Nuremberg

Posted on 8 July 2024 by boryssnorc

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!

Dresden

Posted on 5 July 2024 by boryssnorc

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.

Goslar und Wernigerode

Posted on 1 July 2024 by boryssnorc

It’s Monday, in Europe… and you know what that means! Everything is closed!

So as much as was possible, we arranged for today to be a transit day between Hanover and Berlin with some drive through visits to a couple of small towns in the Hartz Mountain areas for a bit of a sticky beak knowing that we’d get to these villages and likely nothing would be open. All good – day of scenic driving it is.

First stop was the town of Goslar, which is mostly known for its super cute medieval altstadt (old town) and its half timber houses. There is also an Imperial Palace here with historic murals (Monday: closed) and a cool church St. Cosmas and Damian with some fragments of 13thC stained glass windows (Monday: open). The area is also known for its silver and copper mining in the Rammelsberg Mountains which have been operating for over 1000 years in the area (which does my head in, because *nothing* is that old at home!), and there’s a Mining Museum in the area (Monday: closed), and a cool underground railway with waterwheels and stuff (Monday: closed), but most of that will just have to wait until I come back and visit the area at some time in the future. Which I totally intend to, because this place must be so fairy-tale cool during December when the Christmas Markets are on.

The Altstadt was really beautiful – perfectly preserved, beautiful brick and timber buildings with slate roofing, and pretty little turret windows everywhere.

Most of these buildings are restaurants with small holiday accomodations above.

The cobblestone streets and squares are gorgeous to look at, but not a lot of fun when you’re having problems walking. Stupid fucking knee; can’t wait to get it sorted.

There’s civic art and then there is this ‘thing’. It’s right outside the tourist information office and beside the old church – but with no placard or explanation whatsoever. It seems really out of place. It is apparently called the “Goslar Nail Head” and no one is quite sure what it means, but I have a feeling it’s nothing good!

The market church in Goslar is a Protestant Parish church called, St Cosmas and Damians. It is named after those two saints who were early Christian doctors believed to have performed many miraculous healings of sick people in the Asia Minor region in the 3rdC AD. The two saints are considered to be the patron satins of the sick, as well as doctors and pharmacists. The church itself is first mentioned in historical documents from the 12thC but the construction of the existing church is predominantly 14th-15thC work.

This guy started playing the organ not long after we entered the church – it’s amazing listening to these enormous instruments filling the space as you visit.

These are apparently 12thC stained glass panels from the original church – which would be super impressive if I hadn’t just been in Saint Chapelle in Paris just a few weeks ago! I’m so lucky!

It is a very pretty little church to explore, but compared to the majestic cathedrals of most cities in Europe, it is a fairly quick visit.

I would definitely like to come back here in winter for the Christmas markets – the more you wander through the town centre, it has a really lovely atmosphere and every street has a beautiful old world medieval feel to it. It’s a gorgeous place.

I was remarking to Angus on how the Cologne Cathedral was built across a period of over 600 years with the same design and architecture, but spanning over generations of people all sticking fastidiously to the plan even though they would never be the people who would see the project completed… and I compared it to the difficulty you have these days getting even five people to agree on what a bus shelter should look like?! Well, apparently in Goslar they don’t have that problem – someone/s here have decided that a throne is integral to superior bus shelter design!

This cute little hotel is called the Romantix Hotel Alte Münze – and I took some pics of it because it is the perfect location and exact amount of quaint I will require for my next visit!

This little train runs tourists around the town to see all the old buildings… bit Disneyeque imo, but no doubt some with young children would enjoy it.

As we were getting ready to leave – there was a parade coming through the town. We have’nt been able to ascertain what exactly it was to celebrate/honour, but there was a drummer and lots of flautists and a fair bit of prideful pomp and costume.

Love me some good heraldic banners!

After this it was back on our scenic route to Berlin via Wernigerode.

