bwilsondünkenindeutschland, 2008      
page 3, Bavaria , part 2...Munich, Nuremberg, Kronach (June 15— 21)      
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Munich, June 14.     

 A short ride in from Gauting and I found myself attending, uninvited, a birthday party; München's 850th.  The streets were shoulder-to-shoulder Oom-Pah bands and traditional costumes.

Not much room for a bike & trailer, and not a good day for sightseeing.
 

 

  
       
       
    Several breweries had horse and carriage teams at the festivities.
 

The horses weren't very happy about the fireworks...
 they had to be restrained by their handlers.

 

 

  
   
     
   
     
     
     
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
 
     

 

 

     

 

Lederhosen and other Bavarian wares.

The blue, white and gold  banners are Bavaria's flag.

 
     
       

  A medieval street performance. 

From what I picked up, it was about retribution being dealt on a baker who had cheated his customers.		  
       
     

It appears that a lot of the celebrants have come to the party on two wheels.

One of many designated bike lots about town. Hundreds of bikes.

  
     

 

 

   
     
     

 

   
     
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just across the street from BMW Welde, the Olympic Stadium, site of the 1972 games. 
Today it's still in use for  soccer, athletics, and concerts.		    
 

 
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dachau

 

 

Twenty km north of Munchen is the small town of Dachau.

It was the site of one of the worst of Hitler's concentration camps.

Today the camp is preserved as a museum and memorial.

This is the main gate to the prison compound.

 

"Arbeit Macht Frei"
      "Work will make you free"

  
 
   
 
   
     

 
     
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

Only one of the 17 rows of barracks, visible in the distance, is preserved today.  The concrete foundations of the other s remain, a sombre reminder.

It was originally intended as a prison for political 'criminals' rather than as an extermination camp like Auschwitz.  It didn't  make much difference; half of the 200,000 inmates who passed through the gates died before the liberation.
     

 
     
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

Watchtowers on the road out of town.

  
     

 

 

 

 

     
 

Coming into the village of Biberbach, ten km north of Dachau early in the glorious summer morning of June 15. 

That day I chose a route that wound through gently rolling farmland,  a string of little towns


Deutenhofen       Ampermoching

    Lotzbach      Gansstall       Durchsamsried

Biberbach    Milbertshofen     Giebing

  Kammerburg        Lauterbach      Hohenkammer

     Niemsdorf     Reichertshaufen ....
    

     

 

 

 

 

       

 

  

 
       
       

 

 

  One of my favourite pictures. Windmills, old watertower, and just over the hill, the village of Pollenfeld.    
       

 

  

 
       
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

A Maibaum (May Tree) in  Obermarbach

The Maibaum is a German tradition that is particularly strong in Bavaria.
It is erected as a community project.
The 'branches' of the tree hold symbols or crests of civic groups, trade guilds,
and in small communities, the village's families.

 

The dedication plaque says that this is the fifth maibaum in Obermarbach.
It was erected by the volunteer fire department [Freiwilligen Feuermehr]

 
   
     

 

 

 

The fifth may tree in Obermarbach ,

built by the volunteer fire department.

All have assisted with much love and time

the spirit of cooperation lives on.

Many people have long crafted and painted

so that it now shines gloriously.

We want that for now and all time

our community spirit will live on.

 

                               ... should I try that again?
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The circus ( a small one ) comes to Reichertshausen.    
   

 
       
       

 

 

       
 
Ingolstadt

A fine example
of turn-of-the-century
architecture.
 

       
       

 

 

 

 

 

At  Ingolstadt I stayed at a true landgasthof.  Out back of the hotel was the host's farm.  Vélo and Ramorgue spent keeping company with a barn full of agricultural machines. 

I'm afraid  Vélo kept these hardworking machines awake most of the night
with his "and then I did this, and then I did that, blah, blah, blah..."

I got the tour in the morning.

    
   
     

 

 

 

     

That barn had at least
one of everything,


...and two of some things.
     

 

 

 

 

   
...  und mit die Wirtin

She spoke excellent english and did all the translation for the house.

 

  
 
    bwilsonduncan und der  Gastwirt [innkeeper]

 
     
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Limes     pronounced in German "leems".

A few km north of Ingolstadt  on the morning of June 16,  I crossed  The Limes,  a line of massive ruins , the remains of the great wall that, during the height of the Roman Empire,  stretched from  the North Sea to the Black Sea.

The wall itself is hard to find as it crosses the fields, but these mounds, the sites of huge fortresses and barracks, are many storeys high.		      

 

 
       
     

 

 

The huge size and the number of these mounds,  stands as a clue to why the empire eventually collapsed....   it must have been enormously expensive. 

What I saw was only a few kilometers of the wall, which stretched for ~2500 kilometres.


