Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [318]
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Getting There & Around
There are at least hourly RE and RB trains from Nuremberg (€11.30, 45 to 60 minutes) or from Würzburg (€17.60, one hour), as well as ICE trains every hour to/from Munich (€56, two hours) and Berlin (€80, four to five hours).
Several buses, including 1, 2 and 14, connect the train station with the central bus station, ZOB. Bus 10 goes from the ZOB to Domplatz.
Most explore Bamberg on foot, but you can also hire bicycles at Fahrradhaus Griesmann ( 229 67; Obere Königstrasse 42; per day €9.50). Cars are a colossal pain in town, so park on the outskirts or take a bus (€1.30, or €6.60 for a Tourist Ticket good for 48 hours of unlimited travel). For a taxi, call 150 15.
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BAYREUTH
0921 / pop 75,000
Even without its Wagner connections, Bay-reuth would still be an interesting detour from Nuremberg or Bamberg for its baroque architecture and curious palaces. But it’s for the annual Wagner Festival that 60,000 opera devotees make a pilgrimage to this neck of the Wald, many having waited years in the ticket lottery to do so.
Bayreuth’s glory days began in 1735 when Wilhelmine, sister of King Frederick the Great of Prussia, was forced to marry stuffy Margrave Friedrich. Bored with the local scene, the cultured Anglo-oriented Wilhelmine invited the finest artists, poets, composers and architects in Europe to court. The period bequeathed some eye-catching buildings, still on display for all to see.
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Orientation
The Hauptbahnhof is five to 10 minutes’ walk north of the historic cobblestone centre. Head south on Bahnhofstrasse to Luitpoldplatz and on to the pedestrianised Maximilianstrasse, the main drag also known as Markt. The Eremitage, a baroque palace with manicured gardens, is about 6km to the east, while the Festspielhaus, the theatre for the Wagner Festival performances, is 1.5km north of the town centre.
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Information
Bayreuth Card (72hr €11.50) Good for unlimited trips on city buses, museum entry and a two-hour guided city walk (in German).
Commerzbank (Maximilianstrasse 38)
Internet Telecafé (Maximilianstrasse 85; per hr €1.40; 10am-10pm Mon-Sat, noon-10pm Sun)
Post office (Hauptbahnhof & Kanzleistrasse 3)
Tourist office ( 885 88; www.bayreuth-tourismus.de; Luitpoldplatz 9; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-2pm Sat)
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Sights
TOWN CENTRE
Outside of the Wagner Festival from late July to the end of August the streets of Bayreuth slip into a kind of provincial slumber, although the town’s strong musical traditions ensure there are good dramatic and orchestral performances all year.
Designed by Giuseppe Galli Bibiena, a famous 18th-century architect from Bologna, the Markgräfliches Opernhaus (Margravial Opera House; 759 6922; Opernstrasse; tours adult/under 18yr/concession €5/free/4; tours 9am-6pm Apr-Sep, 10am-4pm Oct-Mar) is a stunning baroque masterpiece. Germany’s largest opera house until 1871, it has a lavish interior smothered in carved, gilded and marbled wood. Yet Richard Wagner deemed the place too modest for his serious work and conducted here just once. German speakers especially will enjoy the 45-minute sound-and-light multi-media show, which is a glorification vehicle for the Duchess Wilhelmine more than the great composer.
Just south of here is Wilhelmine’s Neues Schloss (New Palace; 759 6921; Ludwigstrasse 21; adult/concession €5/4; 9am-6pm Apr-Sep, 10am-4pm Tue-Sun Oct-Mar), which opens into the vast Hofgarten (admission free; 24hr). A riot of rococo style, the margravial residence after 1753 features a collection of 18th-century porcelain made in Bayreuth. The annual VIP opening gala of the Wagner Festival is held in the Cedar Room. Also worth a look is the Spiegelscherbenkabinett (Broken Mirror Cabinet), which is lined with irregular shards of broken mirror – supposedly Wilhelmine’s response to the vanity of her era.
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