Day 185 - Freising

Freising.

This weekend was my first cousin's (twice removed) confirmation. Confused?  Well so was I except that Angela was able to look it up. You see, my mother's brother, Uncle Walter, had a daughter, Marga, my first cousin. Marga had two sons, Sascha and Thorsten, who are also my first cousins but once removed. Sascha and his wife Andrea had Jonah and Lenardt who are my first cousins twice removed.

Now that it's clear, I can go on to explain that when Marga passed away and we attended her funeral in Germany, we made plans to return again to attend Jonah's confirmation in the south of Germany near Munich. We flew out of London Stansted airport to Munich and stayed in the town of Freising, near the Munich Airport. Freising is an old settlement having its origins in the early 8th century where St. Corbinian set up a shrine. Legend had it that he tamed a bear to carry his belongings over the Alps to this location. The town's coat of arms contains a saddled bear for just that reason.

Market Square

We were staying at the Munich Airport Marriott (although I think they changed its name to that because the Marriott Freising just doesn't resonate with anyone looking to stay near the airport) and we had rented a car for the weekend. While it wasn't that close to the airport, it was located in the centre of the town. So before we drove off to visit with my cousins, Angela and I decided to do a walk-about into the town square. The streets were cobble-stoned and the town houses multi-coloured ... it was quite enchanting. Colourful stalls were part of the market going on in the square and overhead rose the a grand cathedral known as the Dom.

Inside the Dom

The Dom is a romanesque basilica with two large spires and it lies upon the original site of a church that was constructed in or about the time St. Corbinian arrived. It was destroyed on Palm Sunday in 1159 and rebuilt. It's look today was due to a renovation of the cathedral in 1724 that marked its 1000 year anniversary. In the 17th century, Peter Paul Rubens, the famous painter, was commissioned to provide a work to be included in the high altar, but it was removed in advance of the Swedish Army who had invaded this part of Germany during the 30 Years War between the Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church. Bavaria has always been the centre of Catholicism in Germany. The interior of this cathedral was truly breathtaking, and is evidence that Freising once held a substantial place in the region.

German Beer of the Day - Original Helles, Weihenstephaner Brewery, Freising, Bavaria