Kelheim & Weltenburg

A couple weeks ago, we were in the Bischofshof brewery, drinking Bischofshof beer of course, and we noticed the bartender routinely serving a different beer that was not Bischofshof. We asked him about it, and he told us it came from Kloster Weltenburg, and he gave us a rather large free sample. It was a dark beer so I was hesitant, usually they are too bitter for me, but this beer was amazing. It had complex flavor and a hint of something sweet, possibly honey. We learned that the Kloster was about 20 minutes away, just outside Kelheim, so we decided to visit.

One of the main attractions in Kelheim is the Hall of Liberation, Befreiungshalle in German. The building was commissioned by Ludwig I (grandfather of the Ludwig II who built Neuschwanstein) to celebrate the victories over Napoleon in the Wars of Liberation. Like many monuments in the area, the outside is free to explore, but if you want to go inside, you need to buy a ticket. We decided to walk to the monument and decide if we needed a ticket before actually buying one. At Valhalla, we could see the inside (peeking through the door) and felt since we did not know any of the people honored there, we would not gain anything by going inside. The door of the Hall of Liberation was closed, so no peeking, but there was a sign that promised dozens of giant angels inside. That sounded sufficiently interesting, so we went back to purchase a ticket and we met with all kinds of awesome crazy inside.

The building was huge and empty. Like a ballroom with no furniture. The walls rose up past my head, but then leveled out, shelf-like. On these levels, there stood giant angels holding hands with each other over shields. These angels were probably twice the height of a normal person, and they were all identical. Behind each set of two angels and a shield (on the higher level) were tiny rooms, which were also empty. Then if you were interested, you could climb up very tight spiral stairs to a 3^rd empty level, and gaze out over all the angels. It seemed like a cool place to hold a prom or a wedding reception, but without any people or furniture inside, it was quite strange.

From Kelheim we drove across the Danube, Donau in German, to find Kloster Weltenburg. Kloster Weltenburg is a Benedictine abbey founded in 620, the oldest in Germany. The beer they make is slightly younger: it has only been brewed since 1050. To reach the abbey, we parked the car and walked a kilometer down a paved path along the river. Right around a bend the buildings of the abbey appeared. We planned to have some beers inside the brewery, but we quickly found that Kloster Weltenburg was having a Weihnachtsmarkt, another word for Christmas market, and we would not be drinking our beer inside.

Almost immediately, we followed our noses to the fried dough stand and got a rose shaped pile of deliciousness. I say almost immediately, because the first thing I did was get some Gluhwein to warm up and celebrate Christmas. We next went to the beer stall so we could try the famous beer. We found many varieties from which to choose. Joe opted for the Winter-Traum, the seasonal beer. I decided on another seasonal beverage, the Gluhbier, which was hot and awesome. As with the gluhwein stalls, we could keep our cups or return them for a refund, but since our plan was to buy some anyway, we kept them. Many of the stalls in the market were run by the monks, in their robes no less, and I felt we should buy something to support the abbey. We found a very cool nativity scene carved out of a log, and it now lives with us.