Author Archives: boryssnorc

Nuremberg

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Short drive today to Nuremberg. Uneventful for the most part, though we were mightily amused by this road sign telling drivers to slow down to 120 kmph for roadworks… for serious, it was needed though. We were in a 130 zone on the autobahn and doing roughly the speed limit with people whizzing past us like we were standing still. I don’t know how there aren’t more accidents here… but I bet when they do connect it’s horrific.

Given Europe’s typical Mondayitis, there were quite a few places that were not open today, but thankfully the well famous Nuremberg Castle wasn’t closed. Also known as the Nürnberger Burg, the castle is actually a large complex of medieval fortified buildings built on a ridge that overlooks the historical Altstadt of Nuremberg. Well located in Bavaria, the castle and its formidable city walls are considered one of Europe’s most impregnable fortified castles. The whole place was designed to represent the power and influence on the Holy Roman Empire and the distinctive role the Imperial City of Nuremberg held.

The main entrance (above) isn’t that much to look at, but as soon as you make your way into the castle walls, the extent and size of the fortress becomes apparent.

The construction of the castle was originally started around 1000, and after that there were three main periods of expansion that can be seen. 1) the main castle built under the Salian kings and respective Holy Roman Emperors front he period of about 1027-1125, 2) a newer castle section that was built under the Hohenstaufen Emperors from 1138-1254 and the reconstructed areas of the castle that became more palace in the later medieval period.

In the Middle Ages, the city of Nuremberg was one of the larges and organised municipalities in all of Europe, and was at various periods the Imperial Capital.

I could not get over the sky today – the clouds just looked absolutely surreal, and the sky so blue, I thought we were in the tropics.

The stunning panorama from the ramparts of the castle looking over the medieval city of Nuremberg.

Inner courtyard of the main keep… the buildings are so beautiful and we were fortunately not swamped with people when we arrived that I went a little nuts with the photos…

The building on the left here has been converted into a super modern cafe, but thankfully on the outside, it is still in keeping with its medieval location.

Even the museum entrance/exit and gift shop are well hidden.

Views over the city through old glass windows.

Doorway from the palace hall to the private imperial chapel.

A strongbox… sadly without a description plaque.

The private imperial chapel – there is a large hole in the floor, and another hall below where commoners could come to hear services without interacting with the castle’s more elevated inhabitants! This double chapel saw daily masses since 1216. The Emperor’s, (top part of the) chapel was likely only used when the emperor/king was in residence and was only accessible through the upper hallways of the ruler’s chambers.

Stone relics ‘The Resurrection of Christ’ and ‘The Ascension of Mary’, Augsburg, c.1530.

The side altar of the Emperor Frederick III. Figures from the shrine are (left to right) Charlamagne, St Henry, St Kunigunde, St Helena of Nuremberg, c.1487/.

Figures below are wings from a larger, now lost, altarpiece, c.1401.

Mother of God, Nuremberg, c.1450-1460… this is one of a small collection of Nuremberg Madonna’s that are characterised by being life-sized and close to resembling natural people.

These frescos are believed to have been installed prior to a visit from Charles V, King of Spain who was crowned King in 1520 and referred to himself as the ‘Chosen Roman Emperor’.
Frescoes attributed to Hans Weiditz, Augsburg, c.1519.

Looking down from the Emperor’s Chapel at the multi-layered chapel for the masses.

Relief of Emperor Ludwig IV the Bavarian, from the Nuremberg Town Hall, c.1340, cast after a model in Munich… sigh. Hate this shit : a lot of the info I’m saving is acquired by translating stuff after we leave a place. I’m looking at these things in situ and thinking, that doesn’t look right, get some time later and translate any info only to find out that we are looking at a late 18thC plaster replicas or something. :/

Same with this one…
Monumental statue of Emperor Charles IV from the Old Town Bridge Tower of Prague’s Charles Bridge, Peter Parker, c.1370-1400. Original in sandstone, cast (below) in plaster.

Magnificne manuscript of the Golden Bull, Prague, 1400, leather, pen and parchment… reads the first half of the description. 😐 There’s a running them here; it’s a facsimile the original is in Vienna, in the Austrian National Library. The codex of constitution documents were commissioned by King Wenceslas c.1378-1400 and oh who gives a shit, this is a copy as well executed as some of my more proficient SCA calligrapher friends could make.

Humpback cup, Ellington & Co, Birmingham, c.1886. Copper brass, gilding… another fucking copy – is nothing in this museum original? The original 16thC cup is somewhere else and it doesn’t even tell us. The cup and other objects were part of the ceremonial table dictated for use in the Golden Bull.

Holy Lance: Replica! Holy Hand Grenade: Replica! Holy Dagger thing: Replica!
The original objects symbolised the military strength of the head of the empire of Otto I (936-973).

The room had these neat – but obviously modern – reliefs that depicted the famous and important houses of Nuremberg. For some reason these didn’t bother me so much, as they weren’t accompanied by an info plaque and obviously weren’t pretending to be medieval artefacts. *shrug*

Coronation of Ludwig IV the Bavarian, in Milan as King of Italy on May 31, 1327, work attributed to Agostino Di Giovanni (c. 1310-1370)… or at least the original marble one was. This is a plaster case made in Munich.

Oh thank fuck!!! I really enjoyed looking at this glass tankard, and was just now sitting here thinking, it was probably painted by some dude named Hans last week!

Imperial Eagle Tankard, 17thC glass, enamel painted, Nuremberg.
The double headed eagle was often the motif of imperial allegories and represented the structure and significant of the empire. The quaternion eagle has the individual coats of arms on its wings of the various imperial estates.

So, for the sake of representation there were some large information plaques which detailed these very famous objects associated with the Crown Treasury of Nuremberg and the Holy Roman Empire. The crown, dalmatic, and under tunic in particular are objects I am hoping to see at the Kunsthistoriches… but they’ve obviously been included here for education’s sake – and I’m really beginning to think this is a very well laid out place for school kids to come learn Stuff (which shouldn’t detract from my enjoyment of the displays – but it fucking does!).

