| Show ATE S 11 r V P S A DInkels buhl parade prepared by Nt national ional geographic society So cloty wash washington i mgt 0 n U D C service quaint bavarian D town Is donning holiday attire this summer it will celebrate brate the three hundredth anniversary niver sary of 0 the raising of the siege of kin king g gustavus adolphus swedish army during the thirty years war Dinkels buhl la Is one of bajarias Ba varias medieval gems visitors to bavaria however have heeded the call of its larger sister communities nuremberg rothenburg Kot henburg and Nord lingen but have passed Dinkels buhl by approaching Dinkels buhl from across the lovely valley through which the tiny carries its waters to the rushing danube the traveler beholds a living fairy airy tale town a vision from the long gone middle ages crossing a bridge over the broad llly illy padded moat which was once the cites first line of defense and entering through one of the tower gates it would occasion little surprise to be challenged brusquely by some ancient sentinel in helmet and coat of mall however once within the town the traveler finds a fascinating picture of serenity th urge for speed has not reached Dinkels buhl streets still echo to the clatter and clump of horses and oxen oen people live placidly farming the fertile fields of the surrounding valley or conducting the same small enterprises which engaged the attention of generations of their forbears there Is no air of dilapidation about tho the place everything Is incredibly old but extremely well preserved tradition Is hallowed and kept alive here and changes that would alter the medieval characteristics of the city are not tolerated the council sees to it that when repairs have hatt to be made on the houses they are carried out in such a manner as to preserve the original form and no shrieking signs may be displayed the main streets of the city radiate toward the cardinal points from a central plaza and are lined with shops and with fine old patrician houses time mellowed buildings gabled and timbered rest cozily coolly against each other while occasionally an architectural giant rears its steep sided roof above the others proclaiming to all comers its sturdy old age branching off from the main thoroughfare are narrow winding lanes find and side streets which abound in treasures of medieval artistry exquisite examples of frame and stucco building intricate hand forged iron rails and gratings and beautiful secluded courts and gardens await av alt the explorer of these enchant enchanting ln byways ays old trades survive trades that are dying out in other places still exist in coopers make barrels by hand in the open air coppersmiths hammer out pots and kettles bilking baking tins and other utensils for copper in the kitchen Is still held in high esteem in the small cities and in country districts and one of the few surviving sun sur vINIng iv ing pewter molders still plies piles his trade here everywhere hanging over the doorways are wonderfully executed wrought iron signs indicative of the activities carried on within one might infer that nt at some time in dinkels buhls history the guild of smiths was a power within the alio town at any rate the signs lend to the streets over which they swing n note of peculiar interest As in so ho many south german towns the houses tire are for the most part gaily palli painted ted the bolor combinations are perhaps a bit startling but they are always effective and flowers vie for color supremacy with the brightly tinted houses no nook or cranny where a plant might grow has been overlooked masses of vines cover the garden walls while nearly every house has its window boxes filled with petunias pet unias geraniums and other gay blooms wells and fountains are ringed about with the same living colors overshadowing the market place as aa indeed it overshadows everything else in the city Is the church of saint george built during the latter part of the fifteenth century when dinkels buhl was at the height of its influence to the inhabitants it represents something more than a place of worship it Is an expression of all the civic pride and aspirations of the sturdy old burghers who directed its erection and right well they succeeded for saint georges Is perhaps the finest late gothic church in south ern germany the design and execution of tile the structure were placed in the able hands handi of the master architect nikolaus beseler yon von alzey at the same time that lie he received this commission the city fathers of nearby near by Nord lingen engaged him to build their thedral cathedral ca but Nord lingers had just reason to complain of their bargain tor for they saw little of 0 the great artist ills his heart was in the work at dinkels buhl bubl and there he spent most of his time saint georges was under construction st for nearly halt half a century and when the time came to build the great tower planned for it funds were not available the masters vision was wall never completely realized but the stamp of his greatness abides in the interior with its soaring arched ceiling was founded long before tile the normans conquered england more afore than a thousand years ago a group of peasant warriors had settled on an elevation in the bornitz valley there when not engaged in fighting tor for their existence against raiding franks or magyars magyari Magy ars they raised grain about the year at the command of emperor heinrich the first walls were erected around the tiny settlement and there came into being a fortified city destined to withstand the strafes and intrigues of a millennium and to play an important role in the pageant of history which those ten centuries were to unfold origin of cites name there Is division of opinion as to the origin of the cites name some authorities claim the early Fran conlan settlement was on a low hill buhel belonging to a man named dinko or tinko thus Dinkels buhl others assert that the chief crop of the locality gave the city its name and that it means wheat dinkel hill buhel however the city came by its name it prospered the location was a favored one easy of defense and on a much frequented route from the old roman empire into germaey Germ auy As a well fortified city Dinkels bubl offered safety for travelers and became a popular stopping place tor for those who traversed the roman road from the beginning it belonged to the imperial family and its government passed by gift or grant or sale to various south german nobles the famous frederick barbarossa intended at one time to give the city as a wedding present to ills his son konrad duke duka of rothenburg Rother iburg but his plans miscarried and nearly two centuries later in 1 1351 emperor karl IV granted it as an hereditary feudal tenure to the prince of oettingen Oett ingen ngen that same year the citizens bought the nob lemans rights from him in perpetuity and began its career as a free city many of the emperors of the holy roman empire visited Dinkels buhl and whenever one ona came there was a ceremonious reception on the market square at which the council presented to tile the emperor and his entourage the customary gifts what wha t these amounted to Is shown by a record re cord in tile the municipal archives dealing with a visit of emperor maximilian II 11 on june 12 1570 the have been known for centuries as die Blau the blue cookers A favorite method of serving carp trout arid and certain other fish in germany Is blue cooked that Is boiled in water to which a I 1 little vinegar his has been added the process Is called blaus leden teden and those who do the blue boiling are Blau in the early middle ages the authorities of succeeded in catching a robber and murderer who had been carrying on his gruesome occupation for a long time A special session of the council was called ona on a hot summer afternoon to decide what punishment to mete out to him one of the councilmen who was a trifle deaf went to sleep during the debate and dreamed that his cook was about to prepare a fine carp for him when the time came for him bim to vote on the question before the council a fellow member poked him in the ribs and asked I II annea lannes what do you say we shall do with our robber hatinen Ha tines rudely awakened from ills hid dream thought it was his cook asking about tho the carp Blaus leden ledent 1 doll boll him blue he answered |
