Ulm Favorites

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Favorite thing: Ulm situated on the River Danube. This great European river seems to be rather small even smaller than the Moscow River. It was difficult to realize, that this river could turn to an awful stream during flooding as it happened in 2002.
Later in 2003 and in 2005 and 2009 Danube was quiet and peaceful!

Ulm lies at the point where the rivers Blau and Iller join the Danube. Most parts of the city, including the old town, are situated on the left bank of the Danube; only the districts of Wiblingen, Gögglingen, Donaustetten and Unterweiler lie on the right bank. Across from the old town, on the other side of the river, lies the twin city of Neu-Ulm in the state of Bavaria, smaller than Ulm.

You can watch my high resolution photo of Ulm on the Google Earth according to the following coordinates 48° 23' 42.96" N 9° 59' 30.66" E or on my Google Earth Panoramio Danube.

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Favorite thing: Ulm was founded around 850 and has rich history and traditions as a former Free Imperial City.
Ulm is primarily known for having the church with the tallest steeple in the world, the Gothic Minster and as the birthplace of Albert Einstein.
After all the bombings in December of 1944 over 80% of the medieval city centre lay in ruins. Now the city is restored and renovated and looks beautiful.

You can watch my 4 min 59 sec HD Video Ulm panorama in 2009 HD out of my Youtube channel.

You can watch my high resolution photo of Ulm on the Google Earth according to the following coordinates 48° 23' 55.71" N 9° 59' 28.65" E or on my Google Earth Panoramio Ulm panorama from Munster 1 .

Favorite thing: Okay, even a confirmed beer-hunter like myself has to admit that the Ulmer Münster is the town's main draw and I admit that I was very pleasantly surprised at just how stunning it was. I kind of wish they'd give it a cooler name though and I don't know how they've blown the opportunity to call it The Ülmster. Now, that just might pack the tourists in and certainly give it an edge on Cologne's Cathedral! That said, I loved both small breweries on either edge of town and I doubt I'd ever return to the city just for The Ülmster but something tells me I will return to the breweries. Of course, I'll drop in the Ülmster too, probably with my tripod this time.

Fondest memory: Books are funny things. They can lead you to places you'd never thought of going. In 1997, I happened upon a beer guide about Bavaria put out by CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), a British grass roots beer group bent on saving the country's then disappearing real ale. The group was so successful they saved a beer style that might have gone by the wayside otherwise, and thus saved a part of tradition in the process. Most of their guides are about England but of course there is great beer elsewhere and they have done guides to all the beer Meccas. The book on Bavaria was very well written by an English chap living in Munich. I thank him to this day for leading me to Franconia, one of my favorite places for beer-hunting. As great as that guide was though, it could not possibly tackle all 650 breweries in Bavaria, let alone the other 600 scattered around Germany. One such missing place was Ulm, right across the Bavarian border in Baden-Württemberg. As chance would have it, I found another guide by CAMRA years later and it tried to at least name and give some inkling of information about all the brewery's in a country obviously chock full of them. Unfortunately, it lacked the detail and humor of the earlier guide in its attempt to hem in so much information. It did however make an attempt to add this to some of the brewery's mentioned and suddenly Ulm was on my horizon. According to the authors, Ulm's brewery had one of the very best bock beers brewed in Germany and just across the river in the city's Bavarian counterpart of Neu-Ulm, there appeared to be one of the very best old brewpubs in the country as well. Obviously, I just had to go. (continued below in Fondest Memory)

Fondest memory: It was certainly a cute old town and the Ulmer Münster was every inch as big as advertised. Size isn't everything but it was quite beautiful as well and its interior was stunning as well. As with most tourists to Ulm, we spent most of our sightseeing time in and around the considerable church. Unlike most tourists, we had not only one brewery to check out in town and soon enough, it was time to trek out to our second. We walked along the river Donau even though it lengthened our efforts and were rewarded with great views of the old town and church. It took longer than we had imagined but we were rewarded with not only a great old brewpub but one with a leafy biergarten to enjoy a well-deserved beer. It was so nice in fact that we nearly didn't go in to enjoy the pubs atmospheric old interior.

Their Märzen beer was quite special as was their Maibock but the Zwickl was not despite the authors of my new guide heralding it as one of Germany's “best pale beers.” I re-checked the pub's interior when I used the restroom and decided their proclamation of it also being one of the country's top old pubs was more accurate. So, we went in for a meal rather than eat in the biergarten as the weather would have normally warranted. Again, the food was excellent and armed with what beers were best from our own earlier trials, there were no disappointments. Well, except the walk back to the train station. It was, after all, only a day trip. My day pack was full of beery bounty. You never know when you'll get back to even a beery paradise but I did regret it when running to catch our departing train. Completely satiated and a bit out of breath, I slumped in my seat for the ride back to Munich.

