Category Archives: More Germany

Traveling in Germany, e.g. Black Forest, Pfalz, Heidelberg…

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Hermann Radzyk painted the church and the train station of Geising

In 1932, my grandfather Hermann Radzyk created two paintings at Geising in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains), south of Dresden. 

The first painting hangs in my home. At the back, it carries the title “Geising im Erzgebirge”, is signed with Hermann Radzig-Radzyk and dated to 1932. 

The second painting belongs to my sister. It has no title, is unsigned and undated. It shows the same church of Geising and must have been created in 1932 as well. 

The second painting has a daunting history. Let me tell you.

The painting decorated the living room of my grandparents in their house at Kleinmachnow, Haberfeld 5.

The photo of 1940 is from the wedding album that my mother assembled, when she, still called Marion Radzyk, met my father, Rudolf Peters. With her mother Helene Radzyk, she  arranges flowers, the painting hangs behind them. Furthermore her bust (she was then about 17 years old) stands in the corner. 

I came across the painting in the home of my sister. It had a sad look: No frame, dirty and damaged, some holes.  

In the Second World War, the house of my grandparents was damaged and surely this has caused the holes. After the War, Kleinmachnow was part of the Soviet Zone. When my grandmother died in 1953, my mother went to Kleinmachnow for the funeral. She described in her diary that she packed some of her father’s paintings and her bust in a bag and crossed the zone border to West Berlin without being stopped by the customs officers – luckily. I am pretty sure, this is how the painting of the Geising train station ended up in my mother’s house and later in our hands. 

I had the severely damaged painting cleaned and repaired by my gallery in Basel.

It shines again in fresh colours. Only now I take notice of the two ladies next to the bridge, my grandmother Helene with her daughter Marion – my mother.

 

How did I find out that not only the first painting (with  the title), but also the second painting (without the title) is from Geising?

The first painting carries the title “Geising im Erzgebirge”. This was easy. The old postcard illustrates my grandfather’s perspective with the mountain Geisingberg north west of the small city.

Source: Mail by the historian of Geising from May 8th 2024

The second painting carries no title. I guessed that the church is also at Geising. Googling, I found the postcard that clearly confirmed my guess.

Source: Ansichtskartenlexikon, Stadtpartie, Bahnhof: Geising-Altendorf (Erzgebirge).

Consequently, I planned a stop at Geising, and end of April/beginning of May 2024, I booked a room in the hotel Ratskeller at Geising to look for the paintings.

 

Where did Hermann Radzyk put down his easel at Geising?

Let us tackle the first painting – church and mountain Geisingberg.

His easel was higher and more to the left than my photo below; between him and the village was a field with a footpath and a few small trees. Now the field is covered with newly built houses, and there are gardens with big trees. 

I walked uphill between the houses, and up to this point, I could see both the church and the mountain Geisingberg in the background. Going farther uphill to get to the location of the easel, the church and the mountain disappeared behind the houses, the gardens and the large trees. Today, Hermann Radzyk could no longer paint his perspective today. 

Also the second painting with the train station is no longer possible today.

The train station looks different, the church in the background can barely be seen. The bridge is much larger. A busy road coming from Altenberg crosses the railway here. I am standing a little too low; my grandfather stood to the right of the bridge on the footpath leading to the mountain Geisingberg. 

On the hiking map, I marked the locations of the easel.

Source: Osterzgebirge zwischen Dippoldiswalde und Teplice (Teplitz), Wander- und Radwanderkarte mit Reitwegen, 1:33’000, Herausgeber: Sachsen Kartographie 2022.

The easel for the first painting (red circle) stood above Geising looking north-west towards the church and the mountain Geisingberg. The easel for the second painting (purple circle) was at the entry of the road from Altenberg to Geising above the bridge, looking south east towards the mountain called Hutberg. 

Geising is located 45km south east of Dresden, in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) and at the border to Czekia. I have marked Geising with a red circle.

 

Why Geising, were there more artists at Geising?

While strolling through Geising, I met many friendly citizens. They noticed my camera and asked me: “What are you doing?” When I showed them the paintings of my grandfather, they gave me hints and told me about other painters at Geising.

Very proud they are of Heribert Fischer-Geising (1896-1984) From 1919 to 1961, he lived at Geising, and he integrated the city in his name. Not far from Geising, the castle Lauenstein hosts an exhibition of his paintings. Fischer-Geising painted landscapes and portraits. He was not only an artist, but also a ski teacher that won medals. For one of his  paintings he chose about the same view as Hermann Radzyk – church and mountain Geisingberg in the background.   It could well be that my grandfather met Heribert Fischer-Geising. 

Ewald Schönberg (1882-1949) was born at Geising and lived at Dresden. His style is “New Objectivity”. In particular, I like the red horse that had escaped the master. He is about the same age as my grandfather and, like my grandfather, by his first education he was a carpenter. Perhaps they met at Geising. 

In addition, the citizens mentioned Curt Querner (1904-1976). He was born in a village near Geising. Also his style counts as “New Objectivity”. One of his self portraits is in the National Gallery at Berlin. He is younger than my grandfather.

 

Exploring Geising, another place that my grandparents attracted my attention to

I felt welcome at Geising. The hotel Ratskeller is modest and cosy.

The owner is friendly. He welcomed me with a smiling breakfast egg, how kind.

For dinner, the owner serves beef olive with red cabbage and three huge dumplings. With it, I have a dry cuvée from the Elb valley. I eat on the terrace. The meal is well cooked, but I leave the third dumpling, it was too much. The owner understands me and adds: “I always serve three dumplings on the terrace, I do not want passers-by to think that I am stingy”. 

Near the station, I found the map of Geising with the main business addresses. 

Sport Lohse was very useful. I had forgotten my thermos flask, and Sport Lohse had flasks. The lady behind the counter recommended the Sigg flask to me. Oh, yes, I know Sigg. It is a Siwss company. I bought a new black Sigg thermos flask in the middle of the Ore Mountains. I tell you, this flask is of high quality. Still after a day, my tea is warm.  

The Nestler Café is another recommendation on this panel. Nestler has his pastry shop just next to the train station.  

Father Nestler asked me: “What are you doing here?” I walked around the train station behind his pastry shop, where there were sheds, not really a place for tourists. He was assembling a blue plastic flower corner ordered over the Internet; the assembling did not seem to be as straightforward as expected.  He listened to me with great interest. “Oh”, he said, “we have old photos of the station, come and see us tomorrow, we are closed today.” 

The next day, I met the junior owner of the Nestler pastry. He explained the history of the railway and the train station to me: The narrow-gauge railway was built through the Mützigtal in 1890, from Dresden to Geising. Here, the train ended in a terminus. Only in 1923, the engineers were able to extend the railway to Altenberg above Geising. The ascent was steep and could only be overcome with lighter wagons. A friend of mine told later me that for the ascent of up to 36 promille, special locomotives of type 84 were used.

In 1938, the railway was upgraded to broad gauge, and the station hall was built, as this postcard shows. The Nestler shop later settled in the small house to the left of the train station.

Source: akpool.de

The railway coming from Dresden leads along the mountain Geisingberg. A ditch had been carved along the mountain to allow the train to arrive at Geising without steep ascent.

This is, how the rails hidden in the ditch enter Geising under the bridge (the older version of the bridge is on the painting of my grandfather).

The construction of the railway in 1890 promoted the emergence of tourism. I am sure that my grandparents took the narrow-gauge train from Dresden to Geising. 

Let us now explore the small city and the mountain Geising.

 

The town church of Geising

 The centre of the small city of Geising is the Lutheran town church (Stadtkirche).

A panel explains the history of the Stadtkirche: In 1513 it was consecrated by the abbot of near Altzella. In 1539, the Reformation was introduced to Geising. In the years 1689/90, the church was enlarged.

The main altar is baroque. One angel hangs above the pulpit and the second angel is above the baptismal font.

 

The well preserved medieval city center of Geising

Ore mining was mentioned here  already in 1371. Iron, silver, tin was explored. Two cities emerged, Altgeising to the left of the creek Heerwasser and Neugeising to the right of the creek  Both parts of Geising received the town charter in the 15th century and joined later to become Geising. The city layout has remained unchanged since the 16th century.  The center is well preserved and is under monumental protection. 

I stroll along the streets. Old half-timbered houses make the small city worth a visit. I smile, when I notice the old Trabbie car of GDR times. It stands in front of the Saitenmacherhaus (the name alludes to the producer of strings for music instruments).

Each historical building carries its panel “Häusergeschichten” (house stories alluding to house History). Klaus Meissner has created (and signed) them based on the recordings of the chronicler Werner Stöckel. 

The “house stories” tell us that the Saitenmacher House was built in 1490, probably by Hieronimus Knorr. 1686/88, the next owner Wendisch enlarged it. Later it was the workshop of tinsmith Schütze, followed by four generations of the family Zimmerhäckel, also tinsmiths. After 1907, the house was owned by Mr Saitenmacher who gave the name to the “Saitenmacher house”. Mr Saitenmacher produced cartwrights, among other things, sledges. After 1945, the family Schlatter continued to work as cartwrights.  Now, the family Kadner runs a flower shop. What a long history. Owning a house is only temporary; someone else will take over later.