We passed many ‘unsightly’ windmills that were no doubt killing birds and upsetting whales or whatever the fuck that ridiculous orange-cockwaffle keeps saying about renewable wind energy equipment. :/

We also went through loads of beautiful countryside with corn fields, wheat field and (because, Germany and beer!), fields filled with hops!

Wernigerode is another village which has a fabled timber housed old town, including a cool medieval Town Hall or ‘Rat Haus’ (Monday: closed) and a well known, leaning old Crooked House. There’s also the Wernigerode Castle (Monday: closed), and a wee musuem (Monday: closed), which has views to the town, but we didn’t drive up as everything is shut up there. You gotta be somewhere on a Monday when you’re travelling and being on a drive may as well be it, but it’s sad to be so close to lots of cool stuff and it’s shut. We did see the Drei Annen Hohne train station, where the Brockenbahn steam trains run to Mt. Brocken, and this was open, but we didn’t really have time to go tootling around on steam trains for the entire afternoon… not when we were chasing some food, having skipped breakfast, and still had to make it to Berlin (and preferably before peak hour!).

This fountain was a little hard to decipher – apparently that is the Branch of the Past which has witches and Roman gods on it (there were witch trials held in the Hartz Mountain areas, so there are witch motifs all over here and Goslar – on food labels, on souvenirs, everything), and on the other side is this weird dude who represents the future and he has a frog apparently, though Lord knows why? Might need to dig into that a bit later at some other time!

The Marktplaz… and (closed) Rat Haus.

So many restaurants to choose from – but as you get closer to them, you discover most of them are cake and coffee shops, designed to sit and watch the world go by. The ‘world going by’ was notably rather quiet today – because MONDAY!

The very empty town square which must get extremely busy in full Christmas season also.

We ended up at the Wernigerode Brauhaus for lunch – and we got a very quizzical and confused look from the publican when neither of us ordered a beer! Upon looking around, everyone was sitting in front of a large stein of something. Oh well… neither of us particularly like beer, so it’s all so thoroughly wasted on the two of us. Instead, it was schnitzels and burgers for our main meal of the day, and skipping dinner tonight I think. I can’t seem to order a meal without pommes frites so usually ended up sending back a plate full of fries.

This is the tourist information office in Wernigerode. What a cool little building.

I like these – I think Brisbane needs one. Wait, we might have one somewhere, I’d never know! Never played tourist in Brisbane because I think of it as somewhere ‘with no cool shit to see’.

The castle overlooking the town with an ominous sky… after a brief wander around and a stop for lunch we hit the road to head to BERLIN!

Berliner Dom – I’ve been here before, but it’s on the agenda for Angus to visit tomorrow.

Berlin is a very beautiful city full of gorgeous old buildings – which never fails to boggle the mind when I consider how heavily bombed the city was in WWII. The efforts and funds involved in rebuilding are phenomenal. Because we are here for three nights, have work to do while we are here, and I felt we had probably had enough of the pokiest of pokey hotel rooms in the Altstadt s for a while – I had booked us a larger room at the Radisson Park Inn. Seems to have been a good call. We have a proper desk to work at and a couch space for a change so no need to sit on the bed and work on laptops.

View front he 35th floor – very cool. This is the only really tall building around for some reason…? Tomorrow we hunt out security and infrastructure overlay information surrounding the EuroCup and then hopefully hit up a museum if we have time.

Paderbornerdom

Posted on 28 June 2024 by boryssnorc

Paderborn in a small town on the way to Hanover. It’s known for its beautiful Catholic cathedral – The High Cathedral of St Mary, St Liborious and St Kilian belonging to the archdiocese of Paderborn. The church is built in the late Romanesque and Gothic styles and is at the centre of the town above some springs, called the Pader Springs.. and well, you gotta stop for lunch somewhere! So why not choose a town with a famous medeival cathedral!