Fondest memory: It took about a year of living in Munich before I managed to make it enough of a priority to pull off the easy day trip. My wife was a willing if doubting accomplice. I had to pull out the tallest church in the world to make it more enticing. It's a good thing Ulm is noted for more than just beer. Two hours later and we were waiting for a tram to our first brewery of the day. The architecture, no matter how famous, would have to wait till after lunch. The tram took us through parts of Ulm no one would ever see. Of course, that is, unless they were going to a brewery on the far edge of town. It wasn't particularly scenic but I like seeing where people live in a town too. The pub was certainly convenient, nearly right on the tracks and though promising from the outside, its interior was a bit 70s retro rather than the age-old pub I had envisioned. It was after all, the oldest restaurant in a pretty old town and I could be forgiven for expecting ancient timbered ceilings. At any rate, the beer and at this point just as importantly, the food were both excellent and for me at least, the trip was entirely justified. We took the tram back into town and proceeded to the sights. (completed below in Fondest Memory)

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Favorite thing: If you look around the inner city you will notice a lot of bastions and brick walls all over the place. They are part of the Bundesfestung Ulm which was Germany’s biggest fortress when it was finished in 1859 after 17 years of building works.

The major architects of this fortress were the Prussian major Moritz von Prittwitz und Gaffron on Württemberg’s side of the river and major Theodor von Hildebrandt on the Bavarian side. Prittwitz used ideas by Albrecht Dürer and Marc René de Montalembert. The main features were long straight walls and ramparts and huge multi-storey casemates. Adjusting the walls to the topography, the fortress had no strict ground plan.

This topography was somehow ideal for defence purposes: The city is bordered by hills in the west, north and north-east (Kuhberg, Eselsberg, Michelsberg, Safranberg), so this was perfect for the outer fortification. In the flat, the rivers Danube and Blau offered the natural qualities for moats. The bastions are the connecting points of the long and straight walls. The fortification continued on the other side of the Danube. So there were several walled fortifications, which in total had six gates conncecting the fortress with the outside roads, and five well secured railway passages. The circumference was 9 kilometres.

In 1848 about 8000 people worked on the construction. 14 outer forts were built, and two more added in the 1880’s.

A Past as a Garrison Town

When the fortress was finished, Ulm became a garrison town. In times of peace 5000 soldiers were garrisoned in the barracks, and for the case of war 18,000 to 20,000 troops should be there. Had they continued building the fortress would have housed about 100,000 troops. Imagine this! It is not too long ago that this was the number of inhabitants Ulm had, now the number is at about 120,000.

The crazy thing about the fortress was that it was already outdated when it was finished. In the meantime they had invented developed canons with a triple shooting range, so the walls were not far enough from the city centre anymore. Lucky Ulm, the city was never involved in such military actions. In 1938 Ulm lost its status as Bundesfestung.

Parts of the fortress are still in use today, and by far not all for military purposes but also as club rooms and office space by businesses.

The Citadel

Wilhelmsburg-Kaserne (barracks), however, still houses 2000 soldiers and civil employees, the biggest part is a kind of officers’ training school. Also the military music corps, a telecommication and medic unit are part of the staff. After the war the barracks had been used for housing homeless people.

The complex is hugely impressive, and Wilhelmsburg, located on a hill named Michelsberg, is the citadel of the fortress: It covers an area of 24,125 square metres, with a patio of 1.3 hectares. The four-wing complex has more than 800 rooms.

Big parts of the fortress are relatively well preserved, as it was never involved in acts of war and far enough from the German borders to be touched by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.

A former Concentration Camp

Fort Oberer Kuhberg was renovated until 5 July 2009, right in time for the 150 year anniversary. This is hugely impressive with its 54 casemates. This fort which is the only one where you can go on a guided tour once a month, was used as a concentration camp during the Third Reich (from November 1933 to July 1935). One of the 600 prisoners was Kurt Schumacher, who re-founded the Social Democrat Party (SPD). In those early years no-one was killed or gassed at Fort Oberer Kuhberg. A club of volunteers is running a KZ documentation centre in the historic city centre north of the Münster, in Büchengasse 13 (KZ-Gedenkstätte - http://dzokulm.telebus.de/index1.html). Office hours are Mon – Thu 8am – 12.30pm. You can use the archive and library on Tue and Thu (3pm – 6pm).

Renovation and restoration is a big problem, as the complex is so huge, and some forts have been used for the wrong purposes over the years. In some of the bastions you get aware of this mouldy smell of humid buildings, and they are ice-cold.

Probably a good solution is to incorporate parts of the fortification into new projects, as they have done with the Obere Donaubastion which BTW has been excavated. This will be part of a new Academy of Communication.