The following Palace rooms were the private chambers of the emperor/s in the upper floors of the castle; they’ve been set up post WWII to give an impression of homeliness with some furniture, portraits…
Baroque Chest, Tyrols, c.17thC.

Wappendecke: Coat of arms cover, Fritz Haeberlein, Nuremberg, c.1947…?

Prunkofen: a magnificent Stove, Nuremberg, c.1675. Timber exterior and tiled interior.

Four keys from the lock of the Imperial Regalia, c.16th/17thC.
In 1423, Emperor Sigmund entrusted the City of Nuremberg with the safekeeping of the Imperial Regalia. The relics were kept safely locked in a shrine, in the church of the Holy Spirit Hospital, which was under the city council jurisdiction. Access to the chapel vault was secured by multiple persons holding different keys.

The views out to the courtyard… while walking through these rooms today, I was wondering what it must have been like for the high born womenfolk who inhabited these walls. Now, I reckon these windows were probably installed after WWII and no medieval women looked out these windows.

Armbrut: Cross bow, Nurember, c.16thC,. Bow: steel. String: hemp. Column: wood, black horn and white etched horn inlay.

LEFT: Bolt case, some labeled with the name of the Nurember patrician family, “Volckamer”, c.1595. Wood, fittings of iron, partly tinned, handle of brass.
RIGHT: German crossbow crankequin. Heavy craniquins like this one were indispensable for drawing the bow-string on a robust steeel bow.

Drinking vessel in the shape of a richly ornamented cannon. When the cover is opened, it becomes apparent it is for dining. Citizen’s Artillery of Nuremberg, c.15thC.

Maximilian style armour.
“The suit of plate armor is a complex artistic and technological masterpiece. In development since around 1300, full body armor made up of many different parts had reached its highest level of complexity by 1500. In principle, the individual parts had to be adapted to the individual wearer if the armor was to be fully functional. Not everyone could afford such tailor-made armor, however. Many fighters put together their protective equipment from parts that were already available. In order to increase mobility, individual parts of the armor could be left out at any time.
A suit of plate armor is a complex artistic and technological masterpiece. It was developed from ca. 1300 on and reached its highest complexity around 1500. Generally, each part had to be fitted to the individual wearer, if the armour was to function properly. However, not every fighting man could afford customised armour. Protection often had to be improvised and adapted from available parts. In order to increase mobility, parts would be left off.” Sounds familiar…

Two breastplates of late Gothic Armour; from the town hall in Spittal, Carinthia, Austria. C.1450-1500.
Iron, forged, steeled, filed, and originally polished.

Late Gothic armoured gloves.
Germany, iron, forged, steeled, ground, polished, leather later addition, c.1450.

Two backplates of Late Gothic armour from the town hall in Spittal, Carinthia, Austria. C.1450-1500.
Iron – forged, steeled, filed and originally polished.

Helms: 1) Bascine, 14thC. 2) Bascinet, German, late 14thC. 3) Kettle hat or Chapel-de fer, Tirol c1400.
4) Jousing helm, Tyrol, late 15thC. 5) Sallet, Frankie, c.1450/60. 6) Italian bascinet, Northern Italian late 15thC.

Gothic suit of equestrian armour – almost complete condition which is extremely rare apparently. Nuremberg armoury, the fancy shoe tips made it unsuitable for combat. It could have Ben worn only be a rider. The help is not original to this suit.

Nuremberg, c.1470/80. Iron – steeled, ground and originally polished to a high sheen.

Iron-clad door with iron fittings. . Dates from the reign on fate Bohemian and German Kings Charles IV or his son Wenceslas. 2nd half 14thC.

There was a very small section that dealt with the history of Nuremberg after the period of theHoly Roman Empire and glossed over WWII fairly quickly.

Ok… the Castle was very cool and I really enjoyed seeing the buildings a the layout of the fortress complex… but fuck me, I was so dirty when I discovered how many of the artefacts were just bloody modern replicas. I know it shouldn’t detract from the enjoyment of seeing these things in this context, but it fucking does! I walked up (and back down – which is sometimes even more painful) four storeys of stairs with a severely torn meniscus to see stupid copies of things? My heart rate was up around 150bpm the whole time, and I was overheating due to the excessive pain from my knee joint (and an involuntary habit of holding my breath inappropriately while in pain) and for what? To see shit that I would have been better off looking up high res images of the originals, online? It was so deflating.

Encountered this amazing vending machine in a shopping centre car park of all places – full of cheese and charcuterie! And here’s me thinking Japan has the best vending machines.

After the castle, we made our way to Haupmarkt to see the famous Schöner Brunnen fountain, a 14thC Gothic fountain locate next to Nuremberg’s main markets and the town hall. It is 19m high and in the shape of a church spire. It was built by Heinrich Beheim in 1385.

The Frauenkirche is not far away and is the Roman Catholic parish church of Nuremberg. It was built at the commission of Emperor Charles VI from 1352-1362 as a hall church. It is full of sculptures, many of them have been preserved from around the time of construction, so they are c.1360 also. There wasn’t a lot of information available in the church, an it was smaller than I expected.

The facade of the Frauenkirche has as clock called the ‘Männleinlaufen’ (Little Men Running) which is activated at noon, and has seven little men – representing electors of Nuremberg – that move with chimes. It was built/ordered by Charles IV in 1356 to commemorate the Nuremberg code of Laws, the Golden Bull. The clock was removed during WWII and stored in a Nuremberg Art Bunker.

The inner vestibule was full of brightly painted relief art work – I imagine this is what a lot of the old cathedrals looked like but haven’t been restored over the centuries.

The Tucher Alter c.1440/50 came from a demolished Augustinian Church – the Frauenkirche was used as a Protestant church for several centuries and much of the art and sculpture came back into he church when it was redesignated? reconsecrated? by the Catholic Church.

There has been an organ in this church since 1492, however this one is from the 1950s.

I got nothing on this sculpture, other than that Baby Jee looks stoned.

