My second sojourn in Germany was from the south. I travelled into Southern Germany
across Lake Constance from Switzerland together with Bernard, a friend who I'd stayed
with there. We went to Weingarten to visit Nikolaus, one of the priests in the
Benedictine monastery - another of Bernard's friends.
The basilica at Weingarten is a beautiful baroque structure, and dates from the
early 18th century. It is approximately half the size of St. Peters Basilica
in Rome.
Weingarten is particularly famous for its organ, which is the largest baroque
organ north of the alps, the largest organ of any sort in Southern Germany,
and contains over 6000 pipes, the largest of which is almost 10m tall.
We were able to play the organ, although the 4 keyboards and 84 stops proved
to be quite a challenge. The 8 second echo from sound travelling to the far
end of the basilica and back also adds to the fun for the organist, but the
sound is certainly impressive, and worth the effort.
