One day for a rest, Janet I took off and met a friend at her country garden for wandering through the flowers and dinner. It was such a beautiful, relaxing evening! 
Tag Archives: Germany
{Janet’s Germany} Weekend in Poland
The drive to Kraków was long and beautiful, with a KFC every few miles! The bridges were fantastic and the forests dark and mysterious. Clouds kept the drive from getting too hot and added interest to the drive. We spent the weekend in Kraków. There was so much to see there we didn’t explore anything else. 
Our host’s dogs, Onyx and Amber, like to play soccer with their ball! Onyx is good keeping the ball going and Amber is good at chasing Onyx and cheering her on. 
Lori took us into Kraków for a short tour the evening we arrived. Kraków started as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and is the second largest, and one of the oldest city in Poland. It dates back to sometime int he 7th century! By 965 it was reported as a busy trading center in Europe.
Following the invasion of Poland in September 1939 by Nazi Germany, Kraków became part of the Nazi’s General Government and eventually its capital. It was headed by Hans Frank who was based in Wawel Castle. The Nazis envisioned turning Kraków into a completely German city after removing all Jews and Poles. 
Legend says women saved this portion of old city walls from being destroyed by the men. They told the men that if this wall were taken down, the wind would gust through the market square and lift the ladies’ skirts on their way to church, thus embarrassing the women and making the men think badly of them. So the men did not tear down this wall. This is how the women saved the wall of Kraków. 
There are roughly 120 churches registered in Kraków. We walked by many, and went into only two (St. Mary’s Basilica and the other were a wedding was taking place, so no pictures were allowed). 
Cloth Hall was originally designed in the 14th century as a center for international trade. The ground floor is continually used for commerce with its many souvenir shops and cafés; upstairs houses the Gallery of the National Museum. It has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1978.
We did not spend much time at Wawel Castle because we had so many other things to see, but it was lovely! And the other tourists were a HOOT to watch!
Legend tells about a dragon, Smok Wawelski, who was terrorizing Kraków during the reign of King Krakus, the city’s legendary founder. Each day the evil dragon would reign down destruction across the countryside, killing the civilians and devouring their livestock. The king wanted to put an end to the dragon, but his bravest knights failed. In desperation, the King promised his beautiful daughter Wanda’s hand in marriage to anyone who could defeat the dragon. Great warriors from near and far fought for the prize and failed. One day a poor cobbler grew tired of the ongoing terror. He stuffed a lamb with sulfur and set it outside the dragon’s cave. The dragon ate it and became incredibly thirsty. He turned to the Vistula River for relief and drank and drank, but no amount of water could quench his aching stomach and after swelling up from drinking half the Vistula river, he exploded. The cobbler refused the princess’s hand in marriage because his wife would not be happy. Read more legend versions about the dragon here. 
During the reign of Casimir III the Great (1333 to 1370), St. Mary’s Basilica was rebuilt on the remaining foundation of an earlier church destroyed in the Mongol invasion. Vicar Jacek Augustyn Łopacki had the interior rebuilt in the late Baroque style in the 18th century.
Legend says two brothers were hired to design and build St. Mary’s Basilica towers, but they wouldn’t work together. This is why each tower is different. The brother who built the shorter tower was jealous of the other’s tower so killed him. The knife hangs in an arch in the Cloth Market across the square.
Every hour a fire fighter climbs to the top of the main tower to sound a trumpet call, the Hejnał mariacki. The melody is plaintive and historically was played to signal the open and close of the city gates. It stops unexpectedly mid-stream to salute the famous 13th century guard who was shot in the throat by an arrow while playing the tune to warn the city of the coming Tatar invasion.
The extravagant Altarpiece is the largest Gothic altar piece and a national Polish treasure. It was designed and carved out of lime (linden), oak, and larch wood by Veit Stoss (Wit Stwosz) between 1477 and 1484. During the German occupation, the altarpiece was dismantled and shipped to the Third Reich on order of Hans Frank. It was sent to Nuremberg Castle in Bavaria, where it survived heavy bombing to be recovered and returned to Poland in 1946. It underwent major restoration and was put back in its place at the Basilica 10 years later.
Julia took us to the Jewish Quarter where we saw a few Synagogues and an ancient Jewish cemetery. I learned how in the Jewish culture, stones are left on the headstones to tell the family that someone stopped by to pay respects. 
And thus ended our tour through Kraków. The next day we went back to do our tourist-ly duty of shopping and souvenir buying before we drove to Auschwitz, which I am posting about next week.
