Germany – Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart, Freiburg, Mannheim) September 11, 2019
WERTHEIM am MAIN
Toppels Haus. In the NM “Bizzarium” series,
ULM
Wiblingen Abbey. This monstrous stone basilica is surrounded by buildings now occupied by the University of Ulm.
Ulm Münster. This Lutheran church is a work of art. Until the completion of Sacrada Familia in Barcelona, it will remain the tallest church in the world (the steeple is 161.5m high) and the 5th tallest structure built before the 20th century. Although the towers and decorative elements are stone, the majority of the church is visible brick ranking it in the 2nd to 4th largest brick churches (after San Petronio Basilica in Bologna, Frauenkirche in Munich and St Mary’s in Gdansk). It was begun in 1381, consecrated in 1405, but not completed until 1870. The heavy side walls had to be replaced with arches and flying buttresses added 350 years later.
It became Lutheran in 1530-31. Although called a cathedral, it isn’t as it never had a bishop. Construction halted in 1543 and didn’t resume until 1844 when flying buttresses were added. It was completed in 1890. In WW II, an air raid destroyed most of the town but spared the church. In the Middle Ages before pews were introduced, it could accommodate 20,000 when the population of Ulm was only 5000.
The main problem now is all the men urinating around the church degrading the sandstone foundation.
Architecture: It is 123.56m long, and 48.8m wide with the nave height 41.6m and the side naves 20.55m high. The 15th century choir stalls are adorned with hundreds of carved busts and are among the most famous of the Gothic period. The five stained glass windows date from the 14th and 15th centuries. There are many gargoyles and statues.
One can climb the 768 steps to the top of the spire with views of Ulm and all the way to the Bavarian Alps on a clear day. The final stairwell is a tall, spiralling staircase.
Now this is a church! Huge gothic towers, a line of gothic spires supporting flying buttresses. The main portal has an arch of double statues and a bas relief scene of Genesis. North portal
Schapfen-Mill-Tower. In the NM “Modern Architecture Buildings” series, this is a modern flour mill with a thin high tower and several grain storage buildings.
STUTTGART/ESSLINGEN
Mercedes Benz Museum. In a futuristic 4-story stainless steel building, this tells all about MB with antique cars, racing cars and all the models. €10
State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. This tall round building has a row of windows encircling every floor. The top is open to the air.
Neue Staatsgalerie. In the “Modern Buildings” series, this art gallery has stacked ramp walkways of yellow marble and glass atriums trimmed in garish green. A pink metal tube one foot in diameter is on top of the walls. The green continues onto the floor inside. There is a lovely courtyard in the yellow marble with statues.
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Art through the ages, this has it all. The famous Banksy “Love is in the Bin”, a simple picture of a girl and a balloon floating away, sold for €2 million at Sothebys and then self-destructed. Once the gavel hit, someone in the audience used a remote control to move the picture through a shredder built into the deep frame. Half the picture was cut into 2cm wide strips, then it stopped leaving half the picture hanging from the bottom of the frame. It is now worth €11 million. €11.50
Stuttgart Hb. This is one of the least inspiring main train stations. It appeared that the simple kiosks were all closed.
The next buildings are around or near the large open main square with an imposing statue and fountain. All the “minders” in the museums in Stuttgart wear suits and none speak English.
Stiftskirche. It appears very modern inside with plain white walls, a balcony on one side, modern stained glass and steel tube truss roof. The highlight is the stone column supporting the pulpit with a carved angel. It was bombed in July and September 1944, rebuilt and then renovated in 2004 to produce this building.
Wurttemberg Museum (Landesmuseum). Presents the history of Wurttemberg from Stone Age to Medieval times. The small storyboards are in English but all the individual labels are in German only. Free
New Palace. This 3-story, tan stone, U-shaped palace is a government building and not open to the public.
St. Eberhard’s Cathedral. It also appears to have been destroyed in WW II as it is a thoroughly modern building with a balcony around and plain walls and windows. The highlight is the huge modern mosaic covering the entire back of the apse. I think there were objections to how Jesus is portrayed.
City Library. This 10-story cube has a façade of ten squares of glass tiles per side, each with a small balcony. It is separated from the main building by a 1m wide walkway encircling each floor. The floors each have one category of books: literature, world, knowledge, life, children and music. Administration is on floor 8 and the foyer is on the ground. Inside is all plain white walls. A totally blank large atrium in the center takes up the first 4 floors. A tiny square fountain flat with the floor bubbles lightly.
Above this the floors also open into a large atrium.
