For several years, our oldest son, Jason, had been applying for a work position in Germany. As you may know he accepted one and moved the family to Wiesbaden -Mainz about 14 months ago. While we have visited a couple of times previously, here we are again enjoying their hospitality and getting to visit with our two grand girls.
At the Fountain in the City CenterThere was NO way I was buying this Steiff Bear!Channelling MeridaPlugged in for entertainment
This visit was particularly enjoyable as we got to attend the oldest Banshee’s 8th birthday party.
This year’s party was at a place called Clip ‘n Climb an indoor climbing arena for ages 4 and over. Banshee #1 invited 5 or 6 of her school mates to the party – several who had previously been to this place and were well versed in how things worked. Banshee #2, being just 4, found things to do but didn’t scale the heights as her sister did.
That’s Banshee #1 at the top!Birthday Girl working her way upIt looks so easy, G’Pa!All the way to the top!The Party gets some instruction on climbing.Banshee #2 working the blocks.
Cake, pizza, a chocolate #8 and slushies were enjoyed by all for a fun afternoon birthday.
Everyone had a great time and lots of cake and pizza
The next day, we piled into two cars and headed out to Hof Schauferts. This is an organic farm with a brewery and restaurant. Our visit was timed for lunch, which was quite enjoyable sitting outside with a lively breeze blowing. Visits to the pigs and pony were fun as well as a quick walk around the place. We didn’t find the brewery but we all sampled beer for lunch.
One day, Terri (daughter-in-law), Janeen and I went for lunch along the river. Mainz is right at the confluence of the Main and Rhine Rivers – and clearly a spot where the river has been vital to the development of the community. We had actually been to Mainz before on a River Cruise but it has been several years ago since that trip. After lunch, I decided to walk home and found this memorial to the almost 500-year-old tradition of rafting on the river. Rafting along the river was not easy taking a lot of stamina and self-confidence.
The last raft trip took place in 1964 but it is clear that rafters have left their mark along the shore over the centuries.
One day we made cookies – and of course had to sample the dough
Our visit was only 10 days or so but it is always wonderful to see our grand kids in their space and see how they have grown since we last saw them.
We are now back in Virginia so no blogs for a while – Alaska in August is coming!
While our grandchildren are in school, we continue to explore some of the cultural resources of the city. Today we are going to the Landes Museum – also called the Mainz State Museum. It is a museum of cultural history and is located right in the center of Mainz. The baroque building was originally a horse stable and later became a modern glass and steel structure with an inner courtyard designed for presentations or relaxation. Not only is it home to one of the most important collections on cultural history in the state of Rhineland‑Palatinate, it also opens up for a range of cultural events.
The Mainz MuseumJaneen and David at entrance to Museum
The extensive collection on the history of art and culture extending from the beginnings of culture to modern art. The collection clearly reflects the varied aspects of cultural and social history over the millennia in a unique way.
Mainz was founded by the Romans in the 1st century BCE as a military fortress on the northernmost frontier of the empire and provincial capital of Germania Superior. It became an important city in the 8th century CE as part of the Holy Roman Empire and was the site of the Electorate of Mainz and seat of the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, the Primate of Germany.
This early history is represented in the Museum by a series of eight full-figure sandstone reliefs representing the seven electors and the Roman-German king. These were originally on the external building of the Kaufhaus am Brand, which was completed in 1317 in the center of Mainz.
Johannes von NepomukKassel portrait Christian Carl von Closen on HaidburgLorenzo di Credi Florenz 1459-1537 FlorenzMainz writing cabinetThe baby Jesus crowns St. Joseph,
Once again, we had a museum almost to ourselves – yes at the beginning there was a school group but they left soon after our arrival.
Two pairs of figures (love couples) from the house Korbgasse 8 in Mainz, around 1320/1340 Yellow sandstone with traces of old version According to the sources, these “love couples” were located in 1905 on the facade or courtyard side of a Mainz patrician house in Korbgasse No. 8. Originally, they probably served as jewelry for window sills.
The collections showcase: Prehistory, Roman times, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque period, graphics from the 16th to the 20th century, Dutch painting, 18th-century porcelain, 19th-century painting, Judaica, city history, Art Nouveau glass and modern art.
There are numerous temporary exhibitions on art, culture and history, including contemporary history, that complement the extensive collection.
We wandered through the Museum discovering new areas as we went along. As we are not German speaking tourists, we had to use our cellphone for translations of the descriptions around the artwork.
Bernhard Kraus Offenbach 1867-1935 Mainz fountain of youth, before 1918 glass mosaic, partly painted, lead glazing The motif of the fountain of youth fits perfectly into the time of Art Nouveau with its longings for the origins and the designs of social utopias.
