Friday, September 30, 2011

THE RESIDENZ & MARIANBERG FORTRESS

Tuesday, September 30th, 1997 Frankfurt, Germany

Breakfast at 8 AM. Excellent breakfast, but not very much lunch meat that Shari & I liked…lots of special things like meatcakes that tasted him meatloaf, herring, etc. So lunch sandwiches were a little different. Dave also picked up two pears for an added treat for them. Jim & I passed as we’d just finished sharing a banana in the room before breakfast that we had purchased in Rothenburg.

Checked out and Jim sold Dave 100 DM for $57.00. He was out of German money and Jim had too much left over. He even paid for the room with cash. Sankt Josef’s Hotel was really very reasonable…only 145.00 DM for the night which is about $82.00.

Packed the car and arrived at the Residenz by 9 AM. We were one of the very first to arrive; but tours are only conducted in German except for twice on Sunday. No headphones were available (they were in 1996) so Dave purchased a book and we were off to inspect on our own during the tour.

The tour guide spent a long time in each room and at times we had to wait for her to unlock doors between areas. This is one of the most spectacular public buildings in Germany. It was planned and built over a relatively short span of time and therefore has not incorporated too many different styles. The best is the grand staircase which is probably ten feet wide. It goes up for about two stories and then splits into two side staircases each the same as the center one.

Above is the largest painting in the world on the ceiling. In talking to the tour guide we found out that at the beginning of the war they removed everything they could including walls and stored them elsewhere in anticipation of bombing raids during the war. They also took extensive photographs of everything. Couldn’t believe that they were allowing us to walk on the beautiful inlaid wood floors. We met a young couple from San Francisco who were spending nine weeks biking through Europe. They were doing some camping and some hotels. They made use of the train for traveling from one area to another. We loved the Residenz so much that we decided to purchase a video tape and split it 50/50.


Then we were off to the Marianberg Fortress the pilgrimage church, Kappele which means little chapel. Missing the street we decided to continue to Heidingsfeld, a suburb area; and the Porsche Dealership for Jim located on Winterhauser Str. 20.. Gave him ten minutes to find it before we’d turn around. He had researched it carefully and actually found it very rapidly.

Jim & Dave went inside to see the cars. Jim got a Porsche baseball cap and lots of books in German on very expensive things he could order. He found out how to order parts for his Porsche Boxster from Germany. Back in the car we headed for the Fortress. It winds up the hill into a very old area. After parking beneath the bulwark walls we walked through two tunnels before entering the Fortress grounds. It is actually a castle within a keep which started somewhere around the year 600. Ate our lunch outside the museum while we were there.

Down the hill and across the valley to the hill that holds the Kappele. Drove up a very steep road to the parking lot. A short walk down the hill brought us to the Kappele which also has outside life-size stations of the cross down the hillside.

Back on the road we hit the autobahn for Frankfurt and our final night. It’s been trying to rain all day. Very overcast…bad for taking photos which was unfortunate as we had some great views from the fortress and the Kappele.

Arrived back in Frankfurt. Picked up gasoline and checked into the Mozart Hotel which we had our first night. Dave & Jim went walking to find a restaurant for dinner and Shari listened while I read her this story. The boys arrived just as we finished.

They found out that German’s prefer Italian food and so we’re going to a local Italian Restaurant tonight for dinner at 6:15 PM.

Will close this for now and put an ending on after we return to California.

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