The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement, a WHS.
Corbusier Haus (Weissenhofmuseum). Typical Corbusier, it is a 3-story rectangular box. The ground floor is set back with blue girders supporting the top floors. The open roof has a short supported roof. The 1m high windows run across the front of the building. €5
Citrohan Haus (Weissenhof Estate). The Weissenhof Estate is several 130m2 single-family dwellings in 2 and 3-story apartment buildings designed by Corbusier. The Citrohan system has small utility rooms on 2 levels in the rear section and a 2-story living room with double glazed windows in the south. Each has a small grass front yard. Le Corbusier strove for a “living machine” constructed with a reinforced concrete skeleton with pumice hollow block infilling and ceilings of reinforced concrete. The interior walls are curved or slanted diaphragm walls inserted into the structure. The built in cupboards are poured concrete.
Maulbronn Monastery Complex. In 1138, this Cistercian monastery was founded by monks from the Neubeg Monastery in Alsau, construction started in 1150 and the church was consecrated in 1178. In 1270-1320, the narthex, south cloister wing, dining hall and house of the monk who read the early mass were added, in 1450 extensive fortifications were built and in 1485 a new infirmary and stables. It was occupied in the Peasant Revolt of 1525 and after the Reformation the convent moved to Paris and the Cistercian monks to Alsau. It was a Protestant monastery school from 1556, a granary and hunting lodge from the 1580s and a Protestant theological seminary after 1805. A fire destroyed it in 1892 and the Nazis used it as a boarding school from 1941-45. It was listed as a WHS in 1993 and is still used as a school.
The small museum has a guide book in English so wordy as to be useless. The cloister has lovely tracery in the arches and a nice 3 level fountain. The highlight is the many rosettes at the meeting points of the rib vaults in the nave, aisles and other buildings. It is often worthwhile to bring binoculars to see the high ones. Each rosette has a gold strip extending out along the rib and are surrounded by lovely painted florals. Every rosette is different with eagles common. Some of the chapels and the apse ceiling are painted with murals. €8
KARLSRUHE
Turmbergbahn. This funicular opened in 1888, ascends 100 vertical metres along a 315m track from the district of Durlach to the Turmbeg, the 256m high landmark mountain of Durlach. It originally ran on water ballast but was changed to electricity in 1965. Turmberg is the north western most peak of the Black Forest. On top is a castle ruins with an old 28m high tower, the castle of Grötzingen dating from the 11th century and last used in the 15th century. After it was still used as a watchtower with an alarm cannon. €3 up and down.
Karlsruhe Botanical Gardens. Part of the art gallery, it had many more ornamental flowers and plants than usual with lovely dahlias (and many other flowers) surrounding an oval grassed area. The greenhouses had great cacti and many types of peppers, ripe for the picking. Also some large trees, unfortunately not labeled. Free
NOMAD MANIA Germany – Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart, Freiburg, Mannheim)
World Heritage Sites
Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura
Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Monastic Island of Reichenau
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement
Tentative WHS: Great Spas of Europe (11/08/2014)
Sights (Temporarily Reinstated)
Black Forest
Europa Park
Historical Merchants’ Hall
Hohenzollern Castle
Ulm Minster
Borders
Austria-Germany
France-Germany
Germany-Switzerland
XL
Former Province of Hohenzollern areas
Jestetten and Lottstetten areas
Laufenburg
Rhine in Konstanz Left Bank
Airports: Baden Baden (FKB)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars
Achertalbahn
ICE 3 Routes
Kander Valley Railway
Sommerbergbahn
Turmbergbahn, Karlsruhe
Museums: Ludwigsburg: The Prison Museum
Castles, Palaces, Forts
Hechingen: Hohenzollern Castle
Lichtenstein: Lichtenstein Castle
Ludwigsburg: Ludwigsburg Palace