Kadner seems to be a common name here. Also the locksmith is called Kadner. Various houses are decorated with frescoes,

It is a charming little city. I follow the narrow streets to reach the train station once more.

 

Exploring the mountain Geisingberg and the geology of the place

From the train station, I start my ascent to the mountain Geisingberg. I look back to Geising and the mountain Hutberg above it.

Now I am in the forest and look north, where the Ore Mountains level out towards Dresden.

The mountain Geisingberg consists of basalt (Peter Rothe, p. 98). In the beginning of the 20th century, mining basalt started. It was halted in the 1930’s, because the citizens feared that their mountain would totally disappear. The former quarry is now partially filled with water.

On the top of the mountain Geisingberg, I pay one Euro to climb the Louise tower  and look down to Geising. 

I stand on the tower platform with two muscular men, between 30 and 40 years old. They share their views with me. I wish that the integration of the two parts of Germany would have been smoother.

Walking back down, Geising and its church come closer again. 

 

Friendly and welcoming citizens at the Maibaum Aufrichte (setting up the may pole)

In the late afternoon, I attend the set-up of the Maibaum (may pole) above the city. 

While I am eating my pork skewer, the citizens ask me to join them at their table. Soon I sit amidst a group of retired teachers and their pupils, some of them have become teachers now. They wanted to know, whether I have solved all the puzzles about my grandfather. Furthermore, they tell me that I should contact the city historian that has created all he house story panels to learn more about the history of Geising.

With the historian, I make contact later. I might return to Geising to meet him and to find out more about Heribert Fischer-Geising or Ewald Schönberg, the painters that are also related to Geising.

 

Thank you again

Thank you again, my grandparents, you have taken me to another wonderful corner of Germany that I would have never explored without your direction. My heart is filled with new impressions. I continue my way to Dresden and to Berlin. 

 

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Wasserburg am Inn – looking for two more paintings of Hermann Radzyk

It is September 2024. After having found two paintings of my grandfather at Neuburg am Inn, I am exploring two more of his works painted at Wasserburg am Inn, about 60km east of Munich. 

The first painting of Hermann Radzyk is owned by me, it has no title, no date and no signature. Initially, I assumed that it has been painted in Dalmatia.

The second painting I received from the gallery Dannenberg (Berlin) in spring 2024: “Alte Stadt am Flusslauf” (old city on the river), signed and dated to 1931. The Dannenberg painting clearly shows the same church and fortress as my painting above. 

Googling, I looked for the old city with the river and found it: Wasserburg am Inn. Hence both paintings are from Wasserburg am Inn. Probably my painting was also created in 1931. Perhaps, this painting was at the Great Exhibition of Berlin of 1933, with the title “Wasserburg am Inn” (number 309). 

Now, early in September 2024, I have booked a room in the friendly hotel Huberwirt am Kellerberg above Wasserburg to look for the locations of the easel.

Easy to find the location of the first painting: The easel stood south of the city and across the Inn on the Uferweg (riverside path). The water front line has not changed much: The balconies and the colours of the houses are largely the same.

This rock looks like a convenient place to put down an easel; perhaps my grandfather’s easel was here.

My grandfather painted the second view from the path leading up to the Kellerberg, but trees hide the view now. This was the best approximation that I could find. I am little too low and a little too much to the left. The house with the chimneys does no longer exist.

The popular “magnificent view” point on the Kellerberg provides a good impression of the city of Wasserburg surrounded by the course of the river Inn, with the church and the castle in the background that my grandfather has painted.

The river had cut a loop into the moraine landscape of Bavaria near Munich. The old city crouches on the resulting half island, 1km long and 400m wide. The fortress protects the land access that is only about 150m wide. 

On googlemaps, I have marked the positions of my grandfather’s easel, the first one across the river Inn (“river front painting”) and the second one on the path to the Kellerberg (“overview painting”).

Other painters have liked the river front view as well. For example, I found Willy Scholz on the flee market near the old city cemetery (Altstadtfriedhof).

Mission accomplished – both paintings found. Now let us look at the charming and well preserved city of Wasserburg am Inn that my grandparents took me to.

 

Exploring the old city center with churches and Town Hall

The medieval city center of Wasserburg has been largely preserved. It was not destroyed in the Second World War. It is a pleasure to stroll through the streets that are less crowded with tourists than other places in Germany.  I give a few insights – check the city website to see more of the medieval sights. 

After having crossed the river Inn on the bridge below the Kellerberg, I access the city from the south, using the Bridge Gate (Brucktor). 

Two guards (Scharwächter) carrying the coats of arms of Bavaria and Wasserburg protect the gate. The fresco was painted in 1890. The artist, Heinrich Georg Dendl, was born at Wasserburg in 1854.

This is the view of the gate from inside the city, from the Bridge Lane (Bruckgasse). The church to the right belongs to the hospital of the Holy Ghost (Heiliggeist Spital). The hospital was active for about 600 years, from the 14th century until 1971. 

Mary’s Square (Marienplatz) is the center of the city, with the double arched Town Hall (15th century) and the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche; 14th century, inside rococo from 1750).

Across the Town Hall, the building of the noble family Kern (Kernhaus) presents its late early rococo façade from the 18th century that covers two medieval houses one of them being a hotel today.

To the east of Mary’s Square, the Tränkgasse leads towards the former gate “Tränktor”. In front of the gate, horses were fed and watered, as the fresco illustrates (“tränken” means “to give water to animals”) . Horses were needed to pull ships upstream on the river Inn.

Leaving Mary’s Square to the west, I enter the Smith Lane (Schmidzeile) with more medieval houses and with this noble shop selling dirndl dresses.

On the hill, the duke’s castle marks the land access to Wasserburg. It originates from the late 11th century and was acquired by the Bavarian Wittelsbacher family in 1247. The stepped gable is late gothic.

Behind the castle hill, St. James’ Church exceeds the houses of the popular Inn water front line, as we see on the two paintings of my grandfather. The church was first mentioned in 1255 and was reconstructed after a fire in the beginning  of the 15th century. 

Gothic vaults inside.

The citizens had their reserved seats. Carrier (Spediteur) was a profession in demand at Wasserburg.

The baroque pulpit was created by the brothers Zürn around 1650.

The history of the modest baptismal font is unknown; it could be of gothic origin, but this is not proven. 

From the castle hill, there is a nice view of the roofs with the rocks of the Inn loop in the background. 

The citizens have set up cosy balconies. 

The red tower is part of the city wall.  

Under the vaults, I have delicious Bavarian dumplings.

 

Walking around the city on the river banks

The sculpture path leads along the Inn around the eastern edge of the Wasserburg half island. I enter the path behind the Bridge Gate. Charming small gardens and a great view of the river.  

The artists association of Wasserburg am Inn (Arbeitskreis 68) set up the sculptures along the path in the year 1988.

For 135 years up to 1988, the Inn ferry had transported people from Wasserburg across the Inn to the once popular restaurant “zum Blaufeld”. This is, what the explanatory panel says. The restaurant was on the northern side of the river loop that has no bridge. 

The convex river bank across consists of rocks covered by forest. 

In earlier times, the rocks were not covered by trees. The Inn continued eroding the convex river bank and accumulated the material in front of Wasserburg (this suburbian area is called “Gries”). The construction of hydro power plants along the Inn stopped the erosion and trees started to cover the rocks.  

Near the red tower, I enter the city again. 

 

Visiting the museum of the city (Museum Wasserburg)

This is the Herrengasse (“Sirs Street”) running parallel to Mary’s Square. The pink late gothic house hosts the Wasserburg museum (Museum Wasserburg).

I want to learn more about the history of the city and enter.

Two traffic routes crossed at Wasserburg: First the Inn which connected the trade between Italy, Austria and Hungary and second the salt route from Reichenhall (rich in salt) to Swabia and Franconia (lacking salt). Up to the middle of the 19th century, Wasserburg flourished. Trade and shipping created many jobs in the city, such as shipbuilders, skippers, boatmen and carriers, accessories (ropes, chains, anchors etc), loading and unloading, various craftsmen or hospitality. Wasserburg was in addition a naval port, and noble weddings and parties were celebrated on vessels here.

In the middle of the 19th century, the arrival of trains made the Inn shipping route redundant and Wasserburg lost its importance. Now out of focus, the medieval city was luckily preserved in the Second World War. 

The collection of music instruments is rich, there are virginals, fortepianos and a large collection of harps. 

Old furniture illustrates, how citizens and farmers lived in medieval times – some pieces are gothic.  

Workshop setups present old professions such as chandlers. 

I smile at these “cobble toll” regulations of 1925. A cart with a horse or any other horn cattle was charged 10 Pfennig. Smaller cattle, such as calves, foals or pigs were charged 5 Pfennig. Herds and flocks of them costed up to 4o Pfennig.

Talking about traffic regulations at Wasserburg: I noticed that this medieval city has no pedestrian areas. Cars drive in the streets and are parked all over. Traffic is, however, not abundant. The medieval city on the half island is small. I believe, the people of Wasserburg still live here and want to access their places of living also by car. Its charm has remained a secret uncovered by not too many tourists from abroad.  