The cathedral is dedicated to three saints – namely, the Vigin Mary, St Kilian and St Liborious of Le Mans. Liborious is also the first patron of the city and his bones were brought from France to Paderborn in 836 by Emperor Louis the Pious – as part of what was a traditional relic dispersion. Relics were sent to various regional diocese to provide places/things for parishioners to pay homage and tribute to, and to make pilgrimages to see. I find it rather interesting that the remains of revered saints and religious personages were taken and scattered all over the countryside; the only other group of people who had their remains separated and sent to the four corners of any given kingdom in the medieval period were traitors and high criminals. Figure that one out!

Paradise Portal, done in the Romanesque style, c.1160.

The Paradise vestibule and Paradise portal are in the southern extension of the church. Built in the second half of the 12thC it is now twice as large today as it was in the 1860s. It has been used as a resting space for pilgrims on their way to the Santiago de Compostela, and there are many similar porches on French churches and cathedrals at other pilgrimage churches en route to Santiago.

The Cathedral was rebuilt from the 11thC, along with the Ottonian Imperal place in the region with large vaulted ceilings. The vaults of the Paderborn Cathedral are surprisingly uniform, given its window configuration doesn’t appear to possess the same symmetry… there’s some architectural trickery going on here.

Sadly, there wasn’t a lot of information around the church to explain objects to visitors. But on the other hand, it’s possibly because it’s more of a working cathedral and not a heavily toursited area, so that’s a bonus for the locals.

A decidedly non-medieval looking pulpit. Fair guess to say it was a later addition.

A Bishop Badurad had a crypt built into Paderborn Cathedral, which dates back the 1100AD. Although it was redesigned in the 13thC it remains on of the largest hall crypts in Germany – which is surprising because it doesn’t seem overly large compared to the sorts of crypts you see in France and Italy?

Under the altar of the crypt is an ebony shrine containing the relics of Saint Liborious (in the small box above – we couldn’t access that area).

On the opposite side of the crypt is an anteroom to the Bishop’s Crypt, which is decorated with mosaics from 1935. Though modern, the mosaics create a beautiful space around a gravestone which contains the replics of a Bishop Meinwerk; past the anteroom is the actual crypt of all the Paderborn Bishops. It is this unusually mosaic’d crypt that attracts most visitors to Paderbornerdom. It is actually quite beautiful, and has a decidedly art deco style to it.

At the centre of the Bishops’ Crypt is a Pieta, which is flanked left and right with two enormous bronze plates listing all the names of the Paderborn bishops right up to the 20thC. The bronze plates start with names of Bishops all the way back to the 900s, and the bones of all the previous bishops rest in a collective grave in the floor. It’s incredible to see this historical record going so far back.

The Chapel of St Joseph dates to the 14thC and was initially dedicated to the Three Magi.

The town of Paderborn is really quite cute and very sleepy. The centre of the Marktplaz has a fountain called the Neptunebrunnen Fountain, reminiscent of the Neptune fountain in the centre of Gdańsk. This fountain was originally built in 1730 by Johann Theordor Axer and reconstructed in 1979 by Joseph Rokis.

I love the details in medieval buildings surrounding the Marktplaz… very cool medieval rainbow mosaic.

Onward to Hanover…

Checked into our hotel and immediately went looking for a beer hall… we had decided to skip lunch as we spent too much time in the Cathedral, which put us on the hunt for Hanover’s best currywurst and jagerschnitzel!

Angus was very happy with his wash – my schnitzel was nice, the mushroom sauce was good, but not Heidelberg good… I am going to get mightily sick of the piles of fried potato that comes with every meal (I don’t eat them). Thankfully, we are here smack dab in the middle of erdbereen season – so there’s fresh strawberries everywhere for very cheap! They tasted even better than they looked if that is possible.

Cologne

Posted on 27 June 2024 by boryssnorc

Cologne Cathedral is enormous! Like most important cathedrals and churches in Europe, it was built on very early Christian sites. In this case, on the site where early Roman Christians met in Cologne around 300AD. The building as it exists today wasn’t started until the high gothic era – around 1248, and unlike many other cathedrals that took hundreds of years to complete, the build plans never changed.

