From Pyrenees to Pennines

The north-east of the city of Bamberg is known as Gārtenstadt – Garden City – as it has been since the Middle Ages. Now, as then, market gardening rules supreme.

Since 1386, these gardeners have supplied the citizens of Bamberg and beyond with fresh produce: they were the biggest craft guild in town. Then they supplied root vegetables, onions and liquorice – and milk too from the cows who also pulled wagons and ploughs. These days the growers sell more flowers or herbs.

Look at this map. It clearly shows acres of land hidden behind the long narrow streets.

Here is a typical house. That wide entrance door is to allow wagons to drive through the house and into the garden. The barn is in the attic.

Here’s a market gardening business advertising its wares.

And here’s the Grüner Markt in the city centre. These days it’s no longer the exclusive market place for the Gärtnerstadt. But it is still a busy fruit and veg. market.

Isn’t that pretty special?

We’ve fallen for Bamberg, a city so steeped in history that it’s a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Area. The River Regnitz flows in two branches through the town, dividing the city into three and forming much of its character. It’s busy, but not besieged by tourists. Here are four postcards from Bamberg.

The Old Town Hall. Denied any building land by the Bishop of Bamberg, the citizens created an island in the river to build their town hall at the end of the 1300s.

The Cathedral, consecrated in 1237 is the third on the site. The first two burnt down.

Tillman Riemenschneider, the sculptor and woodcarver who died in 1531 has works in many of the churches we’ve visited. Here’s a detail from Heinrich II’s tomb in the Cathedral.

These were once fishermen’s cottages. No fishermen now.

Franconia is full of green hills. It’s also full of charming small mediaeval towns girdled with tall mediaeval defensive walls.

With the need for defence long gone, this house in Dettelheim has been built on the remnants of a redundant mediaeval watch tower.

*An allusion to the popular English Victorian hymn ‘There is a green hill far away/Without a city wall‘

I had no idea that Würzburg was a tourist destination till today. Now I know that it is, and it’s worth it. If you haven’t visited yet, put it on the list. It’s a lovely city.

But we had our own personal Tour Guide, our friend Gina: knowledgeable, informative and fun.

Today, I can’t show you the Residenz, the extraordinary project of two 18th century prince-bishops. Photos not allowed.

I’ll tell you instead the shameful story of how Würzurg was all but destroyed at the very end of World War II. By us. In March 1945, Würzburg was one of the cities identified as a target of the Baedeker Raids – designed to decimate culturally significant communities. Twenty minutes of bombing on 16 March destroyed 80% of the town’s buildings and killed 5000 citizens in an attack that can only be described as a vindictive act of vandalism.

That Würzburg in general and the Residenz in particular has rescued and restored its rich heritage owes much to an American soldier, John Skilton, who worked indefatigably with both Germans and not-very-enthusiastic Allies to protect what remained of the Residenz.

I shan’t give you a conducted tour now. That may come later. Here are a few pictures: of the Marienburg Fortress above the town

looking over towards the Market Square…

….. and from the gardens of the Residenz.

A night on a ship. A day on the road, speeding through through the Netherlands (very flat) and then Germany (increasingly hilly as we approached Franconia, our destination).

This is what German motorway service stations have to teach us. Plastic free is possible. Sandwiches are wrapped in paper. Food is served on ceramic plates with metal cutlery. Proper coffee cups. Drinks (from glass bottles) are served in glasses. Paper straws.

All the concessions we saw danced to the same tune. Apart from Burger King and Costa. There it was disposable everything as usual.

… this is an allusion to the mediaeval Yorkshire thieves’ prayer when facing justice. I can’t elaborate when blogging on a smartphone. Google it.

We’re just on board the Pride of Rotterdam, heading for …. Rotterdam, on our way to Germany.

So we spent the afternoon in Hull, a city with a proud history as a port, but these days suffering a bit from being on the road to nowhere much. Andrew Marvell, William Wilberforce and Philip Larkin were all sons of Hull, and the city makes much of them.

We plan to come and explore this city properly, when we’re not in transit. It deserves closer inspection. For now, I’ll share two views of England’s largest parish church, Holy Trinity, built in the 13th century. One is a conventional view. The other is the same church as seen in the windows of the office block opposite.