Germany Tour Day 7 - 22nd Sept

Hann Münden and Frankfurt

Hann Münden's timber framed houses

Well it was back to Frankfurt for us today as it’s the last day of the tour. It was actually a very quiet end to the tour. From Hameln we drove to Hann Münden which is another town along the Weser river. It is very much like Hameln in architecture but where Hameln was partially destroyed in the war, Hann Münden wasn’t. Apparently it is the best preserved half-timbered places in Germany. 

It is a very small town and we had a little free time to check out yet another church and some of the shops before making it back to the town square to watch another glockenspiel show. This one was about Dr. Eisenbarth who was a real German surgeon who is known for coming up with breakthrough medical cures in the 1600’s. There is a parody about him. The story portrays him as an itinerant doctor going around from town to town with jesters and musicians who attract (and distract) his patients. But his cure for a headache is a swift blow to the head with a hammer. 

In the afternoon, we were back in Frankfurt. We did a brief city tour by bus before the tour ended and then we just had free time. Cat and I explored a bit and visited another church – Frankfurt Cathedral (St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral). Frankfurt is said to be the only city with a skyline as high rise buildings aren’t seen in clusters that often in Germany. Most of the big buildings are owned by banks because Frankfurt is the seat of the European Union Central Bank. There is a big blue euro statue with stars around it representing the EU countries. 

Alighting at the Römer station, there is the Römerberg Plaza with the famous Römer building. It has been the city hall for a long time. In 1938, Hitler stood on the balcony of the building addressing people in the square below.

Römer building

Old Opera House

After having dinner at the old Opera House, I decided to do a bit of shopping. Frankfurt is a bustling city at night and I am not sure where I walked to but came across outdoor markets with live music and people eating and drinking beer. I just had to try some of the apple wine that Frankfurt is known for. The only joke our guide cracked all trip was about the apple wine. He told us it was an acquired taste as it is quite bitter. The first one is difficult to drink, the second becomes better and by the third anything tastes good anyway because you are too tipsy to notice… It certainly was bitter. 

After wandering for a bit – and I know not where… I stumbled upon Straube Zeil which is a massively long street of shops. There are big department stores as well as smaller street stores. Lots of foreign brands! Before the trip I was determined to buy a soft toy manufactured by a company named Diddl in Germany but I had looked everywhere in Germany and Nici toys were everywhere but Diddl was not commonly found! I managed to find myself a little cat in a department store.

Germany Tour Day 6 - 21st Sept

Bremen and Hameln

Our tour is called “Luther, Berlin and Fairytales.” Today we embarked on our fairytale exploration. From Hamburg we travelled to Bremen. Bremen also lies along a river – the river Weser. It is known for being the setting for a Grimm’s tale “Die BremerStadtmusikanten” – the Town Musicians of Bremen. It would take too long to explain the tale so I included the link. The town musicians were basically 4 animals – a donkey, dog, cat and rooster. 

There is a bronze statue of the animals in the town square and you can see that the front hooves of the donkey are shiny. There is a superstition that if you touch them and make a wish then your wish will come true. There are lots of people posing for photos as they touch the donkey’s hooves. There are also little grates in the ground that you can donate money to the keeping of the town. When you deposit a coin in the grate, you will hear some sounds and it’s usually the ‘music’ of one of the four animals e.g. rooster crowing or cat meowing.

Roland

I have noticed that at the centre of all the German towns and even the little villages along the way is a church. All the houses seem to be built all around this church. In Bremen, there is a town square that is surrounded by various buildings – the town hall, church, parliamentary buildings and halls. It just seems funny that next to the church is a god of sorts. This figure is called ‘Roland’ and he is said to protect the town and its sailors as Bremen is a river city. As long as Roland is standing strong then the town will be safe. 
There is also a second statue of 'Roland' and the backup statue is stored somewhere underground so that it can replace this one if anything happens to it and so the town will always be protected.The figure has steel spikes sticking out of its knees and the distance between the spikes was in the past used as a measure – the Bremen measure.

Bremen is also a beautiful little town. There are little alleyways in which to get lost in. We had some free time to go walk around. Visited a shop called ‘Hachez’ which is apparently a famous German chocolate shop. There is also a place that makes sugar sweets tucked in a little alley. You walk around near the shop and can smell the sweetness in the air.

Nearby there is also a glockenspiel. At midday we watched the show as the music played and a panels in the walls opened and some images rotated on the bronze column. The images depicted some great sea explorers eg. Christopher Columbus.

After watching the show, Cat and I explored a little more. Behind the church there is a flower market and stalls sell fresh produce, meats, breads, jams and spreads, sausages (of course because it is Germany!) and many more things. The bread is Germany is amazing!

Beautiful flower markets in Bremer

From Bremen we drove to Hameln. This is the city known for the story of the Pied Piper. Who knows whether the story is an adaptation of something that really happened, but it is another Grimm brothers tale. Hameln is a really cute little town and was probably my second favourite place to visit after Dresden.

