This Romanesque church’s history can be summed as follows: fire, fire, fire, storm, war. It all began back in 960 A.D. when the foundation was laid over remnants of a Roman chapel. Scottish and Irish Benedictines were the main occupants until the 11th century, when local monks began moving in. In 1150, a fire swept […]
Archive | See RSS feed for this section
Römisch-Germanisches Museum der Stadt Köln
Usually archeological finds bore me after about ten minutes, but this museum has just the right amount of items to ooh and ahh at to keep things interesting. The 200 A.D. Dionysos Mosaic is the main draw. A million pieces of limestone, ceramics and glass covering 70 square meters originally adorned the banqueting hall of […]
Schokoladenmuseum Köln
The Imhoff-Stollwerck-Museum is the place to go if you love chocolate. Not only can you see how chocolate is made, you can’t take a step without a kind, kind employee sticking a sample in your face. The ground-floor exhibition, including a tiny rain forest-like garden, teaches viewers the history of chocolate through the past 3,000 […]
Cologne Dom
This massive Gothic cathedral can be seen from all points in Cologne. The first time I saw it was out a plane’s window, from which it looks truly unbelievable. For about five minutes, the 157-meter spires made this the tallest structure in the world. Then, the Eiffel Tower surpassed it. The Dom has an interesting […]
Museum Ludwig
Museum Ludwig satisfactorily provides all the modern art –isms under one roof: realism, surrealism, nouveau réalisme, abstract expressionism. The Ludwig has the third largest Picasso collection in the world, after Paris and Barcelona, and an impressive collection of American artists. You’ll see some of the more famous Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jasper Johns pieces […]
Kunsthaus Art Gallery
I don’t know if the Kunsthaus places so many sculptures outside its museum because it knows charging 30 CHF (much more than vastly superior museums like the Met, Louvre, National Gallery, etc.) is ridiculous or if they genuinely want to provide accessible art. Regardless, I grudgingly loved this Rodin. Inside, the permanent collection includes Alberto […]
Museum Strauhof
This small museum is housed in an 18th century residence and has four literary exhibitions every year. The current exhibit is – no surprise – “The Mysteries of Charles Dickens.” Of course, I had to see it. The exhibit is by far the weakest among the recent ones I’ve seen, but it contains a lot […]
Fraumünster
The Fraumünster has the most beautiful stained glass windows in Zürich, courtesy of Marc Chagall and Augusto Giacometti (cousin of Alberto). The Fraumünster’s history goes all the way back to 853, when King Ludwig gave his daughter Hildegard the convent and tower-less basilica which stood on this site. Like all new real estate owners, the […]
St. Peterskirche
This church boasts the largest clock face in Europe (8.7 meters in diameter, compared to Big Ben’s 6.9). The late Romanesque-Gothic tower contains five bells from the late-1800’s, the largest one weighing six tons. St. Peterskirche is the oldest church in Zürich, with origins back to the 900’s. The city’s first mayor, Rudolf Brun, acquired […]
The Grossmünster
In a city of churches, this one dominates the skyline. It’s fitting, since this church was the birthplace of the Swiss-German Reformation. In the 16th century, the Grossmünster’s minister, Huldrych Zwingli, transformed Zürich into an important religious center by spreading his humanist ideas. Zwingli based his philosophy on that of Erasmus, and eventually began rebelling […]
