Wednesday, June 15, 2011

CHURCH-ing BONN

Kirsche is the German word for church, and there are lots of old kirsches in Germany. Old as in almost ancient. And as in every travel and shoots, here are some and the more famous churches of Bonn.


[1] The Cathedral of St. Martin traces its history back in Roman times as a pagan place of worship and burial ground. Christianity claimed the site in 400 AD when a church was built over the graves of the martyred Roman soldiers Cassius and Florentius. This church was replaced by what is now the cathedral that was started to be erected in 1248. Two king were crowned in the cathedral namely Frederick the Handsome in 1314 and Charles IV in 1346. Elevated as a Basilica Minor in 1956, the cathedral is Bonn's main Catholic church and city landmark.


[2] The font where Beethoven was baptized in December 17, 1770 can bee seen in this church including remnants of the church organ he used to play as a 10-year old. St. Remigius Church was first built in 1276 and after enduring centuries of wars and calamities, it was demolished in 1806. The parish of St. Remegius was then relocated to the current church that was heavily damaged in the aerial bombardment of Germany in 1944, and underwent renovation in 1949. 


[3] Following the rebuilding of the Residence Palace after being gutted by fire in 1779, its Palace Church was relocated its present site where the young Beethoven received music lessons and where he later had his first job as organist when he was only 14 years old. 


[4] I took this snapshot of an unidentified church after crossing the Rhine River on our way to Konigswinter.

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