Religious Temples
Ellwangen: St. Vitus
Maulbronn: Maulbronn Monastery Complex
Reichenau: Benedictine Abbey
Rheinau: Monastery Church
Uhldingen-Mühlhofen: Birnau Pilgrimage Church
Walldürn: Pilgrimage Church St. George
Weingarten: St. Martin and Oswald
World of Nature: Black Forest
Entertainment/Things to do
Casino Baden-Baden
Europa-Park, Rust
Zoos: Bad Mergentheim: Wildpark Bad Mergentheim
Theme Parks
Cleebronn: Erlebnispark Tripsdrill
Oberried: Steinwasen Park
Rust: Europa Park
Waterfalls: Allerheiligen-Wasserfälle
Caves
Eberstadt Stalactite Cave
Hohle Fels
Wimsener Höhle
Ski Resorts: Feldberg Ski Resort
Pedestrian Bridges
Bad Säckingen/Stein Wooden Bridge
Kehl: Passerelle des Deux Rives
Open-Air Museums
Gutach: Black Forest Open Air Museum “Vogtsbauernhof”
Vörstetten: Alamannen-Museum Vörstetten
Aviation Museums: Villingen-Schwenningen: Internationales Luftfahrt-Museum
Railway Museums: Neustadt an der Weinstraße: Neustadt/Weinstrasse Railway Museum
Vehicle Museums
Altlußheim: Museum Autovision
Hockenheim-Ring: Motor-Sport-Museum
Kirchzarten: Oldtimer-Museum Volante
Sinsheim: AutoTechnik Museum
Uhldingen-Mühlhofen: Car and Tractor Museum Bodensee
Festivals
Bietigheim-Bissingen: Bietigheim Horse Market
Stuttgart: Stuttgart Spring Festival
Theater der Welt (Theatre of the World)
European Cities
PFORZHEIM
HEILBRONN
Railway Museums: Heilbronn: South German Railway Museum
TÜBINGEN/REUTLINGEN
Botanical Gardens: Tübingen Botanical Gardens
FREIBURG
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Freiburg Trams
Museums: Augustiner Museum
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Colombischlössle (Museum)
Religious Temples: Freiburg Minster
Botanical Gardens: Freiburg University Botanical Garden
Planetariums: Freiburg Planetarium
HEIDELBERG World Cities and Popular Towns
Sights: Heidelberg – Historical Centre
House Museums/Plantations
Carl Bosch Museum
President Friedrich Ebert Memorial
Castles, Palaces, Forts
Heidelberg Castle
Palais Morass (Kurpfälzisches Museum)
Botanical Gardens: Heidelberg University Botanical Garden
Pedestrian Bridges: Alte Brücke
KARLSRUHE
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars:
Karlsruhe Stadtbahn,
Turmbergbahn
Zoos: Karlsruhe Zoo
Botanical Gardens: Karlsruhe Botanical Gardens
MANNHEIM
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Mannheim Hbf, Mannheim/Ludwigshafen Trams
Museums: Mannheim: Technoseum
Planetariums: Mannheim Planetarium
Pedestrian Bridges: Mannheim: Collini Fußgängerbrücke (Collini-Steg)
STUTTGART/ESSLINGEN World Cities and Popular Towns
Airports: Stuttgart (STR)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Standseilbahn Stuttgart, Stuttgart Hbf, Stuttgart Trams, Standseilbahn Stuttgart
Museums
German Agricultural Museum
Kunstmuseum
Linden Museum
Pig Museum
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
State Museum of Natural History
Wurttemberg Museum
Castles, Palaces, Forts: New Palace
Religious Temples
St. Eberhard’s Cathedral
Stiftskirche
Modern Architecture Buildings
Citrohan Haus (Weissenhof Estate)
City Library
Corbusier Haus (Weissenhofmuseum)
Neue Staatsgalerie
State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart
Zoos: Wilhelma Zoo
Planetariums: Carl-Zeiss Planetarium
Vehicle Museums
Mercedes Benz Museum
Porsche Museum
ULM
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Ulm Trams
Museums: Danube Swabian Museum
Religious Temples
Ulm Cathedral
Wiblingen Abbey
Modern Architecture Buildings: Schapfen-Mill-Tower
Entertainment/Things to do: Schwörhaus
Villages and Small Towns
Bad Mergentheim
Bad Wimpfen
Meersburg
Schiltach
TRIBERG
Museums: Triberg: Black Forest Museum (Schwarzwaldmuseum)
Waterfalls: Triberg Falls
WERTHEIM am MAIN
Museums: Wertheim: Glasmuseum
Bizzarium: Wertheim am Main: Toppels Haus
KONSTANZ
Museums: Archäologische Landesmuseum Baden-Württemberg
Religious Temples: Konstanz Minster
Aquariums: Sea Life
FRIEDRICHSCHAFEN
Airports: Friedrichschafen (FDH)
Museums: Friedrichshafen: Zeppelin Museum
Aviation Museums: Friederichshafen: Dornier Museum
WEIL am RHEIN
Modern Architecture Buildings: Weil am Rhein: Vitrahaus
Pedestrian Bridges: Weil am Rhein: Dreiländerbrücke