Bayreuth

We spent the day wandering around Bayreuth, the town where Rainer and Olivia live. Olivia had to go to her aunt’s funeral so Rainer walked around with us and told us some history of the town.
Pic 1: Around the 1700’s Bayreuth had a very liberal marriage policy ie different classes could intermarry. In order to be married here you had to be living in Bayreuth so they had this small house. People would spend one night in the little house, become “official” residents of the city, and could get married the next day!
We walked around the pedestrian shopping area downtown and stopped for bratwurst for lunch (pic 2). Pics 3&4 are the pedestrian shopping area.
The rest of the pics are of the Opera House. It was built by a rich family that wanted a special place for their only daughter to get married. It was quite ornate and the building was only expected to last for a few years. Now almost 175 years later it still stands.
The interesting thing is that it isn’t all, as it appears. Pic 5 is of the stage, it does not have all the columns and ornate features that your eye sees, really it was just painted wood or paintings on the walls. The architect was a master of illusion! The ceiling in pic 9 is not painted, but cloth was painted and attached to wood! The other pics really are fancy as they appear. It would be fun to sit in that wonderful atmosphere and listen to an opera!

Highlight of the day: spending the morning with Rainer as he told us stories and the history of Bayreuth!Read more