Pergenstorfer Epitaph.

Stopped by a bookshop, having decided to acquire a couple of well known books to try to read in German. I figure this immersion stuff has to help at some point. It’s sure not helping here; every time I try to speak with people in German they can tell I’m not a native speaker immediately and they switch to English. How are you supposed to get any better if people won’t talk to you? :/

St Seibald’s Church apparently began with a grave in 1070, and not long afterwards reports of healing miracles occurring at his grave are documented.

The Chruch that is here today was built in the first half of the 13thC as a late Romanesque pillared basilica with a double choir. It was around this time that Nuremberg was becoming an important centre of commerce in Central Europe. In the early 1300s the side aisles were expanded, and the high Gothic choir loft was added between 1361 and 1379. Seibald became the patron saint of aspiring commercial ventures, even though he was apparently not canonised until 1425.

Master of the Tucher Altar, c.1440 and Elizabeth Starch Epitath, c.1450.

’Schüsslesfeider’, Saint Christoper, c.1442.

Most of the partially preserved stained glass in this church was donated by the families of City Council members of the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg, in the 14thC. Some was replaced c.1500, and the ‘newest’ glass in the cathedral was installed in 1601.

Madonna on the Crescent Moon, c.1437.

Glass: Behaim Window with the Annunciation and the Nativity, c.1330.

Altar of Saint Peter, c.1477.

Memborial for the Schroeder-Landaeur families, c.1490-92.

Peter Vischer and Sons tomb of St Seibald, c.1508-1519.

The organ was a late addition – we were just discussing how it wasn’t up in a specific organ loft like we had seen in many cathedrals, and actually looked to be a free-standing object. Then we discovered it was only added to the church in 1975.

St Catherine – originally on the Exterior of the Last Judgement Portal c.1310.

And of course the bit I’m always curious about – during WWII, between 1943 and 1945, the church was repeatedly hit by bombs and severely damaged (hence the partially preserved stained glass). As late as April 20, 1945, both towers were bombarded until fires broke out and melted the medieval bells. The first phase of reconstruction lasted 12 years and ended in 1957. There are still repair and removal of war damage happening today.

Anna Oelhafen Epitaph, c.1528.

Having a very sparse breakfast, and having skipped lunch, we gave up on our churching and went hunting for some dinner. Angus found this place which is a local Franconian ‘field to table’ restaurant – the beers, wine, water, juice tea are all sourced from Franconia; vegetables are all grown locally in Knoblauchsland, fishes are sauced from Heinl an Erlangen fishmonger, sausages come from the Nuremberg butcher, and game is delivered by someone named Waffler from his local hunting ground. It made me think of the 40 Happy Cows that Le Cinq have on a farm some 20kms out of Paris just to make butter for the restaurant! 🙂

Angus opted for the bratwurst platter which came with rye bread and the most sour of sauerkraut you’ve ever tried in your life, and I opted for a pork shoulder because it seems I have a habit of panic ordering when I’m not speaking English! It was a sizeable and somewhat fatty portion that came with potato dumplings (which Angus enjoyed), and red cabbage – not sour.

After we finished our meal, we stopped in a grocery store for some toothpaste (weirdly, we both thought the other would have a decent sized tube and neither of us did!) and I saw these – these lemon wafer biscuits are, without a doubt, one of my FAVOURITE European snacks that I can’t get back home… it took all my ‘keine zucker’ willpower to not buy them, especially as they were selling them in packs of 5 for like €2.39. Insta-regret kicked in as soon as we got back! LOLi

Our next stop in Nuremberg was to ferret out Albrect Drurers house – which you wouldn’t think would be that difficult to find, but it’s easy to get turned around in the windy little medieval streets.

This is a cool house, but not Drurer’s house.

Finally found it – Albrect Dürer (1471-1528), is Germany’s most famous painter lived in this house now turned musuem.

St Jerome in his Study, Albrect Durer, c.1521

Paumgartner Altar, c.1498.

Portrait of Oswolt Krel, c. 1499.

Adoration of the Magi, c.1517.
The covered chalices and chains demonstrate Durer’s background as a goldsmith.

The Four Apostles, Guardians of Justice, c.1526. Guardians of Justice.

Maria with the Pear Slice, c.1512.

Self Portrait with Eryngium, c.1493

Self Portrait, c. 1498.

Dürer originally trained as a goldsmith and in 1487, ended his goldsmith’s apprenticeship with his father in order to start anew as an apprentice at the workshop of the famous painter Michael Wolgemut. Additionally, he specialised in a completely new profession: that of book illustrator and free graphic artist. Before too long his talents attracted rich and highly educated customers. In 1496, he met the man who would become his most important patron, Elector Frederick of Saxony.

Dürer’s House is a typical Nuremberg Fachwerkhaus, where he lived from 1509 to 1528. It is in Nuremberg’s Altstadt near the Kaiserburg section of the Nuremberg Castle and the Tiergätnertor. It is the only artist’s house turned museum of its kind… apparently?

Living rooms and study spaces are furnished with period furniture. Dürer’s family life was rather out of the ordinary: in 1494, he married Agnes Frey, at the behest of both his father and hers. While Dürer’s mother had been pregnant eighteen times, his own marriage remained childless.

I love these windows… why don’t we make windows like this anymore?

A small cupboard and a hand washing space.

Wall clock… no information on these. But plenty of small plaques asking visitors to not touch things!

The downstairs kitchen is designed in such a way as the heat rises to warm the upper floors.

The upper floors contain a recreation of the artists workshop spaces.

An engraving plate and a glass sphere that could be used as a magnifier.

Printing systems.

Was very cool hour or so checking out Dürer’s house… even knowing most of the art works are replicas didn’t detract from how cool it is to be walking through this living museum space with its smoky hallway and centuries old furniture. The rest of the day was spent working before we moved on!

