In continuation to my Frankfurt journey ,next day morning we left for Mainz and we walked down to Frankfurt Railway station and caught a train . It took around 20 mins to reach our destination and got down one station before the Mainz Main Station. The prebooked Hotel {Mainz Hyatt} was just a walking distance from the station.
Mainz is one of Germany’s oldest cities & capital of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the Rhine River. Here you can experience history at close quarters – from the Roman to the French revolution. Mainz’s cultural-historical heritage is unique. It is a city with over two thousand years of history.
MAINZ-Germany
After the end of World War I, Mainz was occupied by the French between 1919 and 1930. During World War II, more than 30 air raids and bomb attacks destroyed about 80% of the inner city of Mainz, including most of the historic buildings.
Main River
From 1945 to 1949, the city was again occupied by the French military. When the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz was founded on 18 May 1947, Koblenz was the temporary capital; in 1950 Mainz became the capital of the new state.
Main River
Gutenberg, the inventor of printing with movable letter, came from here.
It is a major port, a leading trade centre for wine. The city is member of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network. The famous Blue Nun, one of the first branded wines, had been marketed by the family Sichel.
Mainz is also the home of the Music publisher Schott Music.
Snow Flakes
After attending our meeting we reached our hotel by 5.15 PM, without wasting the time we changed & left for the city tour. Mainz is not a very big city like Frankfurt & Berlin. Most of the tourist places are close to our hotel. We went through some of the tourist brochures available in hotel & started to explore the city. Due to the shortage of time, we were not able to cover the entire city in one day. It took almost two days to visit most of the tourist spots.
St. Martin Cathedral
St. Martin’s a 1000 year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is located near the historical centre and pedestrian market square of the city of Mainz, Germany. It has also has a central courtyard and statues of Saint Boniface and The Madonna on its grounds.
St. Martin Cathedra
Mainz Cathedral is still almost completely enclosed by surrounding buildings. The “cathedral mountain” of red sandstone that has grown in the course of the centuries forms a contrast to the light coloured stone of the Romanesque St. Gotthard’s Chapel which Archbishop Adalbert erected before 1137 as the archbishops’ private chapel. The cathedral was burnt seven times in the course of the centuries, and the fear of fire was great. After the west tower was struck by lightning, in 1767 Neumann provided it with a new spire, with references to the Gothic bell chamber in its form. It too was constructed with stone and not with wood as previously.
St. Martin Cathedra
St. Martin Cathedra- model
St. Martin Cathedra
Saint Boniface
Gutenberg Museum
Opposite to the cathedral, in the centre of the old city of Mainz, is the Gutenberg Museum. It is one of the oldest printing museums and a hub for tourists and professionals from around the world.
Gutenberg Museum
Mainz Theatre
One of Mainz’s most famous landmarks is the beautiful Mainz Theatre. It is centrally located on Liebfrauenplatz square.
MAINZ Theater
Carnival Fountain
The Carnival fountain is located in front of Schillerplatz. This centre piece Stands 8.5-metre, almost 28-feet tall and is a tower of fools made of bronze. Designing by Blasius Spreng in 1967, it is populated by some 200 symbolic and fantasy figures which are traditionally seen during the pre-Lenten Carnival season.
Carnival Fountain
Osteiner Hof
The Osteiner Hof is exactly across the carnival fountain and was built in mid of the 18th Century as a family palace for Prince-Elector Johann Friedrich Ostein. Since 1958 the palace has served as regional headquarters for the German Federal Armed Forces
Osteiner Hof
St. Stephans Church
St. Stephan’s was constructed between the years 1260 and 1336. It is the city’s second largest church after the Cathedral -St. Martin’s. St Stephan’s has experienced many depredations in the course of history. During the Second World War it was almost entirely destroyed during air strikes. With its reconstruction and restoration, this Gothic church has experienced its revivification. In 1978 the Jewish artist Marc Chagall (1887 –1985) created the world-renowned Chagall Windows as a symbol for Jewish-Christian solidarity.
