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A church attendant gave us directions to reach our next stop, St. Stephans. We
had to trudge up a long hill to the cathedral and when arrived found it wasn't
open until 2:00p.m., a half hour away. We found a shaded spot behind the church
and ate a bag lunch that Marilyn had thoughtfully put in my daypack. Going into
the church became a feast for the eyes. The light falling through the colored
glass bathes the interior in a soft blue light.
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The windows were created by Marc Chagall and therein lies an irony. He was a
Jew and this was the only church in Germany for which his work was expressly
designed. Against a background of radiant blue, angels and other figures from
the Bible impart their message of optimisim, hope and joy.
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"Tree Of Life" (left)
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Visiting St. Stephans and viewing the final project of Chagall before he died
was the hightlight of our visit to Mainz.
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The first Gutenberg Museum opened in 1900
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In 2000 the museum was expanded and a new wing created.
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Located a block behind the Dom is the Gutenberg Museum. It honors Johannes
Gutenberg, the inventor of movable type printing. With the invention of
printing and the ability to rapidly and cheaply disseminate information, the
Middle Ages came to a close. The printed word using re-useable cold-type
setting allowed everyone access to knowledge and spelled an eventual end to
Feudalism, absolute control of lives by Church and State, the spread of
orthodox and revolutionary thoughts and ideas, and of life itself. Literacy
evolved and liberty followed. All lives on earth were changed forever by the
printing press. He is considered to be the most important individual
contributor of the Second Millennium. He has been accorded the honor as the
godfather of Information Technology.
On the first floor is a huge collection of old books ranging from hand written
copies to early printed ones. The display is arranged around themes so you can
see how printing developed in different subject fields such as religion,
science, music and art. Unfortunately, none of the explanatory signs are in
English, only German. The highlight of the museum for me was seeing the
original Gutenberg bibles and other books attributed to his hand. These are in
a large walk-in vault on the second floor. Fascinating to see first hand these
texts, created in the 1440s.
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Scattered throughout the museum are several presses and other equipment used in
printing works as well as explanations of different papers and processes. On
the top floor is a large exhibition of different publishers but as it is all
basically books it's not all that fascinating to browse through. There is also
an exhibition on Oriental printing but having spent quite some time on the
early European works I haven't had the strength for another continent on the
same day. Live demonstrations are frequently held in the basement, sometimes in
English if requested. All descriptions in the museum are in German only, but
English audio guides are available. The museum shop is small but has a wide
variety of trinkets in addition to lots of books. Well, did we enjoy Mainz. We
certainly did! There were several other museums and churches that we didn't
have time to see in one day. (Note to Rick Steves: explore Mains on foot as we
did and I think you'll change your opinion of the city.) I believe I would
return next time I'm in the region.
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Today is June 9th and our friends from England, Sid and Geraldine Ware, arrived
late last evening. They came to our apartment for breakfast this morning and I
suggested a train ride to Bacharach, which isn't far from St. Goar as a good
introduction to the area. Bacharach, which derives its name from the ancient
god Bacchus, is one of the most popular tourist stops in the Rhine valley When
we arrived we couldn't see a lot of the town because a medieval ring wall
blocks the view from the river. We soon discovered it was a town of vineyards,
lovely old houses and shops, and ancient towers- relics of medieval
fortifications.
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It was a warm and sunny day, ideal for strolling around the small village. We
did a lot of window shopping and I broke my no-shopping pledge when I bought a
colorful coffee mug. It has a title on it in German which translated means, "We
Love Grandpa" How could I pass that up. What Sid and I enjoyed the most, I
believe, was seeing the old, well cared for buildings which date back to the
12th century. In the photo of he and I (left) the house in the background was
built in 1368!
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