 

What a nice city, thank you, my grandparents. The weather changes, and I say good-bye 

By his paintings, my grandfather Hermann Radzyk made me visit another beautiful place in Germany. Now I understand, what my mother (his daughter) meant in her diary in the year 1967: She described her thoughts, when she planned our car tour through Germany. She considered including Wasserburg am Inn as being worth a visit, but rejected it, because it did  not fit into the itinerary she had prepared. She must have been here with her parents in 1931, then 15 years old. Well, now, in 2024, I was at Wasserburg, and I felt close to my grandparents and their daughter – my mother. 

After so many sunny late summer days in Berlin, Poland and Slovakia, the weather changed on Monday, September 9th: Waking up in the morning, I see clouds hang in the moraines around Wasserburg. 

Summer is over, and autumn has arrived. I do not feel like travelling in the rain. These clouds look like a lot of rain for a longer period ahead. 

I decide to say good-bye to Wasserburg am Inn. I pack my car and about 500 kilometers and some six hours later, I am back at home. 

From at home, I observe heavy rainfall hit south Poland, Slovakia and east Austria – I feel sorry for the areas affected by flooding, and I cherish my good travel  memories.  

 

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Schloss Neuburg am Inn – on the track of two paintings by Hermann Radzyk

In September 2024, I visited Schloss Neuburg am Inn south of Passau. My grandfather Hermann Radzyk painted the castle twice about a hundred years ago.

The first picture has been signed as Hermann Radzig-Radzyk, and it is undated. The painting is in my home.

The second painting, I found in the Internet. It is signed and undated, and has been sold by the Galerie Wildner at Passau. 

Hermann Radzyk made these two paintings, when, in July 1925, he stayed in the castle; it was an artists’ hostel then.  

For the second painting, the easel stood north-east of the castle. I could reproduce the view; there are just more trees and bushes here today. 

For the first painting the easel stood south of the castle near the road. Too much forest here to reproduce the view. On my photo, I stand in the garden above the road. Only here, I could see the defensive tower. Perhaps the easel stood, where the bush below me has grown in the meantime.  

Now, let me tell you about my investigations one by one: When I started, I did not know, what castle he had painted. Once I had identified the castle, I looked for the place, where he had put down his easel and for the date, when he has painted it. I will start telling you from the end.

 

Investigating “when”: No date on the painting – why do I know, the painting is from 1925?

My first guess was that Hermann Radzyk had painted the castle in 1924. In the year 1967, my mother (Hermann’s daughter Marion) took me on a tour through upper Swabia and Bavaria. In her diary she wrote, she was about eight years old, when she stayed at the castle with her parents. While her father painted, she went for excursions with her mother, she added.  My mother was born in the year 1916. In 1924, she was eight years old. Hence “painted in 1924” was my first guess. 

By one year wrong. When I stayed at Neuburg, I found the guest book of the castle, and the guest book told me, the paintings are from 1925.

A friendly man parking his car next to mine gave me the hint: Ask the former Kreisheimatpfleger (the former responsible for fostering regional values). I called and met him in the evening; he brought along the guest book, where I found Hermann Radzyk’s entry not for 1924, but for 1925.

It is the fourth entry on this page: “Hermann Radzyk with wife and daughter, Charlottenburg, Waitzstrasse 2, July 25”.

At the same time, the prime minister of Bavaria, Dr. Heinrich Held, member of the Bavarian Socialist Party, stayed in the castle. Many guests were from Berlin. It was a mixture of politicians and artists. I imagine the discussions in the cosy lounge of the hostel were vivid.

 

Source: Photo of the castle museum “Landkreisgalerie”.

Surely, Hermann Radzyk painted the castle, when he stayed here in the year 1925. In July 1925, to be more precise. His daughter (my mother) was then 9 years old. 

Today the castle offers guest rooms in the former Mälzerei (malting plant). I rented a room here at the same castle, where my grandparents and my mother stayed almost a hundred years ago.

Only double rooms are available at the Mälzerei. I felt like a damsel – well perhaps more like the grandmother of a damsel.

The rooms of the hostel for artists, where my grandparents stayed, were located in the centre of the castle. Today, the former hostel has become the castle museum “Landkreisgalerie”. Access to the museum is via the gallery.

I imagine my grandparents with their daughter walking around the castle to look for a nice view for the paintings.

 

Investigating the location of the second painting that we can still “see” today

Let us recapitulate the second painting: It shows the north-east side of the castle with the east tower, the defensive tower behind it, and the main buildings with the chapel.

The castle Neuburg stands on a rock above the river Inn. On the northern side, there is a canyon. I climbed up the counter slope and looked at the castle with its entry tower (right), the east tower and, immediately behind it, the defensive tower (called Bergfried or Burgfried in German). 

From this view, Hermann Radzyk has extracted the left part with the east tower, the defensive tower closely behind it, and what looks like an oriel is the chapel.

Today, the meadow in front of the castle has mostly disappeared. The son of Lithuanian refugees, who was born in the castle, told me that, in earlier times, when the meadow still existed, it was called “Ledererwiese”, because the tanner spread his leather here to dry it in the sun. No tanner lives in the village under the castle any more, no one needs the meadow now, and the trees and bushes could grow.   

On the counter slope, I stand on this small “platform”, the easel must have been behind the bush – but there was no bush here at that time. 

I returned in the morning. The light has changed, and it is closer to the atmosphere created by Hermann Radzyk, where the morning sun illuminates the east wall of the castle above the river Inn. 

Let us look at the east wall of the castle from the other side of the river  Inn, from Wernstein in Austria. We can see the centre castle buildings.  This is, where the artists stayed. From the windows and the terrace, they had a wonderful view of the river Inn and the hills of Austria. Now, the museum is to the right of the chapel and the conference rooms are to the left the chapel.

A side remark: My mother was a geologist. In her travel diary of 1967, she described that the river Inn cuts through the rocks of the Bavarian Forest (Bayerischer Wald) and enters the Bohemian Mass (Böhmische Masse), just before joining the Danube at Passau. The canyon is called “Vornbacher Enge”.

 

Investigating the location of the first painting: Trees hide the view today

Let us recall the view from the south, as captured by my grand-father in the “first” painting.

My mother wrote in her travel diary from 1967 that she immediately recognized the castle, when she drove our car from the south (from Neuhaus am Inn) to Neuburg. She was impressed, how well her father had captured the view and how well he conveyed the impression of the castle. It was engraved in her memory even more than forty years later. We went for a short walk through the castle, and she noticed, it was still a hostel then.

In the year 1957, Karlheinz Biederbick, painted a similar view; his easel was a little lower and more to the right than the easel of my grandfather. Biederbick’s easel stood next to the bus station on the side of the road coming from Neuhaus. This must have been the place, where my mother, 10 years later, recognized the castle, when she drove from Neuhaus to Neuburg in 1967.

I received the photo of Biederbick’s painting from the son of German refugees from Lithuania that were placed in the castle after 1945. He was born in the castle and grew up here. It was still a hostel for artists then, and he grew up with the artists, among them Biederbick. He knew exactly, where the easel was, because as a boy he sat next to the artist.

BUT, when I now, in 2024, drove my car from Neuhaus to Neuburg, I could not see the castle. It was behind trees. I later took this photo from about the place, where Biederbick had put down his easel, next to the bus station. There are some gaps between the trees, where it is possible to get an idea of the defensive tower behind the trees. 

Only from the garden of Schärdingerstrasse 28 above the road and above the bus station, I could see the defensive tower. However, the easel of my grandfather  stood lower and more to the right. Perhaps where the  bush is now. My grandfather and Biederbick could no longer make their paintings today.

The owner of the house 28 was friendly and let me enter his garden.

I met many hospitable citizens at the small village Neuburg grouped around its castle above the Inn. With the son of the refugees (about my age), I spent a warm summer evening in his garden, just under the castle. He lives in a beautifully restored house full of treasures telling stories about the castle and the area around it as well as about his life as a showman with a doctorate in mathematics. It is a welcoming place for a vacation and a great starting point to explore the area at the border between Bavaria and Austria.

 

Preliminary investigations to identify the castle that Hermann Radzyk had painted 

When three years ago, I started the research about my grandfather Hermann Radzyk, I had no idea, which castle he had painted. 

I first suspected, the castle was at Silesia. Later I found the castle called Schloss Neuburg an der Kammel in Swabia, but it had only one tower. Burg Neuberg in Austria looked also similar, but the defensive tower had three and not two windows. I knew in the meantime that Hermann Radzyk painted TWO windows, when there WERE TWO windows. Impossible that Burg Neuberg was his castle.

Finally, I thought that perhaps it is not a coincidence that the gallery Windler at Passau has this painting on their website. I looked for castles around Passau, and found Schloss Neuburg am Inn.

This is almost precisely the view of the Wildner painting. The defensive tower in the background has two windows, like on the painting of my grandfather. 

I found a different photo of Schloss Neuburg. The “broken” wall looks very similar to the painting that is owned by me.

