June 22 Mainz, Germany

Last updated on September 6th, 2023 at 03:46 pm

Photos from Mainz
Video Summary of the Day

We woke up and the ship was docked in Mainz. Breakfast was a little hurried as Jovan, the program director, often announces the tour start earlier than the starting time listed in the Viking Daily.

Our tour, Mainz Walking tour and Gutenberg Museum began on the dock as the ship docked in town. We walked toward the center of the old part of city along the river bank.

Mainz is at the confluence of the Main and Rhine rivers, settled by the Romans in 39 BC as a military post. It was bombed heavily at the end of World War II by the British. Originally, the city of Mainz was on both sides of the Rhine River, but after World War II, the west side of river became part of the Rhineland-Palatinate region and remained the city of Mainz, with the east side part of Hesse region, and is home to a sizable US military base at Wiesbaden.

The Festival of St. John is happening in Mainz tomorrow (which also celebrates the birthday of Johannes Gutenberg) so preparations were everywhere – food and merchandise booths, stages, etc were in process. And we mean everywhere….in front and around the buildings that we wanted to see were booths for cotton candy, games of skill and chance, sausages, and souvenirs.

We walked toward the Mainzer Dom, or St. Martin cathedral. We walked along the left side of the cathedral and saw a mixture of construction styles, including the Staatstheater Mainz that had a large semicircular glass structure affixed to a much older building. The guide wasn’t sure that it was a good pairing.

We continued on to Cherry Square.  There we saw half-timbered buildings, fountains, lovely flowers and small pubs selling wines. There were more statues of bishops, a column from Roman days, flowers, and more temporary booths. We continued our walk around the cathedral, entering from the side.

St. Martin’s is one of the only three Romanesque imperial cathedrals to have survived almost intact to this day.  Its oldest parts date from the early 11th century, with the Gothic side chapels added during the 13th and 14th centuries. Looking much the same as the cathedral in Speyer with red sandstone, massive columns, beautiful stained-glass windows and paintings of scenes from Jesus’s life painted high on the walls. These paintings were added in the 19th century. The interior of this church was a little brighter than some, maybe because the interior walls appeared to be a lighter stone, maybe limestone. The windows were also brighter and bigger.

 The Gutenberg Museum is located on the side of the plaza in front of cathedral. We arrived a little early for our appointed time, allowing for a quick WC break. Gutenberg printed an estimated 200  Bibles, in 1454-5, at a time when approximately 95% of the population couldn’t read or write. Gutenberg was born to a wealthy family and could read and write. He borrowed a large sum of money from Johann Fust to bring his ideas to life, with the stipulation the money would be paid back in 3 years, which it wasn’t.  Fust sued and was awarded Gutenberg’s printing equipment and some of the Bibles. Little is known of Gutenberg’s private life, including his actual appearance. We do know that he went to Speyer before his first press was built to experiment with different metal combinations and molding techniques to advance his novel concept of movable type.

 We had a chance to look at a few of the exhibits briefly before it was our turn at the printing press. Each guide provided a demonstration of Gutenberg’s adaptation of printing to their individual group. Though the press used wasn’t the original, it was very much like the one he used in the 1450’s. Gutenberg adapted a wine press, using movable metal type inserted into a frame upside down and backwards. Our guide demonstrated the entire process, starting with the process to create each type mold, setting the type (backwards and upside down), and inking the block, before producing a printed copy of John, chapter 1.

The Bible was printed one page at a time, with a total of 1286 pages. The pages were delivered in a stack, in black print, with space left for hand drawn lettering and decorations. It was up to the purchaser to have it bound, usually into two volumes, Old and New Testaments. The bindings might have been wood, leather, some combination of the two, and enough gold leaf to reflect the stature of the purchaser.

  After the demonstration, we viewed 3 Bibles in the Treasures room. The first was handwritten by a monk, taking approximately 3 years to make. The other two were printed by Gutenberg, then hand lettered and decorated by two different people. One of the Bibles (both Old and New Testament volumes) were acquired by the City of Mainz for over 3 million deutsche marks. The other volume was the New Testament only.

We walked around the main city area near the cathedral, including to an art installation of brightly colored umbrellas hanging over a dining patio, as well as several shopping and dining areas.

The walking tour concluded with our guide giving information about things to see and do, directions, etc. It was a few minutes before 11 am, so we decided to visit the Gothic parish church, St Stephan-Kirche, built on the site of an edifice dating from the 10th century.

