Daytripping again: Weimar Day 3 (23 Sep 2013)

When we have a few days in a place we like to do a daytrip, like Toledo from Madrid and Arles from Avignon – and we did so from Weimar. Not that Weimar couldn’t occupy our full three days and more, but we like checking out the neighbourhood!

We chose Monday because that seems to be the day places like museums are closed here – which is interesting in itself as in Australia most big museums are open all year except for Christmas Day and maybe Good Friday. Anyhow, this was not necessarily the best decision as you’ll read in the next post, but was probably the best in the circumstances.

However, besides the specific Monday closures which we were expecting, our main comment here relates to the amount of construction, reconstruction and restoration going on, that messed up our photos (oh no!) or meant that sites were closed or partly closed. Seriously though, it’s good to see such work going on, to see material culture being protected.

We decided to play the day by ear, deciding whether to visit just Erfurt or Erfurt and Eisenach depending on how things went. Read on to see what we did, because we know we now have you in suspense!

Erfurt

Erfurt is the capital of Thuringia and almost Germany’s geographical centre, but our main reason for visiting it was for its reputation as one of Germany’s prettiest mediaeval villages. Martin Luther who went to university here called it a “honeypot”. It might be, but the (re)construction in the mediaeval centre certainly affected out ability to appreciate it. Nonetheless we spent a lovely 3 hrs wandering around:

• Walking on the historic mediaeval 1325 Krämerbrüke, Europe’s longest street bridge, which you wouldn’t know was a bridge unless you went looking down a little lane. We couldn’t climb the tower, as recommended in the guides for a wonderful view of the bridge and town, as it was closed! Due to illness! That was a new one, but we are sorry that someone was ill.
• Visiting the austere Augustinian Monastery – its church anyhow – where Martin Luther was a monk from 1505-1512. It has some of the tallest, thinnest stained glass windows we’ve seen.
• Visiting the Dom with its lovely intimate Madonna painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder (among other treasures). Views of the Domplatz were spoiled by the setting up of a fairground complete with sideshow rides and Wurst stands. We wondered if it was related to Oktoberfest but we didn’t see any signage to enlighten us. We guess the needs of community come before those of tourists, but it would have been a pretty view!

The sociologist Max Weber was born in Erfurt, and Pachelbel (of the famous Canon) was organist at the Prediger Church. here.

We would like to have seen what is thought to be the oldest synagogue in Europe, but it was in a different direction and didn’t seem to be open, so we decided to move on down the railway line to Eisenach.

Eisenach

Eisenach is not only famous for being the birthplace of JS Bach, but overlooking it is a “real” Mediaeval castle, Wartburg, which, like many places and sites we’ve visited is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And, it was open Mondays! So guess where we spent most of our time – even though our view of it was spoiled somewhat by one end of it being “wrapped” for restoration.

Like many castles it was built over many centuries, with the earliest still-existing sections dating to the 12th century. The only way you can see the interior of the oldest part, the Palas, is to do the tour – which is conducted in German and runs for an hour or so. We did the tour, with Sue using the English leaflet to fill her in and Len managing to understand most of the commentary.

One of its most famous residents was Elisabeth of Thuringia who married Prince Ludwig IV when she was 14, was widowed at 20,  died when she was 24 in 1231, and was canonised in 1235. She is famous for building a hospital and personally tending the poor. Another famous resident was Martin Luther who holed up here for nearly a year (1521-2) after being excommunicated for refusing to recant his heretical views. It was here that he started translating the New Testament. Luther had also lived in the town for a while when young, and called it “my dear town”.

Wartburg was also where, in 1817, over 500 students and their more liberal teachers demonstrated for German national unity, making it a significant site in the history of German democracy.

Goethe apparently described the region as “exceptionally lovely”. He initiated its preservation, being keen to promote it to Germans.

For Sue, Wartburg had an added element of interest, as its mediaeval court inspired Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser, which was the first opera Sue ever saw (at the Sydney Opera House’s opening season). An unusual introduction to opera, but she’s never forgotten the gorgeous Pilgrim’s chorus.

By the time we got down from the castle, it was getting too late to do much else, but we did find the Georgenkirche, built 1180, where Elisabeth married Ludwig IV, Martin Luther sang as a choir boy, and JS Bach was baptised.

Something a bit different for dinner

It being Monday night in a small town, several potential dinner places were closed. However, the non-traditional Zucker + Zimt, on Marktplatz, was open. We had a lovely, fresh meal there – what we would describe as modern German fusion. They catered for vegans and noted on their menu which meals used organic and/or regional produce. And, a lovely young man served us.

We then trained back to Weimar, arriving at our pension around 9:30 after an enjoyable day.

Three-words

SUE: Restoration, Real castle
LEN: Cobblestones, Renovations, Musicians

and the stills…

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and the videos…

Some Wagner in the Festsaal, Wartburg Schloss

 

Panorama of Schiller’s study, Schillerhaus, Weimar

 

Cobblestone installation, Erfurt