Updated on June 16, 2024 by Angelika
As I pull back the curtains of my room at 8:30 a.m., a couple of police officers with bulletproof vests are just getting off a bus. Today sees the opening of the exhibition and research project "Kafka's Echo" at the Museum of Modern Literature. The event will be attended by Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth, Baden-Württemberg's Minister President Winfried Kretschmann, the writer Daniel Kehlmann and many other prominent figures. It is a closed event, but there is also an open day at the museum complex on Marbach's Schillerhöhe. I have a ticket for a guided tour of the German Literature Archive (DLA), which I hadn't managed to get on my first visit in November 2023. Because of the good weather forecast, I decided to stay in Marbach for three days and also visit a few places in the area. Connected to the DLA is a Collegienhaus, where researchers, students and authors can rent simple but very practical rooms with a workplace, kitchen, bathroom and a beautiful view for little money.
The tour doesn't start until 4:30 pm and I'm going to see the Kafka exhibition on Tuesday before I go home. Today I've planned one of the circular walks through Marbach and the surrounding vineyards. But first it's off to the café for breakfast Der obere Beck.
Freshly fortified, I start my hike in the city center. I walk through the beautifully restored Upper Gate Tower into Marktstraße.
I had read somewhere that the construction work in Marbach town center was to be completed by spring 2024. But that was probably an illusion. It looks even worse than it did in November - Marktstraße is one big building site.
There are marked paths through the construction sites for pedestrians. Behind the building site, I discover a restaurant with a sign saying "Draußen nur Kännchen" 😆. It makes an inviting impression, but is still closed - and I'm full from the huge breakfast.
Away from the building sites, I am once again enchanted by this pretty town. In Mittlere Holdergasse, the vines climb up the houses.
The Wilde Mann fountain was erected in 1690 as Niklasbrunnen. The Wild Man as Marbach's coat of arms holder was only added later. The middle house on the other side of the street is Schiller's birthplace, which I already visited it last November, so I continue my walk.
The circular route I have chosen leads me on to the Alexanderkirche, which I was unable to visit on my last visit to Marbach due to a lack of time. The master builder of the late Gothic hall church was Aberlin Jörg, the most important architect of the late Gothic period in Württemberg.
The viewing platform in front of the church offers a beautiful view of Marbach.
I pass the cemetery and continue up the hill for a while, then turn right between meadows and fields to the Galgen, where I reach a leisure area with barbecue, a playground and a wonderful panoramic view as far as the Stromberg-Heuchelberg.
I walk between vineyards back to Marbach, where I pay a visit to the Tobias Mayer Museum. Like Schiller, the great astronomer, geographer and cartographer was born in Marbach.
Time for a break! The Silvana Eiscafé serves all kinds of iced coffee - with egg liqueur, amaretto, chocolate ... I opt for the nut iced coffee. Extremely tasty!
The guided tour of the German Literature Archive starts at 4:30 pm. We take the steps down to the cellar, where the valuable manuscripts are stored in cool temperatures. Among other things, we see manuscripts by Eduard Mörike, Ernst Jünger, a stenographic manuscript by Erich Kästner, a love letter from Else Lasker-Schüler to Franz Marc and, to top it all off, a letter from Friedrich Schiller. The other stations - pictures and objects, media documentation and the library - also provide incredibly interesting insights. The collections are open on request to anyone conducting source research - including interested laypeople. So you don't have to be a scholar to be allowed to examine a writer's handwriting. But you are not allowed to take it home with you.
12 of 12 info
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The photo project 12 of 12 was initiated by Caro from Draußen nur Kännchen. On the 12th of the month, you take lots of photos throughout the day, and in the evening, you pick 12 of them to write a short description about. Under Caro's 12 of 12 posting you will find a list in which you can enter your own 12 of 12 blog post.
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