The Princess left Nuremberg Saturday evening for our next stop, Bamberg, a city noted for its medieval timbered buildings and awesome cathedral. Note also that Bamberg suffered little damage during WWII, so what you see is largely original, unlike many cities and towns in the area. Bamberg is also famous for its smoked beer, produced by the breweries within the city. The Ramblers did not try any so I can’t tell you how it tasted.

This was not the first time we visited Bamberg, we were there several years ago on the Uniworld Maria Teresa, but traveling the opposite direction.

Although we had stopped there on a Sunday when most places were closed, the Gentle Walkers had a marvelous tour with an excellent guide. Sabine took us to places that the other guides either avoided or felt weren’t interesting. However, not everyone wants to look only at historic and unusual medieval buildings and her tour went above and beyond the surface. If you want to read about it, go to my post for January 15 2016 titled “Stolpensteine, a poignant message from the past in Bamberg,” the rest of the tour was covered in” Bamberg, a city of rivers and gardens,” posted on January 31 2016.

Of course, the Princess again docked at Bamberg on Sunday It is still not the best day to visit as nearly everything is closed except for the churches. Bamberg is is a very conservative area of Franconia; thus Sunday is considered a day to attend church and spend time with family. However, because of this, I hoped to attend Mass in the beautiful medieval Bamberger Dom which I hadn’t visited on our last visit. Heidicha, our Tour Manager, assured me this would be possible as she had often done so.

Unfortunately this particular Sunday was a special feast day, the Bishop was in town for some local religious event event. Red and white banners were everywhere in the Alstadt. Many people wore something red and there were an unusual number of local residents enjoying the morning. I learned that the Dom was more or less closed to visiting cruisers. Thus I was forced to give up any chance of attending Mass yet again, and just went along with my friends in the Gentle Walkers group who hadn’t been to Bamberg before. Our guide was pleasant and knowledgeable but she didn’t have the passion of Sabine, who had guided our first visit.

However, before changing our focus to touring Bamberg, the Bamberg Dom or the Church of St. Peter and St. Georg, deserves some attention. It is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Germany. The first version of the Dom was built in the 11th century, but it, and the second church on the site burned. Fire is always a danger in these ancient Romanesque and Gothic churches because although they appear to be made of stone, they contain much wood. A prime and terrible example was the fire in Notre Dame de Paris, not long ago. Bamberg itself was not heavily bombed during WWII and today’s Dom survived almost intact, unlike the Frauenkirche in Nuremberg.

The Dom that stands foursquare today started as a church in the Romanesque style but as these churches were not built in a day, by the time it was completed, the later parts, were more Gothic in style Unusually it has four towers and several imposing entrances. Unfortunately, the aristocratic family who were the Dom’s patrons, couldn’t resist “modernizing” the church in the 17th century, adding Baroque touches to its medieval interior. Fortunately these were removed in the 19th century and the Dom looks much like it did during the late middle ages.

The Church of St. Peter and St. Georg was founded in 1002 by King (and later Emperor) (Henry II) and consecrated in 1012. Within are the tombs of Henry II and his spouse, the cathedral contains the remains of the only imperial couple who were canonized as saints.

It also has the tomb of Pope Clement II  (1005–47). Thus the Dom contains the only papal grave in Germany, and north of the Alps, as most popes were buried in Rome.

Located in front of a church and showing a crowned yet unarmed man, it is believed that the sculpture represents a specific king, perhaps one who was a saint. Some indeed believe that it depicts Henry II who is buried in the Dom while others think it was King Stephen of Hungary. Of course, no one knows for sure, as the statue was not signed by its creator thus it is impossible to know for sure, unless some document remains to be discovered. This is not as unusual as you might think.

In 2014, an inventory of the statues in the cathedral gave rise to the theory that a project for a large sculptural screen for the eastern choir was begun and abandoned after only a few statues had been completed; two other unusual sculptures in the church fit into this proposal. The proponents of this theory believe that the horseman is one of the Magi, looking towards the Star of Bethlehem. In some ways, this theory fits the statue as the Magi were kings but not warriors.

It is hard to avoid crossing a river in Bamberg and its residents enjoy boating and water sports; the Rambler noticed a white water kayak course on the Regnitz which flows through Bamberg,

In addition, Bamberg is an important port on the Rhine/Main/Danube waterway. Our docking spot was in an industrial area where barges loaded and unloaded their cargoes. The harbor is relatively small and because of Bamberg’s popularity as a cruise port, river cruisers often have to raft up when they stop there. Because of their appreciation of river travel, the Bamberger’s hold a port festival every so often. The last one was in 2019.

All in all, our stay in Bamberg was a pleasant one. Before long our time in the town was up and we headed back to our bus stop. It is always important to know exactly where to meet the Uniworld bus, as the guides usually leave you in the heart of the city or town, expecting you will remember your way back. This is not always the case. However, this time it was not a problem, always a relief. Soon we were back on board before our ship cast off for our next stop, Wurzburg.