It’s hard to imagine that everyone who worked on the construction of this magnificent cathedral all knew that they would never live to see the endeavour completed. The plan to build the cathedral was started in 1164, when there was an agreed upon transfer of some relics to the town. In 1225, the planning for a bishop’s residence and pilgrimage church were established, and the prior building (from the 9thC) was demolished. In 1248 the foundation stone was laid.

In the 1360s building work slowed down, as the foundations were completed and some areas of the cathedral were already consecrated and put to use as a church. It wasn’t until the 15thC that the south steeple was completed at a massive height of 58m tall. Around 1530, work on the cathedral came to a halt all together as most of the ground floor, the nave, the choir, transepts and two lower storeys became usable.

And it pretty much stayed in that condition until 1794 when the French Revolution troops invaded and the archdiocese of Cologne was abolished. The cathedral was temporarily used as a fodder storage room and also as a makeshift prisoner of war camp! It wasn’t used as a church again until 1801, and the archdiocese wasn’t reestablished until 1821.

Construction eventually resumed on the cathedral in 1842 to be finally completed in 1880 – and all still to the exact same plans that were laid out in 1225! Which is just unbelievable when you think about how difficult it is to get a committee of five people to agree on how a fucking bus shelter should be built these days… let alone be able to keep an enormously intricate build of this calibre, going to the original plans and specifications for over 600 years and generation upon generation of architects, stonemasons, builders and who knows how many other masters and craftsmen, involved. It’s simply amazing.

In WWII, Cologne was reduced to rubble, and the cathedral was severely damaged by numerous bombs. Entire bays of the vaulted ceilings were collapsed and various windows were blasted out. One bomb tore an enormous hole in the western facade and destroyed a supporting buttress which was hastily stored up with makeshift bricks. Due to the construction techniques though, the bulk of the cathedral was able to withstand the shock of the blasts and vibrations. At the end of the war, it stuck out of a massive field of debris and destruction, looking largely undamaged compared to the rest of the city.

These windows were created in 1884, and based on a designed by Johannes Klein. Six of the eight windows were destroyed in WWII and remade in the 1990s.

This picture does not come close to conveying the sense of enormity and proportion this cathedral has. It feels as big as the Hagia Sofia, or the Florence Cathedral, the only other medieval cathedral that I remember feeling this overwhelming sense ginormity is possibly St Peter’s in the Vatican.

Altarpiece of St Claire, c.1350-1360. Oldest existing retable that contains a tabernacle for holding the sacraments. Originally came from the former Franciscan convent of St Clare and has resided in Cologne cathedral since 1811.

The ‘swallows nest’ organ was built in 1998 to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the Cathedral.

Crucifix of Gero (because… donated by some Bishop Gero c.976). At over 1000 years old, and considered one of the first larger than life size sculptures of the midlands, it represents Christ in the moment of death, through which mankind was redeemed. The Baroque altar was added in 1683 by Canon Heinrich von Mering. The Crucifix was said to be miraculous, and has been especially venerated over the centuries.

Statue of Grace depicting Our Lady, decorated with jewellery – also known as the Schmuckmadonna (great name!).

I just can’t get over the scale of this place.

Altarpiece of St Agilolph carved timber and painted. Antwerp c.1520.
From the former collegiate church of Our Lady at the Steps (St Maria ad Gradus).

St Heribert’s Shrine, c.970. Heriberto was born in Worms to Count Hugo and Tietwista – his maternal half brother was Heinrich, Bishop of Wurzburg. Silver, gilded, gold, precious gems and enamel, Cologne. It is under glass and has a rope around it so it ws difficult to photograph – but stunning enamel work!

St Christoper statue, Tilman van der Burch, c.1470.

Intricate mosaics cover 1,350sqm of the cathedral floor and are based on designs by August Essenwein – and created and laid 1885-1892 by Villeroy and Boch in Mettlach (believe it or not!). Villeroy and Boch… not just overpriced crystal!