There appeared to have been not much excavation, although I suspect that most of the artifacts would have been looted over the centuries.
     
 
     

 
   

 

 
    To the south of the wall, all the wealth and sophistication of Mediterranean world.

                                                                ...to the north, forest stretched to the Arctic and the Pacific.
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
  Approaching Hilpoltstein, afternoon of  June 16  

 
       
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       
 
     
 

 
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Hotel Pension zur Krone in Hilpoltstein.  The hotelier was a very enthusiastic véloist  and gave me some advice for my next day's ride: ride along the canal into Nuremberg.		  
 

 

  
       

 

 

 

 

       

The Main-to-Danube Canal is enormous compared to most  European inland waterways.  It provides a connection from the North Sea  — by way of the Main, then Rhine rivers — and the Black Sea via the Danube.

I rode along the canal bank for about 30 km from Hilpoltstein to Nuremberg.

    
       
     
 

 
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A bike club riding along the canal towards Nuremberg. The windsock on the pole is to help the barge pi;pilots compensate for wind strength and direction.    
 

 
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As I got close to Nuremberg, I left the Main-to-Danube Canal and followed the Altcanal [old canal] into town.The Altcanal no longer has any water traffic; the locks aren't operating.  In some places it's been filled in and made into a park and greenway leading right into the centre of town.
    
   
 
     
     

 
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  Nuremberg , most German of towns.     
  The buildings in the town centre represent the late medieval and Reformation era.
Most of them are reconstructed, as the town was flattened by Allied bombing in early 1945.		    
     
       
  St. Sebaldus Church. was destroyed during the war and gradually rebuilt  using as much
of the original material as could be salvaged from the rubble. 
  A very effective plan, carrying a message of resilience  and rebirth.		    
       
     
       
 
  This building caught my eye. It's an elementary school, built in 1890 in a slightly Art Nouveau style.
Note the watertower on the roof; - this was probably a wonderful technological feature at the time.		    
     
       
       
       
    My host at the Hotel Sans Souci. 
The guests were all veloists that night.
       
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
  Hilpoltstein!!?! Wasn't I here two days ago?!?

If you'll recall my navigation troubles in Stuttgart, you'll understand how this sign gave me a bit of a sinking feeling. A touch of despair.

Turns out, there are two Hilpoltsteins, Google maps says they're only 58km apart. This one is Hilpoltstein am Forchheim, the other one is Hilpoltstein am Roth.		    
       
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Alternate energy is taken very seriously in Germany.

Some houses with photovoltaic rooves.  Germany passed a law early in the current energy crisis, requiring the power companies to buy back excess power from householders who install PV rooves or windmills.
       
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     
Kornblumefeld  [cornflower field]      
                 on the way into Bayreuth, morning of  June 19.      
       

 

 

 

 

      
  The Festspielhaus in Bayreuth

This is the opera house built by Ludwig II for Richard Wagner.

It's not your ordinary opera house. It features only Wagner, Every summer  sees the immensely popular Bayreuth Festival.  There is reportedly a ten-year waiting list for tickets.

On the day of my visit the house was closed in preparation for the mid-July opening.

Get a load of their website..  Pretty posh!! 

From the "Tickets|Service" page:

   "Please note that in the majority of cases we shall be
   able to deal with first-time applicants only after a period
    of several years as the number of applications far
    exceeds the number of seats available. "

  		 
       
     
       
   

 
     
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      You may wonder what this is.  It's Bayreuth's sewage treatment plant.
You may wonder why I'm showing this picture .  
On leaving town, I decided I'd give the Radweg another try.  I followed the signs, took all the turns, paid attention...  and this is where I ended up.
I got back onto the highway and peddled off to Kronach.
     
       
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       
     
Another photovoltaic roof.  They're everywhere!      
   

 

 

 

 

 

       
    Hanging out with the folks at George's Bar & Grill, Kronach,
evening of June 19.
   
 
   

 

       
     
       
   

 
    Portugal -— 2   Germany — 3

The whole town went nuts!  Everybody with a car or motorcycle got onto the road, leaned on the horn, held out a flag, and circled the town til about 1:00 in the morning.
       
       
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       
    On the road, north from Kronach, morning of June 20.
       
       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

 
       

A roadside marker at Steinback am Wald.
I was so eager to find the point where I would pass into
"The Former East" that,for some reason, without even trying to read the plaque, I assumed this was it.

The line is actually 10km further down the road, unmarked, unnoticeable, and a bit of a disappointment.  It may be social engineering on the part of the government to make the border disappear.


I discovered later that this obelisk marks the entrance to the Naturpark Frankenwald.

 

    
10 km to
Thuringia & Saxony,
the Heart of Germany