Sunday 10 December 2017

Going Underground

A few months ago (in September, to be more precise), I was invited to come along for  O.K.'s village band's annual day out.  We did not travel far, only from the village to the nearby city of Offenburg, where we were booked for a guided tour underground.

Underground in this case meant visiting the cellars of various historical buildings in the town center, from medieval times to more recent ones. There were some surprises for us in store, and I could have taken many more pictures than I did, but you can imagine the lighting was not always favourable and also the limited space often meant I could not get a picture without some one or other from our group in it.

The first cellar we entered was a very large room, once used for storage. Nowadays, it contains a lapidarium, not unlike the one in Ludwigsburg's palace I showed you here.

In this case, the statues were not just taken from one building, but came from various sources: some from churches, others from the residential buildings of rich and important towns people, and one from a fountain. Some of them have been replaced at their original locations with replicas, while others are from buildings that do not exist any more.

These first three pictures are of a group of Gothic statues taken from a chapel. They represent the scene in the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus retreated for prayer the night before his arrest. He asked his disciples to stay awake with him, but one by one, they fell asleep.
I wonder whether you can identify them; usually, the 12 apostles are represented in art each with their typical attributes.


I am not sure where this broken unicorn once was, but the peasant girl with the fruit was once adorning the top of a Baroque garden wall, if I remember correctly:


The impressively muscular long-haired guy is Neptune. A replica of this original statue stands on top of Neptune Fountain in Offenburg's town centre.


A dark passage leads from the lapidarium to smaller rooms, where examples of the cellar's former purpose can be seen:



Back outside, it was still daylight :-)



A private house was the next stop of our tour. The owners kindly allow guided tours into their cellar every now and then. Some years ago, while some renovation work was going on, a deep well was discovered, plus a tunnel leading out of the cellar to a place below the city wall. Both were examined by a team of archaeologists, and the well is definitely medieval. The secret tunnel is thought to be of more recent times, probably built during WWII. It can not be entered, as it is too dangerous (and parts of it are still filled with rubble from when it caved in at one time), but it is known where it ends, and you can view the first part which is lit up for us to have a look. "Fluchttunnel" (as seen on the sign) means flight tunnel.




We visited another cellar, but I did not take any pictures there. Our last stop was another place dating back several centuries. At one time, it was accessible from a square in the town centre, with no building on top. Then, after WWI, a war memorial was built in the middle of the square, right above the cellar, and gradually, its existence was forgotten. Much later, a tiny kiosk/cafĂ© was installed on the square, and when public toilets were built underground for convenience, the old cellar was discovered. It is strange to see these old steps end right at the ceiling, knowing that at one time, countless feet went up and down there, carrying goods down to store or up to use them. 
Now every time I am in Offenburg's town centre and come past the war memorial,  I think of the cellar I know is underneath.

It was an interesting afternoon; I love such glimpses behind the scenes, seeing things you normally can not see in places that are normally not accessible to the public.

12 comments:

  1. Stunning pictures, Meike. I love the gothic statues and the golden light. Just wow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They did well there with the lighting in the lapidarium, didn't they! I love Gothic architecture and statues. They "speak" much more to me than any other style.

      Delete
  2. How interesting Meike (hope that is your name - we have been blogging friends for so long and saw the name in Jennifer's reply above) I am sure that in
    many cities and towns, particularly on the mainland continent, there are secrets beneath our feet. Stunning photographs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Pat! Yes, Meike is correct. I gathered your name from other readers' comments on your blog, too.
      Oh yes, there is an entire parallel world underground in most of our towns and cities, even where there is no undergrund public transport.

      Delete
  3. This is fascinating, Meike! I love to see things that are not often seen, nor often available to see. And glimpses of the past are also very interesting. Rather romantic and I think you also enjoy romance and mystery. And secrets! There are certainly secrets connected with these underground places.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You "got" me, Kristi! I enjoy a good mystery, and it does not need any supernatural element to it - the natural world and our own history (and present) is mysterious enough!

      Delete
  4. Thanks for sharing. What a fascinating underground world! I would have loved that trip. So many stories. I am afraid I don't know which apostle is which and as I am going to my job at Oxfam very soon I haven't got the time to do the necessary web research.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was fascinating indeed, and I am glad I had the opportunity to join the group for this special tour.
      The apostle with the long curly hair is John. Unlike the other apostles, he is always depicted without a beard, because he was supposed to have been the youngest of the twelve.

      Delete
  5. When I was a child I always used to like stories where the characters fled down secret tunnels - I also liked secret rooms, which you could only discover by noticing that the outside walls seemed to enclose a larger space than was visible inside....!
    There are all kinds of hidden places underneath London, in fact someone once did a map of them - but they have been cut across by other underground areas, closed off, etc. I heard the other day, though, that you can now take a ride on the underground railway that used to be used by the post office for transporting mail!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do I remember correctly that you have been on at least one tour of otherwise inaccessible places underground in London?
      Like you, I have always loved such stories (and still do!). Do you know Nina Bawden's "The Secret Passage"? I read it (in German) as a child, borrowed from the library, and never forgot the book. When I was in my 30s, I found it on ebay, bought and re-read it.

      Delete
  6. Yes, it must have been very interesting, it kind of reminds me of the Roman catacombs. There are so many archeological treasures in underground Rome. The problem is that I have claustrophobia so I wouldn't go there. When we lived in Rome many years ago I did visit a catacomb but couldn't wait to get out. Forget about tunnels. A few years ago we went from Sicily up to Castrocaro in Northern Italy, and at a certain point the train got stuck ... in the tunnel!!! It was horrifying! I felt I couldn't breathe. People who don't have claustrophobia cannot understand. Anyway, after about 15 minutes it started moving again. But now I don't take trains, airplanes, ships or long-distance buses. I travel by car only or ... walk.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Francesca, nice to see you :-)
      I do not have claustrophobia, but I would definitely feel VERY uncomfortable if my train were to stop in a tunnel! As I do not have a car (or a driving license), trains and planes are my most frequent means of travel - apart from my feet, of course.
      You have many fascinating catacombs in Sicily, too; for instance the ones in Palermo.

      Delete