Source: Landkreis.de

There is just one mismatch: The defensive tower in the middle does not carry a lantern. Perhaps, the lantern has been removed later?

I looked for old postcards. And I found the lantern on the defensive tower. 

Source: akpool.de

Now, I was sure that Hermann Radzyk had painted Schloss Neuburg am Inn near Passau.

When, in September 2024, I spent the warm summer evening with the son of the Lithuanian-German refugee, he told me, that the lantern contained a bell and that it was only removed in the 1980’s. This is why, the painting of Biederbick from 1957 still shows the lantern. 

Only in summer 2024, I discovered my mother’s diary about our tour in 1967. Only then I understood that I had already been at Schloss Neuburg in 1967, when I was 16 years old, almost sixty years ago. But at that time, I was not aware of the castle painting (it did not hang in my parental home), and I forgot our short visit at the castle. The Baroque city of Schärding and Passau with the different colours of the Danube and the Inn stayed in my mind, but not the castle.

After all my investigations, I added Neuburg to my travel agenda… and arrived here in September 2024 staying overnight at the same castle as my grandparents.

 

Orientation – where are we?

Schloss Neuburg am Inn is in Germany, above the river Inn. The Inn marks the border between Germany and Austria. Wernstein is in Austria and so is Schärding. Neuhaus, Neuburg and Passau are in Germany. 

The easel of the first painting was located near the road coming from Neuhaus (easel “south”). The easel for the second painting was on the counter slope across the canyon north of Schloss Neuburg (easel “north”).

At the entry gate, I found this overview of the castle. 

 

Let us stroll around the castle Schloss Neuburg

Immediately near the castle entry is the paradise garden.

From the fountain in the paradise garden, I am looking towards the entry gate. The Mälzerei is located to the left side of the gate tower.

Entering the gate tower, we reach a bridge that leads to the main tower, the Bergfried in German. It was decorated with the small lantern until the 1980’s.

I visit the museum; it is where the guest rooms of the hostel were before. The cashier takes me to the small chapel behind the museum.

Continuing from the chapel, I reach the painted rooms that now can be rented for events or conferences.  

From here, the views of the Inn and Wernstein in Austria are superb.

Strolling around the castle, I find this fairy tale lake. The artists’ path starts here leading down to the river Inn. 

The Habsburgian Emperor Leopold I retreated to this castle in 1676, when the Turks became a danger for Vienna (they sieged Vienna then in 1683). At Neuburg, he married his third wife, the Palatine princess Eleonore. It was safer here than at Vienna.

The wooden round panel decorated my room at the guest house Mälzerei, and the Lithuanian-German had another copy of this panel in his house. He made me aware of emperor Leopold.

 

Good-bye Neuburg

Good-bye Neuburg, I have spent two wonderful days here, I have solved another piece of my puzzle: I found out when and where my grandfather has made the two castle paintings. I have met many friendly people that helped me solve my puzzle here. And I have discovered another place worth visiting, the castle Neuburg am Inn and its surroundings at the border between Bavaria and Austria, with Wernstein, where Alfred Kubin lived and with Schärding that prepared the baroque city centre for the food festival “Schlemmerfest”.

 

 

The next piece of my puzzle is waiting for me at Wasserburg am Inn, where my grandfather painted six years later, in the year 1931. 

 

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The third altar of Riemenschneider in the Tauber valley – at Creglingen

In August 2024, I follow the call of my grandfather, the artist Hermann Radzyk, and explore to the Taubertal. This morning, I have just visited the Celtic oppidum, and now, after a few more kilometers, I stand in front of the Herrgottskirche (Lord’s Church) at Creglingen. Here, I am looking for the third altar of Tilmann Riemenschneider that can be found in the Taubertal.

It is a miracle that makes this church special. A farmer had found the untouched piece of sacramental bread in the year 1334. Exactly where the bread was found, the local earl decided to build the church. It was inaugurated in 1396, with an altar at the exact location, where the bread had been found. A window allowed to see the bread and the earth.  The church and the altar became a pilgrimage site. This is, what I read in the brochure of the church (p. 1). In 1530, the margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach adopted the protestant doctrine of Martin Luther and introduced it to his territory. As a consequence, the pilgrimage came to a standstill.

I walk around the church. The graceful tower outside is called “Tetzel tower”. However, it is unlikely that Tetzel stood on this pulpit to promote buying indulgence (forgiveness for sins), a commerce that Martin Luther was fighting against. Instead, the pulpit was probably used by the local priest on special occasions. 

Before the reformation in 1530, the church made good money due to the pilgrimage. At the end of the 15th century, they decided to acquire several altars for the church. Today, four spectacular altars from around 1500 decorate the church.

The altar of Tilman Riemenschneider attracts the most attention. More dignity was required for the place, where the sacramental bread had been found. The stone altar with the window disclosing the bread was no longer good enough. Between 1505 and 1520, Riemenschneider and his workshop fabricated the magnificent altar of Virgin Mary (Marienaltar). It is 9m20 high and 3.68m wide. The figures are made from lime wood (brochure, p. 21).

I am impressed. The altar of Mary stands in the middle of the nave, in front of the window behind it. I read that this window illuminates Mary from behind exactly on August 15th according to the Julian calendar, then the day of Mary’s Assumption. Today, the light of the window falls on Mary on August 25th, the Gregorian calendar reform of 1582 has shifted the date. 

Riemenschneider based his work on some etchings of Martin Schongauer and another master. Mary’s Assumption scene is in the middle, Angels carry Mary to heaven, the apostles are grouped around her, and the gap between the apostles makes it clear that Mary has left the ground. Around Mary’s Assumption, there are four scenes from the life of Mary: Annunciation by archangel Gabriel, Visitation (Mary – pregnant – meets Elisabeth, then also pregnant with John the Baptist), the birth of Christ in the stable and the Circumcision of Christ. 

Above, there are the Coronation of Mary and Christ as the Man of Sorrows. 

In the predella, we see the three Magi to the left… 

… and Jesus teaching at the school of Zachaeus to the right.

In the middle, there are two angels – it is assumed that the monstrance with the sacramental bread stood between them, but it is lost. Luckily we have not lost more of this altar. 

Soon after Riemenschneider’s altar had been installed in the church, the reformation took place. The reformers wanted to destroy the altars in the church. The priests and the citizens of Creglingen closed Mary’s altar and hid it away behind a board wall. The place became a shed for wreaths, and soon the altar was forgotten. About 300 hundred years later, probably after 1800, the altar was opened up again. Only, because there is a portrait of Riemenschneider in the predella, we know that the altar has been created by him. Fortunately, he has left his signature. And because on the “old” Assumption day, the light falls precisely on to Mary from the rose window behind her, it is clear that Riemenschneider has designed it for this church. What a story! 

I spend a long time in front of Riemenschneider’s altar studying the vivid expressions in the faces, the fall of the folds and the shadowing. Riemenschneider WAS a master. 

There are more wonderful altars in this church, all made around 1500 to support the pilgrimage still active then. 

The main altar stands in the choir. The artists are not known. The altar shows the Passion of Jesus with the crucifixion in the middle, two events before it (Gethsemane and Carrying of the Cross) to the left and two events after it (Entombment and Resurrection) to the right. 

The northern side altar illustrates the engagement of Mary and Joseph (the Virgin Mary is already pregnant), the birth of Jesus and the scene with the Three Magi in the middle. In the predella are two beautiful paintings, to the left the evangelist Markus, to the right Matthew. Matthew prays intensely looking to heaven, an angel watches him. The liveliness reminds of Renaissance paintings. 

The southern altar shows various Saints and martyrs. In the predella, I recognize Moses on the side wing next to the Last Supper, . 

I do not understand, why Moses has horns, it may be something like a gloriole, but this is, how I always can identify him. The scene shows the wonder of the bread in the desert. 

Before leaving the church, I greet Christopher – the fresco is from the beginning of 16th century. 

He is the patron saint of the travellers and the means of transport, and I am a traveller right now. 

I leave the church. On the one side of the entrance are the wrangler (in German: Streithähne which translates literally to “quarrelling cocks”; the two cocks are the illustration of the wranglers).

On the other side is the “sceptic” – the man robbing his beard seems to be in doubt, he is sceptical.

The wranglers and the sceptics have to remain outside the church. What a nice symbol.

I leave the wonderful Taubertal now and drive north towards Berlin.

 

Sources:

  • Sabine Kutterolf-Ammon, “Die Herrgottskirche zu Creglingen”, Kunstschätzeverlag, Gerchsheim 2016. (Brochure)
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The Celtic oppidum in the Taubertal

In August 2024, the paintings of my grandfather Hermann Radzyk had motivated me to visit the Taubertal. I searched and found the easel locations at Rothenburg and Detwang. Now, I explore more of the Tauber valley. My first target is the Celtic oppidum Finsterlohr-Burgstall.

In the 2nd/1st century before Christ, the Celts had built an oppidum on a plateau above the Tauber valley. An educational trail of 2.5km was inaugurated by the association Kelten-Creglingen-Finsterlohr at Easter 2023. The trail is marked by the green coloured line on the panel ; it covers a small part of the former oppidum.

