I stayed in Mainz for Christmas, from 22 to 28 December 2021. While there I visited the Christmas market, Cathedral, Gutenberg Museum, and several other sites.
Christmas market in Mainz.Rococo style altar inside of Augustinerkirche (or the “Church of St. Augustine”) in Mainz.Mahnmal der Deutschen Einheit (“German Unity Memorial”), which was created in 1961 AD and is dedicated to the unification of German territories held before the war (including cities now located in Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast).Christmas market Glühwein bar with decorative top in front of Mainzer Dom (“Mainz Cathedral”).Building that is now part of the Gutenberg Museum that covers the history of printing; Johannes Gutenberg (1400-1468 AD) – who invented the moveable type printing press – was born and died in Mainz.An early example of a travelogue – ‘Report and Guide to a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land’ by Bernhard von Breydenbach (1486 AD); this fold-out page depicts Venice as it was then, during his pilgrimage.Page from a medical handbook created by Johannes de Ketham (1491 AD) that shows the most common types of injuries that would befall a man back then.Agricultural guidebook that was originally written by Petrus de Crescentiis (1230/33-1320/21 AD), but published in this edition in 1512 AD; these pages explain the stages involved in wine production.‘Instructions for the Preparation of Medication’ by Hieronymus Brunschwig (1512 AD); these pages explain the receptacles and equipment required for distillation.Map of Frankfurt, made by Matthaeus Merian in 1646 AD.Girdle book from the 16th-century AD, which could be tied or fastened to a person’s belt so that they could easily carry it with them for daily reading.Depiction of Vitis vinifera flowers and fruit.‘Constellations of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres’ by the Office of Ibrahim Müteferrika in Constantinople (1730 AD).The first ever known logo of a company [printing block (L) and resulting print (R)], which shows a hare kissing an oversized needle – from the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD).‘Artikulation’ by György Ligeti (originally composed in 1958, this scorebook was printed in 1984 AD).Heavy-duty spindle press (19th-century AD).Clear watermark from Germany (18th-century AD).My favorite nighttime reading – modeled after book boxes that were popular in the late 19th-century AD.Recreated Gutenberg press inside the museum.View of Mainz Cathedral from the surrounding Christmas market.Another view of Mainz Cathedral.Weihnachtspyramide (“Christmas pyramid”) in the Christmas market in Mainz.Nativity scene in the Christmas market.Christmas market stalls in Marktplatz in Mainz.50 degrees north latitude marked on Gutenbergplatz in Mainz.Mainz State Theater.Statue of Johannes Gutenberg.Christmas pyramid in Mainz.Old buildings in Marktplatz in Mainz.Mainz Cathedral, seen from Marktplatz.Another view of the colorful buildings at Marktplatz.Marktbrunnen – a Renaissance fountain at Marktplatz.Nagelsäule – an oak column that was erected in 1916 AD and decorated with nails donated by locals as a World War I fundraiser.Statue in a garden along the Rhine in Mainz.Wood Tower – named so because wood used to be piled next to it on the bank of the Rhine; it’s present form dates back to the 15th-century AD.Remains of a Roman theater in Mainz.Another view of the Roman theater.Wall that is part of the Mainz Citadel.Entrance to the Mainz Citadel.Half-timbered buildings at Kirschgarten in Mainz.Northern end of Augustinerstraße.Neubrunnenplatz.Statue of a drinking man in Mainz.Cloister courtyard next to St. Stephan’s Church in Mainz.Vaulted ceiling inside the cloister.Interior of St. Stephan’s Church – the current church was built in 1340 AD, but it was heavily repaired after Allied bombing during World War II.Stained glass windows created by Marc Chagall inside St. Stephan’s Church.Another view of the cloister courtyard at St. Stephan’s Church.Looking up at the central tower of Mainz Cathedral.Interior of Mainz Cathedral, which dates back to the late 10th-century AD.Altar inside the Cathedral.Another view of the interior of Mainz Cathedral.Sculpture reminding us of what is to come: a dead man’s party – who could ask for more?Nativity scene in Mainz Cathedral.Monument at Kurfürstenbrunnen.Walkway alongside the Rhine in Mainz.Christuskirche (“Christ Church”), an Evangelical church that was built in 1903 AD.Interior of Christuskirche.
