Barry in Marburg: Münster city tour

Last evening we had a fabulous tour of the city of Münster with a superb guide - having it in English was a big help. Münster is a city with about 1200 years of history. The tension between church and city was interesting with the leaders of the day building the city hall face to face but at a distance to the Bishop's residence. They even run him out of town for a period until he was reinstated. Although heavily bombed at the end of World War II the city residents had great foresight to rebuild the city very much what it used to be like with wonderful 3-4 storey buildings with a range of facades and lower level arches. Even today they have done a great job of trying to put up buildings that blend in with the old architecture - what a magnificent new museum - but the guide pointed out one rather ugly exception that has a sign with an eagle planted out front of it by a visiting artist. Münster was the site where the treaty was signed over 350 years ago to end the 30 year war. There is a wonderful sunken area behind the city hall that has two two metal sculptures by Eduardo Gillida to mark the decision to have dialogue to resolve conflict. There were so many things you would miss without a guide like the little metal plaque in the pavement to mark the former home of a Jewish business couple - apparently there is a nation wide effort to remember the Jews killed during the war with these plaques.

Thanks Paul and Bettina for a wonderful visit to Münster.