TravelswithCharie

Munich was luminous.  A radiant, blue-silk sky stretched out over the festive squares and white-columned temples, the neoclassical monuments and Baroque churches, the spurting fountains, the palaces and gardens of the residence, and the latter’s broad and shining perspectives, carefully calculated and surrounded by green, basked in the sunny haze of a first and lovely June day.  Thomas Mann, Gladius Dei, 1902 Neue Rathaus and Marienplatz A radiant, blue-silk sky stretched out over the festive squares  Frauenkirche ...and white-columned temples St. Michael's Kirke ...and Baroque churches Karlsplatz Stachus ...the spurting fountains Nymphenburg Palace ...  the palaces and gardens  Gardens of Nymphenburg Palace ...and surrounded by green, basked in the sunny haze of a first and lovely June day.   Then (1902) and now (June 2017). Note : The palace that Thomas Mann was referring to is the...

"Nuremberg shines throughout Germany, a sun among the moon and stars." Martin Luther Half timbered houses in the Alstadt On January 2, 1945, the British Royal Air Force and the U.S. Air Force flew over Nürnberg (Nuremberg) leveling nearly 90% of the Alstadt (Old Town). What was once one of the most important cities of the Holy Roman Empire was turned to rubble.  Hitler's rallying ground during World War II was effectively stamped out though it took until April 1945 to weed out German resistance during the house-to-house campaign.  After the war Nuremberg was rebuilt from the ground up using the same stones that were the foundation of the old structures. What we see today is a faithful reconstruction of Nuremberg's glorious past. In the image above, restored half-timbered houses dot the Alstadt. Saint Lorenz Church Construction of St. Lorenz Church began in the 13th century and was completed in 1477. It became a Lutheran church during the Reformation....