Time to say goodbye. The memorial head wants to go home. Once this bronze stood on an altar in honor of a deceased king in the Kingdom of Benin in today’s Nigeria. The memorial head is one of the estimated over 4,000 brass and ivory works that British colonial troops robbed during the conquest of the Royal Palace in February 1897. Via Lagos, Berlin and Stuttgart, the bronze came to Mainz in the collection of Johannes Gutenberg University in 1971. Since 2020, the memorial head has been waiting to return to Nigeria. Time to say goodbye!
Once we had explored most of the museum, we stopped into the Café for a quick lunch and of course the gift shop for appropriate souvenirs of our visit. Once we were back at the Lee’s home, we relaxed and started preparations for the Clip&Climb birthday festivities on Saturday celebrating first grandgirl’s eighth.
We all take for granted the printed word – books, magazines, newspapers and all those other printed things. However, the ability to create multiple copies of a book was extremely difficult and time consuming.
Books were so valuable they were often changed to the table to prevent theft.A traveling book – you could hook this to your belt to take on the road.
Say you had a copy of a Bible, in the mid 1400’s, and you wanted to make a copy for a friend. Not any easy task. First you had to find a source for the paper (usually vellum as paper as we know it wasn’t around yet), ink and binding materials and then you had to get started on the copy.
A wax tablet made of wood and covered with a layer of wax. Using the stylus you could etch into the wax a message, drawing or something you want to remember. When you needed to ‘erase’ what you had, you used the other end to smooth off thee wax. An early a reusable and portable writing surface.
Once you found all the materials now you need to find a scribe. A scribe had to be familiar with the writing and how to use writing when making a copy of something. The scribe had to make sure that all the lines were straight and the letters were the same size in each book that they copied. It typically took a scribe as much as fifteen months to copy a Bible.
Here we are about to go into the Museum
So, along came a guy named Johannes Gutenberg. Born in Mainz Germany at the turn of the century, as in 1400, he developed a technique of moveable type that resulted in the creation of the printing press as we know it today. While he wasn’t actually the first to develop the technique, he was the first to make it a reasonable process. The Chinese had developed printing but their process involved carving all the letters out of wood or clay and with the vast number of characters required made the ‘alphabet’ several thousand pieces! Gutenberg only had 26 characters to deal with so, a much easier process.
Lots of different characters required for the Chinese printing process.
Gutenburg was a German craftsman and inventor and originated a method of printing from with movable type. One of the important things he invented was thought to have included the development of a metal alloythat could melt readily and cool quickly to form durable reusable type. He also created an oil-based ink that could be made sufficiently thick to adhere well to the metal type and transfer well to vellum or paper, and he created a new press.
Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It took over 6,000 of these to make the Gutenberg Bible.
He likely adapted his first press from those used in producing wine, oil, or paper, thus the ability to apply firm and even pressure to printing surfaces. None of these features existed in the European technique up to that time. Gutenberg’s printing press was considered a history-changing invention, making books widely accessible and ushering in an “information revolution.”
This is a recreation of what Gutenburg “might” have used as his press.Individual letters – both narrow and wide to make the printing even on each line.
One of the printings that he is most famous for is the Gutenberg Bible. The printing of this book contains 1,286 pages – with 300 pieces of unique types used in the printing and each page containing approximately 2,500 individual pieces of type. It is estimated to have taken three to five years to complete the entire print run of 180 Bibles and each book weighs an average of 14 pounds!
The fancy colors were all added after the printing was completed.The Bible was usually a two volume set.
Insofar as we were in Mainz, it seemed like the thing to do would be to visit the Gutenberg Museum. The Gutenberg Museum is one of the oldest museums of printing in the world and was created in 1900 – almost 500 years after he created the printing process.
A early example of a book about plantsThe use of color expanded quickly in printing.
The goal of the museum was to exhibit the writing and printing of as many different cultures as possible. Clearly, they have been successful with this as there are lots of interesting exhibits to see and discover along with a number of printing presses including one that is thought to be a recreation of the original press he used in the 1400’s.
There were a number of printing presses on display – some in operation, others just for show. A demonstration of the original printing press was done periodically during the day.
There are no know actual paintings of Gutenberg – this one depicts him as a magician.
A Book Chair at the entrance to the MuseumStatue of Gutenberg in the old town square
So, if you haven’t figured it out we are now in Germany. Specially we are staying with our son and his family in Mainz – Wiesbaden. This is our final port of call on our current adventure and we will be here for a week or so. However, our adventure has included learning about Gutenberg’s life, the printing process and visiting this very enjoyable Museum. If you are in Mainz, I would urge you to stop in. If you have, please make a comment and share your experience too.