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{Janet’s Germany} Frauenkirche Dresden
The “Frauenkirche” (Church of Our Lady) was first built in 1726-43 by George Bähr. After the bombing of Dresden in 1945, the heat was so great the sandstone church succumbed and was destroyed. The church was left in ruins for 45 years as a memorial and reminder of the war. Rebuilding was started in 1994 and the outside of the church was completed in 2004, consecrated in October 2005 once the inside was complete, and reopened.
The dark color of the old stones mingled with the different sized and lighter stones from the re-building resemble old scars of healed wounds, a mosaic of past and present. They also speak of overcoming hostility and hope and reconciliation. The motto of the building project is “Building bridges, living reconciliation, strengthening faith”.
I love how people from other countries came together to help rebuild this church, making it a symbol of reconciliation between former enemies.
Oh, the splendor of the Frauenkirche in Dresden! The sheer size of this church is alone amazing! The main sanctuary was closed for Mass when we first arrived, so we trekked to the top to get a bird’s eye view of Dresden.
From here we were also able to see the old city ruins, which are being built over so the fences block viewing from street level. I think it would have been fun to walk through there. Some of the ruins are already filled in.
From our perch we saw the Cathedral and Hausmannsturm in the distance. We later walked past the Cathedral and Palace it is connected to.
We also saw City Hall and the Driekönigskirche. We later ate at a little Mexican restaurant named Don Pancho right outside the Driekönigskirche, which was quite the experience! I never thought I’d eat authentic Mexican in Germany! The woman who owns the restaurant imports her spices from Mexico. It is a place to stop if you are ever in Dresden!
The Augustusbrücke is the oldest bridge in Dresden, built in 1727 by Augustus II the Strong of Poland and rebuilt in 1907. Further back is the Marienbrücke.
Janet is a very good tour guide. Not even her fear of heights kept her from taking us here! The heights are quite dizzy-ing, so I appreciated that Janet took us up and went out on the viewing platform. And she didn’t die! Neither did I. Or Erika.
We could see pretty far, even with the fog.
The top half of the climb is narrow, winding hallways like this. We were lucky to be able to miss the steps going up by taking the elevator! Seeing into the center of the church, and out the windows, made the walk more interesting.
After spending a long time at the viewing platform, 25-ish stories up, we headed back down to see the incredible nave and down to the depths of the Frauenkirche too see the historical displays. 
Looking from the ground floor up through the many levels of the Frauenkirche to the viewing platform. The ceiling paintings were originally painted by Giovanni Battista Grone of Venice between May and November of 1734. The paintings (and door carvings!) were painstakingly recreated based of old wedding photos and church plans that survived the war.
There are original plans on display from 1726, which is how architects determined were each stone should be placed from its place in the rubble based on the stone’s medallion. 
The altar is glorious in size and detail. Carved from sandstone in 1738 by Johann Christian Feige, it was pieced together after WWII from more than 2,000 fragments. There are 4,876 pipes, and only a small portion are visible The smallest one is less than one centimeter and the largest one is over 5 meters. The altar shows Christ praying alone in Gethsemane with his sleeping disciples and the soldiers approaching to arrest him. A sermon unfolds in the sweeping altar with the message of God’s mercy.
{Janet’s Germany} Dresden
The day we spent in Dresden was partly cloudy and just the right temperature. We took the train in so we wouldn’t have to keep track of the car, or time! We got off the train and took a long walk through Prager Straße.
In shame and sorrow
Remember Christians the Jewish people of this city.
In 1933, 4675 Jews lived in Dresden. 1945 there were 70.
We were silent, as their church burned, deprived of the right of citizenship as Jews, they were expelled and murdered. We did not recognize in them our brothers and sisters.
We ask for forgiveness and Shalom.
November 1988
Our first stop was at Kreuzkirche (Cross Church), first built around 1168 and was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. It has been through many re-buildings, fires, and renovations from 1401 to 1945. It re-opened in1955 in its current form.
Dresden is a beautiful city built along the Elbe river. Dresden has a wealth of cultural and art treasures and was the residence of sovereigns and kings starting in 1425. Although it was badly destroyed in the Dresden Bombing of 1945, it has been rebuilt and is a splendor to view. We spent some time in Dresden’s Frauenkirche, which I’ll post more about next week. 
There is entirely too much to see in Dresden in just one day, but we did a fair amount of wandering around and enjoying the views of Elbe, walking through Theatreplatz, seeing König Johann’s statue, the Hofkirche and Royal Palace (Residenzschloss), Semperoper (Semper Opera House), Goldener Reiter, Albertinum, Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, Brühlsche Terrassen…this list would be very long if I listed everything we saw! 
{Janet’s Germany} Moritzburg
Schloss Moritzburg is a Baroque palace in Moritzburg which was built between 1542 and 1546. It was a hunting lodge for Moritz, Duke of Saxony. A Prince of the House of Wettin lived here until 1945 when the postwar Soviet administration evicted Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony. 