I am curious. With my car, I drive north from Rothenburg ob der Tauber following the road along the Tauber river. 

The river is cut deeply into the German plateau landscape. 

The oppidum is on the plateau. From the Tauber valley, a narrow steep road leads uphill, and I get stuck; a shepherd with his herd enters the narrow road from the right and heads down. I stop, another car coming down stops as well, and we wait. The sheep pass by my car on the steep embankment of the road, it is an enormously large herd. 

 

I feel sorry for the sheep. When the last sheep has past, the car coming down and me going up miraculously manage to cross each other. I drive up, reach the plateau and park my car at the start of the educational trail of the oppidum. I am the only car here and the only visitor. It is drizzling.

At the entrance, this panel explains to me, what I am going to see. 

On the shell limestone plateau, the Celts had selected the location for their oppidum carefully. It was well protected by the Tauber valley and two other smaller canyons. Only 1.2km of the oppidum, open towards the plateau,  would have needed protection. Nevertheless, the Celts protected the whole oppidum by a wall. Most of it has disappeared today. The main entrance to the oppidum was in the north above the Tauber valley. Excavations had uncovered the remains of the pincer gate (the panel shows the former passageway).  

I get started. Behind the picnic table, the models of a Celtic house and a Celtic oven mark the first station on the trail. The panel next to it explains it all.

The Celts used loam to build their houses. Loam, a mixture of clay, sand and silt, is still in use today to build houses. For weather protection, the Celts painted the outside walls with white lime. 

Inside, there was a fireplace. The smoke waterproofed the roof and chased insects. 13 to 15 persons lived in such a house; with limited space and smoke, life must have been pretty uncomfortable.  

In the loam oven, the Celts baked bread at a temperature of 200 to 250 degrees. When the bread was done, they dried fruit in it, while it was cooling down. Rather sustainable production methods, we would say today.

The trail is well marked. I continue following the signs.

First, I walk “through the former village”. This is the view of the plateau looking south. 

In the distance, south, I can see Rothenburg ob der Tauber. 

I reach the earth rampart at station 2. The post-slot-wall (Pfostenschlitzmauer) has been reconstructed; now I can see the upper wooden part above the earth rampart.

From the other side, it becomes clear that the wall was a dry masonry construction with oak beams (every 2.2 meters) and, at the back, the wall was fortified by the earth rampart. Overall, the wall was six meters high. 

The wall went from south east to north east, the ditch indicates, where it was.

From here, the educational trail follows the former wall taking me north west and towards the Tauber valley. 

I reach the edge of the Tauber valley and the remains of the former pincer gate (Zangentor). In front of the gate, the last 30m of the exterior road were lined with two lateral walls (the “pincers”). The resulting passageway (Torgasse) lead to the wooden gate. I read the panel, and I admit, I could not identify the remains of the gate; you can see the remains of the passageway on the first information panel of the trail (above).

I walk along the edge of the Tauber valley, until the trail turns right and leads me back across the former oppidum to the starting point. 

While walking, I studied the panels informing me about the Celts. Here are some of my learnings.

The oppidum comprised about 112 hectares surrounded by the ring wall of 5.7km. The history of this oppidum is not known; it is not clear, how it was used by the Celts, as a permanent place of residence or as a shelter. The oppidum could have been part of the network of Celtic oppida, some of them covered more than 100 square kilometres. The oppida provided protection for people, their animals, the pastures and the fields. In addition, they were trade centres. 

The Celts were organized in tribes, not as nations. The Celtic society flourished in the 6th/5th century before Christ. They traded with the Mediterranean region, as archaeological finds of amphorae or tableware prove. They replaced their barter system with a money system; they minted their own silver and gold coins. Later, in medieval times, people found  pieces of gold in the fields, mostly after heavy rainfall. They believed that the pieces of gold had fallen down from heaven and that they would help to cure fever or pain.  

The Celts started to write adopting the alphabets of other peoples, e.g. the Greeks. However, writing was reserved to ordinary purposes, while the druids continued transmitting their knowledge orally. 

The Greek invented the name “Celts”. For instance Herodotus wrote about them in 450 before Christ. He was aware of the Galatians in Anatolia that were also a Celtic tribe. By the way, the Celts had also settled on the Cathedral hill of my home city Basel. Above the Rhine river,  the remains of a similar Celtic wall have been excavated, and the explanatory panels show the same post-slot-wall construction. 

The Celtic culture disappeared, when the Romans came. The Celts were romanized. I believe, they must have preferred the Roman way of living, as it was more comfortable (heating, water provision, baths, theatre, more effective agriculture and animal raising…).

I finish my tour. I feel wet, it is drizzling. The last information panel stands near the “Old  Lake”, rather a swamp than a pond. Looking at it, I feel even wetter. 

With this swampy pond, I say good-bye to the Celts and their oppidum and continue my way to Creglingen, where another altar of Til Riemenschneider is waiting for me.  

Sources:

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Strolling through Rothenburg, where Hermann Radzyk painted the Plönlein

Rothenburg’s Plönlein, painted by Hermann Radzyk in 1942, looks different now – why?

In 1942, my grandfather painted the Plönlein of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. It is the small half-timbered house with the curved beams. 

Look at my photo of the Plönlein. The architecture is different, the beams have been straightened. 

What has happened? Has the Plönlein been destroyed in World War II?

In World War II, 40% of the city of Rothenburg were destroyed. On Holy Saturday, 31st of March 1945, an American squadron set out to release their bombs near Rothenburg, but failed, because their target was in the fog. Fully loaded they were not able to land, and, on the way back, they released their bombs above Rothenburg. Bravely, the citizens of Rothenburg reconstructed their city in the medieval style (see “Rothenburg-unterm-hakenkreuz”).

I always suspected, also the Plönlein had been destroyed by the bomb attacks, but no, it was renovated after the war. I learnt that in October 2024, when I had breakfast in the Hotel Uhl next to the Plönlein. The owner’s father said that the Plönlein had not been affected by the bombs, though the house right across the street was damaged. The Plönlein was renovated in the 1950’s or 60’s, because the old beams were rotten. And now, the beams of the Plönlein are no longer curved, but straight. The tourists continue to like it.

 

The Plönlein is the tourists’ favourite, and Plönlein souvenirs are in high demand

The Plönlein is THE attraction of Rothenburg. The Schmiedgasse is crowded with tourists.  What would my grandfather say?

This Japanese couple dressed as Bavarians in dirndl and leather shorts (called “Krachlederne”) is getting ready to make a selfie in front of the Plönlein. They enjoy it, they laugh, and I smile with them. 

Next to the Plönlein, the small restaurant Peking caters for Chinese tourists advertising their meals in Chinese.

Souvenirs of the Plönlein are in high demand. They appear in the souvenir shops on curtains, …

… beer tankards, … 

… ceramic tiles and plates, …. 

… bags, T-shirts, key rings, fridge magnets, snow globes, framed photos or paintings … they are sold as small model houses…  no limits to the phantasy and mostly at the brink of kitsch.

 

The market square: The “twin townhall” and medieval houses

The centre of the city is the market square with the “twin townhall”. The white part with the tower is Gothic (built 1200-1400), the ochre part is Renaissance (16th century, constructed after the great city fire of 1501). 

The Renaissance staircase disappears behind the gallery that has been added in the late 17th century.

I climbed the Gothic white townhall tower. First I walked up comfortably in the Renaissance staircase. Next, in the old tower, the stairs became steeper and steeeper, and on top, I had to do almost rock climbing to lift myself from the last step on to the balcony platform. I took no photo, I stood in the mist, it was a rainy afternoon.

Across the townhall, these beautiful half-timbered houses line the market square; in the house labelled “Marien-Apotheke”, emperor Maximilian I was a prominent guest in 1513.  

The other building is called Meat- and Dance-House. The Künstlerbund, founded in 1923, makes exhibitions here and, according to their website, they are open every day after 13.00. I was curious, but the door was closed. I could not find out, why. The Künstlerbund seems to be a secret association. 

In front of these two half-timbered buildings, a fountain had been installed in 1446. In 1608, it had been replaced by the Renaissance fountain that we see today. Saint George fights the dragon.

The market square is lined with medieval houses, carefully rebuilt after the bomb attack of 1945. The building with the historical clocks is the Ratstrinkstube (something like an inn reserved for the councilmen). Field marshall Jean Tilly and old mayor Georg Nusch appear every full hour in the windows besides the clock. They illustrate, how, in the 30 years’ war,  the old mayor saved the city by drinking a tankard of 3.25l of Franconian wine in one go.

Right below and behind me is the Renaissance Baumeisterhaus, the house of the main mason of Rothenburg. He built his house with the sculptures in 1596. 

Impressive medieval marketing.

Inside I find a restaurant in a court,  a wonderful atmosphere. However, the restaurant is good for people that like a lot of meat with dumplings, but hate vegetables. I found better restaurants at Rothenburg, such as the Butz or the Glocke.

 

The Saint James church with the Heiligkreuz altar of Riemenschneider 

The Gothic St. James church, built between 1311 and 1484, became a Lutheran church, when Rothenburg joined the reformation in 1544.

