Slideshow Index: Germany 2010

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• June 15th arrival in Amsterdam
• Starbucks coffee break between flights
• Berlin-Tegel is on the north side of downtown
• Our comfortable coach bus for the tour
• Superbikes at the Brandenburg Gate plaza
• The Quadriga on top of the Brandenburg Gate
• Brandenburg Gate looking west
• Kathy and Arnie with the Reichstag in the background
• The German Parliment (Reichstag)
• Berlin Wall Sign
• A small piece of the Wall at the Reichstag
• ' The German People ' (front of the Reichstag)
• The Reichstag dome and circular walk is spectacular
• Great views of the city from here
• The Brandenburg Gate and the American Embassy
• The German Flag
• At the top of the spiral walkway
• The parliment convenes below this cover
• The spiral walkway
• Welcome dinner - Axel, Cindy, Larry, Grace, Naomi, Ron, & Maren
• Welcome dinner - Bill, Mary, Arlene, Jerry, Bev, Kurt, & Pat
• Welcome dinner - Jim, Jan, Vern, Laurie, Julie, Christine, & Florence
• Welcome dinner - Ken, Deanna, & Connie
• Welcome dinner - Caryl, Julie, Bill, & Jim
• Welcome dinner - Linda, Kim, Nate, Kathy (and me)
• Welcome dinner - Ken, Deanna, Connie, & Paul (missed Karen)
• Welcome dinner - Dave, Vail, Phil, & Brenda
• Welcome dinner - Gary, Elaine, & Sheila
• Potsdammer Platz in background with Sony Center to the right
• June 16th, bus tour, Main train station
• Kaiser-Wilhem Gedaechtnis-kirche (old part of the church)
• New part of the Kaiser-Wilhelm church
• The pipe organ and organist
• The Holocaust Memorial near the embassy
• Kathy and the Berlin Bear
• Kathy with soldier uniforms of the former East Germany (DDR)
• A memorial section of the Berlin Wall
• Looking at the thin cross section of the wall
• The famous Check Point Charlie guard tower
• Check Point Charlie sign in four languages
• Entrance to the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom)
• A magnificent pipe organ in the Dom
• The interior over the altar
• This is all the security for the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel (at their condominum building)
• The Spree River near the Berlin Cathedral
• River tours on the Spree behind the Dom
• National Gallery entrance on Museum Island
• Sample painting in the gallery
• Original Rodin sculpture (The Thinker)
• Sample sculpture in the galllery
• Kathy in front of the National Gallery
• June 17th, on the way to Wittenberg
• The City church (Stadtkirche) in Wittenberg
• City church pipe organ
• Workman near the top on a wall of the church
• Kathy in front of the Rathaus (City Hall)
• Nate takes a break on the city tour
• A spire of the Castle Church (Schlosskirche)
• Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on this door
• Interior of the Castle Church
• Martin Luther's tomb in the church
• Our choir's first performance in one of Luther's churches
• Linda Armstrong was our soloist on this trip
• Singing another of our three songs
• Another view of the choir
• Jim Hild at the organ
• Kim, Linda, and Kathy at an earlier lunch break
• June 18th, guided tour of Lutherhaus and Melanchthonhaus
• Our group at the Lutherhaus courtyard
• Part of the Lutherhaus
• A statue of Martin Luther's wife, Katharina von Bora
• Actual small pulpit used by Martin Luther
• Our guide describing a painting in the Lutherhaus
• The devil in these scenes is dressed in yellow (why?)
• Music of the 1500's
• Frederick III, protector of Martin after his confrontation with the Catholic hierarchy in Worms
• A young Martin and Katharina
• A death portrait
• An original bible of the period
• Typical street in Wittenberg
• These canals used to carry sewage in former times
• Our excellent tour guide, Katja Kuehler
• The entrance to the Melanchthonhaus
• Arnie and 15 other riders prepare for an afternoon ride along the Elbe outside of Wittenberg
• The two main churches of Wittenberg in the distance
• Five of us at the 20 mile mark of a 30 mile ride
• Can you believe the size of this stork nest?
