Würzburg – Germany Trip Blog Post #8

As I already mentioned on Wednesday’s post, Sunday, May 6, we left Ulm, Germany in the morning and first stopped at the town of Rothenburg. After the bus ride there, several hours wandering the beautiful streets plus eating lunch, and then another bus ride to the city of Würzburg, I was pretty much shot.

It was 3:00 in the afternoon, but we still had the walking tour of Würzburg ahead of us. I powered through, took way too many pictures, and remembered very little of what our tour guide told us.

But with a palace like this, what else can a person do?

The Würzburg Residence is a baroque palace, commissioned by Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn in 1720. He died before the outside was finished in 1744.

Much of the elaborate building was destroyed during World War II, but it was rebuilt from 1945 to 1987. To finance that as well as upkeep on a structure this large, our tour guide told us that many of the spaces have been renovated into apartments for rent. Can you imagine living there?

The formal gardens are extensive and beautiful.

The only place we went inside was into the Chapel. It was positively breathtaking.

Then we walked down the several blocks which made up Old Town.

And lastly crossed the Old Main Bridge before meeting up with our bus to take us to the hotel where we stayed for our last three nights of the trip.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Germany Trip Blog Post #7

Sunday, May 6, Mother’s Day, we checked out of our hotel in Ulm, Germany and boarded our bus for the one-and-a-half-hour drive to Rothenburg which overlooks the Tauber River (hence the full name Rothenberg ob der Tauber). 

The city was founded in 1170 and is surrounded by multiple remnants of ancient city walls.

It was one of the places we visited which hadn’t suffered major destruction during WWII, supposedly because of its beauty. Only 32% of the town needed to be repaired or rebuilt after the war compared to up to 90% of some of the cities.

So many buildings, with so much history, but I just can’t grasp it all this morning. So, you will just get to view the pictures.

The Book of Romans

God makes people right with himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is true for all who believe in Christ, because all people are the same: Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:22-24, New Century Version)

So, to recap. The first four books of the New Testament are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Book of Acts is the fifth book, and I talked about that a little last week. This brings us to the next series of books, which are twenty-one letters, also called epistles, written by several different followers of Jesus to members of the new churches. The first of these letters is The Book of Romans, one of the most read books of the Bible.

Why is that? Because it gives the clearest, yet most complete study of the tenets of the Christian faith.

The Book of Romans was written by the apostle Paul in approximately 57-58 AD, and was meant to give direction, encouragement, and guidance to a church of new believers in Rome. At the time Paul wrote to the Roman church, believers there were living in relative peace and weren’t yet being persecuted for their faith. But as with any church, this one still needed to hear the what the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus really meant for them.

And I can’t tell you that as well as Paul, so here are a few passages from that epistle.  

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. (Romans 1:16, New Living Translation)

We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. They are the people he called, because that was his plan. (Romans 8:28, New Century Version)

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21, New International Version)

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12, New International Version)

I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children. For creation was condemned to lose its purpose, not of its own will, but because God willed it to be so. Yet there was the hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Romans 8:18-21, Good News Translation)

 Last week, I told you that you should read the Book of Acts. And I’m pretty sure that none of you did. That’s ok. How about this week just read the 8^th chapter of Romans. It is considered by some to be the best chapter in the Bible.

Oberammergau – Germany Trip Blog Post #6

After our visit to Linderhof castle, we got to wander around the quaint village of Oberammergau, in the middle of the Bavarian Alps.

The town gets its name because it is in the district (gau) of the upper (ober) River Ammer.

No pictures of that river, just lots of shots of the beautiful, detailed fresco-painted buildings or Lüftlmalerei.

The paintings depict fairy tales, religious scenes and designs that look 3-D. And they are everywhere you look.

There were also pretty flowers in bloom on many street corners.

We had lunch at the Hotel Alte Post. It was first established as a hotel in 1612, as the Lowen or lion. Records show that in 1783 it also held the post office (hence today’s name Alte Post or old post office). It’s been called that since 1864. The same family has been running it since 1896.

I had the Bavarian meat loaf.

When the waitress set it in front of me, it sure didn’t look like what I expected. But, oh, it was soo good! Zehr gut!

Probably the thing that Oberammergau is most known for is its Passion Play. The entire town’s population takes part, as actors, stage hands, etc. It came to be in 1634, when the residents vowed that if God spared them from bubonic plague, that was sweeping the region, they would perform a passion play every ten years. Due to the COVID pandemic, the 2020 production had to be canceled but was held two years later. In 2030, the Play will be back on track, and I’m sure the town’s folk are already making preparations behind the scenes.

Then we had to leave, and drive through the peaceful countryside back to Ulm. 

Linderhof – Germany Trip Blog Post #5

Saturday, May 9, was spent on another quest to see places I had studied in high school and been fascinated by ever since.

We left our hotel at 8:30 in the morning to sunny skies and a temperature of 51 degrees. The countryside we drove through was beautiful and became more breathtaking as we drove into the Bavarian Alps.

We arrived at the parking lot of the Linderhof Castle and were immediately drawn into the romance of a time gone by. Did not expect to see several couples dressed in their nineteenth-century finery.

Linderhof Castle was built between 1874 and 1878, by King Ludwig II, and was the only one of his building projects that was completed during his lifetime. As with his other projects, there was no expense spared. You may have heard of his castle 30 west of Linderhof, Neuschwanstein. It was the inspiration for Princess Castle at Disney World. It wasn’t on the agenda for us to visit that one, but I was okay with that. Linderhof was more than enough.

The gardens surrounding the palace are extensive and beautifully manicured. I wish I would have had more time to explore the grounds.

 

The other disappointment was that there was no photography allowed inside the building. It was actually relatively small inside, but the rooms were covered in opulence, gold, murals, mirrors, and statues, some of which were fanciful.

 

King Ludwig died in 1886, just shy of his forty-first birthday, under suspicious circumstances. He had become King of Bavaria when he was only eighteen and was not well-prepared for that role. His life was complicated and tragic, filled with drama, espionage, and romance. And also, sadly, a lot of loneliness.

I hope you research more about him and his castles.