Bamberg

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Arrived in Bamberg after driving through a bit of a storm… deep water on the streets, some hail, small trees down – quite the mess. It’s always interesting seeing how other places deal with what in Brisbane is summer afternoon on a Tuesday. Seriously, this wee storm hit the news. You can tell their drains and systems are not set up for it at all, whereas when I was growing up, summer afternoon thunderstorms were a dime a dozen and at least a few a week. Roads are nasty when they don’t have sufficient storm surge drains.

Anyway, it all made for a pretty sunset, and if it hadn’t been raining still and if we had noticed the sky turning bright red sooner, we would have tried to bop around to the Rat Haus for a photo of it in the cool colours. Knew it would be gone by the time we got there though… so the shot below is not my photo!

Wandering through the old town towards the famous Bamberg Altes Rathaus, we saw many cool wood and stone buildings typical of these small German towns. They’re so picturesque and quaint, it’s lovely to just walk through and admire the buildings.

The Altes Rathaus or town hall was first mentioned in records in 1387. It is also known to have been rebuilt in 1461 and 1467 to its current state; during those construction stages, it fortunately kept its Gothic style.

Johann Jakob Michael Küchel redesigned the Altes Rathaus in a more Baroque and Rococo between 1744 and 1756. The Altes Rathaus is the most iconic symbol of Bamberg built into the middle of the River Regnitz, between the Upper and Lower Bridges.

The facade paintings were originally created by Johann Anwander in 1755 but they have been restored many times. In the Post WWII era, the paintings were particularly faint and dirty, and a painter named Anton Greiner was commissioned to repaint them between 1959 and 1962. Both sides of the Rathaus are completely decorated with allegorical scenes and trompe l’oeil architectural details.

If you look below the Rathaus, you can see some churning water which local kayakers have set up into a slalom course. There must have been a dozen of them in the water on the gentle rapids while we were there.

Facade of the Goldschmiede area – shops full of jewellers.

Brauhaus row.

Wandeirng up towards the Cathedral Dom.

It was a fair bit steeper than you led us to believe, Google Maps…

Sadly, the Cathedral is usually closed on Sunday mornings (presumably for services), and today it wasn’t opening at all, but this did weirdly lead to a free entracne to the nearby Bamberg History Museum.

The Old Court House houses the Bamberg City Museum.

Saints Henry and Kunigunde, Unknown artist/s, c.1370, sandstone.

Crucifixion, Unknown Southern German copied from Christoph Schwartz, (Munich, 1545-1592). Oil on wood.

LEFT: Death of the Virgin, Unknown Franconian artist, late 15thC, oil on wood.
RIGHT: Death of the Virgin, Unknown Southern German artist, 16thC, oil on wood.

Reading Mary with Child, crowned by Angels. Unknown Dutch artist, early 16thC, oil on wood.

Death of the Virgin (again!), Workshop of Hans Pleydenwurff, (Bamberg 1420-1472), c.1460, oil on wood.

Bamberg Clare Altar, form the Workshop of the Master of Bamberg Clare, c.14500/1500, oil on wood.

Hortolona, the mother of Saint Clare in prayer, Unknown Nuremberg artist, c.1360, tempera on oak.

Saint Clare Raises the Dead, Unknown Nuremberg artist, c.1360, tempura on oak.

Jesus and John the Baptist as Children, Lucas Cranach the Elder, c.1535. Oil on wood.

The Ploughshares Legend, Unknown Franconian artist, City of Bamberg, c.1550-1600, oil on wood.

The Penny Miracle, Unknown Franconian artist, Bamberg Municipality, c.1550-1600. Oil on wood.

Saint Catherine, Unknown South German artist, Late 15thC, tempera on wood.

The Adoration of the Magi, Unknonw artist, copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder, c.1600, oil on wood.

Portrait of the Mayor of Cologne, Peter von Heimbach, artist: Bathrolomäus Bruyd (Wesel of Cologne, 1493-1555), c.1545, tempera on wood.

Young Bacchus, Unknown Roman artist, 17th-18thC, oil on canvas.

Young Bacchus, circle of Nicolas Poussin (Les Andelys, Normandy 1594-1665), 17thC,m oil on canvas.

Latona with her children Apollo and Diana, Anton Raphael Mengs (Aussig/Bohemia 1728-1779), 18thC, oil on canvas.

Winter Landscape, Circleof Joos de Mompher II (Antwerp 1564-1635), late 16thC/early 17thC. Oil on wood.

The Bread Eater / The Arrow Carver
Peter Breugehel the Younger, (Brussels 1564-1638, Antwerp), c.1620. Oil on wood.

The Gift / The Punished Licker
Peter Breugehel the Younger, (Brussels 1564-1638, Antwerp), c.1620. Oil on wood.

So, Still Life artworks confuse me. I can see and appreciate the skill involved in rendering the tableau so perfectly, but I just don’t understand why they became so popular… particularly in the Low Countries in the 17thC. Still life paintings depict carefully selected and arranged inanimate objects (that bit I can get – it’s kinda like a small product creative advertising shoot!), such as fruit, flowers, kitchen utensils, goods at the market, hunting spoils, weapons or musical instruments. But they are also supposed to be creating a an illusion of reality that can convey a deeper meaning, such as the transience and fragility of life… umm, yeah! All these flowers, and food items are gonna rot eventually, so they’re all temporary. I don’t know, apparently some of them contain allegories, proverbs, ríddles or humorous tales, but who knows?

Still Life, copy after Jan Davidsz De Heem (Utrecht 1606-1684, Antwerp), c.1638.
Oil on canvas… needs more lobster.

The Anatomy of Dr. Tulp, Willy Fries (Zurich, 1881-1865) copied after a Rembrandt. Oil on canvas.

Children at the Window, Johann Nikolaus Treu (Bamberg 1734-1786(, c.1760. Oil on canvas.

Death of Mary, unknown artist, c.1500, relief from the Carmalite Church and thought to be part of a winged altar. Workmanship is of a high quality and thought to be connected with the workshop of Dürer and his teacher, Michael Wolgemut. Linden wood.

St Katharine, c.1500. Bamberg, carved and painted Linden wood.

