Jeans, Church and Beer: Bamberg

In this house in Buttenheim, nearby Bamberg/Frankonia, famous entrepreneur Loeb  (later "Levi") Strauss was born in 1829. Though, he became famous in San Francisco as the inventor of the blue jeans (which was called "waist overall" at the time), he grew up here as the son of a Jewish peddler.

At the age of 18 he immigrated to the United States with his mother and two sisters to join his brothers who had begun a wholesale dry goods business in New York City. From there, and, closely related to the California Gold Rush, he traveled to San Francisco in 1853 to live the American Dream. He opened a haberdashery and eventually became a very wealthy textile manufacturer. An important role played the invention of a satorial by name Jacob Davis from Reno: copper rivets to enforce critical sections of pants, like the pockets, which was patented in 1874. Strauss passed away in 1902 and passed on the enterprise to his nephews. From workers' outfit, jeans quickly became fashion and "cool".

Using audio-stations and exhibitions and films the museum presents the life and career of Levi Strauss, but, at the same time, depicts the history of the Levi's company and is a portrayal of clever advertisement (below). Connected to the museum is a shop with Levi's merchandise, some of the clothing not to be available in other stores here.  

 

On by train to nearby Bamberg ,,, first, to the Gärtner & Häcker-Museum, a unique museum dealing with the former life of veggie gardeners and wine growers in the center of a city, not on the coutryside! The museum is located in the old house of a gardener dating in 1767 and it shows the lifestyle of the people living here then. On the attic and outside, visitors learn a lot about gardening in the old days. A broad variety of veggies and herbs is still grown and can be inspected closely in the large gardens. The climate was mild here and even mediterranean varieties were cultivated (photos below).

Bamberg became especially famous for licorice, a root veggie used for goodies but also in medicine. Also, raddishes, onions, leeks, turnips, kohlrabi, salads and spinach were popular, and exported, and, there are still some specific varieties which came up here. Bamberger Hörnle, a small, longish variety of potatoes were first bred here as well and, in the old days, wine growers planted the slopes of the hill to the cathedral. They later switched to hops, fruit and grain when the climate became to rough to grow wine.

 

Bamberg is on the UNESCO World Heritage list for its great architecture and a very intact city ensemble. The Old City Hall of Bamberg (left photo) was built on a manmade island in the river Regnitz. The island is connected to the "mainland" by two bridges (one of them below). While the first city hall was built in 1386, today's building dates in 1461.

 

Die Alte Hofhaltung is the "religious core" of the city, closely connected to the cathedral (Dom) - see photo below – and the Neue Residenz. The Hofhaltung was the first residence of the bishops. IT's been emperor Heinrich II who declared Bamberg 1007 a bishops' seat. The old buildings in framework were constructed from 1475 on. Nowadays, the building is the location of the Historical Museum.

       

Even fancier is the Neue Residenz, built 1697-1703 under prince-bishop von Schönborn. There are magnificent apartments for the hoi polloi with fancy furniture and artwork. The real eyecatcher here is the Kaisersaal, painted at the beginning of the 18th century:

A rose garden, planned in 1733 is connected to the Residenz, including a water basin and 4.500 roses of 48 varieties, of which only a few were already in full bloom:

There is lots of modern art in Bamberg to be discovered, here two examples, left one from Markus Lüpertz ("Apollo") and, right one, the "Centurione" by the Polish sculptor Igor Mitoraj. The "Humsera" on the market square on the pic below refers to a very special character, a chatty market vendor who died in 1910.

 

The former fishermen's neighborhood on the island is called "Little Venice" (Klein Venedig). Beautiful Medieval timber-frame architecture with beautiful little gardens are typical here. The single house on the photo below, was on the other bank of the river Rednitz, completely overgrown by a rambler rose! How beautiful is that?

Bamberg is the "City of breweries and (smoked) beer" and a city where you can eat very well, e.g. "Schäuferla", pork shoulder served with a dumpling, sauce and either savoy cabbage or sauerkraut.  

 

A must-see in Bamberg: The Mälzerei Weyermann, famous world-wide for its speciality malts used in beer brewing. They have their ownspeciality brewery, too, which produced a fantastic variety of unusual beers.