpture "Centurione I" was a gift to the city.
From here, we moved on to Bamberg's most popular meeting point: The Fork Man.

Since 1337, there have been several fountains in this location. In 1697, Bamberg's bishop, Archbishop-Elector Lothar Franz von Schönborn ordered a reconstruction of the fountain to bring clean drinking water to the town. Architect Caspar Metzner created a statue of Roman God Neptune.
In 1706, the engineers succeeded providing clean water and the city thanked the Bishop by putting his seal on the fountain.

Under the seal, we can find an abbreviation of the bishops full title:
L. F. D. G. S. S. M. A. S. R. I. P. G. A. E. E. E. B.
stands for:

Lotharius Franciscus Dei Gratia Sanctae Sedis Moguntinae Archiepiscopus Sacri Romani Imperii Per Germaniam Archicancellarius Et Elector Episcopus Bambergensis Lothar Franz, by God's grace Arch Bishop of the Holy Seat of Mainz, Arch Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, Archbishop-Elector and Bishop of Bamberg.

Our tour of this beautiful town ended at the monument of Prince Regent Luitpold.
Luitpold was never officially crowned a king, but was the de-facto ruler of Bavaria for 26 years, from 1886 to 1912. He was born the third son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1821. In 1886, when his nephew King Ludwig II was declared mentally incompetent, Luitpold was named Regent. He remained in that position until his death in 1912 and was one of Bavaria's most popular rulers.