The next few objects were interesting, but I couldn’t find any information on them at all.

Hallways of the Old Court House which houses the museum.

GIRAFFE WINGS – Christoph Ehrlich (1782- 1830) cherry veneer, ebony, ivory, in oil. C.1828. The trained organ builder Christoph Ehrlich set up an instrument factory for pianos and guitars in Bamberg and offered the special shape of this giraffe grand piano: tall instead of long, it fit into small Biedermeier rooms.

STANDARD OF THE VELOCIPED CLUB, Bamberg, 1893, silk, bouillon threads, brass.
On June 17, 1882, the new cycling fashion found expression in Bamberg when 20 men founded the Velociped Club. It is one of the early German cycling clubs. Races were held on the cycling track, which required great skill on the fast but dangerous high-wheelers. The cyclist greeting “All Heil” that was common at the time was printed on the flag.

St George fighting the Dragon, wood, papier-mache, modelling clay, glass, pearls. C. 1852.

Most of the objects in these galleries were very modern and were related to the recent history of Bamberg; as a medieval enthusiast, they were not my primary area of interest.

Granatschmuck – Garnet jewellery: gold, garnet, silver, c. 1850.

Two Bridal Crowns, Franconia. Copper wire, brass sheet ‘tinsel’, cardboard, glass beads, linen, silk, cotton. Late 19thC/early 20thC. Bridal crowns or holiday crowns were worn by young unmarried women in procession on important holidays until their wedding. Common in Franconian Switzerland and the Mistelgau region to the north.

The Nues Residence, which contains a large collection of Asian ceramics and porcelain that we didn’t want to spend $$$$ to go see.

Through this building is the entrance to the Rosengarten.

The Rose Garden is in the inner courtyard of the New Residence and offers a great view over Bamberg. The garden itself is formal in nature and is mostly roses… not sure what else you can say about that. It was quite busy while we were there, and sadly lacking in benches where visitors could loiter.

Having skipped breakfast and having wandered 5.4kms around the rather small old town and museum, we decided it was time to hunt for some brunch… alas, by 13:00, fruhstuck options were all gone, and we ended up at a Bavarian Brauhaus. Angus chose the Jagerschnitzel and I opted for what I thought was going to be something lighter: a couple of bratwurst sausages. Delicious – we are now losing track of our rating system for mushroom sauce served with schnitzels!

Little bit of souvenir shopping – looking for the tackiest things ever, of course – before heading back to the hotel to get some work done.

Which mean coming back past the RatHaus – looks totally different in the afternoon light, and I couldn’t see the aura around the sun with the naked eye at all. Something something atmospheric weirdness.

Augustusburg Schloss

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We had a stop on our transit today at Augustusburg Schloss, which is a castle/hunting lodge on an elevation outside the town of Augustusberg in Lower Saxony. It was built between 1567 and 1572 in the Ore Mountains near the city of Chemnitz.


It was built by Prince Elector, Augustus (how unusual that a man would name a castle after himself!), as not only a prestigious palace for his hunting trips, but also to cement his sovereignty of Central Germany. There were several other castles on this hill; first in the 12thC and later in the 14thC, but the later was destroyed by fire and lightning, and it was an obvious site for Prince Elector Augustus’ new palace.

The castle has famous lime trees… famous for what, you might ask? We have no idea! lol There is scant little information in this entire place in English – it seems to be a destination for school groups (you’ll see what I mean later, on that), and it’s a site used by the local town for weddings, functions, and things like car exhibitions and motorbike rallies.

Much of it looks very modern and recently renovated (and I gotta say, some of the painting on the murals and trompe l’oeil work isn’t all that sophisticated.

Panorama of the courtyard…

Fantastical display of arms – though I couldn’t find any information on what families were represented here.

Entrance to the castle museum… first things first, let’s get you up the four flights of steps that no one mentioned and you didn’t see anything about when you searched about how noompty friendly the castle is. *rolls eyes*

As befits a hunting lodge, there are loads of antlers everywhere – not so many as your average Scottish castle, but still plenty of them present. However, on closer inspection, you can see that the antlers are real but the heads they’re mounted on are all facsimiles. Turns out most of these are very old, and the poorly stuffed heads hadn’t aged that well.

Collection of firearms – mostly percussion shotguns, muskets, and flintlock rifles from 19thC and early 20thC. :/

Again, mostly percussion shotguns, muskets, and flintlock rifles from 19thC and early 20thC.

Powder bottles, early 19thC.

More antlers mounted on what looks like plastic heads. WEIRD!

Armbrust – Crossbow, German, c.1573 used for hunting smaller animals and large bird species.

Chest bench, Cassapanca, Italy, 16thC. Carved walnut.

Armchair, Spanish, 17thC. Carved walnut and embossed leather.

Chair, Spain, 17thC, carved walnut and embossed leather.

Chair, Italian, 17thC. Walnut with relief carving.

Chair, German, 16thC. Carved walnuts.

Trunk, Italian, c.1560. Carved walnut.

Balester, German, c.1550. marked HSB.

Pastoral cutlery.
German, 1538. Pastoral knife and sheath.

Percussion shotguns, powder horns, flintlock pistols and rifles… from 1677-1800.

Recreated costumes c.1600. Lower Saxony, Germany.

LEFT: Jug, Steinzeug, Annaberg. RIGHT: Birnkrug, Steinzeug, Annaberg, both c.1621.

Plate – Majolica, Italian, 17thC.

Credenza, Italian, 16thC. Mahogany relief carved.

Sideboard with drawers, Germany/Württemberg, 1647. Used for plate and tableware storage; the small chair is firmly attached to the sideboard and likely used by a table servant.

Modern frescos…

And then things got even stranger – as I said, it seems likely that this castle museum is used as a local excursion site for school children, as it morphed very quickly and without warning from firearms and hunting to a natural history museum space stuffed full (pun intended) of taxidermied local animals!

I love me a good stuffed animal as much as the next person – sadly, no a single overstuffed platypus in sight as all of these were local creatures and species. Scroll to the end for the *best* stuffed thing in this collection.