A modern friendly Saint James with a smile on his lips invites the pilgrims to enter the church (sculptor: Steinacker, 2002; see Gussmann).

There are also some tourists who follow his invitation – like me. Inside the Gothic vaults seem to rise up to heaven.

In 1499 to 1505, Til Riemenschneider created the Heilig-Blut-Altar (Holy-Blood-Altar) for the west choir that crosses the Klingengasse. Riemenschneider was asked to build the altar for the relic of the Holy Blood; he placed the relic in the gilded cross of 1270; it is held by two angels. Below and in the centre, there are the Last Supper, the Garden Gethsemane and Jesus entering Jerusalem. The altar with its relic became an important pilgrimage site. It is unique that a protestant church contains a relic for the Catholics, it is a sign of reconciliation.

In the scene of the Last Super, Judas is in the centre, not Jesus. Jesus passes Judas the bread. It is the moment, where Jesus says: “One of you shall betray me”. I see the shock in the faces of the disciples. For instance, to the right, two of them seem to be debating: “No, it will not be me, I will not betray Jesus…”. However, the pastor Oliver Gussmann says that the disciples seem to take no interest in the scene with Judas and Jesus (https://youtu.be/An5XAw1fr78). He would perhaps say, the two debating just continue being focused on their intense debate. The unusual and vivid setting of the Last Supper is fascinating, the expressive faces of the disciples call our imagination and evoke our own interpretation. Riemenschneider had carved the figures out of limewood.

 –

In the eastern choir, there is another gem: Friedrich Herlin was the construction manager of the “Twelve Apostles’ Altar” (Zwölfbotenaltar, 1466). It has its name from the Predella, where Jesus appears with the twelve apostles. 

In the middle, we see the crucifixion scene with Maria, James and Elisabeth von Thüringen to the left and the disciple John, a bishop (perhaps Leonhard) and Antonius with his bell to the right (Rothenburg brochure, p. 22 and video of Gussmann). 

Herlin himself made the paintings on the side wings and the Predella. Some of Herlin’s figures wear glasses. When Herlin became older, he had problems to see the details; wearing glasses he could read and paint again (Gussmann). Herlin was so impressed that he gave glasses to some of the figures on the altar, for instance to the circumciser in the Circumcision scene.

Also Petrus in the Predella wears glasses; he is an elderly man and needs them for reading. Never before have I seen people wth glasses on a medieval altar.

The backside of the altar hides another amazing painting: The dead body of James is carried into Rothenburg ob der Tauber; on the market place of 1466 both parts of the “twin” townhall were still of Gothic style; this happened before the great fire of 1501.

Of course, St. James entered Santiago de Compostella, but Herlin had never been there. The city he could paint best was Rothenburg.

The altar of the Coronation of the Virgin is attributed to the Riemenschneider school.  

The Ludwig-von-Toulouse altar is from 1490; it is an early work of Til Riemenschneider. Louis de Toulouse was the bishop of Toulouse around 1300.

The windows in the main choir (from the late 14th) give a solemn atmosphere to the church. Gussmann explains them beautifully in his video. They were saved from the bomb attacks of 31st of March 1945, because the citizens had taken them off the church and had transferred them to a basement that withstood the bombs. Also the other treasures of this church survived the bombing there. 

I say good-bye to Christoph carrying Jesus across the river… 

… and to St. James (now in Gothic style), …

… and I continue strolling through the city.

 

Some impressions from the streets with its medieval atmosphere

Descent is only allowed to carts carrying persons (Personenfuhrwerk). Pedestrians may also be allowed. 

This oriel is called “Feuerleinserker” (oriel of the little fire), the house is from around 1600.

The Herrngasse was the noble address, where the patricians of the city once lived. Now it is lined with hotels, restaurants and shops, amongst them the hotel Gothic House.

The neighbour, the Hornburg-Haus, is half-timbered. Some beams are from the year 1477. The house is in search of new shop tenants.

Around the corner, in the Klosterstüble, I had a delicious Bavarian-Franconian dinner with dumplings. 

The Landsknechtstübchen is beautifully adorned with geraniums (A “Landsknecht” is a man at arms).

Across the street, the family owned restaurant Ochsen looks inviting. 

When strolling through the city, two more churches invited me for a visit. First the modest Franciscan church with the rood screen.

In the choir and behind the beautiful baptismal fountain, there is another small altar of Til Riemenschneidre showing the history of Franciscus.

Second, I enter the Gothic Church of Saint Wolfgang, the patron of the shepherds. It has been built into the city wall. 

Three wonderful altars are inside. 

From the choir, you can enter the wall and walk through a tunnel  that ends up on the other side of the nave. Amazing.

 

The city wall and the Burggarten

The city wall with the gates still today surrounds Rothenburg.

Walking along the moat west of the city centre… 

…  takes me to the Burgtor, …

… where the Burggarten starts. Here, the Hohenstaufen had built their castle in the 12th century, after the dukes of Rothenburg had died out. The Staufen castle has disappeaered. Only a small chapel is left.

The Burggarten is well kept and romantic.

From the Burggarten, the southern part of the city line appears above the Tauber valley. 

One morning, I did the wall walk all around the city. Homely corners…   

… and roof “landscapes” all along the walk.

 

More painters felt attracted by Rothenburg, as the museum in the former Dominican monastery tells us

The museum in the former monastery of Dominican nuns lays out the history of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. 

 In the 19th century, various journals praise Rothenburg to be the ideal medieval city with its picturesque architecture. The message is heard in Germany and  Europe. Painters from Germany, the Netherlands and England come to Rothenburg, and one department of the museum is dedicated to some of these painters. Hermann Radzyk was not the only painter that felt attracted by Rothenburg.

Most exhibits in the museum are paintings of Wilhelm Schacht (1872-1951). He painted the old brigde at Detwang (left), like my grandfather. On the second painting (right), we can faintly see Rothenburg behind the lime tree with the inviting bench.

This is another view of Detwang painted by Wilhelm Schacht, with the Romanic Saint Peter and Paul church. 

The pen drawing of Theodor Alt (1846-1937), a Franconian, shows Detwang in the valley and Rothenburg ob der Tauber above it. 

Arthur Wasse (1854-1930) was born in Manchester, studied art in Germany and finally settled at Rothenburg. His picturesque “Häuser an der Klingengasse” was reused by Disney as a suggestion for the background of the film “Pinocchio”, as the panel in the museum says. 

Elias Bancroft (1846-1924) from England painted the “Siebersturm, Rothenburg ob der Tauber”, with the still unrenovated Plönlein. 

Martin Monickendamm (1874-1943) is a Dutch painter. He painted this overview of Rothenburg and called it “Rothenburg ob der Tauber (Das kleine Rothenburg)”. 

In all I have been at Rothenburg ob der Tauber five times, always as short stop overs on my way to Berlin. The first time in the 1960’s with my best friend, the second time on a short afternoon stop over in August 2022 (then I found the location of the easel of my grandfather), the third time in October 2023 to explore the city more in detail, fourth in August 2024, when staying at its urban district Detwang to look for the moated castle, and fifth in October 2024 with a focus on St. James church. There is always something more to explore in this medieval city full of treasures and museums.

Let us say good-bye to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Next, we will explore more treasures in the Tauber valley: The Celtic oppidum at Burgstall and the Church of Lord (Herrgottskirche) with Saint Mary’s altar by Tilman Riemenschneider.

 

Sources:

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Hermann Radzyk painted at Detwang – I looked for one painting and found two

In August 2024, I settled in the hotel Schwarzes Lamm at Detwang near Rothenburg to find the noble manor that my grandfather had painted in 1942, 82 years ago.

Hermann Radzyk titled his painting on the back as “moated castle at Dettwang (Tauber valley near Rothenburg)”.

It is more than a manor, it is a small castle.

 

Found the manor, it is still called “Schloss Detwang” today

I found the manor my grandfather painted. Even the fountain is still around, though no longer in use. It has been pushed to the side and filled with earth. The sky on my photo is similar, light blue with a touch of white clouds.

Instead of a cart I find a car parked nearby. The small house in front of the castle has been removed. The street has been paved, and be careful, you are not allowed to stop everywhere.

The castle is a gothic manor from the 13th/14th century and now carries the number “Detwang 29”. In former times, it was surrounded by a moat. This is why my grandfather called it “moated castle”, though it was no longer surrounded by water, when he painted it in 1942. 

I walk around the small castle with its garden. The wooden fence has been modernized. 

The above photos I took with my smartphone, and the colours convey a similar impression of the light as the painting of my grandfather.

My Nikon camera leaves a different impression, there is more contrast. 

I like the red roses surrounding the windows – there are more windows here today. Does Dornröschen live in this castle? “Sleeping beauty” is called “Thorny Little Rose” in German. 

The red rowan berries repeat the colour of the red tiles. 

My grandfather wrote “Schloss Dettwang” with two “tt”, not “Detwang” with one “t”. I know, he was always precise; I looked for old postcards, and some carry the name “Dettwang”.

Easel of the castle or manor found, mission accomplished.

