Day 7 (July 1, 2019) of our Viking Grand European Tour river cruise was spent in the beautiful city of Bamberg, Germany. We arrived at the picturesque harbor in the early afternoon.
Bamberg was founded in 902 and is famous for its symphony orchestra and rauchbier, smoked beer. The city marks the northern end of the Main-Danube Canal. Bamberg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We walked through the market square on this hot afternoon and headed for Bamberg Cathedral (official name Bamberger Dom St. Peter und St. Georg), a large structure built in Romanesque architectural style.
It is the burial place for Pope Clement II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, among others.
Inside the cathedral
Cathedral clock tower
We then walked to the Neue Residenz (New Residence) of the prince-bishops on cathedral square, which is L shaped because it was never finished. However, its opulence was immediately evident! The palace was begun in 1604 and the two wings built by Johann Leonhard Dientzenhofer in 1697-1703.
The palace has more than 40 state rooms with stuccoed ceilings, in which, as in Wurzburg, we were not allowed to take photos. So I took these photos of doorways outside the building.
We wandered the expansive, manicured rose garden behind it, the hedges and flowers surrounding statues scattered throughout, presumably of former prince-bishops who had governed Bamberg and lived in the palace.
Over the walls of the rose garden is a view looking down over the old town center of Bamberg.
However, I thought the old palace, or Old Court, was a prettier building. It had been built in the 11th century. Today it houses a history museum.
I got a close-up shot of one of its doors, with some beautiful ironwork decoration.
The walking tour continued through the old town center.
Most impressive was the old Town Hall, which dates back to around 1467. Gothic in style, it received some Baroque and Rococo touches in 1756. The murals on the sides of the building were painted by Anwar Johann.
This building is wedged between two bridges over the Regnitz River. The photo below, which shows this, is not mine. I downloaded it from a Wikipedia website about Bamberg. Credit goes to:
By Qole at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2323883
The story goes that the town hall was built on an artificial island because the bishop didn’t want to give up any land. An armed (!) conflict between the mayor and the bishop ended with an agreement that the citizens couldn’t build their burned-down town hall on land. The bridges connect the building with the city center.
Kayakers paddle under the bridges.
We of course saw much more of the old city center and some members of our tour found a brewery to sample Bamberg’s famous smoked beer.
Picturesque buildings lined up along the river – this area is known as “Little Venice.”
The spires of Michaelsberg Abbey rise above the riverfront.
After free time, our tour group meeting place was in front of this building, with a bull over the doorway.
I hope you enjoyed a “walk through Bamberg” with me! This post is also for Norm’s Thursday Doors photo challenge. Check out the posts by other door fans!
My husband wants our next trip to be a river cruise down the Danube. I have never cruised, but this post full of beautiful doors and buildings are encouraging. So lovely. Thank you.
I encourage you to take a river cruise. It’s quite different from an ocean cruise, if you’ve been on any of them. Because cities are built up around rivers, you dock often right in the middle of the city so it’s easy access! This particular cruise took us on 3 rivers: The Rhine, the Main, and the Danube. And there’s plenty more to see on the Danube than we were able to see! It’s very cool to sit on the deck and see castles up in the hills as we cruise along. Beautiful!