| Power & Pleasure 10th - 13th May 2012
A City Safari walking tour of Mainz and Wiesbaden led by Sue Constable - 3 nights from £380 Click to download full details and a booking form |
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Theodor Heuss Brücke, Mainz |
Two towns, two states and 2000 years of history will be explored on this trip. Separated by the river Rhine the two towns both have Roman antecedents, but have developed in different ways. From 1619 to 1918 Mainz was a fortress and garrison town and the presence of the military and the extensive fortifications shaped the life of the Mainzer population. We will start our exploration by looking at the medieval core of the town and the 18th and 19th developments. In the afternoon we will explore Mombach where the Waggonfabrik Gebrüder Gastell was making railway carriages from 1845 (which is interesting because that was some 14 years before the arrival of the first railway in the town) and where the Schmal boiler and pressure vessel producer was founded. |
| On Saturday it's over the river to Wiesbaden to see where visitors enjoyed themselves in the spa and casino and to get a view of the town from the top of the Nerobergbahn cliff railway. And who would want to miss the flamboyant neo-baroque of Fritz Klingholz's railway station which once welcomed Kaiser Wilhelm II at his own specially built platform? To round off the day we'll return to Mainz to visit the oldest printing museum, restored and extended on the 600th anniversary of Gutenberg´s birth with a beautifully displayed example of the famous bible. Sunday will see us taking to higher ground to see more of the defences mentioned earlier and how important was the protection of the confluence of the Main and Rhine. |
The Nerobergbahn, Wiesbaden |
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Mainz is situated in one of the major wine producing areas and we plan to include a visit to the cellars of an old established producer of sekt
and perhaps sample a glass or two.
We plan to go to a Hausbrauerei for our introductory meal on the Thursday evening
with enormous portions of good German pub food perhaps washed down
with a metre of beer!. Click to download full details and a booking form |
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