AUSTRO-BAVARIAN JEWELS:
The Danube and the Monasteries
Along its Banks.

A culture-travel to Bavaria and Austria

This tour will acquaint you with a country steeped in natural beauty and works of art, often achieving a harmonious fusion of the two as if the Baroque Age were still going strong today. We will stroll through the strikingly picturesque towns of Ratisbon, Passau, Steyr, Krems, Vienna and Bratislava and will visit more than a dozen splendid monasteries of Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Rococo style, will in addition get to enjoy many an idyllic river scene and sample the anti-stress comforts offered by "gemutliche" beer gardens and country inns along the way. Not to forget the soul-soothing effects of Byzantine and Gregorian chants, the impact of Anton Bruckner's organ and the unique charm of being a guest in a centuries-old monastery ... The week introduces you to a continuous chain of masterpieces of European art set in the romantic charms of Bavaria and Austria which have enchanted visitors from abroad for many generations.

The tour's itinerary: Saturday: arrival in Ratisbon and transfer to the Benedictine abbey Niederaltaich The group will meet at the train station at 13:30 (arr. of Intercity train from Hamburg or Frankfurt via Nuremberg at 13:25; arr. from Munich at 13:14). Mit Dr. Gerd Burger

(a translator of English novels with a PhD in American Literature and a passion for monasteries, old cities, rivers and contemplating in beer gardens under chestnut trees) will welcome you and start the tour with a walk through the cobbled streets of his home town: 2000 year-old Ratisbon, "Germany's medieval marvel", as early as 1132 declared a "civitas potentissima" and luckily one of the few German towns that escaped being flattened by bombs during the Second World War, next year destined to be awarded the title of a UNESCO "World Cultural Heritage Site". We shall see the grandeur of the Baroque church of the erstwhile and truly ancient abbey of St. Emmeram (since 1810 the main residence of the Thurn and Taxis family), will marvel at the world-famous Romanesque portal built by Irish monks where the knights gathered at the start of the third crusade, shall cross the Stone Bridge over the Danube completed in 1146, visit the Gothic cathedral and enjoy a coffee break in the romantic courtyard of the Gothic cloisters of the Minorite monastery now housing the city's museum. We will continue by train (40 minutes) and river ferry to Niederaltaich, one of the oldest Benedictine abbeys of Bavaria, founded in 731 where we will spend two nights in the recently completed guest quarters. Dinner will take place in the Gothic cellar vaults of the “Klosterwirtschaft” where afterwards the itinerary and thematic intent of the tour will be outlined.

Sunday: Byzantine mass, Danube and Danubian delights The day will start with the “godly liturgy” celebrated according to Byzantine orthodox tradition - a feast for ears, eyes and soul regardless of your individual beliefs or denomination. (Niederaltaich is one of three Benedictine abbeys in Europe where half of the convent observes the Byzantine orthodox rites in their hours as a symbol of the close ties to the several smaller orthodox churches united with Rome.) After this we will go for a 60 minutes’ walk along the Danube and have lunch at a typical Bavarian beer garden. After lunch we will tour Metten, a monastery founded in 766 and since 1846 the 'mother abbey' of St. Vincent Archabbey, St. John's Abbey and several other Benedictine monasteries of the American-Cassinese Congregation in the USA. From there we will go for a 30 minutes' bus ride to Vilshofen, a romantic fishing village at the confluence of the Vils and the Danube. You will then have time to stroll around on your own before returning to Niederaltaich by ship: upstream through the last unspoilt meandering stretch of the Danube in Bavaria still threatened to be manhandled by the construction of a new lock and a so-called shortcut by means of a straight-cut canal. Before dinner we will meet with one of the abbey's monks for a discussion on monastic life today.

Monday: via Passau to the Baroque marvels of St. Florian After breakfast a monk will show us the church of Niederaltaich, an early Baroque beauty with a uniform program of frescoed depictions of earthly toils and glimpses into the heavenly bliss to come. Next comes a half hour train ride to Passau where the rivers Inn and Ilz merge with the Danube. We will go on a guided tour of this most Italian of all German towns including visits to 2 monasteries and to the huge Baroque cathedral housing the largest organ in the world. Afterwards you can explore the sights on the picturesque peninsula between the rivers for 2 hours to your individual liking. We will go on from here by train (about 90 min.) to St. Florian, a marvellous Augustinian “Chorherrenstift” (monastery of Augustinian canons) and one of the few Baroque monasteries which was actually completed in accordance with its "Idealplan". We will spend three nights in the truly noble guest quarters of the canons' monastery which were first opened to visitors last year. Dinner will be served in the late Baroque summer refectory, a place almost too stylish to be believed.

