Aschaffenburg - Johannisburg & Old Town

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After visiting the splendid Pompejanum in Aschaffenburg, we walked towards the Johannisburg Palace by passing through the lovely palace gardens, all the way enjoying magnificent views over the Main River, scenic surroundings and the Pompejanum. The path took us under a leafy pergola walkway along a section of the former town wall up to the palace terrace. A bit further ahead is the awesome red sandstone Johannisburg Palace in Renaissance style. 


Johannisburg Palace was built from 1605 to 1614 under Archbishop-Elector Johann Schweikard von Kronberg. The Palace was built on the site of a medieval castle, which had been mostly destroyed in 1552. Architect Ridinger created a symmetrical four-winged complex with a square inner courtyard and four corner towers, and incorporated the 13th-century keep in the new building. The windows, gates and doors of the exterior and interior courtyard façades are decorated with architectural ornamentation. At the end of the 18th century, the interior of the palace was redesigned in the Neoclassical style. Unfortunately, Johannisburg Palace was almost destroyed and took many years of painstaking restoration.

 

Johannisburg Palace houses the Bavarian State Painting Collections featuring the most important Lucas Cranach collection in Europe as well as the Palace Museum with artworks and historical artifacts spanning six centuries of history. It is opened to the public. We  spent nice hours in Seligenstadt and the Pompejanum and skipped the interior. If you have a few hours’ time, please enjoy the interior with marvelous art and monumental residence. Also worth seeing are the castle church with Renaissance altar, the Electoral living rooms and the world’s largest collection of cork architectural models.

The route from Johannisburg Palace to Aschaffenburg old town, dotted with traditional bars and quaint restaurants alternate with pretty half-timbered buildings. The first point was Schlappeseppel (founded in 1631), a historic German beer hall and brewery located at Schlossgasse. It was very crowded, mostly men, with their beer chatting cheerfully at the outdoor seating. Cheers with beer 😊! The other places in the old town of Aschaffenburg were quiet.

 

Walking further brought us to the square of the Stiftsbasilika - Church of St Peter and Alexander.  In front are a fountain, residential houses and a monastery hosting the church museum.

Stiftsbasilika - Church of St Peter and Alexander dates to the 10th century and is the only one in the world dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Alexander. It is Aschaffenburg’s oldest church, a combination of Romanesque and Gothic styles.  The church features a wealth of exquisite historical works, including a 10th-century Ottonian crucifix, Grünewald’s Lamentation of Christ and Our Lady of the Snows altar, a beautiful Romanesque cloister, and Triumphkreuz, the large crucifix dated around year 980 but the sculptor is not known.

Left: Lamentation of Christ, Grünewald

Well, it’s time to leave the old town. We went back to the Pompejanum via the river bank and Palace Park. One can take an artistic elevator tower to the terrace of the Johannisburg Palace (Thoma Aufzüg).







Location: Schönbusch, Kleine Schönbuschallee 1, 63741 Aschaffenburg, Germany

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