June 30 – Vienna to Mainz, Germany. Today started out with a surprise. When I went down to breakfast I found one of our group without his wife. She was taken ill overnight and is staying in bed. They were going to rent a car and tour around Austria for a few days but they will be staying in Vienna at least one more day for her to recuperate. Later when I went back down to the lobby to order a taxi for the trip to the station, I found that several others were also ill. For some it was so bad they had called a doctor to the hotel. I saw the husbands because in most cases it was the wives that were sick. One man came back from a trip to the local store to get some soda. He looked very pale and reported that he didn't feel well but his wife was really sick. After talking to each other they found that all those who were ill had eaten the Weiner schnitzel the evening before. Since Diana had it I asked her and she said that she hadn't been feeling that well last night but was doing better now. All the couples I talked to are staying at least one more day in the hotel and have changed their flights to tomorrow.
At the appointed time we showed up at the rail station and boarded the train to Mainz. This city is not a big tourist center for Americans. I've wanted to come here since my first visit to the Library of Congress in Washington DC sometime in the 80s. I walked into the building and there were two large display cases in the foyer. On the right hand side was a very large and beautiful bible "The Giant Bible of Mainz". Directly across from it was a case that held one of Johannes Gutenberg's original printed Bibles. I was struck by the fact that in the same city at nearly exactly the same time, one of the last handwritten lectern Bibles had been produced while Gutenberg was printing his large Bible. They both had two columns and wide margins, the lettering is even the same style. It's possible that the Giant Bible had influenced Gutenberg when he designed his version. When Gutenberg printed his bible some of the initial letters of books and chapters were left totally blank with a large space. This was so that artists could illuminate the Bibles later. The copy I saw had very similar decorations to the Mainz Bible. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We arrived in Mainz right on time and when we walked out of the Hauptbanhof there right across the square was the Konigshof Hotel, our home for the next three nights. The location is great from a logistical standpoint. You have the city trams and busses right outside your front door. The plaza between the hotel and the train station has several kiosks to get sandwiches and pastries. The train station has a cafeteria and a McDonald's plus a small grocery store and drug store. Everything is very convenient. The hotel building is not new but it is well maintained. The rooms are utilitarian and everything works including the A/C so you know I'm happy. The staff is the key especially the man on night duty, very helpful, friendly and efficient. I would definitely stay here again. He checked us in and made sure that everything was satisfactory.
July 1 – Mainz, Germany. I was up early this morning. When we're doing independent travel I am usually up and out before Diana gets out of bed. I take a walk to see what's around the neighborhood, check out the local café scene or just sit on a bench and watch the locals wake up. It's fun.
This morning was an exception; we both left the room together to head for breakfast. I was working on my journal before Diana got up. I'm a bit behind so I was trying to catch up. Bus trips will do that to you. Not enough time to write and there's not sufficient space to type on the bus. If there was I could keep up.
When we left the hotel to catch the bus to the Hof, the Mainz Cathedral, and the Gutenberg Museum one of the first things we encountered were statues of Dan Aykroid and John Belushi as the Blues Brothers singing Soul Man from the balcony of a club across the street named Das Crazy, the club not the street. What a flashback! Aykroid, Belushi, Radner, Curtin and later Murray. I don't think a greater conglomeration of comedic talent was ever assembled on one cast in the history of the USA. Only Chapman, Idle, Gilliam, Jones, Cleese and Palin of Monty Python keep it from being the best ever. Python was so surreal that they probably belong in a separate class anyway. In fact Idle, Cleese and Palin made the list of the top 50 comedians in a UK poll.
We hopped on the bus and headed toward Old Town. If it seems like every place we go has an old town you would be correct. If it didn't I probably wouldn't go there. And they also all have and Old Town Square, the one in Mainz is right by the Mainzer Dom (Mainz Cathedral). It's dedicated to Saint Michael so it could also be called Saint Michael's Cathedral. Sometimes you even see its official name Der Hohe Dom zu Mainz. It's no wonder sometimes you can't get a straight answer to where something is located. Ask for St. Michael's and all you get is bland stares. As for der Dom and you get lots of gestures and German but at least you know you're on the right track.
The Old Town Square is technically the 'Market' and the streets leading to it are pedestrians only. The square is large is pretty empty today. I understand that tomorrow is a market day and things will be busier. The good news is the Dom is open, the bad news is that the Gutenberg Museum is closed on Mondays.