We followed the Pied Piper...

When we first arrived, we went to the information centre in town and were shown a video on Hameln. It was a surprise to us all (including the guide) when a man dressed as the Pied Piper came and spoke to us. He sprouted a clever lyric about the tale of the Pied Piper and then played some music and bade us follow him…. So we did and he led us into the city to the Rattenfängerhaus – “Rat-Catcher House”. It is actually just a building with a large hall that bears the inscription of the missing children.

Who knows whether this tale is actually a true story...

We then walked up the cobbled street following the mice that are inlaid in the stones. Their tails point towards tourist attractions.

Hameln is a Renaissance town. A lot of the buildings were destroyed in the war but are being rebuilt in the old style. I really liked the look of the little town. The buildings have wooden framing and foundations and then the walls are brick or plaster. Some of the buildings have very elaborate gables where the wood has been carved into shapes.

It is interesting to walk down the streets in the town. Most people do not live in the town but they come in to do shopping. The ground level shop fronts look very modern but look up to the floors above and you see the beautiful wooden framing and plaster walls and the beautiful Renaissance façade.

In the middle of the town is a city hall. Three times a day (1:05pm, 3:35pm & 5:35pm), the glockenspiel chimes and a wall opens again to tell the Pied Piper story. We were lucky enough to be able to catch the 5:35pm performance. 

In Hameln, we stayed at the Mercure hotel and it was my favourite by far and Cat and I were favoured with what I consider to be the best room in the hotel (I’m requesting 407 if I ever go back!). It doesn’t look like much when you exit the elevator, infact the door to our room looks like a door to a gaol. But inside we had a clean room with not one but two balconies. There was a bigger one with a table and chairs that looked out towards the town. The other balcony was smaller but had the same view. I enjoyed a bit of free time curled up on a chair on the balcony.

Markets and the town centre is where the spire is.

On the next morning, the balconies would have a great view of the growers markets that were down in the square below. Also across the road was a beautiful little park. I took a walk in it as well and it was good to see that kids were enjoying riding their bikes around. There is a pond and seats around to relax and just enjoy nature. It was also great to see the older people out and about as there were some playing bowls in the park and a group gathered around a giant chess set at the side of the park. There is also a small amphitheater at one end of the park for live music or plays…. You can tell that I really loved Hameln. 

Designs carved into the gables

The houses look so quaint

I really liked this park that was across the road from the hotel.

Germany Tour Day 5 - 20th Sept

Hamburg

After Berlin we headed off to Hamburg. It is a port city in northern Germany. The area attributes much of its prosperity to the port. Apparently the carpet trade is the largest in the world here. There are also dry dock facilities to carry out boat repairs. The Queen Mary II apparently docks here frequently and is also repaired here. 

The lower jetty that moves with the tide

Our first stop was to the marina and we were to go on a boat cruise. The port is along the river Elbe which goes up and down with the tides. So the lower part of the marina is floating and it moves up and down with the tide. The bridges leading to the lower part accommodate for the movement. Apparently Hamburg itself has something like 2800 bridges in it.

Lots of glass windows - everything is Bauhaus...

On the boat cruise, we were able to look at the shoreline. Most of the buildings are quite modern. Not having quite grasped what Bauhaus architecture looks like, a few of us on tour were joking and pointing out every building we saw with lots of rectangular glass windows as Bauhaus. I still don’t quite get it…

We did a loop of the shipping docks and saw the machinery that is used to unload the huge container ships that dock in Hamburg. It actually only takes 3 guys around 36 hours to unload a huge ship because it is all done by machinery. 

Ugly opera house

Along the shoreline there was a bit of beach but it didn’t look great. I would imagine the water to be cold. There is still a lot being built and Hamburg is a growing city. Our guide pointed out the construction of a new opera house building. Apparently it is hugely behind schedule and developers are nearly broke because it cost three times what it was supposed to and is still not finished. And this very expensive building also looks very ugly!

The Beetles' club

 After the boat ride we drove towards the city centre. On the way, our guide pointed out the Reeperbahn area. Since Hamburg is a sea port, the sailors who finally came ashore after months at sea were keen for ‘entertainment’. There is also one other claim to fame for Hamburg. In their early years the Beetles were actually not that popular in the UK so they started performing in Hamburg and we drove by the club where they used to play. Apparently the remaining members still visit Hamburg regularly and give concerts to small crowds as they remember their roots. 

In the main area called the St.Pauli quarter, we visited another church called St. Michaelis church. This was the sailor’s church but nowadays they use it also for a theatre… 

The town hall in the background.

Then there was free time to explore a bit of Hamburg. Cat and I walked around the town hall and then through the town a bit. The buildings all look so interesting.

Our hotel was a bit out of the city area. On the way to the hotel we drove along the bank of the Elbe river. Our guide was telling us that anybody who thinks they are anybody in Germany has a house or holiday house somewhere along the water in Hamburg.