November 1, 2012
It's All Saints Day, and in Germany, and this is a holiday. The shops and restaurants are all closed!!! However, we arrived this morning in Mainz. During World War II, more than 30 air raids destroyed about 80% of the city's center including most of the historic buildings. Although there was some damage to the Mainz Cathedral (Dom), it remained almost completely intact.
Mainz was captured on March 22, 1945, by part of the U.S. Third Army, commanded by General George S. Patton, Jr. Patton used this strategic gateway to cross the Rhine south of Mainz to drive down the Danube toward what is now the Czech Republic so that German elements in Bavaria would be cut off and would not have a place to retreat and end the fighting.
Some of the staff at the Gutenberg Museum allowed us to go to through this incredible facility. -Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz, and at the museum we saw an original 42-line Gutenbeg Bible. We also saw the moveable-type printing press that Gutenberg invented and actually saw a page printed on it.
We returned to the ship for lunch, and then took a short drive to Heidelberg. We had been to this beautiful university city a number of years ago and had visited the Heidelberg Castle and ruins. This time, we opted to just roam the streets. Although most of the shops were closed, the streets were bustling with students and tourists who were taking a long weekend. What a great place to sit in a cafe with either a local beer or coffee and people-watch the afternoon away.
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