Bamberg - another romantic medieval city

Bamberg is half an hour by train north-west of Nuremberg and , since it escaped the ravages of the Thirty Years War, the Reformation and the Second World War, its Old Town is virtually intact.

The highlight is the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) which stands on an island in the middle of the Regnitz River. This location was chosen by the burghers in the 15th century apparently to demonstrate their independence from the prince-bishop who ruled the area.

Bamberg has several impressive churches but the most magnificent is the Kaiserdom (Imperial Cathedral) on a hill above the town. It holds the tomb of Holy Roman Emperor (and King of Germany) Heinrich II and his queen which was carved by Tilman Riemenschneider. There is also a statue of the mysterious Bamberg Knight and several beautifully carved altars.

We visited the Neue Residenz (New Residence), a Baroque palace which was constructed around 1700 for the Prince-Bishop. We were taken on a guided tour which was mainly in German but there were also some English notes for the bulk of those there who could not speak German.

Then we continued on to the adjoining Rose Garden, which was one of the prettiest gardens we have seen, with numerous beds of different coloured roses, statues dotted throughout and a wonderful view over the city.

Our final stop was the Naturkunde-Museum (Natural History Museum) where we visited the remarkable Bird Hall. This huge room houses a collection of animals and birds which was first established in 1791 by Prince-Bishop Franz Ludwig von Erthal and then continued by Father Dionysius Linder (1803) and later Andreas Haupt (1838-1885). The exhibition hall was renovated in 2009 to restore it to the original colour concept and it is now a beautiful white and blue panelled showcase for a fascinating collection.

The trip back on the train to Nuremberg at 4.30pm was an interesting one with a huge crowd on board. We managed to get seats but the aisles were jam-packed and a lot more people got on at the next station. I was afraid that the rather overweight man standing next to my seat was going to end up on my lap!

When we arrived back at our apartment, we noticed some police cars in our street and we were challenged by a few police in riot gear when we came close to our building. Luckily they let us through.

After about an hour it became apparent that there was a demonstration in the street around the corner from us and a little later, an opposing group set up across the road from us. The police seemed pretty relaxed but it all got pretty rowdy at times.

After about two noisy hours, it all suddenly ended and everyone went home. We used Googel Translate on some of the banner slogans and it seems it was something to do with freedom of opinion and the Islamic faith but we were not sure which group was in favour or against! A bit of excitement to end the day!