Romanic Trier (oldest city in Germany)

Established in 16 B.C., Trier is a Roman and oldest city in Germany. Thus, considered by Germans as the 'Second Rome'. It is situated at the Northernmost part above Saarland state where I temporarily reside and is about 1 hour by land trip. In its west lies the small but beautiful country of Luxembourg.

Its rich Roman heritage is evident in the many Roman structures like the Century old churches and monuments which until now mightily standing still and attracting millions of tourists. Among them the following:

Porta Negra

The impressive "Black Gate" is a 2nd century Roman city architecture. It owes its survival to its use by a revered hermit monk and subsequent transformation into a two-story church. The gate dates back to a time (about A.D. 180) when the Romans often erected public buildings of huge stone blocks (here, the biggest weigh up to six metric tons).

Imperial Baths (Kaiserthermen)

Going to the baths was an important part of Roman life: Over 1600 years ago, the Romans built one of the grandest and most impressive baths in the world: the Imperial Baths. Today you can visit this gigantic bathing facility: go back in time to the Roman era, descend into the subterranean labyrinth and get a feel for history!

Roman Imperial Throne Room (Konstantin Basilika)

Built in 310, this huge brick structure was the throne hall of Emperor Constantine the Great and other Roman emperors. This is the largest surviving single-room structure from Roman times. The Romans wanted the architecture to express the magnificence and might of the emperor.

Electoral Palace (Kurfuerstliches Palais)

Late baroque south wing (1757-1761) by Johannes Seiz. The Electoral Palace directly next to the Basilika is considered one of the most beautiful rococo palaces in the world. Among many other facets, a princely staircase in the present seat of the District Administration (ADD) reveals the splendour of the Electors and Archbishops.

Main Market (Hauptmarkt)

The Main Market became the center of medieval Trier with:

• the Steipe, the city council's banqueting house, with immediate access to the city church St. Gangolf (through the little baroque gate on the south side, the church itself is completely surrounded by stalls and houses)
• the official city yardstick (reconstruction) at the Steipe
• the pillary (reconstructed on the south end of the market)
• access to the Cathedral
• access to the Jewish Quarter
• as well as to six streets altogether.

Jew's Alley (Judengasse)

Shortly before the market, Jews' Alley (Judengasse) on the right leads into the former medieval Jewish Quarter. Locally produced weights with Hebrew inscriptions show that there were Jews in Trier as early as the first or second century. Starting with the eleventh century, a Jewish community in Trier was recorded, and in 1235 four Jews had four houses built on the left of the later Judengasse.

The cellars are still the original ones; in the Pub »Abwaerts«, you can still see the walled-up entrance to a flight tunnel leading to the Cathedral Close.

The Jews were expelled from Trier in 1418. Many Jews went east; Yiddish has preserved traces of Trier Middle High German up to today. When the Jews were called back after 1600, they settled in different parts of the city. After the Holocaust of the Nazi era, the Jewish community in Trier is quite small (the New Synagogue is located in Kaiserstrasse).

Karl Marx House

It may come as a surprise that Karl Marx was not born in an industrial city but in Trier, which at that time (May 5, 1818) had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. The other surprise may be that the birthplace, today's Karl Marx Museum (Karl-Marx-Haus), is not to be found in Karl-Marx-Strasse but Brueckenstrasse 10 (the first section was not renamed in order to keep the historical address).

Old Cranes

On the banks of the Moselle, you can view two monuments to the remarkable technology of the past: two loading cranes, both bearing witness to the former lively trade on the river. The cranes have moveable roofs which move atop mighty round substructures. Inside each is an enormous treadmill which was driven by human muscle power to move the pulleys. The northerly crane was built in 1413, and the one nearer to the Roman Bridge was built in 1774. The area was inhabited over a long period by the families of boatmen and fishermen. Only later were the cranes turned over to various orders of the Church.

The Cathedral/Cathedral St. Peter (Dom)

In the heart of the city, the present Cathedral stands on top of a former Constantinian Palace, later the largest Christian church in Antiquity. Originally built by Constantine, this is the oldest church in Germany. It houses an array of artworks and a holy relic that still receives many pilgrims: the Holy Robe of Christ. Adjacent to the Cathedral is the Church of Our Lady (Liebfrauenkirche), the oldest Gothic Church in Germany built in the 13th Century. It is however closed for a moment for some renovations.

With its very rich heritage, Trier is a recommended tourist site that one has to discover. There are a number of interesting sights and structures that I have not posted here. This entry is not enough to post them all.

Labels and descriptions excerpted and edited from:

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/trier

http://redaktion.trier.de/praefectus/trier?tourist_en