Bamberg's historic town centre is a listed UNESCO world heritage site. As we were repeatedly told Bamberg is known for its smoked Rauchbier and is home to nine breweries - smoked Rauchbier did not seem too different to me from non smoked beers. The town centre covers a small area and is easy to wander round. Bamberg was a pleasant town but personally I thought Rothenburg had more to offer in terms of old buildings
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Bamberg Cathedral
The cathedral is the seat of the Roman catholic Archbishop of Bamberg.
The cathedral is a late Romanesque building with four large towers. It was founded in 1002 by Emperor Henry II, finished in 1012. It was later partially destroyed by fire in 1081. The new cathedral, built by St. Otto of Bamberg, was consecrated in 1111, and in the 13th century received its present late-Romanesque form. The cathedral is about 94 m long, 28 m broad, 26 m high, and the four towers are each about 81 m high
It contains many works of art, including the marble tomb of the founder and his wife, the Empress Kunigunde, considered a masterpiece of the sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider. It took Riemenschneider 14 years to carve: between 1499 and 1513. The tomb is slightly higher a than floor level because below there is a crypt. The carvings round the side tell of various episodes in the lives of the imperial couple.
Another well-known treasure of the cathedral is an equestrian statue known as the Bamberg Horseman (German: Der Bamberger Reiter). This statue, possibly depicting the Hungarian king Stephen I, most likely dates to the period from 1225 to 1237. There is a Nativity altar in the south transept made of limewood by the artist Veit Stoss.
Pope Clement II (1005–47) is buried in Bamberg Cathedral. He was the local bishop before he became Pope in 1046, but he died in 1047 after having been pope for only twelve months. Bamberg Cathedral is the site of the only papal burial outside of Italy and France.
The cathedral first had an organ in 1415. A later organ was built in 1868, but gave many problems and had to be rebuilt five years later, but it was kept until 1940. The organ that is present in the cathedral today was built in 1976 by the organ builder Rieger. There are four angel figures in the corners of the organ case. The organ has four manuals and a pedalboard. All the organs during the cathedral’s history were built against the north wall because the sound was best there
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Schieners Gaststube
This was a sort of mid-afternoon stop for a selection of sausages and potatoes. Good filling German food, And two beers, a lager and a dark beer, were offered to wash the food down
The service was somewhere between bad and terrible. The staff had no idea as to who they had served and who they had not - admittedly there were 80 of us, but the place was geared up for such groups and obviously took regular reservations for cruise boat groups.
Perhaps I am judging the place harshly - it probably only set out to serve pub type food in a pub type atmosphere. Certainly the beer stube atmosphere was there, complete with brass pipes that transported the beer from the cellar.
It was fine for a group like ours, but I don't think I would go there for a meal for two.
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Oompah Band
We were entertained by the Ratsherrn Musikanten Band, complete with all the necessary brass instruments. At the end of their gig, I bought the CD for consumption at home, and the boys had their photo taken (again)
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MS Treasures
And back on board MS Treasures just enough time for some more food and drink
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