The Altarpiece of the City’s Patron Saints – originally created c.1445 the triptych is attributed to Stephan Lochner, Cologne. The central panel portrays Adoration of the Magi flanked by St Ursula and her companion, St Gereon, partron saints of Cologne.

Altapeice of the Magi, Wilhelm Mengelberg, c.1892.

From the crypt below the cathedral:

Visitors are able to climb the 533 steps into the south steeple for amazing views over the city of Cologne. It brings you to 100m above the ground…needless to say, me and my bung knee didn’t make the climb, but Angus did.

The Cologne Cathedral is truly impressive; it’s no wonder it was included in the original 1978 listings of World UNESCO Heritage sites. It was declared endangered in 2004 as there were plans in place to build several high rise buildings close to the Cathedral, but it was delisted from being endangered in 2006 when city planners thankfully came to their senses and put a limit on the height of modern buildings near the cathedral. It would have drastically altered the city skyline had they built up right beside it.

Some clever fundraising… hearts with the flags of all nations. For some reason, people can’t help themselves but pop some coins onto their own flags. The American heart even had a bunch of USD$1 notes plonked on it.

The Cologne Cathedral also has a rather impressive collection in their Domskammer / Treasury, which was an amazing labyrinth of tunnels underground at the back of the cathedral.

Reliquary monstrance. Cologne, c.1500. Silver, copper, gilded, rock crystal and glass.

Reliquary of the Cross from St Mary ad Gradus.
Constantinople, mid-end of the 12thC. Figures, wings and ornaments, Cologne, c.1240.
This reliquary was reset in the late Romanesque times with pieces of a Byzantine relic casket containing pieces of The Cross.

Shrine of St Engelbert. Goldsmith: Conrad Dulsbergh.
Casket Designer: Jeremiah’s Geisselbruhn. Relief Designer: Augustin Braun
Cologne, 1633, silver, partly gilded.

Reliquary of St Vincent de Paul, c.1800, silver, gilded.

Reliquary of the Cross with spectacle-glass.
Workshop of Hans von Reutlingen, Aachen, 16thC. Silver, gilded, spectacle-glass.

Statue of a deacon holding a reliquary of King Melchior. 16thC, Cologne.
Silver, gilded, glass reliquary, bronze, partly gilded, silver plated, precious stones.

Hammer and trowel, Wilhelm Pullack, Cologne, c.1842. Silver and ebony.
These tools were used by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussi when he laid the foundation stone for the completion of Cologne Cathedral on 4th Sept 1842.

Shrine of the Magi, Cologne, late 12thC.
inner wooden construction of the sharing, oak, glass, copper, gilded.

Reliquary Monstrance with links from St Peter’s Chains.
Cologne, c.1500, Silver, copper, gilded, rock crystal and glass.

Necklaces/Collars of the Mayors of the city of Koln
Cologn, 1954-1955. Gold, niello gold and silver gilded on bronze and garnet.

The Domskammer really feels like you’re walking around in a medieval vault.

Left: Crosier of Philippus Cardinal Krementz, Archbishop of Cologne (1885-1899)
– Unknown artist, Rhineland, 1868, silver, gilded and enameled.
Centre: Crosier of Herman Jospeh Schmitz, Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1893-1988),
– Peter Oediger, Krefeld, 1893, silver, partly gilded and enameled.
Right: Crosier of Hubertus Theophilus Samar, Archbishop of Cologne (1900-1902)
– Gabriel Hermeling, Cologne 1892, silver, gilded, enamel, precious stones.

Left: Chalice Franz Christoph Mederle. Augsburg. c. 1750. Silver, gilded.
Right: Chalice, Augsburg, late 18thC. Silver, gilded.

The Lamb of the Apocalypse. Johann Heinrich Rohr, Cologne, c.1774-1780. Silver, brass, partly gilded.

Monstrance. Franz Christoph Mederle, Augsburg, 1749/51.
Pendants: c1516. Gold, silver, gilded, and precious stones.

