Bamberg

Bamberg is an amazingly beautiful city. The city is in northern Bavaria, located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. Its historic city center is a listed UNESCO world heritage site due to its impressive architecture.  The city is over 1,000 years old and was not bombed during The War thus preserving the oldest buildings.  Population of Bamberg is 70,000 plus 18,000 university students.  

Bamberg is also home to the smoke, or Rauchbier and is home to eight breweries, Brauerei Fässla, Brauerei Greifenklau, Brauerei Heller-Trum (Schlenkerla), Brauerei Kaiserdom, Keesmann Bräu, Klosterbräu, Mahrs Bräu and Brauerei Spezial, and one brewpub, Ambräusianum. The first time I had the smoke beer from Schlenkerla was almost 20 years ago and I put it on my list to find my way to drink it fresh at the source.  It was better than I could imagine especially as it came with a conversation about the history of the brewery (established in the early 1400's) from sixth generation brewmaster, Mathias Trum.  Mathias is in his early 30's and talked to our group about the history of the brewery and how the malting process, which includes kiln drying over beechwood, imparts the smoke aroma and flavor into the malted barley.  People love or hate this beer, I tend to love it.  We had a great dinner with the Marzen Rauchbier last night.

Today is a holiday in Germany celebrating reunification.  I will never forget sitting in my dorm at WSU with a huge group of students cheering as students in Berlin tore down the wall in November 1989.  October 3rd is the day of celebrating the reunification of East and West Germany and was established as a national holiday in 1990.  All stores and banks were closed today, but all the cafe's and restaurants and of course pubs were open.  In Bamberg it is celebrated with a huge antique bazaar that spans several city blocks and lines most of the streets downtown. We had a wonderful walking tour of this city today and learned about the history and geography of the region.  We found gelato at a sidewalk cafe and enjoyed the sunshine as we explored this wonderful city.

Old city hall sits in the middle of the river. 

Lantern above the entrance to Schlenkerla

Mathias telling us about his brewery and beer at Schlenkerla

Part of the castle and cathedral in Bamberg, a very Catholic city

Antique bazaar on day celebrating reunification. I couldn't bring myself to buy the bier stein made in 1880 with a pewter top.. 200 euros was too much today, but it was awesome.

Rooftops of Bamberg

Beautiful fall day!

Prost! From Braueria Spezial