The Rhine

A delightful day by the Rhine. A leisurely drive this morning from Leichlingen to Monheim au Rhine where we met Dirk and Brigitte. 

View over the Rhine this morning. 

We could not have asked for a better day, bright sunshine with a very cooling breeze from the mighty Rhine. 

The Rhine's embankment, a very popular recreational area. 

Butch loved the freedom of the river bank. 

Took a short walk before lunch, had an enjoyable lunch in the van before taking a longer walk along the Rhine later in the afternoon. A very enjoyable lunch and walk with very pleasant friends. 

A gentle stroll along the Rhine. 

Still a working river even on a Sunday. 

Dirk and Brigitte were off home to Frankfurt while we had a quite a few kms to travel to get near the Belgium-German border. 

Waving goodbye!

A very lovely way to spend a Sunday!

A looming site whilst traveling to Aachen late this afternoon. 

North Rhineland

Traveled towards the Rhine today. This North Rhineland region had been settled long before the Romans brought their version of civilisation in the 1st and 2nd century. 

Still many forested areas throughout the North Rhineland region. 

With a reputation for being a heavily industrial area, there are now great strides being made to revitalise the area into a vital cultural centre. 

Being the most heavily populated region it has a very rural presence once away from the large centres. The drive into the area today, given that it was on an autobahn, presented a very green and rural picture. 

A cut flower farm. 

We settled on the village of Liechlingen - just north of Cologne for our afternoon and overnight.   

Many interesting houses with walls and rooves clad solely in slate. 

More slate being used as a cladding product. 

Paderborn to Arnsberg

We are overnighting on the banks on the Ruhr River in Arnsberg. For those who can remember the Dam Busters movie, Arnsberg was one of the communities in the Ruhr Valley that was decimated/flooded with the destruction of the Möhnesee Dam in 1943. Hope it holds tight tonight!

Arnsberg - a very pictureque old town. 

After a very quite night in Paderborn we set out for the town of Lippstadt. Another town that has been rebuilt after the battles here in 1945, resulting in a very orderly town with many building renovated in their original style. 

Lippstadt with many renovated/reconstructed buildings. 

After wandering a while and doing a little shopping we decided that Arnsberg would be our next stopping point, and our overnight. The drive was very scenic with the crossing of the Möhnesee Reservoir being most interesting. 

A great expanse of the Möhnesee Reservoir. 

Arnsberg is a delightful town - first mentioned in 789. We took a wander around - it rained again in the process - visiting the ruins of the original castle - another castle destroyed during the Seven Years War back in 1769 - perched above the two valleys of the Ruhr. 

The Hilltop setting for Arnsberg. 

Leading to the castle. 

An old sketch, an earlier photo and today. 

Gateway to the castle. 

Very pleasant castle lawns. 

Essential German

Today's travels have led us through the lower part of the Teutoburg Forest where we found some monuments that are essentially German. 

The Externsteine - the intriguing rock formation near Bad Meinberg. 

Our quest for the day started in Lemgo, where it rained continuously overnight (which caused acorns to land on our roof at varying stages throughout the night!), and ended in the city of Paderborn. 

The beautiful reconstructed Rathaus in Paderborn. 

Our first stop was the town of Detmold. With hindsight, it may have been advisable to have skipped this stop! All we wanted to do was to add money to our phone account - a simple task you would think! No! Not for O2 even after we purchased a voucher from the kiosk. Two O2 shops in the town and both were useless. Left very frustrated. The story continues later in the day - stay tuned. 

Thought you had heard the end of the Varus War - it has another chapter just outside Detmold where a large statue to Arminius, also known as Hermann, commemorates his victory in this battle. The statue is the highest in Germany and it has become one of the most visited German tourist sites. The statue was seen as a unifying factor for Germany at a time when it was coming together as a unified state. 

The Hermannsdenkmal - memorial to the victory over the three Roman legions commanded by Varus. 

A little further down the road, near Bad Meinberg, we found The Externsteine, a natural rock formation that has been a fascination for people over the last thousand years. The rocks attract many visitors a years who ponder their mystic elements. 

