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The town of Miltenberg dates back to 1200. It is on one the prettiest and best-preserved medieval towns on the Rhine. The bridge over the Main River, built in 1900 survived most of WW II but was blown up by the Nazis in the last month of the war to slow the Allied advance. It did not slow the advance but did succeed in breaking the only two stained glass windows in the Rathaus that had not been removed and stored during the war. The bridge was reconstructed in 1950. Miltenberg has a remarkably long Main Street (Hauptstrasse). We walked the length of it, got thirsty so had to stop for a beer at one of the many beer gardens along the way.
Beginning on the last weekend in August and for ten days, the Michaelismesse (“St Michael’s Fair”), the biggest fair on the Bavarian Lower Main (Bayerischer Untermain), is held. We arrived just in time for a parade. Oh, yes we are now on the Main River. It is pronounced “MINE” similar to Rhine. We passed into the Mine when we left Mainz which was not a stop so no photos. |
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Miltenberg Castle. This castle dates to the 1200’s
Views of Miltenberg’s Hauptstrasse, the city’s main street; it is lined with half-timbered houses, restaurants and interesting shops.
Gasthaus zum Riesen or Hotel Riesen is a beautifully restored inn that claims to be Germany’s oldest Inn. It dates from 1590, and a local historical document indicates that the owner at the time was granted the right to fell a hundred oak trees for its construction.
Miltenberg has many half-timbered houses, most dating to the 16th century.
St. Jakobus – the town church of Miltenberg. The Classicist church towers and the sandstone nave point to the 19th century. In the Church interior, on the other hand, one immediately sees the mighty Roman columns from the 14th Century
If you look closely you can see the Miltenberg castle on the hill at the end of Main Street
Interesting set of steps leading through an arch. Unfortunately I did not have time to further investigate.
And here we have to sets of steps leading down to an iron gate. A prison or dungeon?
Nope, its’ the city water well dug in 1611.
Click here for “A Local parade in Miltenberg”.
Business signs were “Works of Art”
Okay, here are two signs that look like they have the Star of David below them. Not so. The sign is actually two triangles interlocked and has been used by beer brewers in Germany for a long time. I heard two explanations for what it means. The first was that the two triangles stand for Fire and water, the two elements used in beer brewing. The second was that brewer’s star was intended to symbolize purity; that is, a brewer who affixed the insignia to his product was thereby declaring his brew be completely pure of additives, adjuncts, etc. In fact, folklore has it that the six points of the star represented the six aspects of brewing most critical to purity: the water, the hops, the grain, the malt, the yeast, and the brewer.
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The fair was on-going and many locals were dressed in traditional garb. If asked first, they had no problem with having their picture taken.
Most actually enjoyed it!
This is a Viking Longboat normally configured. Note the wheelhouse on top as well as sun awnings and railings. Also a bunch of deck chairs. Great place to relax with an adult beverage. But, the rivers have some very low bridges! Bridges that cannot be cleared by the boat in this configuration.
So, what happens? Do they raise the bridge? No, they lower the boat! Note all the top railings are laying flat, the sun awnings are removed and the wheelhouse, being on hydraulic lifts, is lowered into the boat. Reducing the boats’ heights by many feet.
This bridge, near Miltenberg is the lowest one we went under. Clearance is calculated in inches, and not many of them! It looked like we cleared by about 6 inches! Did we go through locks? Yes, 68 of them between Amsterdam and Budapest. The highest lift was 81 feet.
The boats crew used the side to their advantage, standing on dry land, washing the windows.
We enter the lock and the gate behind us closes.
Water is added from the high side, floating the boat up to the next level.
We are now up to the high side level and the gate in front opens allowing us to sail back out into the river.
You can see the dam on the river that backs water up for the high side level. Viking pays about 60,000 Euros per year per boat as lock fees. Next stop Wurzburg |
