Ulm Münster und Stadt Blaubeuren am Blautopf

Saturday we left our apartment and headed east for some sightseeing. We first went to the city of Ulm to see the Ulm Cathedral. It technically isn't a cathedral even though it is often referred to as such and is just as large as many cathedrals; it is just a church. It is famous for being the tallest church/cathedral in the world with the top of its spire reaching 161.53 meters (529.954 feet) into the air with 768 steps to the top. The church was originally started in 1377 mainly for the purpose of building a church inside the safety of the town walls. The other parish at the time was located outside the town's boundaries, which made attending church dangerous due to many wars going on at the time. Construction of the church stopped in 1543 when the (completely local) funding ran out and was not resumed again until the mid 1800s. The building, including the main steeple, was finally finished in 1890.

We went inside the church, but it was very dark, which made getting decent pictures difficult. It was another rainy overcast day, so good light was hard to come by. All the same, we enjoyed seeing the sculptural work and intricate stained glass windows.

Visitors can pay for the chance to climb the stairs to the top if they want. I had really wanted to do this, and I was pretty disappointed to learn that the stairs were closed after only 70 meters (not even half way!) due to the fact they were too icy after that point. We still climbed up to that point though. It probably was just as well we didn't go to the top anyway, since Austin seemed more than a little ready to be done with it all by the time we finished.

The stairs themselves were quite narrow (from what I understand though they are even more narrow at the very top) and most of them were wound in a tight spiral. In fact, I started to feel slightly dizzy on the way down from going around and around in a circle. Even from 70 meters, the view was spectacular. I would have loved to see it all the way from the top!

Austin & Nate at the first lookout point

Here is the view and the balcony from 70 meters.

After visiting the cathedral, we found a place to stop for lunch. Then we headed to a little town called Blaubeuren to see what is called the Blautopf (Blue Pot). The Blue Pot itself is goes down about 21 meters (69 feet) at its deepest point. There are a number of myths and folk tales concerning the Blue Pot itself, and the area seems to have quite a history. A monastery bathouse was build near the Blue Pot in 1510 that had a working heating system built under the floors, something that was quite an accomplishment at that time. Unfortunately for us though, the bathhouse museum was closed, as was pretty much everything else there. We were obviously visiting during the off-season.

Despite the rain, the waning daylight, and the cold wet conditions, I really enjoyed our time in the little town. I wish we could have been there longer. The Blue Pot was very picturesque, as were the few other things we saw in the area.

The building at the edge of the water is an old hammer-mill

Here is the old bath house, which is currently a (closed) museum.

We find it rather frustrating that we generally can't read most of the signs and other information at these places we are visiting. Our German is so limited, but most information is only presented in German. So, nearly all the information I have written here has been found from these places' online sites, often after translating it into English first, or from other online source.