We only had an hour to walk around, so we didn’t take the tour, but there was plenty to see outside! Walking up to the castle is a treat and if you turn around, you will see a breathtaking view of the town. 
The bright yellow makes the castle look cheery and the front is decorated with wooden deer heads with antlers mounted to them. There are 71 throughout the castle, most ranging from 270 to 400 years old! Most of them were purchased as gifts, but there is a 66-point red deer antler from an animal killed by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg in 1696…which we did not see. 
The statues are in the process of being cleaned, so some are dark and some look fresh and new. The grounds are kept immaculate and plenty of friendly Pomeranian geese waddled or swam over for a visit – and to see if we had food for them. We didn’t, and they soon went looking for the school children who were eating a snack on the lawn. 
In 1972 Moritzburg Castle was one of the locations in the filming of the Czechoslovak-German Cinderella movie, Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel (“Three Nuts for Cinderella”), which is quite a popular movie in central Europe. Cinderella’s shoe is on display. Yes, we tried to fit into it. No, it did not fit any of us. (Which was expected!) 
Cinderella is a fairy tale every little girl wishes would happen to her – a handsome prince will see past the rags, the less-than we’re told we are, and he’ll whisk her away out of the normal into the life of no need and love her forever. And the geese giggle. 
As we left with ice cream cones in hand, the sun came out making the Schloss look even more striking!
{Janet’s Germany} Giechburg Castle
The Giechburg Castle is right outside Scheßlitz in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. It looks over Scheßlitz and the Bamberg region. Janet likes to call it The Topless Castle because the roofs were taken off in the Romantic Age. 
The castle was first mentioned in writing in 1125, and came into the possession of the prince-bishops of Bamberg in 1390. 
It as fun walking around there and seeing flowers growing out of walls and the 4290+ year old tree! 
{Janet’s Germany} Bamberg
The 2011 Three Musketeers was filmed here at the Alte Hofhaltung in Bamberg…now I must watch it again! We walked past the old town hall, which was closed for renovations.
Interesting tidbit: In 1459 the first book printed in the German language was published in Bamberg.
“To commemorate the Jewish citizens and those who have done during the National – Socialist violent domination resisted, ignored, persecuted and murdered.”
The old town hall is opposite the Queen Kunigunda statue on the Alte Rathaus bridge; they are just down the road from the New Residence.
I wandered through the royal Rose Garden of the New Residence Bamberg, which was first created in 1703. In 1733 the garden was laid out the way it is today by designer Balthasar Neumann under the direction of Prince-Bishop Friedrich Carl von Schönborn.
The sculptures were completed in the winter of 1760/61, but have been replaced by copies to preserve the originals. Some of the roses are the most beautiful I have ever seen. 
The garden is lined with lime tress and around 4500 roses bloom every summer! 
There is also a wonderful view of Michaelsberg Abbey. 
The Bamberg Cathedral (official name Bamberger Dom St. Peter und St. Georg) was completed in the 13th century. It is a late Romanesque building with four large towers. It was founded in 1002 by Emperor Henry II and finished in 1012. In 1081 it was partially destroyed, but was reconsecrated in 1111 and received its present late-Romanesque form in the 13th century. 
The Cathedral took so long to be constructed that several styles were used in different parts of the cathedral: Romanesque, Gothic, and in the middle is the Transitional style; this is the style which is characteristic of the nave.
^ This is my favorite picture of my entire trip. It is like The Past shining light to show the way for Now and The Future. We can learn from Past (if we want to) and it will guide us to a better future. However, God MUST be a part of Present and Future for Past to guide in any way.
The Second Coming of Christ is a fresco in the apse of the east choir and was painted by Karl Caspar in 1927/28. In the west choir stands The Crucifixion of Christ; it is gold plated limewood plated and was created by Justus Glesker in 1649.
One more treasure of the cathedral is an equestrian statue, the Bamberg Horseman (Bamberger Reiter). It was created around 1235 by an unknown craftsman, and it is unknown who the rider is, although there are many theories about that. You can read more about it here. 
From the Cathedral’s brochure:
In Bamberg Cathedral, the central house of worship in the diocese of Bamberg, God is our opposite and our host. We are all invited to accept Him and His presence.
Space
created,
to save Him,
to touch Him,
to know He is with us.Here He hears our prayers,
here we celebrate Him,
here you are close to Him,
here you are in His presence.We are creations,
He is the creator,
We are the people,
He is God.
{Janet’s Germany} Kemmern on Main
Just sit right back and you’ll read a tale,
A tale of an fun-filled trip
That started from a German port
Inside a tiny car.
