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Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, who is entombed at Magdeburg, appointed his brother Bruno as Archbishop of Cologne. Bruno found St.Pantaleon in need of repair and began a massive renovation. He died in A.D. 965 and is buried in the crypt. In 972, Otto arranged the marriage of his son, Otto II, with Theophanu, a princess of…
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The gothic style first appeared in France at St. Denis in A.D. 1147. The style came to Germany 60 years later. I’ve often wondered why it took so long. How the style came to Magdeburg is clear however. Archbishop Albrecht II von Kefernburg (in office 1205-1232) had studied in Paris and seen the building of…
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In the 11th century, jewish merchants and bankers from Italy and France migrated to the city of Speyer on the River Rhine. Under the protection of the bishop, they established a community that thrived for 400 years. Talmudic Scholars from Mainz also arrived and Speyer to became an internationally recognized center of jewish learning by the…
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Consecrated by a woman, rebuilt and repaired with dramatic asymmetry, this church stands in the center of a World Heritage town of narrow crooked streets.
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The village of Gernrode, at the edge of the Harz mountains, barely shows up on maps. Yet, it is home to a remarkable 1000 year old church. The Margrave of the East March (sounds like something from Tolkien), named Gero, established here, in A.D. 959, a secular women’s abbey. His widowed daughter-in-law, Hathui, was the…
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The initial impression of Quedlinburg at the train station is not overwhelming. But the image above is not at all representative of the town. Quedlinburg is in the latter stages of a massive restoration begun in the 1980s. There are 1000 year old churches and the most original timber frame houses of any city or…
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The plaza below was created by clearing buildings damaged in WWII. The Marienkirche, on the left, dates to the 12th century, though it has been severely modified over the years.The pink pipes on the right are part of a system for removing groundwater that leaks into excavations. Berlin after all was built on a marsh.…
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Berlin is a vibrant, youthful city. Images from 1945 show a city nearly flattened. Even historic landmarks were mere shells. Then the communist period split the city in two. Since then the city has been completely rebuilt, often in ultramodern fashion. A few clear reminders of the unfortunate past are preserved as encouragement to never let…
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Before planning a visit to the Minster at Freiburg, I knew two things about it: the spire is regarded as the most beautiful of Gothic spires, and the four organs sound magnificent. There is a wonderful quadraphonic recording of E. Power Biggs playing the 4 organs simultaneously. The sound reverberates long after the organist has released the keys.…
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Walking down Maximillianstrasse in Speyer for the first time is dangerous. The eye is drawn so powerfully to the massive block of the west face of the Cathedral (Dom) that one is apt to collide with an oncoming pedestrian or bicycle. The alternating courses of red and yellow sandstone make the broad front seem even…
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Craig's Places 