Deutsches Abenteuer

Wednesday, 24 June 2015

Hameln - still raining

This morning I went back to the Glasbläserei to pick up my Kugel - my glass ball. Now that it's cooled, it looks like the colours I chose. (It just looked red when it was hot.)

It's a garden ornament

I have no idea how I'm going to get it back to Australia

I walked back through the Bürgergarten, a nice little park to the east of the town centre.

Apparently a photo of this statue is more or less compulsory

Using the self-timer is fun!

A couple of selfies coming up now. It's hard to know when to stop taking photos.

This is looking down Alte Marktstraße towards my apartment

Das Bürgerhus - one of my favourites

I'm getting really good at selfies here - look, Ma - no hands!!

Osterstraße - one of the two main streets

Today I visited the other church in the Altstadt - die Marktkirche St Nikolai. This one's in the centre of town. It was built about 800 years ago, but most of it was destroyed in WWII. Only the nave remains as original; the rest (including the tower) was rebuilt.

Looking from the nave down to the new part of the church

This sits in the nave. Not sure what it is, but it's lovely. It's over a metre high

The pulpit is gorgeous (rebuilt after the war)

This window is very well-known (1984)

Then I discovered that you can climb the tower! Joy! There's a metal spiral staircase, followed by 15 staircases with around 14 steps in each, and getting continually narrower and steeper. 206 steps in total. Fun!

This is the final staircase. It's difficult to tell just how steep it really is

The view looking north to the Pferdemarkt. The Pulverturm can be seen top middle

Looking east along Osterstraße

Looking south along Bäckerstraße. The Hochzeitshaus is the building at the bottom left

The nave at the back of the church is original and really dark. The newer parts are paler

Hochzeitshaus and church tower. I climbed to the windows halfway up the green spire

It was raining again when I came out, so I went in the museum, which is in the Leisthaus (1589). Mostly in German and too hard to translate, there were things from the prehistoric era through to the 20th century. The most interesting part for me was seeing inside a Fachwerkhaus, especially as I got to the upper floors.

Mammoth jaw and tusk, found in the Weser valley near Hameln

The Stiftsherrenhaus (1558) is next door to the museum. Nice views from the upper windows

Almost at the top. Lots of support beams

Right at the very top. Look at all those exposed beams!!

And some more shots of houses in Hameln. Most of these photos are of the detail in some of the architecture. There is just so much to see.

Das Stiftsherrenhaus (1558), next to the museum

The only surviving building in Hameln that is decorated with figures...

...planetary gods and biblical figures. Is this St Peter with his key?

Das Leisthaus (1589). Perhaps this bit on the Utlucht was added later

The top of das Leisthaus (which is now the museum)

Again das Leisthaus - this is on a corner

Das Hochzeitshaus

Das Dempterhaus (1608)

Das Lückingscheshaus (1638)

Still trying to get a good shot of my favourite house, das Lückingscheshaus. The colours are amazing

Das Bürgerhus (1560)

Das Bürgerhus

And yes, the Pied Piper keeps on popping up! Love the pheasant feathers in his hat!

Tuesday, 23 June 2015

Hameln - in the rain

It's raining. Pretty much all day. Top temp around 14. Went out for breakfast and found a Bäckerei (bakery), where I had a hot chocolate, yoghurt and peaches for brekky.

Pfirsichenjoghurttorte - yoghurt and peaches

And my view whilst eating (notice the lack of pedestrian traffic)

Taken later in the day, the little Bäckerei is the one with umbrellas out front

Having discovered that my new rain jacket is not actually waterproof (have you discovered that yet, Kiri?), I went looking for something indoors, so made my way to the Pulverturm, which houses the Glasbläserei - the glass-blowers. I sat through a demonstration where the chap made a footed glass (which took ages), then he made a penguin (which took 5 minutes). He spoke in German, but his German is not much better than mine, so I understood 90% of his talk. Then it was my turn.

Der Pulverturm (1300s) is the only remaining part of the old city walls

The fire is at 1500 Celsius, and he is holding a rod with some very hot glass on the end

You have to blow whilst continuously rotating the pipe. He reheats it and you do it again

After the 4th time, it's ready. It cools overnight at 400 C. I pick it up tomorrow

The rain was pretty light after almost two hours in the Glasbläserei, so I wandered.

These little rats are all through the main streets, guiding tourists to the best sights

The Pied Piper is here, too, with rats crawling all over what he's standing on

I visited Münster St Bonifatius, the oldest part of which dates back to 1120.

At certain times of the day, the bells on the Hochzeitshaus (Wedding House) ring, and/or the Pied Piper clockwork character comes out. Bit like Melbourne Central, really.

Yep - leading the rats towards the Weser

The Pied Piper is actually quite small, but the bells are nice

Built in 1610 as a banquet hall

I paid for a walking tour of Hameln. One hour, EU 5, Deutsch only. I thought, oh, well, I'll tag along and whatever I understand will be a bonus. As it turned out, however, I was the only one on the tour. And the guide didn't speak much English - she did the whole spiel in German. I didn't understand very much at all, but she was pretty patient and I tried very hard. I picked up bits and pieces, like the more decorated and/or colourful the house, the richer the owner, and the Weser-Renaissance style for which Hameln is noted has large doorways with Utluchte (like bay windows but rectangular) generally on the left. Following is a (large) selection of some of the beautiful houses and streetscapes in Der Hamelner Altstadt.