Oppenheim

A couple of months ago we went with a few families to tour The Oppenheimer Kellerlabyrinth (Oppenheim Cellar Maze). 

 (nice hats, aye?)

It's estimated that there are about 40 km (25 miles) of tunnels under the city.  In the Middle Ages (between 1,100-1,500)everyone helped to dig the tunnels, from kids to grandparents - it was important for everyone to help so that everyone could find their way around in case the city was attacked. 

Of course the tunnels were also used for storage (mostly beer, not wine like we all assumed).  Eventually people just started dumping crap down there, and when a section would fill up, they'd seal it off.

This was bad because (as our guide kept reminding us) the soil is very sandy, so if there is not enough ventilation, and too much accumulation of water, it turns to mud and will cave in.  Not exactly what you want to hear when you see water droplets on the walls ;)

This is exactly what happened in the 20th century and led to this famous picture.

After that, the city started to maintain the tunnel system much better.  The tunnels connect most of the city's home cellars, so most residents keep their cellar doors locked and off limits to the city tours.

 

 After the tunnel tour we had to go home, but I wanted to come see the church again because it looked so pretty from the outside.

So last weekend we finally got around to it.  This is Katharinenkirche (St. Catherine's Church) - 1225.

 

 

 

 

This is one of the most important Gothic churches on the Rhein River, particularly famous for 2 of the stained glass windows, the Lilies Window and the Oppenheimer Rose.

It's really one of the prettiest churches I've seen here.

While we were there, there was a ladies choir practicing, and it sounded so lovely (even though a little off key at times) that I recorded a little of it.

Aside from the beautiful inside, this church is also interesting because of St. Michael's Chapel (behind the church), which is on top of an Ossuary, or Bone House.

 There are about 20,000 bones in there.

 

In the Middle Ages, bodies were wrapped in cloth and buried about a foot deep.  The bodies rotted quickly, so the bones were dug up and put under the chapel to make way for more burials.

Oppenheim is a cute little town, and we had fun walking around and getting some Spaghettieis at the end of the day.

 Town Hall

FYI - spaghettieis is a German ice cream dish made to look like spaghetti.

Cheers to Uncle Mem

Ever since Bert and Adreann announced that they were moving to our side of the world, we've been looking forward to having them come and visit.  It's was so much fun having them here and spending time with them again.  It's been 7 years!  In addition to going on the Rhein River Cruise (my last post), we took them a couple of other places.

One of the places we went was to Burg Nanstein in Landstuhl (1162)

 

We also showed them around Wiesbaden, and went to a Festival they were having downtown featuring foods from all different countries - we tried Greek, and some food from Ghana.  We went to Worms again, and gave their kids a good history lesson ;) They also spent some time on their own and got to see a castle we haven't even seen yet!

One thing that we will never forget was when Bert offered to read for our scriptures one night.  It was......dramatic ;)  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

We can't wait to see you again guys!

Rhein River Cruise

Joe's brother Bert, his wife Adreann, and their kids came to stay with us for a bit.  We suggested several things that we could do while they were here, and they chose a Rhein River cruise.  This was definitely on our bucket list (especially our kids!), so we were very excited :)

We left out of Rudesheim, and followed this route.

This section of the upper Middle Rhein Valley is evidence of how important this river has been throughout history, and the prosperity it brought is shown in the many towns, terraced vineyards, and the many ruined castles that once defended it's trade.  Because of this, it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002 - we seem to be ticking a lot of those off our list lately ;)

And we're off!

Burg Ehrenfels (1212)

 

 Assmannshausen (yes, that is the actual name of the town)

 

 Burg Rheinstein (1316)

 

Burg Reichenstein, or Falkenburg (first mentioned in 1213).  Joe was REALLY excited by the campground down by the river here.  He misses his RV terribly ;)

A lone church by the banks of the river

Burg Sooneck (first mentioned in 1271)

The day was bi-polar - rainy, grey, and cold one minute (when we would bundle up in our jackets, huddle under umbrellas, and even escape to the lower decks where it was indoors), and warm sunshine with beautiful blue skies the next (when we would take off our jackets and wonder if we should have put on sunscreen).  It kept switching back and forth the whole day.

Heimburg (900's)

Furstenberg Castle (1219), above the town of Rheindiebach

 

Bacharach, one of my favorite towns that I've never been to before. Must. Go. There.

 On top of the hill is Burg Stahleck (around 1135)

The town of Kaub, with Burg Gutenfels (1220) in the background on the hill, and Pfalzgrafenstein up front on the left (1326) - this is actually on a small island, and was a toll castle.

The town of Oberwesel - also a REALLY cool town that I MUST come back to visit!

 Schonburg (around 1130) up on the hill.

 

And at the end of our trip was St. Goar with Burg Rheinfels

And across the river is the sister city of St. Goarshausen with Burg Katz (1317)

(Somewhere near here there is also a Burg Maus, which we didn't see -

and yes, they are the cat and mouse castles)

 They were having a fun little market here that day.

In this same are is the famous Loreley Rock (or Lorelei)

This is the narrowest part of the river, and a very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat accidents there.  Lorelei is also the name of a feminine water spirit associated with this rock in popular folklore and in works of music, art and literature (said to have knowingly or unknowingly lured sailors to their deaths.)

This was a LONG cruise (4 1/2 hours), and all the kids were troopers, all the way down to the 2 year old.

Sure, there was some complaining, and crying, and running around, and laying/rolling around on the floor, and otherwise disturbing the other passengers....but other than that they were great ;)  They even made friends with two other girls who were on the cruise, and the mother and grandmother who were with them were very kind.

When we finally arrived back in Rudesheim, we quickly got gelato for the kiddos who were STARVING to DEATH ;)  And can I just say again how much I love Rudesheim.  Lovely town.  Lovely day.

 

It's times like this that I have to pinch myself, because I can't believe where I live.  I've always heard about the Rhein River - I never thought I'd actually get to see it myself.