Huge rocks ...

... some with a slight lean ...

...  And from across the lake. 

It was getting late in the day when we visited Paderborn. We thought we would give O2 another chance to redeem themselves. Once we located the O2 shop we presented the phone voucher (the one that the other two shops couldn't or wouldn't try to process to our phone account) and within about 30 seconds the guy had the account loaded with the voucher value. We were dumbfounded! It seem to be a very simple process, so why couldn't this have happened in the other O2 outlets?

We then were able to look around this energetic town before we located our overnight in Paderborn. 

Paderborn....

.... the reconstructed church

... the old city wall, now converted into housing. 

Today. ....

... Early 19-hundreds ....

.... 85% of Paderborn destroyed after bombing raids in 1944and 1945. 

Lemgo

Rained all night and still raining this morning. Thus, a slow morning! After a little shopping we set off to Bad Meinberg but only got as far as Lemgo where we got "stuck"! We are still here tonight.

Lemgo and the market square. 

Many features caught our attention. The town was founded in 1190 by Bernhard II von Lippe. Wool and cloth was its livelihood, and it became a member of the trading block of the Hanseatic League. It is a well preserved town of Weserrenaissance half timbered houses with very distinctive ornate facades. Fortunately it has been spared destruction from war. 

Very ornate decorations particularly found in Weserrenaissance architecture. 

One of the very interesting houses is the Hexenbürgermeisterhaus - the house of the mayor, or better known as the "Witches' Mayor's House" because of the frantic nature by which the mayor pursued women and men accused of witchery.

The Heenburgermeusterhaus is particularly beautiful and a highly decorative Weserrenaissance building. 

Decorative exterior. 

With Adam and Eve giving evidence of a Lutheran household. 

This house now hosts the museum of Lemgo, an interesting coverage of the major aspects of its 800 year history. 

An interesting item - coins of Lemgo - the town was suffiently independent and thus able to mint its own coins. 

Some interesting artwork too. 

The market square, where there was a market today, has the Rathaus, considered to be the pearl of the Weserrenaissance architecture of the town. It also contains an original 15th century  pharmacy which is still in operation today. 

The impressive Rathaus. 

Rathaus and pharmacy on the side. 

Market square and skyline. 

Having thought we had been schlossed-out, we visited another this afternoon   Schloss Brake is in Lemgo and houses the Weserrenaissance Museum. We took a look around and decided to stay here for the night. 

Schloss Brake. 

More photos of today: 

Sculpture of a local tall-tale welcomes  you to the town. 

A working water mill as part of the Schloss precinct. 

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

It rained almost all night! We can understand why the countryside is so lush and green. Because of the rain we decided to give Osnabrück a miss. 

After many jobs early we set Thomas to take us to the Museum und Park Kalkriese, an important museum for Germans. 

The Roman soldier's face shield - one of the prize possessions of the Museum. 

 

It was here in 9 AD that German tribes annihilated theee Roman Legions  - about 15,000 men lost their lives! This was the beginning of the end of Roman expansion north of the Rhine, and in the process, Germany (then only scattered tribes) had a hero-leader in Arminius and he has been used by propagandist ever since the rediscovery of the battle by scholars in the 1600s. The Roman general, Varius, committed suicide after the battle. 

The dense Teutoburg Forest. 

A sectiion of where the battle was supposedly fought. 

Contrasting "uniforms" of the German tribesmen and the well resourced Roman soldier. 

We were given a special introduction by one of the young archeologist/historian  because there were no tours in English. The museum is part outdoors with a extensive indoor collection from the diggings. 

The metal sheets depicting the path of the Roman Legions. 

Coins found at the battle site. 

Mass graves discovered as well. 

As well, a special exhibition on Piracy in Antiquity was part of the museum complex. This was interesting with some of the collection coming from Comacchio, a village in Italy we visited last year. 

Greek artifacts in the Piracy exhibition. 

Beautifully carved sarcophagus. 

Time was getting on so after we had a late lunch we drove onto Bünde for our overnight stop. 

Other photos from today:

House in the yards of the museum. 

A famous legionnaire!