Pepper and Worms

Ahhh....pepper and worms....such a delightful combination....

A few weeks ago we traveled to the city of Worms (pronounced "Vuhrms" folks, and has nothing in common with the slimy, legless creature) to see the sights of the city and meet up with my cousin, Pepper, who was there on business (well, her name is really Lindsey, but I've always known her as Pepper, which is short for Culpepper, her middle name, which is also her mother and my mother's maiden name--sorry that was way too much information).

Anyways...we went to Worms for the day.

Although we had a great time that evening with my cousin, our afternoon in the city of Worms left us a bit unimpressed. The War completely devastated the city, and when they rebuilt, their focus seemed to be more on providing housing for the city population as opposed to reconstructing historical buildings. (Well, I guess you can't blame them.) Therefore, much of the city looks like this: newish, plain-looking apartment buildings with an ancient remnant of a wall here and there.




The other disappointment was the river. Worms lies right next to the Rhine River, and you would think there would be great places in the city to walk along the river. Not so much. We attempted to walk down to where the river is, but this is the sight that met us: construction and a maze of busy roads. The bridge/tower thing over the river looked cool, but this was as close as we got to it.




But forget the rest of the city. The best thing about Worms (and only, if you ask me), is St. Peter's Cathedral (or, Dom, in German).

Dom,

de Dom,

Dom,

DOM!



The cathedral is over 1,000 years old, and it is known to be one of the finest examples of High Romanesque arichtecture in Germany.


Here is a view of the very opulent high alter.




This "Baroque extravaganza" was added in the 18th century.




Lighted altar.




Inside the Chapel of St. Nicholas.

Dom St. Peter is famous as the location of the Diet of Worms (once again, this has nothing to do with eating those squirmy creatures; and Diet, by the way, is pronounced "Dee-it") when Martin Luther was put on trial and demanded to recant his beliefs about the Church in 1521. It was here at this event, and in this Dom, that Luther uttered his famous words, "Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen."

Here is a HUGE statue in the city center depicting Luther and other figures who were important in the Protestant Reformation.

And Martin Luther himself:

And let's not forget another reason the Dom is so widely celebrated--the Nibelungenlied! It is apparantly a super-long epic poem believed to be written in the 12th century about a dragon-slayer named Seigfreid who was murdered, and his wife's revenge on his murderer. The Germans embrace it as a mythological-ish depiction of how "Germany" came to be. Somehow over time one of the scenes in the poem came to be situated at the former entrance of the Dom, but this is historically impossible as the cathedral didn't exist during the time period when the epic takes place.

There are dragon statues all over the town memorializing this famous story. Here are a couple we stumbled upon:

It must be said that we did enjoy our visit to Worms, and it is worth visiting--but not for too long.