Tuesday 12th September 2023 – Salem, Germany

 

Schloss Salem, an ex-monastery and palace was a half hour walk from the campsite and took us through apple orchards and alongside the Schlossee lake, a pretty expanse of water that was full of fish. The Cistercian abbey was founded in 1134 and was only subject to the power of the pope and the emperor. It was rebuilt after a severe fire in 1697 and, during the period of secularisation in Germany, the monks were thrown out in 1804. Fortunately, the new owners cared for the building and it is still very much like the complex that the Cistercians left. Much of the buildings are now used as a school but there is still plenty for the visitor to see.
We booked a guided tour as this was the only way to see some of the most interesting rooms of the abbot’s dwelling. The tour was all in German but we were issued with an English written guide that helped but, as always in these cases, the guide gave much more detail and was quite amusing judging by the laughter from the group. The Cistercians believed in following a life of worship, austerity and hard labour. All I can say is that the austerity part didn’t seem to apply to the abbot! His rooms were incredibly ornate, often totally over the top, with vast amounts of beautiful 18^th century baroque stucco work, statues, paintings etc. The most over-the-top room has to be the Imperial Hall (see below) with its life-size statues of emperors all around the walls and portraits of popes.
The church dates to 1285, fairly austere from the outside but the Baroque interior takes one’s breath away. There are 27 altars in the church and it originally had three organs but it is the alabaster decorations that were most impressive. Apparently, all of the best artisans of the late 18^th century were employed at great cost. The Cistercians were not short of money!
We had an excellent meal in the Schloss restaurant and then set about exploring the outbuildings, which included the most ornate stables that I have ever seen (why do horses need frescoes?), a wine cellar and a blacksmith shop. Given that the original abbey was destroyed by fire, the owners of the abbey were very aware of the dangers of fire and invested heavily in equipment for fighting fires. There is a fire engine museum on site with a vast number of fire engines on display in addition to those displayed within the abbey itself. It was fascinating to see the development of the pumps and engines over time.
We intended walking back on the other side of the lake and into Salem village but the weather forecast suggested that we might have rain and, sure enough, we could see dark clouds approaching. We retraced our route back to the campsite and, although we only had a few drops of rain on the way, we managed to get back before the rain really started. Later came the lightning and thunder echoing around the hills.

Photos: Schloss Salem; The church outside; The inside; The altar with the many alabaster sculptures Detail of one of the sculptures – Eve tempts Adam with the lamb of God below and are the two rabbits on the left of Adam the artisan’s joke?; The Imperial Hall; The life-size statue of Leopold I; Some of the many fire engines in the museum.