German Info: Looking Back

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Looking Back on Another Millennium

The start of a new millennium is a most appropriate time to look back to the previous millennium and to the age known as the Romanesque period in Europe. Travelers will find landmarks to this era all over the country, including in the Rhine River Valley and in the states of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. Many of the church buildings are still in use, and several castles host medieval festivals that allow visitors to step back in time to an era of knights and royal rulers. In Weissensee for example, the castle of Runneburg, dating from 1168, boasts a reproduction of a medieval catapult (Steinschleuder) which will be fired
this year on Aug. 17 in an event complete with music and midnight tours.

Romanesque period
During the Romanesque era, beginning in the 5th century and lasting until about the 12th century, Europe was redefining itself under the dual influences of the church and secular emperors and princes. In the German Empire, the height of the Romanesque period is marked by the rule of emporers like Otto the Great, a constant struggle for power between the church and secular rulers; the Crusades, beginning in 1095; and the Concordat of Worms in 1122, which temporarily settled the dispute over authority between the church and the empire.

The cathedrals and castles of this era were designed to convey a sense of power and were built to last with thick, stone walls and small windows and doors. The development of the vaulted ceiling dates from this period and allowed for increasingly larger structures.

Rhine River Valley
Towns along the Rhine River are home to a number of great Romanesque landmarks. Speyer is home to the largest Romanesque building in the world, St. Mary's Cathedral. Further north, Worms boasts the oldest Romanesque era synagogue in Germany in the part of the city where the Jewish community thrived in the 11th century, gaining the distinction "Little Jerusalem." Travelers can also take their pick of Romanesque-era churches in Worms, with perhaps the most impressive being St. Peter's Cathedral, and trace the history of landmark imperial court meetings such as the Diet of Worms in 1521, at which Martin Luther was called to defend his doctrine in front of emperor Charles V.

Thuringia
In the geographic center of Germany, the state of Thuringia was a center of power and culture in the Middle Ages, and several sites keep the era alive. Wartburg Castle near Eisenach is a frequent concert venue and its hotel and restaurant host weddings. Dating from 1155, it served as a refuge for protestant reformer Martin Luther in the 16th century. The castle was the first in Germany to be listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site.

Saxony-Anhalt
The home of Otto the Great, Saxony-Anhalt has marked its Romanesque heritage with a 620-mile Romanesque Road through 60 locations, including Magdeburg, where the emperor and his wife Editha are buried in the cathedral.