At Valckenburg-Schule near the Donau (between Herdbrücke and Donaustadion) you can see the former Untere Donaubastion. Further down the river, right behind the sports grounds of SSV Ulm 1846, is another good fort (Friedrichsau). A bastion you will almost certainly pass at some point is located at Blaubeurer Tor, a roundabout you pass if you come to the city from Autobahn exit Ulm-West or when driving from the city to Blaubeuren. Part of B10 to Neu-Ulm are along a long stretch of the fortification walls (Hindenburgring).

Equally impressive is the fortification in Neu-Ulm. At Glacispark you can get very good insight into the concept.

I already mentioned the 150 year anniversary. In this special year 2009 they have many special tours and events. You find them on the:
Bundesfestung website

Free Guided Tours

In less special years there are guided tours at Fort Oberer Kuhberg on every first Sunday of the month at 2pm. (No bookings required but wear sturdy shoes, bring warm clothes and a torch.)

Visits to other parts of the fortress are for groups only and have to be booked. Tours are free but donations are most welcome.

A fundraising group (Förderkreis Bundesfestung Ulm/Friends of the Bundesfestung) is heavily involved in the organisation of everything concerning the anniversary and tours.

More info and contact details on their website:
www.festung-ulm.de
Matthias Burger, phone (0731) 159 8779
Electonic mail here

Addresses of the biggest forts:

Wilhelmsburg: Prittwitzstraße

Fort Oberer Kuhberg: Am Hochsträß (Directions: Drive towards Blaubeuren. Outside Ulm turn left at a traffic light, direction: Wiblingen (Kurt-Schumacher-Ring), left into Egginger Weg, direction Söflingen/Harthausen, left into “Am Hochsträß”.)



Photos 2 and 3 show Obere Donaubastion and neighbouring Oberer Donauturm, the latter also called Weißer Turm (White Tower).

Photo 4 displays a map/plan of the entire fortification.

Favorite thing: This street is Ulm’s longest pedestrian street and main shopping street. It links the Railway Station (Hauptbahnhof) and Münsterplatz (Cathedral Square). So if you arrive by train you just have to walk straight out of the station, get into the underpass under the tramway line, and just walk straight ahead, and you will automatically end up in front of the Cathedral.

If you are very attentive you will even note that Hirschstraße does not start as Hirschstraße at the railway station but as Bahnhofstraße. After about 250 or 300 metres it becomes Hirschstraße (at Wengengasse). But no Ulmer would say he goes to Bahnhofstraße. If a Ulmer says he goes to Hirschstraße it includes all and means that he will go shopping.

There are several big department stores (Galeria Kaufhof, Müller), expensive and cheap clothes stores and chains, shoe shops, bakeries, Ulm’s biggest pharmacy (Hirschapotheke), but also several cafés, fastfood outlets and stalls. On a nice day it is quite pleasant to sit in the outdoor seating area of one of the cafés, have a meal or snack, or just a coffee, and watch people.

However, Hirschstraße is one of those examples of typical German pedestrian zones where they have totally neglected to create living space and atmosphere. They only are alive during daytime when the shops and cafés are open. In the evenings they are more or less dead and absolutely no lively area. Hirschstraße is no exception.

Favorite thing: You see sparrow sculptures all over the place in Ulm, on squares, in front of shops, above doors, in the water, just everywhere. Look around, above and beside you, and you might spot one. They are all unique.

The invasion started in May 2001. Artists designed blank sparrow sculptures, 270 in total. Ulm, and also Neu-Ulm, were invaded by those colourful sparrows. They were auctioned in November 2001, and all the money that was made went into the restoration of the Cathedral’s South Tower.

You will not find all 270 sparrows today even if you try hard. But many business people bought sparrows and have kept them in front of their shops, or over their entrance doors, attached to the building.

There are absolutely lovely examples where the sparrow’s design matches the location perfectly.

Just looking over a website with a lot of those sparrows… I have to say, sooo many have gone. But still, there are still enough in the city to make me smile every time I see one :-)))

The Hotel-Spatz stands in front of the hotel “Ulmer Spatz” south of the Cathedral. As a VTer you have to see the Traveller Spatz (part two of the photo collection on the following websites), of course.

I think they are just brilliant – and many of them even more brilliant if you understand German and the double meaning of some words. For example a Spatzenkönig is not just a “King of Sparrows”, even less so. A Spatzenkönig also is a far too thick Spätzle, our fresh Swabian pasta. Or take the “Käs-Spätzle” – that is the Spätzle pasta with cheese, butter and onion. Try it in one of the great local restaurants!

http://www.mangorock.de/spatzeninvasion_I.htm
http://www.mangorock.de/spatzeninvasion_II.htm

Also see my travelogue with a selection of the sparrows of the Spatzeninvasion.