*where BEST usually means the most bizarre or odd stuffed creature; in this case the weird arse owl above… I think his name could be DUO!

Back in the main room, the trompe l’oeil work is a bit so so.

Small chapel space. They hold weddings and other functions here.

And of course, no decent medieval castle (for kids) would be complete without a dungeon space. Not a lot of information on most of these displays – but you can use your imagination and see how they were put to use.

Catherine’s Wheel.

Chastity belt, pear, scold’s bridles.

Scold’s bridle and a ‘schandgeige’ or ‘shameful violin’… no idea what that is; not sure I want to Google it. Ok, Googled it, not as bad as it could have been… the device was used around the neck to restrain the hands as well to stop people fighting or bickering.

A Doppelgeige – similar the the restraining device above, only it could be used to restrain two people at the same time.

Does she weigh more than a duck?

Stocks.

Yep.

The diagrams on the top right, remind me of a demonstration I saw at an SCA A&S lecture on medieval torture that Mynjon did years ago… people left because they found it offended their delicate sensibilities! lol. Good times.

Augustusburg Schloss wasn’t out of our way more than 2kms off the highway and then back to it, so I was kinda glad we hadn’t made a special trip to see it. As castles go, it ranks somewhere above Bli Bli Castle and lower than Magical Kingdom.

After this short stop, it was back on the road and we ended up driving straight into an unexpected thunderstorm doing 130kph+ on the autobahn! Everyone responded really well, I was super surprised. All lanes slowed down to 40-60kmph, people put their hazard lights on to make their vehicles more visible and were basically super sensible given visibility dropped to probably less than about 30m really quickly. Angus was driving and he handled the sudden super-shitty conditions really well.

Dresden

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In February of 1945, just before the end of WWII, Dresden was carpet bombed into oblivion. Allied bombers (772 of them) dropped over 3,900 tonnes of high explosive and incendiary devices over the city destroying some 6.5sqkms of the town’s centre. It was became a contentious campaign, as the Allies claimed they were bombing railway, manufacturing and communication infrastructure, but the bulk of the explosives were dropped over the culturally significant Old Town which was primarily inhabited by civilians. At the time, the Nazis claimed it was a war crime and said that between 200,000 and 500,000 people were killed… historians have been able to establish that perhaps as many as 25,000 people, (still way too many!), were killed during the Dresden bombings.

Looking around Dresden today – there’s hardly a sign of it anywhere, bar a few singed sandstone blocks on the Frauenkirche. It’s easy to forget that you are walking around a town where people were literally picking up the pieces of their neighbours after an horrific air attack.

The long summer days are waking us up really early – we seem to be out and about quite a bit before any people are about for the day…

The Frauenkirche. Last time I was here, it wasn’t quite so well lit up… November will do that to Europe.

Angus was stunned inside – his commentary was much around the, ‘So there are people around now who know how to build things and make them look like this? So why do new buildings all look so shit?’
I responded that a lot of these craftsmen were still around and plying their trades in Europe; building and restoring old buildings of which there is a plentiful supply… but there’s no a lot of call for it back home in Australia – and large civil projects always get tendered out, and often go to the cheapest/most cost effective proposal. Sadly, this often results in functional but boring or even ugly.

It is a very beautiful, albeit small, church… even if it is largely brand new.

Just around the corner from the Frauenkirche is the Füstenzug, or the Procession of Princes. It is a large mural depicting a mouthed procession of the past rulers of Saxony. It was originally designed and painted in the 1870s to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Saxony’s ruling family, and is made from 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles. It’s just over 100m long and was completed around 1907… it’s kinda unique and depicts dukes and kings from the 1100s to the 1900s.

The Trinity Cathedral, not open for some reason – I don’t believe we got to see inside this cathedral in 2018 either.

A covered walkway connecting the Zwinger Palace complex to the Cathedral.

Across the road is the Semperoper – the Dresden State Opera House which also houses the State Ballet. Originally built in the late 1860s, then burned down, and rebuilt again in the late 1870s. It was completely destroyed in the bombing of Dresden in WWII, and was rebuilt in the 1980s.

One of the many entrances to the Zwinger Palace. The Zwinger Palace was originally built in the Baroque styles in the 1700s to be a pleasure palace, festival centre, orangerie/gardens, and residence for the royal court at Dresden. The buildings were mostly destroyed during the carpet bombing raids in 1945, though thankfully the art collection had been evacuated previously. Reconstruction efforts on this building began almost as soon as the war was over, with some parts restored (with some support by the Soviet military administration) and opened back to the public by 1951. It was almost fully restored to it’s pre-war state by 1963.

These days it is a museum complex, housing the Gemäldergalie Alte Meister (Old Masters’ Galleries), a Porcelain Collection and a Mathematics and Scientific Instruments Gallery.

Walking through the gorgeous stone arches, I couldn’t wait to be greeted by the beautiful formal gardens the Zwinger isn know for… only to be disappointed by this complete and utter clusterfuck:

Holy snapping construction mess of messes! What an eyesore… and to add insult to serious injury, hardly any of it was accessible, so that meant makeshift stairs to move through the complex if we wanted to see anything. So fucked, but what do you do? 🙁

Obviously I limped along and made it into the galleries! Last time stymied by winter closures, I wasn’t going to miss it again. Good thing that too – it is quite an impressive collection with lots of important and well known artists repressented.

Ercole de’ Roberti – The Arrest of Christ on the Way to Golgotha, c.1482/86. Oil on poplar panel.

Marinus van Reymerswale – The Money Changer and His Wife, c.1541. Oil on panel.

Adam and Eve under the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, c.1550. Oil on panel. Artist not known.

Johannes Vermeer – Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window, c.1657-1659. Oil on canvas.

Roelant Savery – Before the Deluge, c.1620. Oil on oak panel.

Marten van Valkenborch – The Tower of Babel, 1595. Oil on oak panel.

