Stanford Student Letters and Memoirs

30.3.60

Dear Folks,

Another three full days have gone by since I wrote from Mainz, and in three more we'll be back in Beutelsbach! It's been quite a trip, very interesting and much fun, but we'll both be glad to get back to the Burg and see everyone again, and to return to hot showers, really clean clothes, 3 hot meals a day (though our cold ones have been terrific and fun too!), etc. We're staying tonight at the hostel in Eberbach, between Heidelberg and Heilbronn on the Neckar river. The ride along the Neckar is the last leg of our journey - taking us as far as Ludwigburg (near Stuttgart) for Friday night, from where we'll ride to Beutelsbach Saturday morning; probably stay with the Krauters Saturday night, since the Burg isn't open until Sunday night.

Monday was a magnificent day, much more interesting than we had expected. In the first place it was warm and sunny, so that by 9:30 we had our jackets off, and spent the rest of the day in our shirtsleeves - spring weather for sure! The countryside between Mainz and Worms is almost completely flat, much like San Joaquin valley except that it is much greener here. Mostly large farm lands, lots of truck crops. We followed along the Rhine to Oppenheim, there took a short break to walk through the side streets. Here we left the river, following the highway straight-as-an-arrow southward for Worms, where the Rhine comes back to meet it. With the help of a nice tailwind we covered the whole 50 km to Worms in 2 1/2 hours, arriving at noon. We bought some supplies, found a small park for lunch, then stretched out on the grass in the sunshine for a 45 minute doze - ah the lazy life of a traveling student. Fully relaxed and refreshed, we set out to see a little of the city - Worms is the oldest in Germany, dating from sometime before the Roman occupation of the area about the time of Christ. It has been a royal city and a Bishop's seat, has a long and rich history. But of course most of this cannot be seen in architecture, etc., so its visual impact is something less than its historical significance. We saw a fine monument to Martin Luther and his fellow battlers in the Reformation (remember his trial took place in Worms) - sculptures of the main leaders, with the pedestals containing the seals of several German cities, scenes from Luther's life and some of his most remembered sayings. Also nearby are ruins of the old Roman walls of the city, and very close to these the city's cathedral. This last was unfortunately badly damaged in the many wars of the last 200 years, but it is now quite well restored. Especially from the outside it is very beautiful, in particular the sculptured figures at the sides and above the main entrance - gothic period and very striking, reminded me of those on the Frauenkirche in Nurembourg (which are even better). Inside, the cathedral is sort of a cluttered display of the salvaged sculptures of the original church (dating from about 1000) too crowded to appeal to my simpler tastes. The altar is especially ornate, in gold, high Baroque.

Having seen the most interesting part of Worms by about 4:15, and having