Necklace c.1657. Donated by Archbishop Maximilian Heinrich as jewellrey for the Schmuckmadonna.
Christian Schweling, Cologne, gold, enamel, previous stones

Matching bracelet – also by Christian Schweling, Cologne, c.1657.

Processional Cross – Silver, copper, gilded, enamel and precious stones.
Enamel plates: Limoges c.1200.
Setting: Cologne, c.1220.

The Sumptuous Monstrance. Christian Schweling, Cologne, c.1657/58.
Destroyed in 1975 when theives broke into the Treasury and reconstructed by Peter Bolg 1978-1987 using original pieces. Gold, silver, gilded, enamel, rock crystal, precious stones, pearls.

Epitaph of Jakob von Crzny, Brussels, c.1518. Bronze, gilt, brass and enamel.

Bust Reliquary of St Gregory of Spoleto. Cologne, c. 1500.
Silver party gilded, gold ring with precious stone.

Bust Reliquary of St Sebastian.
Franz Wusten, Cologne, c.1875. Silver, partly gilded, enamel, precious stones.

Reliquary of St Walburga. Wilhelm Sittmann, Cologne, c.1765. Silver Gilded.

Reliquary. Johann Heinrich Rohr, Cologne, c.1766. Silver, gilded.

Two Angels as Candleholders. Cologne, c.1500, Brass, silver, partly gilded.

Left: Censer, Rhineland, c.1500, silver.
Right: Censer, Cologne, late 16thC lid, 20thC charcoal holder and foot. Silver.

Chalices all from Cologne.
Left: 15thC silver/gilded. Centre: early 14thC, silver/gilded. Right: late 15thC, silver/gilded, enamel.

Monstance, Cologne, c.1400. Silver, gilded, enamel, mother of pearl.
Donated to the Cathedral by Maria Theresia Schaefhaueun in 1846.

Electoral Sword: c.1480-90. Sheath: c.1515-1547. Cologne, Silver, partly gilded, enamel, steel, velvet.
Gothic Bishop’s Crosier: Cologne, c.1322. Silver, partly gilded, enamel.
The bishop’s crosier and the electoral sword are the symbols of spiritual and secular authority of the archbishops of Cologne. The Crosier is from the consecration of the Gothic Cathedral Choir in 1322. The sword from the reign of Archbishop Hermann von Hessen (1480-1508).

Details of above:

Chalice with paten and spoon. Heinrich J Wilma. Düsseldorf, c. 1893.
Silver, gilded, enamel, precious stones and pearls.

Chalice with paten and spoon, Franz Wusten, Cologne, c.1888. Silver, gilded and enamel.

Altar braid from the High Altar of Cologne Cathedral. Cologne, completed prior to 1518.
Silk, and gold threads. The altar braid was believed to have been bestowed by Dean of the Cathedral, Friedrich von Simmen-Sponheim. The coats of arms of his parents are appliquéd onto both ends of the braid.

Fragment of the canopy of the Madonna of Milan, Cologne, c.1280/90.
Limestone with traces of colouration.

Four apostles of the jamb of the portal of Cologne Cathedral, c.1375. Limestone
Behind: Saints Andrew, Peter, Paul and John.
Front: Angel with a bell, St Catherine, a Prophet.

Detail: the Prophet.

Prophet from the reading desk in the choir of the cathedral. Cologne, c.1300. Tuff with colouration.

Grave goods from a Frankish woman’s tomb. Located under the inner choir during renovations in 1959 were these objects belonging to a young woman of approximately 28 years old. Personal objects were burning with noble perons at that time and included these lavish jewellery items.

Rosette brooches. Gold, garnets. Frankish.

Strap tags from cross garterings. Gold and garnets.

Bow brooches, gold, garnets.

Spherical pendant. Gold, rock crystal or moonstone. Frankish.

Six Capitals – Master of the Laacher Samson, Cologne, c.1200. Limestone.

Dalmatic and stole from the Capella Clementina. Paris, c.1742. Silver fabrics, gold embroidery.

