Views from high places

A super slow start before we ventured out a little before midday.  First stop was Ulm Minster, where we arrived exactly at 12noon to the sounds of bells tolling.  We couldn’t enter the church as there was an organ recital in progress, which we could hear as we bought our tickets to climb the steeple.  This involved 768 steps up to the viewing platform just over 100 metres from ground level where there were sensational panaromic views across Ulm and towards the alps. It was super windy at the top, and Si stopped at the platform below.  Fortunately the structure of the staircase included a vertical handrail to assist with ascent and descent.  

Taking over 200 years to build, Ulm Minster is not a cathedral but is the largest Protestant church in German.  The interior of the Minster was also impressive , with its massive organ and beautiful stained glass windows.  

Our Airbnb host had recommended Gerberhaus near the fishermen’s quarter for its tasty regional cuisine and we found a seat outside.  We ordered two local specialties – Lentils with ‘spatzle’ (Swabian pasta) with sausages and bacon and stuffed meat pockets with mushroom-onion ragout and mountain cheese. The servings were enormous and very tasty. 

We explored the fishermen’s quarter with its beautifully restored medieval buildings lining the two branches of the Blau River which flowed into the Danube. Many of the buildings had their foundations in the water and have subsided over time, giving them a definite tilt.  The most prominent of these was the ‘Crooked House’, officially the most crooked hotel in the world. From the front it didn’t look too bad, but viewed from the side and rear, the building had a definite lean. 

At the edge of the quarter we found the city wall which was built in 1480 to protect the city.  We followed it as it made its way along the Danube with glimpses of the Ulm Minster steeple and past the butcher’s tower, a city gate built in 1340.  It has also been impacted by subsoil subsidence so that the tower is inclined 2.05 metres to the northwest, corresponding to a slope of 3.3 degrees, in comparison, the Leaning Tower of Pisa has a lean of 3.97 degrees.  It didn’t look too bad from where we were standing, but there seemed to be a lot of wires holding it in place.  

The wall continued through the rose garden and onto Berblinger tower.  Named after the Ulm tailor, Albrecht Ludwig Burblinger, the tower was erected to mark the aviation pioneer’s 250th birthday. Burblinger was thwarted in his attempt to glide across the Danube with a homemade flying machine in 1811 due to downdrafts and plunged into the river. He was ridiculed for the failure and later died destitute, however, his glider was later tested and would have worked had he tested his flying machine under different conditions.   

A circular staircase climbs 20 metres to the spot where Berblinger took his doomed flight.  It has a 10% incline and is designed to wobble slightly.  As it was windy, it seemed to be wobbling a lot and Simon stayed on the ground whilst I climbed the 80 stairs, noting that they were all slightly different.  The views from the top were worth the effort though it was too windy to linger long.  Close to the Berblinger Tower was a sculpture of large scissors.

We returned to the city centre via the Ulm Town Hall built in 1370 and decorated with striking Renaissance murals. Its famous astronomical clock was added in 1520.  We spent some time trying to work out how to read the clock noting that it displayed the hour, zodiac sign, position of the sun, phases of the moon and the seasons.  

Near the Minster was a fountain featuring St George and the Dragon who also featured on an adjacent building.  The skies continued to look ominous and we decided it was time to find a supermarket for light dinner provisions and make our way back to the apartment, fortunately arriving just before it started to rain heavily.