 

Easel found, next I focus on sightseeing, but… surprise, surprise – I find a second painting

 Next, I explore the pretty village Detwang. I follow the signs directing me to the Tauber river and the old bridge of Detwang.

The sun reflects in the water. 

I take a photo of the bridge from the other side (did you notice the church tower hidden behind the trees?), and I continue my village tour without thinking any further. 

A week later, I am at Berlin. I look at the photo of the bridge of Detwang, and I frown. Have I not seen THIS BRIDGE before?

With me, I have a photo of this unsigned and undated painting of Hermann Radzyk that hangs in my guestroom. Look at the arches of the bridge and at the church tower behind the trees.

This IS the old bridge of Detwang. What a surprise. I found the location of a second painting at Detwang, and surely, my grandfather painted this bridge also in the year 1942, like the castle.  

Up to now, I had looked at this bridge over and over again without knowing, where to search for it. Now, I will return to Detwang to reproduce the angle and perhaps the light impression that my grandfather captured. For me, the colours of the bridge painting are similar to the colours of his “moated little castle of Dettwang”.

 

Let us now continue our tour and explore the beautiful Romanesque church of Detwang

The church tower that hides behind the trees belongs to the Romanesque Peter and Paul church of Detwang. 

It is assumed that the church was built in the 12th century, with later additions (brochure of the church, p.3). The choir was removed in the 14 century and replaced by the small house; it was the oratory of the convent of Benedictine nuns and later became an ossuary. 

On the cemetery,  village citizens water the flowers. Many tomb slabs carry the name Stellwag, this seems to be a common name here. One member of this large family looks at the painting with the moated castle with great interest. He knows the man living in the castle. “Everyone”, he says, “knows everyone in this village. Detwang is fortunately much more quiet than Rothenburg, which in summer is taken over by so many tourists.” I send him the photo of the painting.

I return in the afternoon to see the treasures inside the church. I buy the brochure of the church – reading helps to see more. 

It is a solemn atmosphere. Romanesque with later additions, such us the gallery of the 17th century and the wooden ceiling of the 19th century. The baptismal font is from 1720 (brochure, p.3f).

There are three gothic altars in front. Two altars stand in the niches, and, in the choir, there is the altar of  Tilman Riemenschneider, the primary treasure in this church. It is the crucifixion altar that must have been created between 1510 and 1513 (there exist no records about the date of creation).

Probably the altar was brought here from a former funeral chapel at Rothenburg. Riemenschneider did not create the altar for this small choir; some figures had to be cut away to make the altar fit (brochure, p. 9).

The crucifixion scene is in the middle. Riemenschneider has made it by himself. To the left of the cross are Maria, supported by Johannes, and more moaning women. On the right hand side of the cross, there is a group of men. In front is the well dressed Pharisee that seems to ruminate with the hand in his coat – he seems to be in doubt. The captain standing next to him looks up to the cross – he may believe that Christ is the son of God. Christ looks down to the moaning group around Maria. 

To the left is the Garden of Gethsemane, created by Riemenschneider’s workshop. The three disciples of Jesus, Petrus (with the sword), Johannes (with his book, the youngest of all three) and Jacobus are sleeping, while Christ is praying with fervour. The left side was cut off to make the altar fit. It must have shown Judas approaching the garden with the bailiffs and, in addition, some angels (brochure, p. 14).

To the right we see the Resurrection that has also been carved by Riemenschneider’s workshop. The grave is closed. One of the guardians is sleeping with the hat in his face, the second guard woke up; he is surprised and looks at what happens. The light blinds his eyes and he covers them with his hand.

The Predella has been lost. It might have shown the Lamentation (see brochure p. 10ff).

The two altars in the niches have also been transferred to here from other churches.

The late gothic altar in the left hand niche is from 1480/90. It shows martyrs surrounding Saint Catherine in the middle. I can also recognize Laurentius with his grill. In the Predella is Christ as the Man of Sorrows. 

On the altar in the right niche, also late gothic from 1500/1510, we see Maria with martyrs, amongst them to her left side stands Saint Odile (brochure, p. 20f).

The symbols of the four evangelists decorate the ribbed vault  in the choir (frescoes from early 14th century, brochure, p. 7).

I love the introverted face in the choir – it has been here since the early 13th century (brochure, p.6).

Let us look back into the nave. The frescoes in the window frames are baroque (brochure p.5). The organ has been built in the year 1989 (wikipedia entry).

The Saint Peter and Paul church stands just next to the castle of Detwang. I am sure that my grand-parents visited the church and admired the altar of Tilmann Riemenschneider 84 years ago. Their daughter, my mother, showed many gothic altars to me, when we travelled together in Germany. She might have been taught by her parents and she surely taught me. I love to visit churches that have a solemn atmosphere and contain wonderful works of art. 

 

Detwang, the village around the church, is the craddle of Rothenburg

Detwang in the Tauber valley is older than Rothenburg. Detwang was first mentioned in 976 as the “field” (wang) of Teto (wiki entry). Later Rothenburg became more important, and Detwang never grew much larger than it was in medieval times. Many old houses survived the war such as the historic hotel Schwarzes Lamm (Black Lamb), where I spent two nights with the friendly hospitality of a Hungarian family. It was originally built in 1804 and was later renovated.

Next to the Black Lamb is this Patrician house from the 16th century (wiki entry about Detwang).

The Pulverhaus (“powder house”) was a mill built in 1400 and  processed saltpetre. In 1744 it blew up, because the owner walked around in the building with a burning light. It was a dangerous location, there was another explosion in 1903, and in 1905 the saltpetre mill was shut down (panel in front of the house).

 

Quiet Detwang is worth a visit – there are less tourists here than at Rothenburg

Detwang is much quieter than crowded Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and it is worth a visit.

It is popular with campers. There are two camping sites at Detwang, one of them being called “Tauber Idyll”. It is booked out right now in the beginning of August. “Fully booked”, it says on the black board in English. The guests must come from far. 

From the camping site, I start my evening walk along the Tauber river that is lined with mills. I started to like this hidden village. Thank you, Hermann and Helene, my grand-parents, you have showed me another treasure that I would have never found without you.

 

Where are we?

The map shows, where we are. Now I talked about Detwang, an urban district of Rothenburg. 

In the next blogs, we will explore Rothenburg ob der Tauber (in Bavaria) and the Celtic Oppidum as well as the church of Lord (Hergottskirche) near Creglingen (in Baden-Württemberg). Nuremberg (Nürnberg) is located about 75km to the east of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

 

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My dream of a lifetime: Aachen and Charlemagne’s Cathedral

On November 10th 2023, I visit Charlemagne’s octagonal Cathedral (the Aachen Cathedral). I sit inside the octagon and look into the cupola. To see this has been my dream of a lifetime.

I breathe in the atmosphere enjoying the perfect harmony of the octagon. Today is 11/10/2023. Was it not 13 years ago that Ernst and I got married, on 11/10/2010? Yes, right, exactly 13 years ago. — I light a candle for Ernst. He is in my heart. 

Now, I explore the architecture of the Cathedral of Charlemagne. 

 

The Cathedral view from outside 

When I approached Charlemagne’s cathedral, I was surprised. Where is the octagonal building that I have been looking forward to seeing? Oh, I understand, it almost disappears between larger buildings of gothic appearance surrounding it. The steep roof on the octagon looks a bit like a cream topping. 

I had expected more resemblance to the abbey chapel of Ottmarsheim in the Alsace, inaugurated in 1049, two hundred years after Charlemagne’s Aachen Cathedral; Aachen was the model for Ottmarsheim. It is somehow Aachen’s “little sister”.

Around 800, Charlemagne conceived his cathedral as a modest and elegant building. This is what it looked like originally and what Rudolf von Altenburg (an ancestor of the Habsburg family) took as the model for Ottmarsheim.

 
Source: Walter Mars, p. 20

 When travelling to Rome, Charlemagne saw San Vitale in Ravenna. 

San Vitale was built under the Byzantine Rule of Justinian and was inaugurated by Bishop Maximianus in 547 AD. The mosaic shows Justinian (in the middle) and Bishop Maximianus (labeled).

San Vitale was an important inspiration for Charlemagne. Since Roman times no such domed structure building had been completed north of the Alps. 300 years after San Vitale, Charlemagne wanted to change that, and he hired craftsmen from Lombardy to have his Cathedral built, the first domed structure since Roman times north of the Alps.  

He completed his octagonal Cathedral, and today it almost disappears between the mainly gothic extensions and under the baroque roof hood (“the cream topping”) that was added after Aachen’s city fire of 1656. 

 

 

Charlemagne’s Cathedral inside – original and today

The interior of Charlemagne’s octagon is richly decorated today. This is the result of the renovations in Neo-byzantine style around 1900. 

It seems to me that the renovators took up the atmosphere of San Vitale that has also been richly decorated, as my photo shows.

However, Charlemagne had taken a more modest approach. Whitewhashed columns interrupted by slim black columns and decorated with a gilt bronze fence.  

Source: Walter Mars, p. 50 (this is what the historians think the octagon looked like after having been built)

I like the elegance of the original. Ottmarsheim is closer to the original not only outside, but also inside. The whitewashed walls and the open brickwork give it solemnity. 

