Travel Log for Melvin: Day 8 - Bamberg, Germany

Tuesday July 2, 2013

The ship was scheduled to arrive at Hassfurt at 1 PM but it arrived early so I left the ship and took some pictures of the city of Hassfurt and at 1:30 the bus left the ship for a tour of Bamberg. The ship left Hassfurt and while we were on the tour the ship arrived at Bamberg and we joined the ship at 6:15 PM and at 6:30 PM the ship left for the next stop.

Bamberg is one of the loveliest of German towns. It is sited on seven hills and is bisected by rivers and canals. The city skyline is punctured by church steeples. It is home to a magnificent 11th century Cathedral and is filled with romantic charm. Bamberg is also famous for its beer.

Bamberg was founded on the Christian faith. Emperor Heinrich II made Bamberg the center of the Holy Roman Empire and the capital of his reign. He intended for it to become a second Rome. On the top of each of the seven hills is a church. Heinrich II ordered the building of a new cathedral, which was consecrated in 1012 and remains the architectural and spiritual heart of the city. Both the Emperor and his wife were buried in the cathedral, as was Pope Clement II. The Protestant Reformation cut the bishopric's territory in half.

Bamberg has always been linked to the river and in the Middle Ages it was the starting point on the Main and is now the northern starting point of the Main-Danube Canal that was built between 1960 and 1992. One of the few cities in Germany not destroyed by World War II bombing.

Hassfurt, Germany

Hassfurt, Germany - Reformed (Lutheran) Church

Hassfurt, Germany - Reformed (Lutheran) Church: Many of the Lutheran Churches in Germany have a cock on top of the steeple because of the words of Christ "Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow,s thou shalt deny me thrice" (St. Matthew 26:34)