El Greco – The Healing of the Blind Man, c.1570. Mixed media on poplar panel.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo – Saint Roderic, c.1650/55. Oil on canvas.

Peter Paul Rubens – The Drunken Hercules being Led by a Satyr Couple, c.1613/14. Oil on oak wood.

Silenus, 3rdC AD, copy of a lost statue from the 3rdC BC. Carrara marble.

Victor Wolfvoet – The Head of Medusa, c.1648. Oil on canvas.

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn – Saskia with a Red Flower, 1641. Oil on oak panel.

Johannes Vermeer – The Procuress, 1636. Oil on canvass.

Jan van Eyck – Triptych with Madonna and Child, Saint Catherine, and Archangel Micheal with Donor. 1437. Oil on oak panel… this was the last thing I expected to see here today (hadn’t looked up the museum prior to arriving), and it is a sublime piece. Barely A3 in size, it is exquisitely executed.

The small tromp l’oeil backs of the wings of the tiny altarpiece…

The only other display in the room with the tiny Van Eyck altarpiece were five enormous tapestries that came from the workshops of Peter van Edingen van Aalst and Bernard van Orley – Brussels (1490-1542). Tapestries were made from wool, silk and metal thread, and while the photos don’t do them any justice, these tapestries still have much shine to them, unlike many other works from this age where the metal threads have largely tarnished and look very grey. Stunning!

LEFT: Attic, c.460-450 BC, Villa Guilia Painter.
CENTRE: Attic, c.440-430 BC, Painter of the Louvre Centauromachy.
RIGHT: Lucanian, c.380-370 BC, Creusa Painter.

Detail:

Dionysian Scene, Apulian, c.380-370 BC, Near the Ilioupersis Painter.

No description unfortunately on this artifact – It looks to be a candle holder or oil lamp.

RIGHT: Amphora, Theseus and the Minataur, Attic, c.500 BC, Bompas Group.

Titian – Portrait of Lavinia, c.1565. Oil on canvas.

Piero di Cosimo – The Holy Family, c.1500. Oil on poplar panel.

And around the corner an unexpected…. Sandro Botticelli, Episodes from the Life of Saint Zenobia’s, c.1500. Tempura on poplar panel.

Andrea Mantegna – The Holy Family, c.1495/1500. Tempura on canvas.

Fra Angelico – The Annunciation, c.1435. Tempura on poplar panel.

Pintoricchio – Portrait of a Boy, c. 1480/82. Tempura on poplar panel. Unlike everyone else in here, he’s looking at us…

Raffael – The Sistine Madonna, c.1512/13. Oil on canvas…. This is one of the most famous works of the Renaissance!

Giovanni Batistta Moroni – Lady in a Red Dress, c.1560. Oil on canvas.

Titan – Sleeping Venus, c.1508/10. Oil on canvas… another very famous Renaissance artwork. This one as one of the first large scale fully nude representation of a woman in Italy. In ancient mythology, Venus was a goddess of love and beauty – her calm while sleeping and the harmony of her body are reflected in the idyllic countryside. The painting may have been started by Giorgione who died of plague in 1510, it was most certainly completed by Titan who likely added his characteristic drapery and landscape.

Pietro Antonio Graf Rotari – Replaceable Faces, c. 1707. Oil on Canvas…. I initially thought these might be studio studies that were later framed, but an info plaque pointed out that they were designed to be a collection of small portraits that could be rearranged to suit the owners preferences. There were 24 identically sized panels in all.

Bernardo Bellotto Canaletto – The Old Market in Dresden from Schlossgasse, c.1750/51. Oil on canvas.

Bernardo Bellotto Canaletto – The Zwinger Courtyard in Dresden, c.1751/51. Oil on canvas. Yeah right!? Have you looked out there at the construction clusterfuck?

Bernardo Bellotto Canaletto – The Ruins of the former Kreuzkirche (Church of the Holy Cross) in Dresden, c.1765. Oil on canvas.

Jean Étienne Liotard – The Chocolate Girl, c.1744. Pastel on Parchment… This painting is significantly different from others in the pastel collection – it is of a simple serving girl, a low status individual, who is yet depicted in a full figure profile.

Albrecht Dürer – Bernhard von Ressen, c.1821. Oil on oak panel.

Lucas Cranach the Younger – Adam (left), Eve (right), c.1537. Oil on lime wood panel.

Lucas Cranach the Younger – The Crucifixion of Christ, c.1546. Oil on lime wood panel.

Lucas Cranach the Elder – The Presentation of Christ to the People, c.1515/20. Oil on lime wood panel.

Lucas Cranach the Elder – Portraits of Henry XI of Saxony and Duchess Catherine of Mecklenburg!

Lucas Cranach the Younger – Samson and Delilah, c.1537. Oil on lime wood panel.

Lucas Cranach the Younger – Solomon’s Idolatry, c.1537. Oil on lime wood panel.

There is a substantial number of galleries devoted to the art form or still life painting – but personally I just don’t get it. Yes, I understand why artists devoted themselves to perfecting still lifes during this period, but they don’t really move me at all.

Cornelius de Heem – A Lobster, Fruit and Flowers, c.1660-70. Oil on canvas… included because I liked his lobster.

Frans Floris – Portrait of Two Children, c.1563. Oil on canvas… rude to leave the happy pupper off the title.

Peter Paul Rubens – Satyr and a Girl with a Basket of Fruit, c.1620. Oil on panel.

Martin Schongauer – A Censer, c.1500. Engraving. This object is considered one of the first still lifes made in printmaking. It is not known if it depicted an existing censer or was a design for a goldsmiths work.

The Altes Meisters gallery was certainly full of important and famous pieces. It is well worth the price of admission. After this we went looking for the Zwinger Nymphanbad sculpture garden and fountain… traversing the deconstructed courtyard again.

The Nymphanbad:

Around the corner from that pretty little courtyard is the Museum of Mathematical and Scientific Instruments.

