[EN] Unexpected Bamberg trip
Our original plan was not to visit Bamberg but rather Rothenburg ob der Tauber. (There are several places named ‘Rothenburg,’ so this city has a petname: ‘ob der Tauber,’ which means ‘over the Tauber river.’) When we arrived at the station and waited for the regional train to Rothenburg, an alarm sounded: ‘Train canceled due to unexpected staff illness.’
At that moment, we had two options: waiting for the next train or changing our direction. We discovered that the train to Bamberg was on the platform. Fortunately, even though some of our group had to do some guten morgen running exercises, everyone boarded the train on time, and our unexpected journey to Bamberg began.
Bamberg is a small city, which famous for Cathedral (Bamberg Dom), part of the UNESCO heritage, and the Smoke Beer (Rauchbier). The Old Town (Altstadt) of Bamberg is a little bit far away from the main railway station, but instead taking a bus we walked to the Oldtown. It took around 20 minites.
St. Martin's churchThe first place we arrived is the Maximilian Fountain (Maximiliansbrunnen). The square is named after the Bavarian king, Maximilian I, who stands in the centre. And four other people, important personalities of Bamberg. And there's beautiful 14th century church located, St. Martin's, next to it.
Passing the Little Venice (I don't agree with it, but it's still a nice riverside), we arrived at the Old Town Hall, which is located in the middle of the river and filled with nice baroque style paintings with 3D effect. Also, belive or not, there's a story why the Town Hall located in the middle of the river.
... the bishop of Bamberg did not grant the citizens any land for the construction of a town hall. This prompted the townsfolk to ram stakes into the river Regnitz to create an artificial island, on which they built the town hall they so badly wanted. (source)
After we took our pictures together, we dive into the Altestadt (old town) of Bamberg. In the Altestadt, trevelers can find famous Smoke Beer Bar. You can not only eat in here with some meals, but also just take away outside and enjoy the bottle of beer.
When we arrived at the cathedral, the church mass was in progress. So we went to the cathedral museum next to the cathedral. They gave the ticket for free because we were studying at the university in Bayren state. In the museum we can see some old things that were used in the cathedral.
After the mass ended, we finally entered the famous Bamberg Cathedral. The cathedral finished its construction in the 13th century and it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site with the old town of Bamberg. It was originally founded by Heinrich II in 11th century and current structure with four large towers was built in 13th century after being burned down.
The cathedral was really breathtaking, with a beautifully built Goethic structure, the sun was shining into the inside. If I was born at that period, I'll probably be the part of the Catholic person.
After lunch we came back to the rose garden of the New Town Hall. Unfortunately we couldn't see the roses, but still we enjoyed the nicely built garden. Finally we went to the Michaelsberg Abbey(Kloster Michelsberg), the whole building was under construction, but still we could enjoy nice view of whole town.
This unexpected trip, thanks to the train system, was not our choice, but it was really nice to visit Bamberg. With my friends, I really enjoyed our unexpected trip to Bamberg. One of the regrets was that I didn't have the opportunity to drink Smoke Beer. Probably I'll do that when I visit this city again.