Inside a tiny car.The mate was a German-learning gal,
The skipper brave and sure.
Two passengers set course that day
For a three hour drive, a three hour drive.The weather started getting hot,
The tiny car was tossed,
If not for the open windows of the fearless car
The crew would all be toast, the crew would all be toast.The car parked out on the street of this charted German town
With Katja
And Markus too,
The two cats in the garden,
Lots of tasty food,
And Janet and Kandi Rose
Here in Bamberg township.
My first weekend in Germany saw Janet and I on a three hour drive to Bamberg (no boats involved). Janet has friends who live nearby so we had a lovely little haven each night we were in town. They live right by Main, a river, and the first night we took a nice long walk along the Main after a good rain fell. 
The walk was beautiful and relaxing after a hectic few days cramming so much of touristy stops into the previous few days. 
We also threw in chatting in the garden and a drive to Schesslitz for some seriously incredible Italian Eis. Mmm hmmm. Tasty! If you want to see that tastiness (and EAT SOME!!), you’ll have to go there yourself. Who knows what tasty flavors will be available next!!
{Janet’s Germany} Porcelain Manufacturer
Meissen is famous for the manufacture of porcelain. Meissen porcelain was the first high quality porcelain to be produced outside of the Orient, established by King Augustus the Strong in 1710. The mathematician and physicist Ehrenfried Walther Graf von Tschirnhaus and the alchemist Johann Friedrich Boettger had succeeded in manufacturing the first white European porcelain in 1708. This porcelain was called “White Gold” was of great significance, because of the Chinese monopoly in this market.
Visiting the porcelain manufacturing building and taking the tour was one of the highest of highlights of my trip – so much so that I went through twice! This will easily be the longest post about my trip because there’s so much I learned! Once going through the tour made it apparent WHY Meissen porcelain is SO famous and WHY is COSTS SO MUCH!!
The onion pattern is the most famous pattern created, and has been used by many other companies trying to imitate Meissen Porcelain. Its signature logo, the crossed swords, was introduced in 1720 to protect its production and was added to the onion design. The crossed swords is one of the oldest trademarks in existence and is on each piece created here.
Not only dish ware is created – large pieces such as this sad lion have been created and a selection can be seen in the upstairs museum. The yellow tea service set was made in 1722. 
There are also many figurines with intricate details of both molding and painting.
The teapot with all the flowers? Each flower was individually hand made and applied to the tea pot and then hand painted.
A sculpture of discarded pieces is on display and was amazing to look at each side and see all the little hidden elements!
On the first stop of the tour, we watched a short video showing how the elements are mined, broken down, and then mixed together in a water slurry. After the 3 ingredients are well mixed, the water is spun out leave the clay which can be stored up to nine months before being created into a delicate porcelain something. 
I was mesmerized in the second room by watching the clay being formed by hand into a plain cup and then formed in the centuries old mold, removing excess clay to form the delicately thin clay. The clay dries in it’s mold for 30 minutes and is then removed. The base and handle are added using slip (some of the clay without the excess water taken out). After firing, each piece is only 65% of it’s original size! 
In another room of the tour, we witnessed another artist hand carving part of a statue. We also saw how each little ivy leaf is created in a mold and then added to the statue with slip, piece by piece. Some details, like roses and more detailed flowers, are created lovingly by hand – without any kind of mold! 
The third room of the tour taught how each piece is hand painted, how the colors used change dramatically during firing, and there were many examples of how paints change in firing. The steps to just make one plate are extensive, and require many years of training for each artist. When a piece is painted before firing, any paint that is applied cannot be removed, so perfection is a must!
The gold paint used is 90% pure gold and looks very dark before firing. After a piece with gold is fired, the gold is hand polished to give it the bright lustre seen at the bottom of the sample plate. It is only after these steps that a piece can be sold! 
The last stop of the tour before the shops was watching another artist paint an already glazed and fired plate. At this time, paint is not permanent until it is fired. Multiple colors require multiple firings as only one color at a time is applied. The only exception to this is in scenery, which is all painted at once.
For more information on the history of porcelain manufacturing in Meissen, check out their website!
{Janet’s Germany} Krögis
Krögis is where it all began. Janet moved to Germany to help a mission organization in their new building, which needed renovation and a LOT of cleaning! Janet eventually moved on to a new job in Germany and moved to Meißen for her job.
It wasn’t a far drive, so she took me out to the Steiger base to see it! We both have friends there, so it was a relaxing few hours of visiting and wandering around checking out all the work they have done and are continuing to do!
Most of my pictures were lost form this day due to a fight with a computer, but I was able to salvage some of my favorites, which are mostly from the gardens. Gardens are definitely one of my happy places, and Germany is filled with beautiful gardens!