Paulus Schuster – Table Clock, Nuremberg, c.1582. Has large dials with hour indicators and an astrolabe on one side and an annual calendar on the other. The small dial shows the day of the week, quarter hour and minute. It also has an alarm mechanism. The silver figures of Neptune alternatively move their heads every minute for 15 seconds, and the rooster on top crows on the house while two men strike bells!

Caspar III Buschmann – Monstrance Clock, Augsburg, c.1625. Ebony from India.

Unknown artist – Table clock, Augsburg, c.1590. Gild casing contains the timekeeping mechanism which shows hours and has a striking mechanism which chimes on the hour and quarter hours. It also has an alarm function.

LEFT: Unknown Artist: Horizontal Table Clock, French, c. 1590. Timekeeping and striking mechanisms are one atop the other, typical of French clocks of this period. German clocks tended to be side by side.
RIGHT: Unknown Artist: Horizontal Table Clock, French, c.1600. The vertical mechanisms are easily visible through the crystal cylinder.

LEFT: Giovanni Buttista Mascarone – Cruciform Watch, Milan, c.1600
RIGHT: Martin Zoller – Pendant Watch, Augsburg, c.1630

Automaton Eagle with Crown, Augsburg, c.1635.

Hans Schlottheim – Crayfish Automaton, Augsburg, c.1589. This crayfish can move its pincers, feelers, legs and tail. Originally there were a pair of crayfish which would creep forwards and the other backwards. Operated by two clockwork gear wheels.

Isaac Huberecht – Skull Form Pendant Watch, Strasbourg, c.1660.

Johann Willebrand – Horizontal Sundail, Augsburg, c.1720.

Leonhard Miller – Diptych Sundail, Nuremberg, c.1630, Ivory/

Johann Wicteul Hayer – Nocturnal, Frankfurt, c. 1707. The nocturnal was used for telling the time at night. After setting the date, the user looked thorough the hole in the centre towards the pole start. The pointer was then rotated until it was inline with the last tow starts in the Big Dipper constellation. The time could then be determined from the pins on the device.

Zeus Enthroned Pendulum Wall Clock, Paris, 18thC.

Peter Johannes Klein – Geographical Table Clock, c.1738. One side has a clock face indicating hours and minutes, the other has a 24 hr face that also functions as the equator of the globe.

Ludwig Teubner, Dresden, c. 1896. Model of the “5-Minute Clock”… since 1841 there has been a clock above the stage in the Semperoper house which has rectangular fields with the hours marked. Minutes are shown in Arabic numbers on the right. The clock moves every five minutes.

Abraham Louis Breguet – “Montre Á Tact” Pocket watch with Chatelaine, Paris, c.1810. This watch allows the time to be known in the dark, by feeling the hour mark on the edge of the case.

Unfortunately the next cabinets were not market at all other than a vague heading: OPTICS

Blaine Pascal – Mechanical Calculator, France, c.1650. World’s oldest surviving mechanical calculators.

TELESCOPES:

SURVEYING DEVICES:

ELECTROSTATIC & GENERATION DEVICES:

Friction Electric Generator – Fuchs, Leipzig, c. 1817.

HISTORICAL GLOBES GALLERY:

Terrestrial & Celestial Globes – Matthäus Seutter, Augsburg, c.1710.

Terrestrial & Celestial Cones – Christlieb Benedict Funk, Leipzig, c.1780.

World Time Clock – Andreas Gärtner, Dresden, c. 1690. The large gilt face of this world time clock has a small face for each of the 360° longitude. Each of these faces bears the name of a place, city, island etc. Over the small faces the hour hand is pointing downwards and rotates when the main clock does.

Geocentric Armillary Spheres – Charles Francois Delamarche, Paris, c.1800.

Heraldic Celestial Globe – Earhart Weigel, Jena, c.1690. Weigel replaced the constellations with the heraldry of the coats of arms of various European Princes and important cities and estates. Chased copper, embossed reliefs then painted.

Gregorian Reflecting Telescope – Johann Gottlob Rudolph, Miltitz,, c.1748.

”Topsy Turvy World” Automaton – Hans Schlottheim, Augsburg, c.1590.

Odometer – Christoph Trechsler the Elder, Dresden, c.1584.
Brass gilt odometer was used in a carriage and worked in a similar way to a modern car odometer.

Theodolite – Victor Starzt, Brussels, c.1633.

Mining Compass, German, c.1561

Back outside it was a beautiful day. We had had enough Musuem’ing (and enough of the stairs in and around the courtyard) so decided to go hunt for lunch instead of doing the Porcelain Galleries (this decision may or may not have been influences by the very small exposure to the Baroque porcelain obsession yesterday at Charlottenburg Palace!).

Great day all up – walked far too many steps and stairs (I’m so going to pay for this with my stupid knee tomorrow), but well worth the time in the galleries.

Currywurst!

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Herta Heuwer is attributed with the invention of Currywurst when she obtained some ketchup, Worcestshire and curry powder from British soldiers just after WWII… it’s a staple on menus all over Berlin, so I found a recipe in German cookbook and translated it. Yale and I might have to try this out when I get home:

A spicy Currywurst Sauce that can be used for all types of dishes

2 large red or yellow onions chopped very finely
2 × 400 gm can of tomatoes with juice
250 ml ketchup
1 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon paprika powder
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon oil

Warm oil over medium heat
Add the onions to pan and cook over medium heat until soft, 8 to 10 minutes
Add curry powder, paprika powder, chili powder and continue to cook while stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes
Add tomatoes and juice to pan, crush thoroughly and stir through
Stirring add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper to taste
Bring to boil and lower to simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened. 20-25 minutes.
Puree mixture in blender and strain through a sieve.
The recipe makes at least 500 ml of sauce.
Grill some sausages, slice and cover with warm sauce.
Add to the sauce covered sausage you can add some additional Paprika powder, Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder, Curry Powder, Mustard, or finely chopped onion, to taste.

Serve with Fritten, or on a bun*

Guten Appetit!

* Quite a lot of places seem to serve their Currywurst with Asian fried shallots on top – Icelandic hotdog style!