We have just berthed in Wertheim am Main, a small town of 23, 400 located at the confluence of the Tauber and Main Rivers, known for the ruins of its castle overlooking the river and for the towns medieval centre.

Bamberg, a city of 78,000, dating from 902, a Unesco World Heritage Site, one of the few cities in Germany untouched  by WW II bombing is considered one of Germanys’ loveliest towns, it has the largest gathering of medieval structures in its remarkably preserved old town, it is an absolute joy to behold, scenically sited on seven hills, each crowned with a church, it is bisected by rivers and canals, with crooked lanes, medieval buildings and a skyline punctuated by church steeples.

In 1007, Emperor Heinrich II made Bamberg the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and the capital of his reign, he wanted the city to become a second Rome, built as it was on its seven hills as was Rome. It was he who ordered the building of the Cathedral where both he and his wife are buried, as is Pope Clement II, who had studied in Bamburg and wished his remains to be buried there. It was always rumoured that his short reign as Pope, only one year, was ended through him having been poisoned, as it transpired a recent examination of his remains confirmed that he was indeed poisoned, but self inflicted, it was lead poisoning, partly from lead sugar used to sweeten the sour wine of the day but also from the fact that wine chalices in those days were lined with lead.

Through Bamberg being the centre of the Holy Roman Empire, from the 13th Century on the bishops became princes of the land and amassed considerable wealth, it wasn’t until the Protestant Reformation that the power of the R C Church was diminished, Bambergs’ infamous witch trials in the 17th C saw five of its mayors, all men identified as accomplices to witches and burned at the stake.

Bambergs prosperity was always linked to the river and trade, it became a vibrant cultural centre and with the founding of its university it became the centre of enlightenment in Southern Germany. 

It is also known for the fact that its nine breweries produce over 50 distinct beers, its signature beverage called rauchbier where the malt has been dried over open flames giving this dark beer a distinctive smoky taste, to us it tasted like a bacon flavoured stout!

One last interesting piece of history was that the local burghers wanted to have some say in the running of two parts of the city, either side of th Regnitz River, instead of being subject to Imperial rule, so they approached the bishop prince for permission to have a Rathaus (Town Hall) built. His response was that they could, but not on any of his land, bearing in mind he owned the whole city the resourceful citizens built it in 1386 on a manmade island in the middle of the Regnitz river that flowed through the town, as the Prince bishop did not own the river.

A somewhat disturbing example of the centuries old persecution of Jews, pointed out by our guide as we walked up to the cathedral was the figures above and on either side of the Imperial entrance at the side of the cathedral. On the right side the figure representing the church depicted righteousness, as did the pious group on the right side of Christ above the door. To his left were a group of debauched figures with a demon dragging them down to hell, while the figure on the left column representing the Jewish faith was blindfold with her shaft of knowledge broken, and beneath her feet a demon reaching down to gouge out the eye of a Jewish man identified by the cap that the Jews were then required to wear, the entrance had been constructed in 1245. This was to remind the bishop prince that the only faith in the eyes of God was the Roan Catholic faith, and that the Jewish faith was evil as were the Jews.

It was somewhat of a discordant reminder that despite the beauty of this town that you will see, there has been a dark side to its history that manifested itself right up until a far more recent times.

This was, however, an incredible visit to a really beautiful medieval time warp, not to be missed.