Tuesday: on we go - art and nature, here ever the twain do meet ...By bus to Kremsmünster and first to a sight celebrated by Adalbert Stifter, bard of the Bohemian Forest honored by many events this year on account of his 200th birthday. From there a 30 minutes’ walk to the Benedictine monastery where we will first have a good look at the fancily decorated succession of six fish ponds and next have lunch in the restaurant in the monastery courtyard. Afterwards you can go on a guided tour of the art collections or visit the observatory (dubbed to have been the first "highrise-building" in Europe) with several natural science collections or stroll through the extensive park. On pretty country roads through the "Mostviertel" (‘the cider lands’) with its thousands of apple and pear trees grown for cider-making we reach Steyr, a town where the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns have attracted more beautiful houses and churches than any board of tourism could ever have hoped for. From there via the Benedictine abbey of Seitenstetten with its pretty Baroque gardens back to St. Florian where we will wave a congenial farewell to the day in a typical, nay arch-Austrian village pub.

Wednesday: Anton Bruckner, more Bruckner and more St. Florian St. Florian is the place where Bruckner was born and educated, where he struggled, triumphed and lies buried. We start the day with a walk along the "Bruckner Path of Symphonies" which runs from his birthhouse to the monastery and has 10 stops with bronze signs giving concise explanations to the excerpts of his symphonies playing on the walkman in your ears. After lunch we will listen to a concert on the Bruckner Organ and will be given a guided tour of this world-famous instrument by the monastery's organist. This highlight is followed by a tour of the splendid church and then you have the rest of the afternoon to yourself (possibly you might want to visit the famous art collection of the “Stift” including the splendidly-decorated library, the truly grandiose imperial reception hall, the choice guest quarters for the Austrian emperor and the magnificent altar painted by Albrecht Altdorfer). After dinner (again in the enchanting summer refectory) we will meet for a talk with one of the canons in the Romanesque crypt of the monastery church where the martyr-saint Florian is supposedly buried.

Thursday: the Wachau - a World Cultural Heritage Site from Melk to Krems By charter bus to Melk, definitely the most famous monastery of all abbeys along the Danube. Here you have the choice of either taking a guided tour of the gigantic Baroque monastery or a cruise down the 20 most famous miles of the river by boat. Our next meeting point is Dürnstein (where Richard the Lionheart was once held hostage), a charming town with spectacular castle ruins and an impressive view of the river panorama. Here we will meet Dr. Juraj Zary (art historian and ex-director of the Slovakian National Gallery) who will guide us through the wine village of Krems with its many splendours which made it a World Cultural Heritage Site. From there we will go by bus to Bratislava (the only longer stretch of road, yet a tour of not much more than 2 hours) where we will embark/check in for 2 nights at the Botel (a four stars hotel ship moored directly below Bratislava castle, a mere stone's throw from the city center; see photograph).

Friday: Bratislava and Devin Castle In the morning Dr. Zary will show us his home town with its many magnificent buildings from the early Gothic to late modernism. Then you will have 2 hours of your own to amble around this pretty city (which is still only little known but, with its scores of newly opened boutiques and bars, unmistakably destined to be a tourist hot spot in the near future). In the afternoon you can join Dr. Burger for a trip to the impressive ruins of Devin Castle which once guarded the confluence of the river Morava and the Danube, for centuries a hotly contested border area fought over by Austrian and Bohemian and Moravian princes and kings. (Napoleon simply destroyed the castle.) From there back to town by speed-boat. If you prefer, you can stay in town and accompany Dr. Zary on a second tour of the city. In the evening we will meet with a Franciscan monk who will tell us about the contradictions and conflicts he encounters in postcommunist Slovakian society. Then the sad part of the day: the farewell party.

Saturday: end of the tour after a short stroll through Vienna By train back to Vienna (60 minutes; luggage will be transported separately). A brief tour to a few of the many famous sights in the city center: Franciscan Monastery, Scottish Monastery, Imperial Castle, St. Stephan's Cathedral. One last short stop in a traditional Vienna coffee-house, then to the train station for the express train to Ratisbon, Nuremberg, Dortmund, Frankfurt ... departure at 14:30 -- unless you decide to stay in Vienna for a few days, of course ...

Your tour guides: Dr. Gerd Burgery is a native of Ratisbon and an incorrigible Bavarian who went to Pittsburgh, USA as an exchange student in days long past. After a baker's dozen of years in Berlin where he graduated in American Literature and taught at the university for a number of years he moved back to Bavaria. For the last 15 years he has been translating novels and non-fiction books from English to German as well as editing and writing essays and books on various subjects. He is now taking up the mapping and guiding of short tours to local Austro-Bavarian beauty spots because the exploration of new beergardens, medieval city centers, monasteries, village churches and cruises down the Danube in his fisherman's punt has been one of his favorite pastimes for a long time.

Dr. Juraj Zary Dr. Juraj Zary is a native of Bratislava and also back home after several extensive excursions to Austria. He wrote his dissertation on the art of Gothic sculpture in Slovakia and knows all the intricate details about his home town's cathedral and Slovakia's many other architectural landmarks. A former director of the Slovakian National Gallery and of the Slovakian Culture Institute in Vienna, he has for several years now been introducing tourists to the cultural wealth of his country as well as teaching art history at Bratislava university.