Today we spent our Saturday with the Paxton's. We took them to the beautiful town of Bad Homburg. Bad means bath and so it was and is a place where mineral baths are present. We shop there all the time, but we never knew they had a castle there, so we took the opportunity to walk just a little bit further down the main street and what a surprise, a castle. The half timbered buildings are plentiful here and to think we only had to travel about 10 miles to see this place. The first thing we did is walk through the business section. I immediately spied a working hat shop( hut geschaft). I think it is owned by some young adults as they were actually making the hats in the back of the shop. I took some photos of the ones in the window and I even got a shot of the work shop. We noticed there was a flee market around the corner and so we perused around there for a while and I found an old German doll, a 1900 fashion book with sketches and a large flower jug with German words of wisdom on the sides.
Then we took a tour of the Palace which was built in 1633 by Friedrich II "with the Silver Leg". That was the name everyone gave him. It was very low key as far as furnishings go. I actually believed that a family lived there. As we entered the courtyard there was the white tower, a 14th century keep. In 1867 it was taken over by the Prussian royal house and was used as an Imperial summer residence until 1918. After the marriage of Friedrich II to Elizabeth, the daughter of King George III of Great Britain in 1818, the clock tower wing of the castle was redone for Elizabeth in the English tradition. Elizabeth received her education in the creative arts. Her teachers were the historical painter Benjamin West, the portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough, the watercolour painter Paul Sandby and the architect James Wyatt. She was so talented. Most of the residence was decorated with her paintings and etchings. We were not allowed to take our cameras in so I got a brochuere and took a photo of a photo so you could get an idea of how talented she was. She also designed the gardens with her dowry. She was also instrumental in bringing in the first flush toilet, a new sanitary invention.
Right outside the palace is the Church of our Redeemer which was built by Frederick II and his wife Elizabeth with their own money. He wanted an evangelical church so he had it decorated the way he wanted it to be. It looks like a normal German Catholic church on the outside, however, upon entering we were delighted to see a Byzantine interior. It looked more like the Russian or Greek Orthodox churches are today with its gold inlaid mosaic ceilings and archways. It was glorious. Quite a change from what we are use to seeing in the old churches. The palace gardens conjoin the Palace and the Church and seem to be one in spirit.
The second church we went to see was the Marienkirche which means Chruch of our Lady which is Catholic. We could not take any pictures of the inside as they were having mass. It would not be in good taste to take pictures during a church service but the stained glass windows in there were to die for. All purples, violets and blues. We ate at our fav restaurant, Pizza Hut, would you believe it. At least as far a Pizza goes. Nothing beats the pan pizza at the hut. Back early evening to get ready for Conference. We are so excited to hear from our Prophet and other General Authorities. Our first Saturday session came on at 6:00 PM and our second one at 10:00 PM so we will be up late tonight. May God bless all.
No comments:
Post a Comment