More than 200,000 tourists from all over the world undertake the pilgrimage every year.
St. Stephens Church
Rathous
The Mainz City Hall (Rathhaus) is an architecturally appealing building located on the banks of the Rhine River. The departure terminal for Rhine River cruise ships and ferries is located near the city hall.
Rathous
Rathous
View from Rathous
Theodar Heuss Bridge
The Theodor Heuss Bridge is an arch bridge over the Rhine River connecting the Mainz and the Wiesbaden. The main span of the bridge is 102.94 meters (338 ft) long. The Romans had built a bridge in this region in 27 AD, while the first arch bridge was inaugurated on 30 May 1885. The bridge was widened from 1931 to 1934 but was destroyed on 17 March 1945 by German military engineers at the end of the second World War. It was rebuilt in the years 1948 to 1950 and partially reconstructed between 1992 and 1995.
Theodar Heuss Bridge
The day before the last day of the meeting the dinner was organized in a cruise for all the participants who came for the meeting, the participants were from Europe, Middle East & India. The ambiance & the hospitality of cruise were good but my personal experience regarding the food was not as good, because of the lack of choice, there was a fixed menu & that too was beef, any how I could manage with the available snacks. Even we were not able to enjoy the outside view as it was dark. It was an almost three hours tour with light music, drinks, snacks & food.
Cruise
Inside the cruise
Outside the cruise
Going to end my Germany Trip with Wiesbaden by next week.
Till then Good bye.
MAINZ
“Sehr gut bilder” – “Very good pics” Mahesh ji…Really enjoyed reading …After all now u r a German Man , should talk with u in German..
Thanks Sahil,
I am not at all a German Man. I am proud to be an Indian.
Very rightly said Sir, we all are proud to be Indians…!!!
Excellent description equally well supported by some awesome pictures. Sitting on my chair, I could walk through the streets of this historic city.
Shall await your write up on Wiesbaden.
Dear Ram Sir,
Appreciation from you , matters a lot for me. Most of the time I look for some criticism also for the improvement from some of the great writer like you.
I will try to keep my promise to finish Wiesbaden by next week but again all depend upon time.
Once again thank you very much for your kind words.
The photos and the rich information accompanying them makes this a great read and especially for someone like me who has little to no information about Germany.
Thanks for sharing.
Did you face any language barrier ?
Dear Nandan,
Thanks for liking the post.
Ya we faced language problem. Take the help of Restaurant guys , they speak manageable English.
Hi Mahesh,
Great description and pics in the sequel (esp Frankfurt Part 2). A German friend once told me that they are a very proud (in fact the most) race. I believed in his conviction.
Must be a great experience.
Awaiting your next post.
Auro.
Thanks for going thru the post & liking it. Next post hopefully by next week.
A good introduction to Mainz, Mahesh :-)
I would say a good trip to take with you, with some great photographs. BTW why the carnival fountain is known as the tower of fools. Any special reason ?
And who are sculpted in those picture of Rathhaus and in the last picture.
Will go through your latest post soon :-)
Dear Manish ,
Thanks for your kind words. Same question came to my mind also regarding the Carnival fountain , I asked couple of people but not able to get the proper reply due to language problem. got some information from the hotel people not not very sure how much it is correct, as per them it is to criticize the political unjustice.
The sculpture in Rataus are not specific one , expect mine :-)
I read this again and feel like visiting Europe. Never been there (except a work related visit to England) really. Thanks again for sharing.
Dear Nandan,
I am glad that you read this post again.
If you are going on holiday to Frankfurt, I can recommend visiting the Frankfurt Zoo. Its one of the oldest zoo’s in the world, being founded in 1858. Founded by citizens of the then fast growing city of Frankfurt. All buildings, except for the bear castle, were bombed to the basement, as was most of Frankfurt. After the Second World War the Zoo was slowly rebuilt. The zoo is limited in its possibilities of development in terms of space and funding, but it is still one of the most important zoos in Europe.
Thanks for the information !