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Big City Germany:
A Tale of Four Cities By Nancy & Eric Anderson Photography by Authors
The surprise about large German cities is how a little tourist exploration shows how different they are. Yes, Berlin has its museum island but the vast reaches of Germany allow cities an individuality, that delights many vacationers. Travelers sure like to find their own special places - and those may not be exactly what the guide books talk about. Cologne, population about 1,007,000 It's less than one third of the population of the capital Berlin but in bygone ages it may have had more history. In the Middle Ages it was more important than London or Paris. Part of its attraction was perhaps preposterous. Cologne was supposed to have the heads of the Magi, the three kings who paid homage to the birth of Jesus Christ. On such faith religions are born. And on them a massive cathedral was built in Cologne, amazingly -- unlike Coventry cathedral in England - undamaged by bombing in World War II. The cathedral might take all day to visit. Amongst the exhibits inside is the tomb of Saint Engelbertus whose marble carving shows him in extreme repose. Surprising considering how he died: pulled from his horse and fatally stabbed 47 times in 1225 because enemies thought he behaved more like a king than a bishop. Those were surely difficult times.
Easier times are represented at a little café in Old Town: Papa Joe's Biersalon on Alter Markt in Altstadt, a "kitschy place" as Fodor's says, "offering oldies from Piaf to Cole Porter." It just looks like fun. This city has a busy urban center -- the fourth largest in Germany -- with shops to delight any tourist on an expense account. Situated on the cross roads of the European trade routes how could it not prosper? Frankfurt, population around 641,000 Frankfurt comes as a surprise. Its new tower contrasting with symbolic evidence of its past. We've passed through its sleek, efficient airport a few times and knew it was the 7th largest city in Germany but here it is from the river Main looking like Small Town Germany even to the old-world half-timbered buildings around the "village" square. This area looks magical in the evening when lights make it look almost like a Christmas scene. On the river swans sail serenely past bicyclists keeping pace with kayakers and boats so full of people having fun it looks like the boats might capsize.
Frankfurt was first mentioned in documents in 794 and from 1356 the kings of Franconia had to be crowned here. Big trade fairs in the Middle Ages brought visitors from all over Central Europe. The foreigners needed their currency changed and Frankfurt, pleased to oblige, started the banking system that is all-powerful today. Visitors still come: the Frankfurt airport is the second largest in Europe where 42,000 shops and businesses show their wares to passengers. When the railway station was built it was the largest station in the world and the first building in Germany to have electric light. It serves a million passengers a day. "We were bombed heavily in the war," says our guide, "So what you see is almost all-new." She tells us 85 percent of the city was destroyed in two air raids in World War II. The Goethe house was completely rebuilt and 32 museums were relocated in mansions along the river. Dresden, population about 454,000 If Frankfurt suffered in the war what can we say about Dresden, a far more beautiful city that was almost totally lost in World War II to not only Germany but to the world? Dresden is smaller and more easily embraced by the visitor on foot. We are walking with Christoph Muench, Dresden's International Press Manager. "Dresden" he says, "is one of the most beautiful cities in Germany … a condensed book of German history: from the glamour of its royalty to its destruction in war. Everything you could expect of a German city is here: culture, museums and music. The city is known as having one of the 10 best city orchestras in the world and has 50 museums, so this is a great place for visitors if it rains! "Plus," he continues, "The city has castles, wineries, mountains and lakes -- with one of the oldest and largest paddle steamer fleets anywhere on the globe. It is romantic and picturesque and close to other interesting countries like the Czech Republic and Poland. The New York Times says Dresden is one of the 41 best cities anyone could visit; so walk around and you'll see why!"
A walk indeed shows why. We pass the 1886 memorial to the celebrated Julius Otto, cantor of the Kkreuzkirche Boys' Choir, recreated in 2010 (redone like most things in Dresden) with the extra modern choir boy added to symbolize the choir's long tradition. There is, of course, a statue to Martin Luther. During the 40 years of communist occupation other memorials went up in town such as the triumphant 1969 The Way of the Red Flag. But it seems the re-building never stops. Volkswagen has built a huge glass-fronted factory in a park! Visitors and family members can gaze on this "Transparent Factory" where a typical German automobile worker spends his day, a far cry from the work conditions and benefits American employees get.
The Military History Museum was renovated also and re-opened in October 2011 with a startling (and now a completely accepted) contribution from American architect Daniel Libeskind: an addition that cuts like a knife right through the building. The museum has, says its advertising, more than "10,000 exhibits to violence." Captain Sebastian Bangert, the museum's information officer, says that's true and adds, "We don't make judgments here. We just tell it like it was." Wurzburg population now 133,500 This city is a paradox. In contrast with an American city like San Antonio, Texas that has a population of 1.3 million but, to us, seems small, Wurzburg is a small town that seems big. Probably that’s because of the overwhelming majesty, the intimidating grandeur of the Residenz. This building happened because a relatively unimportant (in terms of world history) but wealthy prince bishop wanted his large palace to be in this small town. How large? Well, it has the largest ceiling fresco in the world! Why did a prince bishop, a man of the cloth, want such splendor? Because those aristocrats were more prince than bishop, a guide tells us. Most had bought their bishoprics from Rome with borrowed money and now needed to tax the peasants in their lands harshly to repay the loan. But why such magnificence? “Because they all wanted their own Versailles – that’s why so many German immigrants came to America, to turn their backs on the feudal system.”
It is impressive. “Napoleon,” Elena, our guide, says, “once called it ‘the nicest parsonage in Europe.’ He actually slept here on three occasions.” The gigantic building is a tribute to Baroque architecture -- and modern German resilience because the Residenz was bombed in World War II and required tedious reconstruction in some rooms. Elena takes us from room to room pointing out items we might not have noticed on our own. We stop in the Mirror Cabinet, the most extravagant room in the Imperial Apartments. It was completed in 1745 and completely destroyed exactly two centuries later in the air raid of March 1945. The room was reconstructed from a mirror fragment, photographs and a watercolor painting of the year 1873 “But, says, Elena, “When it was recreated they couldn’t find the bath tub! I think someone must have sold it on eBay.” Down below the Residenz are other rooms, a vast labyrinth of wine cellars from a wine estate has been producing Franconia wine since 1128. The Residenz wine estate is the oldest in Germany. It’s also one of the largest, producing 0.85 million bottles a year. Of the other wine estates in town the most famous is the Juliusspital founded in 1576 by the prince bishop of Wurzburg, Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn. He gave some of his estate to fund a foundation to treat the “poor, sick, destitute and injured people who need medicine for wounds and other forms of illnesses, as well as abandoned orphans, pilgrims en route, and other persons in need." The winery grew to become the second largest wine estate in Germany. And possibly the best: a 1950 Riesling Auslese was served at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in England!
A stone carving on the wall shows its earliest days as a hospital although it begs the question, What’s with the two finger salute where the attendant, a priest, a doctor? is holding presumably a Bible and perhaps giving the Last Sacrament to a resigned patient? We don’t know who this man is but we do know who toiled just a few hundred yards from here and has done more for patients than any medieval attendant. He revolutionized the practice of medicine. His name was Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen. He discovered the magic of X-Rays. Related Articles: |
n most countries the cities have a lot to offer: That's where tourists
find the museums, the special attractions, the pieces of history. That's
especially true of Germany. It has such an efficient train system. If
locals complain the DB train system is not as good as it used to be,
United States visitors have to smile at the criticism; perhaps Germans
are unaware of how poor train travel is in America - even as California
has the hubris to promote a high speed rail system it can't afford and
which will never be self sufficient.
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