Source:  Wörner and Wörner-Hasler, p. 19.

The original mosaic in the cupola of the Aachen Cathedral showed Christ on the throne, surrounded by the Twenty-Four Elders. They had left their seats to deposit their crowns in front of Christ.  

Source: Walter Mars, p. 51, drawing  by Ciampini made in 1699

Around 1700, the original mosaics were eliminated and the church interior became baroque. 

In 1881, the baroque elements were removed and the cupola was decorated with the Neo-byzantine mosaic. 

The artists kept the theme of the original: The Twenty-Four Elders stand around Christ and deposit their crowns. However there are no seats next to the Elders and the mosaic is more abundant.

Before the German emperor William II intervened in 1900, the interior of the Cathedral resembled the modest original of Charlemagne. 

Source: Walter Mars, p. 53

After 1900, Emperor William II of Germany added the marble covering to the columns, arches and walls.  In addition, he engaged his favourite artist Hermann Schaper to create mosaics immediately below the cupola. He added more men dressed in white. What an abundant Neo-byzantine decoration. Not at all, what Charlemagne had in mind.

Mars writes that the visitor is overwhelmed by the Wilhelmine pomp and will have difficulties to find the former dignity of the Carolingian original. I can only agree with Walter Mars (Walter Mars, p.47).

 

The choir – the most prominent Gothic addition to Charlemagne’s Cathedral

The most prominent Gothic addition to the Charlemagne’s octagonal Cathedral  is the choir (1355-1414).

Building it required to destroy the original rectangular choir (see dotted line) and part of the octagon.

Source: Walter Mars, p. 83.

The choir with the large blue leaded windows creates the solemn atmosphere that I love in Gothic churches.

Two shrines decorate the choir: The Karlsschrein (shrine of Charlemagne, between 1182 and 1215) and the Marienschrein (shrine of Mary, 1238). The eagle lectern is from the 15th century.

However to me, the choir seems like a foreign body to he original octagon. Furthermore the choir is locked for visitors that have not paid for the guided tour. I am not a friend of guided tours and feel somewhat unwelcome here.  

I enter the other additions around the octagon, but they all leave me somewhat unimpressed. In my opinion, they do not go well with Charlemagne’s octagon Cathedral.  

When leaving the cathedral, I conclude that the first emperor of Europe, Charlemagne, has created a very elegant cathedral, and the last emperor at Europe, William II, has overdone the renovation in Neo-byzantine style.

I say good-bye to Charlemagne who unifies the German Eagle with the French fleur de Lys on his reliquary bust, created in 1350 and exposed in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury. 

I will soon return to the abbey chapel of Ottmarsheim. It is just a half an hour’s drive from my home. 

 

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Erbach in the Odenwald – the ivory city with medieval charm

In August 2022, we are on our way from Berlin to Switzerland, via Thuringia and the Odenwald.

Now we are in the Odenwald, where today we have seen the Castle Wildenburg and the Abbey Church of Amorbach. On our way back, we stop at Erbach, the city of ivory carving. 

We park our car and cross the river Mümling lined with half-timbered houses.

We stand on the Market Square. The protestant City Church of Erbach (1750) can be accessed through the gate called “Städtelbogen”.

The City Hall is from 1545. The statue is called Räibock and commemorates the day labourer Johann Adam Fleckstein (1849-1917). He was a known character at Erbach. He worked as a carpenter, as a messenger or he waited at the train station to serve incoming passengers as a porter. The citizens liked his odd humour. He wears a servant’s cap and a carpenter’s axe and a saw. 

A second monument decorates the Market Square. It is Duke Franz I zu Erbach-Erbach (1754-1823). He was probably the most important duke of Erbach. 

The dukes of Erbach resided in the Castle, built from 1736-1902 (first in Baroque and later in neo-Baroque style). The castle we see today was built reusing foundation walls and the oak posts of the former moated fortress from 1140 that later was reconstructed as a Renaissance castle to finally become the Baroque castle of today.

The donjon from the year 1200 has remained, the Gothic pinnacle is from 1497. 

Today, the castle presents the antique collection of Duke Franz I and the collection of ivory artefacts.

In 1783, Duke Franz I introduced ivory carving to Erbach after having travelled through Europe for six years. On his educational journey, he saw collections of precious ivory works and also learnt how to process ivory. Back at Erbach, he set up his own ivory workshop.  Ivory became an important economic sector at Erbach. The rose of Erbach won a prize at the World Exhibition of Vienna in 1873. Erbach attracted artists, became the German ivory centre and founded the school for ivory carving in 1893. Because trading elephant ivory has been restricted since 1973, the artists now use mammoth ivory that mostly comes from Siberia in Russia. While in former times, ivory shops could be found in almost all streets of Erbach, I now only find Jürgen Schott’s workshop on the internet. 

On the Market Square, we visit the shop of Jürgen Reimer, also an ivory artist. I like the finely carved animals. 

Nearby, I notice this boy telling his father “Vadder-do!” meaning “Dad – this way!”. It seems to be urgent for dad.

Where does “Vadder” (father) have to go to so urgently? The children’s town rally offers three options for the answer: (1) the church, (2) shopping (3) the toilet. Now, it is your turn to guess…

We have a different solution; we take a seat on the Market Square in front of a nice restaurant to round off our visit with a coffee.

We leave the charming medieval city, again crossing the river Mümling.

From our two hours visit, I will keep good memories of the historic ensemble of the medieval city of Erbach. May be, I would have to return to explore more medieval streets, the pleasure garden with the orangery along the river Mümling and the workshop of Jürgen Schott.  

Tomorrow, we will return to Switzerland, after four wonderful weeks of travelling: Riedlingen, Ulm, Nebra, Berlin (here I enjoyed the eye twinkling of the City Cleaning Service and commented about the Heidelberger Platz), Thuringia with Neustadt an der Orla, Castle Burgk, Schleiz, Plothener Teiche (ponds), along the dams of the upper Saale, Lehesten, Lauscha, Weimar, Rudolstadt, Erfurt, Arnstadt, Eisenach, Schmalkalden, Steinau an der Strasse, and the Odenwald with Lindenfels, the Castle Wildenberg, Amorbach and now Erbach. 

 

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Amorbach and its Abbey Church

After having climbed up to see the Castle Wildenberg, we visit Amorbach and its Baroque-Rococo Abbey Church.

 

Amorbach is a small medieval city in the Sandstone-Odenwald

Known in the 10th century as Amerbach or Amerbach, the settlement evolved around the Benedictine monastery and became a town in 1253. We are in the Sandstone-Odenwald; dark red sandstone bricks characterize the buildings, such as the catholic church St. Gangolf, built in the 18th century. 

The City Hall, covered with slates, is from 1479. I could not find out who the man is that sits on the bench in front of the City Hall.

Next to the City Hall we have lunch in the Ristorante Pizzeria di Marina.

Around us are medieval houses. The Internet contains a long list of notable buildings at Amerbach.

 On the way to the Abbey Church, we come across the former monastery mill (Klostermühle) that was built in 1448 as the inscription above the gate says. It was the mill and bakery for the monastery. Now it is an inviting coffee bar. 

 

The Amorbach Abbey Church – have we seen a cock on the belfry?

Abbeys are catholic institutions, and I have never seen a cock on the belfry of a monastery church. I rub my eyes. This IS a cock. Let us look into the history of the abbey to understand, how the cock ended up on this belfry. 

The Abbey of Amorbach is from the 8th century. It was one of four abbeys that were founded in Carolingian times to bring Christianity to the Odenwald. In 1446, the abbey acquired the relics of Saint Amor and Saint Landrada and became a pilgrimage site. In 1740-1744, the Abbey Church was reconstructed, whereby the Romanesque west towers from the 12th century were incorporated. 60 years later, in 1803, the abbey was dissolved and given to the duke of Leiningen as a compensation for the lands left of the Rhine that they had lost to the French. The principality of Leiningen was founded, and the abbey became the residence. The noblemen of Leiningen originated from Palatine near Dürkheim, and they were protestant. They handed the Abbey Church over to the (Protestant) parish of Amorbach. The principality of Leiningen ceased to exist already in 1806. It was passed over to the Grand Duchy of Baden (Grossherzogtum Baden) and in 1816 to the Kingdom of Bavaria. The noblemen of Leiningen still own the abbey today. 

Now, we know, why there is a cock on the belfry of the Abbey Church: The church has become Protestant and many Protestant Churches show the cock on their towers.

This is the bird’s eye view of the abbey that I found, when visiting the church. 

Inside the church, we find an overwhelmingly rich decoration – late Baroque/early Rococo.

Six red marble columns frame the altar picture that shows Mary arriving in heaven. Above the black beams is the Holy Trinity. The statues of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anne, flank the altar.

The iron screen was made in 1748-50.

The organ was set up in 1782 by members of the organ-building Stumm family; it was at that time the largest organ in the world.

In front of the organ is the plain protestant communion table.

The frescoes mainly tell the story of Saint Benedict.

Impressed by the rich decoration, we leave this place full of history. Our next target is the ivory town Erbach, not far from here.

 

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