![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/files\/2009\/08\/DSC04562.jpg\")
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<\/a>If you have taken a course in Western Civilization, you have undoubtedly been introduced to the Cologne Cathedral (Cathedral Church of St. Peter, technically), Germany’s most visited landmark.\u00a0 Begun in 1248, and finally completed in 1880, it was the tallest building in the world until the completion of the Washington monument in 1890.\u00a0 The shrine of the three kings is reputed to hold relics from the 3 Wise Men who found Jesus.<\/p>\nIt is also famous for Eau de Cologne (I visited the museum, and learned the Eau was invented in 1709 by a transplanted Italian, and substituted\u00a0 especially by royalty for a bath).\u00a0 I had a Kolsch, too, a beer protected in the European Union, meaning it’s made within 30 miles of Cologne, following definite procedures.<\/p>\n Miltenberg was\u00a0 our introduction to Bavaria (Wurzburg became part of the We took a bus (I think) to Rothenburg au Tauber, the “Red Castle on the Reminiscences 2024 The next stop was in Germany–Cologne, another town founded by the Romans.\u00a0 It became free city in the Holy Roman Empire, its bishop an Elector,\u00a0 until Napoleon annexed it to France.\u00a0 After the Congress of Vienna, it became part of Prussia, its Catholic majority uncomfortably married to Protestant Prussia. The city was heavily … Continue reading “The Cute German cities on the Rhine-Main-Danube I”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amsterdam-to-budapest-2009"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4914"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8371,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4914\/revisions\/8371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a> <\/a>The city also boasts 12 Romanesque churches, dating from the fourth through the thirteenth centuries. St. Martin dates from 1000.<\/p>\n<\/a>Rudesheim brought us to Hesse, and vineyards.\u00a0 One claim to fame is a huge statue overlooking the Rhine that celebrates the<\/a> unification of Germany in 1871.\u00a0 It pictures Germania, symbol of the new country.\u00a0 There are abandoned castles around the city, and across the river Eibingen Abbey, founded by polymath Hildegard of Bingen; I’ve heard her\u00a0music.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Kingdom of Bavaria thanks to the Congress of Vienna) and Franconia, a cultural and linguistic area.\u00a0 Another town with Roman paternity, it is probably best known for its <\/a> <\/a>half-timbered houses.\u00a0 One Zum Reisen is the oldest hotel in Europe, dating from 1400 or so, with the current building dating from 1590. And, of course, it will have a fortress.<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>Wurzburg was one of the most devastated cities, but rose, like phoenix, from the ashes.\u00a0 91% of the city was destroyed in a\u00a0 17 minute bombardment.\u00a0 You’d never know it. The 18th century rebuilt Residence (of the Prince-Bishop) is a Baroque showpiece.\u00a0 The third and present Cathedral <\/a>was consecrated in 1187 and rebuilt several times,<\/a> including after World War II. I did the “walking tour” on a bicycle and managed to see many of the other sites in town, including a wonderful Baroque facade, and the fortress.<\/p>\n<\/a>Tauber” which the Nazis thought was the ideal German city.\u00a0 Unusual for the cities we visited, it was not founded by the Romans, and it’s not on the Rhine.\u00a0 Recognizing its historical importance on the Romantic Road in southern Germany, the Assistant Secretary of War told <\/a> <\/a>the US Army not to use artillery in recapturing the city.\u00a0 Aerial bombardment had destroyed “only” a third. It is one of four cities with its medieval wall intact, but one of many with the obligatory fortress and churches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"