Worms, Germany

Worms was one of the earliest trips we took from Germany.  We went not really knowing much about the town, other than the fact that Martin Luther was brought before the Imperial Diet of Worms here, where the famous words "Here I stand, I can do no other" were uttered.

We were pleasantly surprised by the town's many other treasures.  It is one of the oldest in Germany, proudly dating back almost 2,000 years.

We stopped by a travel office, where we got a free map (I actually found the PDF version online here), and set out on our own little walking tour to see the sites.

One of the first, and most prominent, ones we saw was the Imperial Cathedral of St. Peter.  It was larger than any photo can express, but I will retype the description from our map here:

"Imperial Cathedral of St. Peter, twin-choired structure with four towers and two domes, erected in the 11th and 12th centuries, representing church and state of the High Middle Ages.  Rich ornamental decoration, especailly at the monumental East Choir and the magnificently organized West Choir which completed the construction around 1200.  The main entrance was by the Imperial Door on the norther side (the place of the "Quarrel of the Queens" in the Nibelungen Lied).  Today's entrance is by the Gothic South Door (late 13th century), displaying a remarkable pictorial bible in stone."

     

From the church, we walked on behind it through the gardens, past the library and the fountain, walking towards the Luther monument.

  

We came to the Luther monument, and walked through it, reading the inscriptions.  An except from our map:

"The Luther Monument, portraying through figures and emblems the striving for ecclesiastic reform, the period of the Reformation, and the Luther Diet of Worms in 1521.  Design by Ernst Rietschel, unveiled in 1868."

From there, we proceeded on our own self-guided tour, taking in more sites, to include:

"Magnus Church, on Weckerlingplatz, originally a Carolingian one-room structure of the 8th/9th century, later extended."

"The town wall, mentioned already before 900 A.D., in large part still preserved."

  "Jew's Street (Judengasse) and Synagogue: flourishing Jewish community since the 11th century.  Rashi Jeshiwa (1624), ritual bath (1185/86), and Rashi House (Jewish Museum and city archive)"