Pluvial and five mitres of the Capella Clementina, Paris, c.1742.
A forty-four piece trousseau of silver fabrics and gold embroidery.
These splendid vestments were ordered in Paris by Clemens August von Wittelsbach, Archbishop of Cologne on the occasion of the coronation of his brother, the Emperor Karl VII – 12th February 1742.

Chasuble and mantle of the Capela Clementina, Paris, c.1742. Silver fabrics and gold embroidery.

Pectoral Cross and ring. Johann Bernhardt Clausius, Frankfurt AM, c.1769. Silver, precious stone.

Burse with the Virgin on the Crescent. Germany, late 19thC. Silk, gold and silver threads.

Cope of the Angels Vestements. Germany, c.1713. Silk, gold and silver threads.

Book Cover, Johann Franz Weissweiler, Cologne, early 18thC. Silver.

Book of Hours, Early 17thC. Leather, silver, gilded, iron.

St Peter’s Banner, Wilhelm Mengelberg (design), Minna Peters (worked), Neuss, c.1899.
Cotton, silk, gold and silver metal threads, glass stones and pearls.

Magi’s Banner. Wilhelm Mengelberg (design), Minna Peters (worked), Neuss, c.1899.
Cotton, silk, gold and silver metal threads, glass stones, pearls.

Chasuble with coat of arms of the Hirzelin Family, Cologne, c.1480 (appliqué work).
Ground cloth replaced in 1963. Silk, linen, gold and silver metal threads.

Pluvial brooch with a figure of St Hubert. Gabriel Hermeling, Cologne, c.1892. Silver, gilded, enamel.

Crosier: Belonging to Johannes Cardinal Geissel (Archbishop of Cologne 1842-1864).
– Made by Gabriel Hermeling, Cologne, c.1862. Silver, gilded, enamel.
Mitre: Belonging to Johannes Cardinal Geissel (Archbishop of Cologne 1842-1964).
– Unknown artist, Lyon, c.1850. Silk, gold, glass stones .

Magi’s Chasuble. Joseph Grossé, Bruges, c.1901. Silk, gold and silver thread.

1) Mitre of Joseph Hammels, Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne, 1924-1944. Germany, c.194. Silk, gold threads, glass stones. 2) Bishop’s ring of Antiochus Cardinal Fischer (Archbishop of Cologne 1903-1912), made by August Witte, Aachen, c.1904. Gold and precious stones. 3) Crosier of Peter Josef Lausberg (Auxiliary Bishop in Cologne 1914-1922), made by Leo Moldrickx, Cologne, c.1914. Silver, enamel, precious stones, ivory, pearls.

Large Plate, Friedrich Toussaint, Aachen, c.1900. Silver, gilded, enamel.

Dalmatic, Peter Hecker (design) Cologne, c.1922. Erica Freund (embroidery), Cologne, c.1927.
Silk, gold, threads, steel, pearls and glass pearls.

Pluvial accessories. Peter Heckler (designer of the cope) Cologne, c.1922. Erika Freund (embroidery), Cologne, c.1927. silk, gold threads, steel pearls, glass pearls.

After the cathedral and the amazing Domskammer – we made sure to take a break and visit the famous Peter’s Brauhaus for pork knuckles and schnitzels! Of course. It was a really cool place, great facade on the building and they have a massive overflow dining area across the road, up the street a little and in the square – which was packed at the moment due to all the football fans that are here for the 2024 EuroCup but aren’t using the Fan Zones.

We managed to get a table inside.

I wanted to see the stained glass ceiling, and I did, but it was packed with people and it was impossible to get a photo of it without snapping all these folks mid-forkful, so, below is a pic I unscrupulously stole off the internet.

Naturally I went for a schnitzel, which was such a polite portion of food compared to Angus’ enormous pork knuckle dinner! So much potato though – didn’t eat any of it. I’m going to look like a schnitzel by the time we leave Germny… the cuisine here is not ideal for someone who doesn’t like sausages and refuses to eat bread or potatoes.

Totally forgot to take an ‘after’ picture – he demolished that thing!