First day riding - depart Eisenach and bike to Wechmar and then onto Ohrdruf

Eisenach to Gotha to Ohrdruf 

Cycling along the banks of the Hörsel River which flows along the northern edge of the Thuringian Forest in central Germany, we made our way to Gotha, where we stopped to tour the early-modern Friedenstein Castle, one of the largest Renaissance/Baroque and first castles in Germany.

Friedenstein Palace (it's good to be the Duke)

While at the Palace we refreshed both body and soul. We ate a simple, yet quite tasty lunch while listening to a Bach Passion, parts of which were ultimately incorporated into his famous St. John's Passion BWV 245. 

There is evidence of only two Bach visits to Gotha in his lifetime; once in 1711 and again in spring of 1717 where he performed, for the first time, a Passion on Good Friday, March 26 at the Friedenstein Palace. It was quite thrilling inhabiting the very same space that Bach himself had 301 years ago and listening to the glorious music he composed and performed there!

After a short ride through lush fields of rye, we arrived at Wechmar, a small town about 10km southeast of Gotha. Wechmar is known as - the the "Home of the founding fathers of the Bach musical family" - the Bach ancestral home.

Bach Family Tree

In 1735 J.S. Bach himself wrote these words in the opening of Origin of the Musical Bach Family, the genealogy of the Bach dynasty: "No. 1. Veit Bach, a white-bread baker...settled at Wechmar, near Gotha, and continued his baker's trade there. He found his greatest pleasure in a little cittern (a stringed instrument similar to a lute), which he took with him even into the milland played upon while the grinding was going on...and this was, as it were, the beginning of a musical inclination in his descendants" (NRB, no. 303).

Veit was J.S. Bach's great-great grandfather. We visited the house, in existence since 1571, and the mill. There remain a few original remnants of both structures and both are now museums. 

Veit Bach House (now the Wechmar Bach Museum)

Yesterday was very busy - all ride participants arrived at hotel, we selected our bikes and helmets, received brief instructions on how to operate the bikes (really?) and then set out on a whirlwind tour of significant Bach-related sites throughout Eisenach.

Some of the highlights are featured below:

Bach's Birthplace - or so it was thought for many years. However, historians now believe that the Bachhaus (below) was not, in fact, the house were he was born on March 21, 1685 and lived until 1695. He most likely lived close by the Bachhaus but because of frequent house numbering changes as the town grew, what had long been orignially thought to be the actual house, and is now the official Bachhaus museum, was not. However, the museum is chock full of authentic Bach artifacts, including historic instruments.


Bach attended the St. George's Latin School, the same school that Martin Luther attended nearly two centuries earlier - 1498 and 1501. Martin Luther returned to Eisenach (1521/22) to take refuge in the Wartburg Castle where, in just eleven weeks, he translated the New Testament from Greek into German, crea­ting not only a best­seller but also the found­ation of written German.


Extant records strongly suggest that Bach was, at best, a middling student.

Entrance to St. George's Latin School (note plaques on either side of door)

Both Luther and Bach sang in the St. George's Church choir as a students. For more than 132 years members of Johann Sebastian Bach’s family made music on the organ bench of this baptistery.

One of the sublime highlights of the afternoon occurred when we visited the enclosed park at the rear of the St. George's Latin School. Our tour guides played a composition, Meine Freundin, du bist schön  (click here to listen) by Johann Christoph Bach, the organist and composer at St. George's (not to be confused with Johann Sebastin's brother, he was actually J.S. Bach's first cousin, once removed). Sebastian Bach described him in his Genealogy (1735) as "the profound composer", clearly indicating the high esteem in which he was held, both within the Bach family and throughout Germany. Sitting there, listening to music composed by one of his relatives, the organist at the church during J.S. Bach's time there, imagining the young Bach playing with his classmates in the very spot where we sat, was thrilling!

Actual Baptismal font in which J.S. Bach was baptized on March 23, 1685

Actual Baptismal font in which J.S. Bach was baptized on March 23, 1685

J.S. Bach Statue in front of the Bachhaus Museum in Eisenach

Day One of the Bach Immersion Tour

Last night I had dinner at an outdoor cafe in central Eisnach - bratwurst and sauerkraut. I think I can check eating traditional German food off my list. Although the local beer was quite tasty!

Upon checking into my hotel room it took me a few minutes to figure out how to activate all of the electrical appliances - lights, tv, etc.  And, I think it is quite clever and ecologically sound!  The hotel key comes attach to a small plastic card which must be inserted into a device, very similar to a credit card swipe device installed on the wall near the room entrance. Once inserted all the electrical devices are activated. When you exit the room and remove your key from the device all the appliances are automatically shut off.

Meeting as a group this afternoon at 1:00; until then, I am free to explore Eisnach on my own.

I’m really anxious about what to wear today as I really want my new friends to like me. Anyone know what central Germany sightseeing/biking chic is?

 

ARRIVED IN EISENACH

Train connection from Frankfurt Airport and the 2 hour ride northeast to Eisenach went smoothly. The walk from the train station was further than it looked on the map only (about 1/8 inch on map), especially since I was pulling my way overpacked suitcase and it was uphill. I'm already exhausted and haven't even seen, much less ridden my bike.

Proof of life photo below:

Train Station Destination Sign

Cleared the first hurdle! I was able to bend down and re-tie my shoes after passing through security. It was neither pretty nor quick but with assistance from three TSA workers and the elderly woman in a wheelchair I made it. 

T minus1 and Counting

Boston to Frankfurt - approximately 3,667 miles in 7 hours. Haven't begun yet and I'm already counting how many miles and minutes remain.

When I look at this image it doesn't seem all that daunting!

I wonder if Pop ever flew over or maybe even bombed Frankfurt? The Allies of World War II killed about 5,500 residents and destroyed the largest medieval city center in Germany. The Eighth Air Force dropped 12,197 TONS of explosives in the city.

BACHBYBIKE - JUNE 2018

Heading out to Bach country on Thursday.  Flying into Frankfurt and then taking the train down to Eisenach, the town where Johann Sebastian Bach was born in 1685. During the 65 years he lived, he created some of the world's greatest musical compositions as well as 20 children, by two wives.

Along with 13-14 other people, including two American couples, I will bike through various small towns alongside numerous rivers through the Thuringian forest, while we wend our way towards Leipzig, to the annual Bach Music Festival. Along the way, we will visit many Bach sites - where he, and many of his musically gifted relatives, lived, worked, and created music that endures and inspires to this day. We will also hear his music played on one of the many organs that he actually built, listen to numerous compositions in the halls where they were first performed, and visit sites that he himself visited!

This might not "float your boat" but it's pretty exciting for me. Click here to listen to music that has been thrilling audiences for centuries - including our own. This composition has been used in more than a dozen films - from Disney's Fantasia to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Martin Scorsese's The Aviator".