Saturday, November 8, 2014

My Town in Three Photos - Mainz / Germany

 

By Iris Blobel

 
I grew up in Mainz and lived there for the first twenty-six years of my life. It’s a beautiful city situated along the Rhine River. Famous for its Carnival, Gutenberg, one of Europe’s biggest television station ZDF and its historic Cathedral amongst many other things.

 
 
 
 


Mainz, formerly known in English as Mentz, is the capital of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It was the capital of the Electorate of Mainz at the time of the Holy Roman Empire. In antiquity Mainz was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire; it was founded as a military post by the Romans in the late 1st century BC and became the provincial capital of Germania Superior. The city is located on the river Rhine at its confluence with the Main opposite Wiesbaden, in the western part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main; in the modern age, Frankfurt shares much of its regional importance.


 

The Gutenberg Museum is one of the oldest museums of printing in the world, located opposite the cathedral in the old part of Mainz, Germany. It is named after Johann Gutenberg, the inventor of printing from moveable metal type in Western Europe. The collections include printing equipment and examples of printed materials from many cultures.

 
 
 

Mainz Cathedral or St. Martin's Cathedral (in German Mainzer Dom, Martinsdom or - officially - Der Hohe Dom zu Mainz) is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz, Germany. This 1000 year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is the site of the episcopal see of the Bishop of Mainz.

Mainz Cathedral is predominantly Romanesque in style, but later exterior additions over many centuries have resulted in the appearance of various architectural influences seen today. It comprises three naves and stands under the patronage of Saint Martin of Tours. The eastern quire is dedicated to Saint Stephen.








(All pictures from Wikipedia Commons, information from Wikipedia - thanks)

8 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures! And so different from where you live now. What a wonderful heritage. Thank you for sharing!

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    1. Thanks Patty.
      Yes, completely different, in so many ways.

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  2. Looking at the map of our 2012 Europe trip, it seems we bypassed Mainz. We had lunch at Heidelberg then travelled through Ludwigshafen, then in a more-or-less a straight line to rejoin the Rhine near Bingen, to reach our overnight stop at Boppard. I's a beautiful part of the world, must have been hard for you to leave it, Iris. Ron.

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    1. Oh Ron, we have to catch up next time. Yes, Bingen is just up the road from us, and yes, the main Autobahn does bypass Mainz :-) Yes, it was very hard to leave, it's a beautiful place, but hey, look at all the things I've got now, I've got no reason for any regrets!

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  3. How incredibly beautiful, Iris! When I saw ads last year for cruises up European rivers, I thought that German rivers would be the ones I would choose.Now, if I EVER get the chance, I know a Rhine tour would be the trip of choice.

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    1. Thanks Tonette! And you can't go wrong with a cruise along the Rhine River. It's beautiful.

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  4. wow -- I'd love to visit someday.

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    1. Thanks Jeff. It's beautiful indeed, and as a Librarian I reckon you'd enjoy the Gutenberg Museum too.

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