• Arnie, Jim, Dave, and Gary waiting for the ferry
• This small ferry carries a few cars and passengers across the Elbe River
• Gary, Dave, Brenda, and Jim on the way back to Wittenberg
• The main train station in Leipzig is also a shopping mall
• Leipzig new city hall
• Linda hams it up at the Brahms statue
• J.S. Bach was the cantor at St. Thomas church for 25 years
• Our excellent Leipzig city tour guide
• Other side of St. Thomas church
• The beams were used to hoist furniture to the top levels
• The old city hall (Rathaus)
• Johann Wolfgang Goethe was Germany's greatest writer and poet
• Street musician in Leipzig
• Auerbachs Keller is referenced in Goethe's story of Faustus
• Interesting interior mall design
• The Bach Festival was taking place 11-20 June
• Interesting column design
• Nikolaikirche (Nickolous Church) interior
• The pipe organ
• The altar
• Kathy in front of the cafe in the Riquet building
• The cupola is a great feature of this building
• J.S. Bach's tomb in the St. Thomas church
• We attended a lecture on the Peaceful Revolution of 1989
• Dr. Ulrich Seidel was present in the courtyard of the demonstartions leading up to the fall of the Berlin wall (and the DDR) in 1989
• Rehearsing for the motet at the St. Thomas Church
• June 19th, checking into our Hotel An der Klosterpforte in Eisleben
• Nate finds the Cloister pond
• Some friendly ducks at the pond
• 'Who will roll away the stone'
• Cloister Helfta conferene and dining rooms
• We had a nice room of our own for meals in Eisleben
• Gathering for supper
• June 20th, rehearsal at St. Andrew's church in Eisleben
• Jim confers with the church cantor (music director)
• St. Andrew's pipe organ
• Gary gets us organized in the choir loft
• View from below
• Waiting for the German choir to join us
• Arnie & Kathy after the service
• A typical altar setting in the Luther churches
• A statue of Martin Luther dominates the central square of Eisleben, where he was born (and died)
• Getting instructions before breaking for lunch
• Vail and Claudia at a chinese restaurant in Eisleben
• Hermann and Phil are business associates
• Getting ready for the city tour of Eisleben
• Our city tour guide in Eisleben
• We toured Luther's birth house and death house
• Paul Nelson (Pastor) enjoys the German pulpits
• Luther information in the museum
• 'In this house died M. Luther...'
• The main entrance to St. Andrew's church
• Leaving Martin Luther's house of birth
• June 21st, choir loft at the Augustinian church and cloister in Erfurt
• The rebuilt altar at the church
• Jim and Gary prepare us for our third performance at the noon devotional in Erfurt
• The choir gets ready to sing again
• Kathy and Gary and I look for a place to eat lunch
• We find others of our tour near the Kraemerbrueke covered bridge
• Julie points out the sights on the bridge
• We ate lunch just behind Arnie in this market square
• Homes and stores line this famous bridge in Erfurt
• One of several interesting fountains along the way
• We pass the Cloister garden on our way to the city tour
• Our Erfurt city tour guide
• The plant on the left combined with human urine made a blue dye which was much prized in olden times
• Another view of the Kraemer Bridge
• Our guide sits on a ' Gossip ' seat on a building corner
• Learning about the bridge and the history of Erfurt
• The Jewish Synagogue from former times
• Street musicians in the Fisch Market
• Buildings along the Fischmarkt
• The town of Erfurt currently has 200,000 people
• The architecture is interesting and varied
• Flower boxes are a common sight in Germany
• Another fountain near Catherdral Square
• Common construction technique
• One of Germany's thinnest houses
• The Marian Cathedral and Severi Church
• At the Cloister hotel
• Nice courtyard at the hotel
• The view out our hotel window
• In the Klostergarten
• A cool outdoor supper at the Golden Swan with Jerry and Arlene
• We had a nice supper at this restaurant
• A wider view of our group
• We found a free rock concert later at the Fischmarkt
• June 22, Eisenach, the home of Johann Sebastian Bach
• The Bachhaus Museum in Eisenach
• Jim takes a break before we tour the Bachhaus
• Stringed instruments of Bach's time
• Several organs, klaviers, and harpsichords were demonstrated for us
• Linda supplies the air power for this small organ
• One of several instrument demonstrations with Bach's music
• Reeds and Blockfluete (recorders) of the time
• Brass and Tympani
• Music textbook circa 1731
• Eisenach town square
• Linda takes a musical listening rest
• Jim gets in on the fun
• Kathy enjoys the Bach Break
• Another beautiful Klavier
• Climbing the steep path to the Wartburg Castle outside of Eisenach
• Kathy, Bill, and Pat at the Castle lunchroom
• The town of Eisenach from the castle
• Another view without the zoom lens
• Looking back towards the cafe
• The door in the upper wall
• Wartburg Castle is where Martin Luther hid out for a year to translate the new testament from Greek and Hebrew into German
• Kathy at the east entrance
• Homing pigeons
• Arnie at the rest area entrance
• Elaine and Sheila dressed up in 1700's clothing
• A photographer supplied the costumes and took lots of photos
• Wartburg Castle main courtyard