It was a little hike from the center of Mainz, and up and around several small alleys and up some inclines. Construction began mid-13th century and ran to the  end of the 15th century on this church. The original stained-glass windows in the presbytery, destroyed in World War II, were replaced by six new ones in 1978–81, designed and partly made by Marc Chagall. The church was bathed in the blue light from those windows and caused Alan to nearly gasp as we entered.

The church didn’t really look Gothic to Joyce with the massive romanesque style columns. The windows were beautiful with the variety of blue hues in the glass reflecting and refracting the light. The three windows behind the alter appeared to depict biblical scenes in an abstract way, using a variety of colors of glass sprinkled in with the predominant blue.

We walked back down the hill from St. Stephan’s, listening to junior high band students practice their instruments. It made Alan think back to the days at Talma Junior High, and wondering if the noises we made were any more pleasant!

We walked back through Cherry Square, down a street with small shops toward the Gutenberg Museum, through booths and stages being constructed for the festival tomorrow.

We found a lovely shaded area with a large fenced areas of flowers and benches. Joyce sat admiring the flowers and listening to musicians and they sang partial songs for sound checks. An amazing number of the songs were in English. Alan visited the Gutenberg Museum gift shop and found a couple of treasures, including a page of John 1 that was printed on the press demonstrated earlier.

We walked back to the ship a different way, following a woman that appeared to have several “lollipop” sticks protruding from her bag. The lollipops have a red circle at the top with the ship number and tour group letter, and are carried by the guides as we walk on tours. We were not disappointed, as she led us to the ship through a parking garage that we probably wouldn’t have entered on our own.

We ate lunch with Nancy and Matt from Portland, Maine. They were both retired teachers, Nancy having had a tenured position in History at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, and Matt as an Art History teacher of high schoolers.

After lunch, Joyce took some quiet time in our stateroom to relax and rest her legs as Alan went off on a walking adventure for a couple hours.  He started with some time for reflection, Bible reading, meditation and prayer at the St. Martin’s Cathedral. 

From there, he headed off toward some of the other points of interest highlighted on the Viking map.  That took him through the shopping district, shopping in a local grocery (but he didn’t bring money with him, so took only memories and pictures). 

Eventually he came to St. Peter’s Church.  It was a relatively small church, and only one other person was there.  But it may have been one of the most lavishly decorated, with lots of gold-plated objects and paintings across the walls and ceilings.  He continued toward the Electoral Palace, and then back down to the riverfront for the walk back to the boat through more carnival booths being set up.  Don’t worry, he just returned – after 15,600 steps! 🙂

Joyce attended the enrichment lecture: France and Germany. The lecturer spoke on the often complicated relationship of France and Germany, historically to the present. The lecture was interesting and thought provoking. Alan chose to nap as he had just returned from 2 hours of walking in the heat.

We attended the port talk to learn about our cruise through the Middle Rhine tomorrow morning. This is a part of the trip that is a repeat from our cruise in 2019, but it is a beautiful area and we are looking forward to seeing it again.

We ate dinner with Ron and Dorothy, which we ate with our first day on the ship. They are a delightful couple and easy to talk with.

After dinner we attended live music by a single violinist. She played music from around the world including a few pieces of her own.

The ship will remain in Mainz overnight, leaving at 7 am tomorrow morning

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Arrive in Mainz today in the heart of the Rhine wine region. Visit one of the Upper Rhine’s most dramatic cathedrals here: Mainz Cathedral, with its six towers reaching toward the heavens. Browse the Gutenberg Museum, dedicated to the inventor of movable type and book printing. The collection includes many beautiful books and fascinating printing technologies, including a replica of Gutenberg’s workshop.

Mainz Walking Tour and Gutenberg Museum

A SOARING CATHEDRAL AND AN INVENTION THAT CHANGED THE WORLD

Take a guided tour of a city that boasts more than 2,000 years of history. Walk with your guide through the picturesque streets of the Old Town, stopping to explore Mainz Cathedral. This soaring landmark is more than 1,000 years old. Marvel at its six magnificent towers and step inside, if services allow, to admire hundreds of years of religious works on display, as well as the tombs of powerful prince-archbishops of a bygone era. Stroll past medieval houses and storefronts to the Gutenberg Museum, dedicated to the inventor of movable type and book printing. Founded in 1900—500 years after the birth of Johannes Gutenberg—the museum features a fascinating exhibit that covers the history of the printed word. During your visit, you may browse its many beautiful books and fascinating printing technologies, including a replica of Gutenberg’s workshop.