Füssen (7/1/2019)

Monday, July 1, 2019 (continued)

Okay, without thinking we set the GPS for Füssen, when I had planned a different route so that we would not retrace our steps. We passed through Steingaden; why did that sound so familiar? We were supposed to do that route tomorrow!
Füssen is where the Romantische Straße/Romantic Road (between Würzburg and Füssen linking a number of picturesque towns and castles) meets the Alpenstraße/Alpine Road (between the Bodensee/Lake Constance and Königssee/King's Lake through the Bavarian foothills of the Alps). The two road also intersect here with the Via Claudia Augusta, an ancient Roman road that linked the Po River (in Italy) to the Danube in Rhaetia/Augsburg.

Sieben Steine Brunnen/Seven Stones Fountain (1995, by Christian Tobin)
with nodding/spinning heads powered by water

Hotel Hirsch (1904, by Rudolf Leinweber
in Art Nouveau style)

City wall and tower (c 1515)

Grave marker of Domenico Quaglio who
decorated the walls of Hohenschwangau castle in 1835;
in Alte Friedhof/Historic Cemetery of St Sebastian (16C)

Statue of hand of God holding a fetus in
remembrance of babies who died before being born

At a certain spot we were to have a view over
the medieval town with an Alpine backdrop

Due to the lush green growth, they had to provide a photo of the view

Farther along we did get a good view

Franziskanerklosterkirche/Franciscan Monastery
Church (1763-1767, likely by Franz Karl Fischer),
was a Baroque surprise

On the other side of the church was the Ende der
romantischen Strasse/End of the Romantic Road

Rain barrel

The milky white Lech River as seen from the flood zone
where bleachers of linen, rafters, and fishermen lived

Rafters took goods from Italy and floated them down to Augsburg, there selling the logs of the raft as well.

Birdhouse along the Lech, and Tamiko (KSS)

Heilige-Geist-Spitalkirche/Hospital Church of the
Holy Ghost (1749, by Franz Karl Fischer),
church of the rafters

The façade pictures the patron saint of rafters,
St Christopher shown with Baby Jesus on his shoulder

Benediktinerkloster St Mang/Benedictine Monastery
of St Magnus, included City Hall with a
measurement standard, and Kent

Brotmarkt/Bread Market

Bread Market fountain (1990, by Joseph Michael
Neustifter) honoring the 16C
lute-making family, the Tieffenbruckers

Monument to the partnership (1995) between
Füssen and Numata, Japan (KSS)

Basilika St Mang/St Magnus Basilica (1696-1726,
by Johann Jakob Herkomer) was named for the saint
who worked miracles in the area with his Holy Rod

The basilica interior is Baroque (while that
squarish bell tower outside is not!)

Dragon candelabrum (KSS)

The "glass" cross apparently holds St Magnus's Holy Rod

A modern shrine to St Franz Seelos who worked as a
missionary in the United States frontier from about
1844-1867, when he died from yellow fever
contracted from his flock in New Orleans; beatified 2000

Hohes Schloss/High Castle (15C) was the summer residence of
the Prince Bishops of Augsburg

Meat jerky for dogs, made from duck, horse, lamb, and turkey;
there was also ostrich (KSS)

Stadtbrunnen/City Fountain (1968, by Alois Vogler)
shows St Magnus defeating a dragon by making a
Sign of the Cross with his Holy Rod

Dinner was at Schlossgasthof zum Hechten/Castle Inn of the Pike:

Aktienbrauerei Kaufbeuren/ABK brewery is
the oldest in the Swabia area of Germany (KSS)

Maultaschen/Swabian "ravioli" filled with a
vegetable mixture and pan-fried

King Ludwig style Hecht/Pike

Bust of Sebastian Kniepp, a Bavarian priest who in the
late 19C developed the Kniepp Cure, using hydrotherapy;

Kniepp had five tenets of healing: 1) hydrotherapy (use of water to treat ailments), 2) phytotherapy (use of plants and herbs), 3) exercise (health through movement), 4) nutrition (diet of whole grains, fruits & vegetables with limited meat), and 5) balance (between mind and body).

A wrought-iron sign

Woolworth!

Reichenstrasse pedestrian zone on the Roman Via Claudia

We took the car to see Lech Falls:

Lechfall/Lech Falls does not look very natural

Onward to Schwangau to our hotel.

Hotel Schwansee room

Hotel Schwansee room bath

Hotel Schwansee room key ("Schwan" means swan)

Hotel Schwansee

Soon after checking into the hotel, the skies burst, resulting in a drenching rain and then hail resembling large white marbles.
Next: Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein Castles.