A world famous UNESCO heritage site and home to an incredible number of breweries, Bamberg is a must-visit stop on a tour of Franconia. Come join me and my Leica M2 as we tour this medieval city and taste the strange but interesting smoked beer.
About Bamberg
Bamberg is a city of c.70,000 people about 250km north of Munich in upper Franconia (note: never tell a Franconian they are from Bavaria, that discussion will not end well), with large parts of the city being a UNESCO World Heritage site. Having escaped the bombings of WWII the old town area is incredibly well kept with timber housing and a very curious ‘little Venice’ area in the middle of the city. It is situated along the Regnitz River and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal.
It also happens to be a large university town and luckily my mate Sebastian was a former student who offered to give me a tour. It is always great to have a tour guide on day trips, especially for scouting out the best breweries! More on the fascinating history of Bamberg here.
About the photos
We visited Bamberg back in mid Summer, as I am only getting round to posting these now it is nice to look back at some bright sunny photos! With no theme in mind I wanted to simply document my visit and enjoy the sights, sounds (and beer) of this historical city. I brought along my Leica M2, Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 lens and a few rolls of Kodak Pro Image 100 film. This has become my go-to film for bright sunny days. As always photos are clickable for full screen viewing, especially useful for the vertical portrait type shots.
Slightly out of focus but lovely outdoor fruit & veg market.
Bright summer skies and very cool architecture and shapes.
Very old school fire engine.
I am a big fan of crossing lines in architecture. This was shot inside a little plaza area in what I recall being part of the university campus.
Inside one of the many churches in Bamberg. Great dynamic range in this shot with enough detail in the shadows and strong highlights of the bright sun shining in through the open door off frame.
The main tourist attraction in Bamber: Das Alte Rathaus (Old Downhill), built on on island.
Tourists onlooking the little Venice area of the city. Also a slalom course for canoeists on the river below.
You can see how popular this part of town is!
The postcard shot!
Turning around the view from the other side.
Really nice and bright flower display on this bridge.
One of the locks along the river, I like how sharp this shot came out.
I am a big fan of overlapping buildings with shadows and sunlight. Despite this scene being very bright I really like how it came out.
Now that’s a lot of bicycles!
I have always been a huge fan of lines created by shadows, it makes for some really great compositions.
Talk about bright colours - wonderful!
It doesn’t get more German than this!
The colours are slightly off in this shot but I still like how it came out.
More great architecture - everywhere you look in this city you will find wonderful historical shots.
I believe this is a monastery, I really liked the intricacy of the art work.
Bomber’s famous cathedral, it is really wonderful inside. Completed in the 13th century, however originally constructed in the 11th century but burned down twice! It is also home to the final resting place of Pope Clement II. More on this amazing cathedral here.
One of my favourite shots, although this would have probably worked better in black & white. I love the tight narrow streets and how one imagines how a wider shot would reveal a whole maze of cobblestone streets.
A fantastic rose garden in the inner courtyard of the New Residence. It is said to hold about 5,000 roses and is truly spectacular (so good I did indeed have colour film and not black & white!).
Another great reason to be using colour film!
A view along the Little Venice area of Bamber.
A distant view of the Cathedral.
Convenient river taxi.
There are loads of hidden locks around the city.
I love the depth of this shot.
Happy and relaxed, I can’t complain!
A great view of the Cathedral.
‘X’ marks the spot!
Overall observations
Bamberg is a wonderful town to go visit, the old medieval town is extremely well preserved and has loads of lovely little side streets all overlooked by the large Cathedral. It is also a town very popular with beer breweries, with 11 in the town and 60 in the county. You can also find the famous ‘smoke beer’ in Bamberg, according to the local tourist Board:
According to legend, smoke beer was created completely by accident: during a fire in a brewery, the smoke is said to have billowed through the brewer's malt store. Because he could not afford to dispose of the malt, he used it to brew a beer that was unexpectedly popular. Indeed, many beers once ranked as smoke beers, simply because the open fire was the only possible method of drying the malt for most brewers. In Bamberg this traditionally pleasing delicacy is still brewed by two breweries and is served at the town's beer gardens. Those who find the taste of this beer a little strange at first, can place their trust in the following words of wisdom: "The second mug tastes better than the first and the third even better than the second."
I can attest to that last statement as invariably the second beer does taste better, but only the ‘lighter’ smoke beer version, the traditional one really is too smoky for my liking. Curious legend as to where it originated from.
I can’t recommend Bamber enough, especially reading up on its medieval history and understanding all the various architectural designs and many waterways. It is very busy in the summer but as usual getting their early and wandering off the beaten trail sees empty streets and plenty of photographic opportunities.
Kodak Pro Image 100 was a perfect choice for this day trip, and I was happy to capture some of the bright colourful scenes of this medieval city.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this small insight into a quintessential German medieval city!
Cheers,
Neil
