Day Trip: Worms, Germany

One of the cool things about living in Europe is getting to go do and see some of the less popular or less "touristy" things. I can almost promise that no one has ever said they wanted to go to Germany so that they could visit Worms, but it was only a short drive for us to see. Worms was the (arguable) birthplace of the Lutheran Church and is the location of the oldest remaining Jewish cemetery in Europe. Neither of these things probably attract all that many visitors, but I have to make a very honest confession. I love cemeteries. At one point when I was a kid, I begged my dad to take me to Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. While I can't remember much about the Louvre or Versailles from my trip to Paris in high school, I can still recall exactly what I was wearing when we went to Cimetière du Père Lachaise and how disappointed I was when we couldn't go into the catacombs. I've been to Bonaventure in Savannah multiple times for ghost tours when I lived nearby and was even excited to find out there was a private family cemetery behind my house in Augusta. I know, this whole paragraph comes across extremely creepy. Some people like the beach, other people like cemeteries... right?

Greg getting his literature on.

Anyway, now that everyone is thoroughly terrified by me, we didn't go to Worms for the sole purpose of looking at grave sites, I swear. Greg also saw a museum on the internet that he thought would be cool. I love him, but I don't think he had any idea what exactly the museum was actually about. All Greg told me was that it had something to do with mythology. When we arrived, the woman at the reception counter asked us if we had any idea what was the purpose of the museum. She then went on to explain that this wasn't really an average museum, but a literature museum devoted to the Nibelungenlied. If you have no idea what the Nibelungenlied is, you aren't alone. We had no idea either. Basically, the Nibelungenlied is like the equivalent of the Iliad or Beowulf for Germans. It's an epic poem about nobility in Germany prior to Christianity. Because it was a literary museum, there isn't anything to view. You walk around with a headset and listen to the "narrator" of the Nibelungenlied provide back story to the poem. I like mythology, but I think it would have been more enjoyable if I had known the story prior to coming to the museum. It is a lot to listen to on headphones. We ended up leaving after making it through 2.5 of the "exhibits" because I could have easily taken 3 or more hours to listen to the entire contents of the museum. If you really love literature and are knowledgeable about German mythology, it may be enjoyable, but I don't think most Americans would like it.



Once we finished at the museum, we walked over to the cemetery. The Worms Jewish Cemetery, or Heiliger Sand, began in the 11th century as has the oldest legible tombstone dated at 1058. Although it is considered the oldest remaining Jewish cemetery, technically the Jewish portion of the Roman catacombs predates it. Heiliger Sand closed in the early 20th century, with the most recent burial that we could find being 1938.

The cemetery is located just outside the city wall. When we first arrived, we were pretty certain we were not supposed to be there. The first gate to the cemetery opens directly into someone's driveway. They were actually standing outside their house staring at us as we walked through. There is a map on the stone wall inside the first gate which indicates where individuals of interest are buried. After you walk through the drive way, there is a small wooden door that marks the entrance to Heiliger Sand. In front of you, you will immediately notice the grave of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg because it is the only one in sight that's covered in stones and prayers. None of the gravestones in this section are in German, only Hebrew.

Newer Section

If you walk straight, you'll approach the newer annex of the cemetery which has huge, ornate gravestones written in both German and Hebrew. If you take a left, you'll walk directly through the oldest two portions of the cemetery and back to the area where all of the religious leaders were buried, the Rabbinental. The only way you will specifically know this is if you stop and look at the map on your way into the cemetery. Nothing is marked in the cemetery and you'll only know when you've approach a Rabbis graves when you see stones piled on top of it. Again, unless you know Hebrew, you won't be able to read the gravestones.

Part of the Rabbinental

The further back, the older the graves.

We probably walked around for over an hour before going back towards town to see the Cathedral of St. Peter before we left. I'll be honest, I knew of Martin Luther but I just had to Google what his exact association was with the Wormser Dom before I wrote this post. I was under the impression that was born or lived in Worms, but as it turns out, it was only where he was officially excommunicated from the Catholic church during the Diet of Worms. There were an abnormal amount of churches in Worms, but the Cathedral of St. Peter was the largest and probably oldest. We popped in and took a few pictures and wondered down into the crypt before an elder German man shooed us out for the evening. It took us a long time to piece together than he was trying to tell us that they were closing certain areas to prepare for six o'clock Mass. Whoops.

Apparently, there is a park in Worms with a marker on the ground indicating where Martin Luther stood to defend his 95 Theses. We didn't go there.

Worms was an interesting adventure. Heiliger Sand was pretty cool, but I can't imagine very many people care to make a trip to Worms for a graveyard. If you're really interested in German mythology or the Protestant Reformation, Worms may be a place worth visiting. For the general tourist population, it's not worth the gas money.





Since I mentioned it earlier, I managed to dig up a picture of my visit to Père Lachaise. I was 15 at the time and behind me is Jim Morrison's grave. Apparently, I still own the same pair of glasses.

Don't worry, my grammar is still just as bad... in French and English.

At least now I have some sweet taste in shoes.

Well, now that I've dug up my old pictures from Paris, I suddenly want to go back. Not because I loved the city or anything, but because I took such horrible pictures the first time around that I'm actually kind of embarrassed. Coming up in the next few months, we'll be going on a weekend camping trip/get together for fellow Jeep enthusiasts in Germany. Shortly there after, we'll be headed to Italy to start our cruise!