A day in Mainz

On Saturday, we ventured out of the state of Baden-Wüttemberg and went north to the city of Mainz. The train ticket, which was good for up to 5 persons, for unlimited travel on regional trains for a day was 35€! Mainz is located in the state of Rhineland-Pfalz and is a city that has a rich history. Mainz started out as a stronghold for the Roman Empire during the Antiquities, later became a religious center in the Middle Ages and is now a university town.

Though this city may be steeped in historical significance, it doesn't mean that the present day inhabitants cannot have a sense of humor. We saw this sign out on the street in the area's main shopping districts. Now the "BS" may mean something entirely different from the definition that we normally associate it with, but Alan and I still found it amusing nonetheless.

After a quick lunch we headed to Dom Mainz, which is located in the center of town. The Dom Mainz is a cathedral that is magnificent not only because of its size, but also because it houses religious art that date back to the Middle Ages. The tombs of past archbishops are also kept on the site. There are also quite a few relics that you can view in the Dommuseum Mainz. Many of the Church's artifacts (like the equipment used in the liturgy) and some of the jewelry worn by senior members of the clergy were all made out of gold and encrusted with gemstones. Which makes one think about where/how the Church got the money for all these resplendent pieces, doesn't it?

We also went to the St. Stephan zu Mainz (St. Stephen's Church), which is famed for the beautiful stained glass windows created by Marc Chagall. Chagall was commissioned to create the windows in the 1970's. The Church approached Chagall to design the windows as a symbol of reconciliation between German and Jewish relations. Jocelyn was quite taken by the windows, which are colored with differing hues of blue. Here is a photo of the Church's exterior - we did not take any photos while we were inside.

Mainz is also home to the Gutenberg Museum which details the evolution of modern printing. Johannes Gutenberg is considered the "father of the modern printing press" and samples of the first biblical texts that he printed (known as the Gutenberg Bibles) are on permanent display. Also on display are earlier versions of the printing press, as well as samples of printing from different cultures. Gabriel, who is fascinated by machines and technology, was intrigued by the printing presses and was constantly trying to figure out how they all worked.

Mainz also has quite a collection of Roman artifacts because of its history as a Roman outpost. Many of these are on display at the Römisch-Germanische museum. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit that museum though we did swing by the Roemisches Theater. Though the theater was supposed to be quite grand during its heyday, all that's left now are the ruins that are next to the tram station. We suspect that some of it was damaged during the construction of nearby structures and buildings.

We headed back to Karlruhe after this last stop. In terms of the weather, we've been quite fortunate. It's been rainy during the weekdays, followed by a few days of sunshine during the weekends. This pattern has made sightseeing more comfortable, though we don't expect our luck to hold up for much longer.