• Restaurant and Gift shop
• West end of the castle wing
• More of our group coming up the back trail
• The view looking southeast
• The main reception and concert hall of the castle
• Typical bedroom in the castle wing
• The entrance to Luther's rooms
• Luther's heating stove and writing desk
• This is where he translated the New Testament
• Shopping center in Erfurt
• Supper at an Italian restaurant in Erfurt
• June 23, the Schoener Brunnen (Beautiful Fountain) in the Nuremberg main square
• The Hauptmarkt was a great place for fresh produce
• We loaded up with fresh fruit here
• Caryl joins us touring and looking for a lunch spot
• What a boatload of interesting sculpture
• Views of the Pegnitz River
• St. Catherine's church
• We find a cafeteria luncheon place called Vipiano
• Looking west on the river
• Julie climbs the fountain before our tour begins
• The Glockenspiel at the Frauenkirche (clockworks at the Church of our Lady)
• The date on St. Sebald church is in the 1400's
• Our city tour guide in Nuremburg
• These viewing portacles were used by the nobility to see what was happening on the streets
• The Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle) on the north side of downtown
• It's a steep climb to the castle main entrance
• Inner courtyard
• First of four panoramic views of Nuremburg
• Second view
• Third view
• Fourth view (all south of the castle)
• Kathy is waiting down below
• Our group above
• Castle house
• The castle restaurant is advertising that they carry the World Cup (Soccer) games
• This ' rabbit ' is called something like the bug-eyed carp by the locals
• St. George slaying the dragon
• The Albrecht Duerer House
• He was Germany's most famous painter during the renaissance
• Another viewing window
• June 23rd evening arrival at Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps
• The view outside of our hotel window at Hotel Alte Post
• View left out our hotel window
• Linda and Kim at our hotel dinner
• Naomi and Grace getting ready to order
• Many of the Oberammergau buildings are painted with scenes from the Passion Play
• The men in town grow beards for a year before the 10 year performances
• Downtown fountain
• View of the town's main church steeple
• June 24, taking a morning walk through Oberammergau before the play
• Wall painting
• Wall of our hotel
• Along the way
• Scenic graveyard at the local Catholic Church
• The gravestones and markers go back 300 years
• South side of the church
• Great view of the onion top steeple and the nearby mountains
• Decorations abound in this alpine village
• Homes along the way
• Main peak viewed from the river
• Telephoto zoom of this cross in the distance
• Overall view of the Passion Play Theater
• The front door a couple of hours before the play started
• Kathy and the statue of Jesus
• Status of Jesus entering Jerusalem
• The Passionspiel entrance
• Photo enlargements of the play on a nearby display building
• The play has a huge cast of townspeople on a giant stage
• The crucifixtion scenes are very realistic and moving
• The last supper
• Zoom shot, some of our group hiked up to this spot in the morning
• We had top level seats near the stage
• A central view of the stage
• Getting ready for the first half of the show (from 0230 to 0500PM)
• The textbook for the play is written in two halves, German and English
• Supper break is from 0500 to 0800PM
• The play ended at 1030PM
• June 25, Arnie and Axel at the bus after breakfast
• A view of the Rathaus in the Marienplatz in Munich
• The Gloeckenspiel is a marvelous sight, full of animated figures
• The west end of the city hall
• This is where we started our Munich city tour
• The statue of Marien
• Larry Hoffsis, our tour conductor, talks with the city guide for downtown Munich (Muenchen)
• The figures rotate during the hourly display
• And the cock crows to end the time announcements
• The base of the Marien statue
• The top of the Rathaus tower
• A typical gargoyle on the church wall (to ward off the evil spirits)
• The spires of the Frauenkirche near the Marienplatz
• Legend has it that the ' devil ' stepped into the foyer of this church and left this footprint
• Interior of the Church of our Lady
• Interior view of one of the city ' Fuenfhofe ' (five yards) shopping areas
• I liked this hanging ball near the exit
• View up from the floor below the sculpture
• Italian Rococo style in a nearby church
• The Lions outside of the Egyption Art Museum
• Entrance to the Residenz courtyard
• One of several bands playing during this festival
• Rubbing the brass knob for luck (Munich tradition)
• A couple of wine presses in the courtyard
• The famous Hofbraeuhaus with beer garden, restaurant, and three levels of seating space with oompah bands
• This is it
• Most of us followed Larry's suggestion and had lunch here
• Here's the inner courtyard beer garden and surrounding decks
• Julie and I went for the liter mugs (Ein Mass) of the beer
• Caryl, Julie, Mary, Kathy, and I sat at this table
• They have three levels of indoor seating with a band for each level
• A German band with Lederhosen (leather shorts)
• Kathy and Mary talking with a pair of Munich locals about their city
• A youth orchestra playing at the Marienplatz