There's a fountain or well cover in the square that's outstanding. My very weak Latin gets me only so far. In this case it seems that a certain Master Albert who was honest, upright and put away evil desires, was always ready to die and provided the money for this fountain. Or it could say "Eat at Joe's". It's one or the other. The structure is Romanesque and beautiful. Mary and the Infant Jesus are at the top. They are supported by a column with three Cardinals or Bishops or Popes, I can't tell. Below them is an ornate structure made up of natural elements, flowers, vines, etc. with winged creatures that have the upper bodies of men and lower bodies of lions. On the front there's a cardinal's hat suspended over a crest which is probably identifiable, but not by me. It's very colorful as well.
The Dom is basically a Romanesque structure with both Gothic and Baroque additions. Gothic chapels were added inside and the belfries and cloister were renovated in Gothic style. After parts of the west side were damaged, the western tower got a multi-tiered Baroque roof as did all the towers on the western wing. It's not an ornate church on the outside or inside but it is impressive for a red sandstone structure.
Inside it has a surprise or two lurking. It's one of those churches with two chancels. If you're not familiar with church architecture the chancel is the area around the altar where the priests or ministers do their liturgical business. In Protestant churches it could also be the home of the choir and it's usually at the eastern end of a traditionally constructed church. The Dom has that, but it also has a chancel at the western end. I've heard a lot of explanations for the fact that some churches have two but none of them are very satisfactory, let's just say that for some reason there's sometimes two. In both of the cases I've seen the eastern one is normally used to celebrate mass and have communion. The western one seems to be reserved for ceremonial or special use. Like if a bishop or the Pope comes here to celebrate a mass.
Remember, this church is basically 1,000 years old. The only real decorations in the nave are some murals showing Biblical stories painted above the arches between the support pillars holding up the clerestory walls. They were mostly events from the life of Christ, the first miracle at Cana, giving the Beatitudes, etc. Except for these touches of color the walls inside the cathedral are grey stone.
Some of the chapel altars are very ornate but not very colorful. The one exception is the wall behind the baptistery in the south transept. It shows Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane while his disciples slept. This is not an uncommon scene but above and behind this group is a squad of soldiers led by Judas, shown with a money bag tied to his belt. It's captured the moment when Judas is telling them that the one he will kiss is their target. On a rocky ledge to Jesus' right is a golden goblet, the Holy Grail if you will, that was the subject of his prayers.
This carving shares the baptistery with an unusual object, the baptistery font. It's the largest object known to be cast from tin. It's very nicely designed, the cover looks like an inverted flower and the base is nicely carved with gothic tracery and images of saints.
The Cathedral of St. Michael (der Dom) is an imposing place, austere and yet beautiful in its simplicity and design.
A short walk away is a horse of an entirely different color, or should I say church of a different era. The Church of St Augustine is Rococo, not to the max, but certainly representative. It's much smaller than the Dom and also made of red sandstone but the front façade of this church has more statuary than the entire exterior of the Dom. And they're not simple statues either. High above the main entrance is a grouping of the Trinity, God's holding the world, Jesus is holding the cross and the Holy Spirit is a dove hovering over the grouping. These figures are all executed in fine detail and shown with a group of angels and on clouds. Just below them is a crown suspended over the head of Mary who is accompanied by angels. Obviously she is headed toward her coronation as Queen of Heaven. From her right and below her Saint Augustine watches and across from his is a nun I can't identify also watching. It could be Saint Monica, Augustine's mother an early saint of the church.
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Inside the church is certainly full on Rococo. The ceiling is ornately decorated and has a wonderful mural showing scenes from St. Augustine's life. The white, highly carved stucco and gold accents naturally draw your eyes upward. Very pale pink, almost a rose, and blue accents tie in to the altar and reredos in the sacristy. Here pink and blue marble form a columned structure with a huge crown atop. The centerpiece is a carving of Jesus being removed from the cross. The figures are white accented with gold and he's being lowered using a large light blue blanket. As austere and plain as the Dom might have been, St. Augustine's is nearer the other end of the scale.
We're going to have to come back here tomorrow because we want to see the Gutenberg Museum.
It was a fun day strolling around Mainz' Old Town.
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