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Benedikt XVI. – His FreisingThe Pope and his close links to Freising

WeihenstephanToday's art, tomorrow's science and theoldest brewery in the world

The CulturalHeart of Bavaria“If you haven'tseen Freising, you don't knowOld Bavaria!"

Holiday and Leisure Magazine 2009

EnglishVersion

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Dear visitors to Freising,guests from far and near,and Freising residents,

"History – hospitality – vitality" is the motto of our city. Let me invite youto explore this seemingly contradictory blend – and I assure you thatyou'll never regret it. Vibrant life has pulsed in the shade of the cathedraltowers for over 1200 years. This is the seat of learning. And the pathfrom the ancient world of the scholars on Cathedral Hill to today'scampus not only leads from the Early Middle Ages directly into thefuture, but also links Germany's largest collection of religious art tomodern sculptures by contemporary artists. Between and around thesetwo poles of past and present await a host of sights from every epoch ofart history, numbering many famous names among their creators. All in atradition-conscious city with a relaxed joviality and warm hospitalitythat captivates every visitor.

I am delighted to welcome you to our city – so ancient, yet so vibrantlyyouthful! And I hope that our Freising residents will discover a few newaspects of our wonderful home in these pages..

Dieter ThalhammerMayor of Freising

www.molkerei-weiheh nstephhan.de

1000 Jahre Tradition.Aber täglich frisch.

Contents

Semper lustig – numquam traurigWherever prayers are heartfelt, festivities are joyous Page 4

Life Sciences – The Future Is NowFreising's cultural and intellectual tradition paves the way for modern science Page 12

The Heart of Old BavariaAt the hub of tradition and the futurePage 15

Benedikt XVI. –His FreisingThe Pope and his close links to FreisingPage 16

History of Freising – An OverviewThe history of a city based on relaxed joviality Page 17

Freising InformationCity Tours...............................p. 18Special Offers .......................p. 20City Museum ........................p. 22Events 2009..........................p. 23Accommodation ..................p. 24Package Offers .....................p. 29Venues ....................................p. 30schafhof.................................p. 33Airport Visitors Park ...........p. 33Freising Garden Festival....p. 34Freising Rose Gardens .......p. 34Credits ....................................p. 34Freising A-Z ..........................p. 36Old Quarter Map .................p. 38

Freising – Spiritual and Cultural Centre of Old Bavaria "If you haven't seen Freising, you don't know Old Bavaria!“Page 6

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For this reason, the culture of hos-pitality flourishes in Freising. In cosyinns, elegant restaurants or bistrosand pubs teeming with young people.And naturally in the beer gardensand street cafés. As soon as thefirst rays of spring sun warm thestreets, the city is transformed in-to a Mediterranean-style open-airtheatre in an urban setting.

Culture – ahead of its time

The prince-bishops always had timefor art and culture. This traditionhas retained its vitality in Freising,and even today is fearless in creatingscope for artistic freedom, forminga fascinating arc from past to present.And not only on the university cam-pus; Freising is a young city, inwhich classical culture is joined bya host of cabarets, small clubs,avant-garde theatres and contem-

porary music of all kinds. Entertaining,inspiring reflection and discussion,pointing the way into the future.Freising's Cultural Festival, its festivalof traditional music in the autumnand its guitar festival have attractedgreat acclaim and underpin thecity's image as a cultural centre.

Strolling through the ancient lanes,one suddenly emerges in romanticnooks or hidden squares, on thebanks of a river, under a statue of avenerable saint, and soaks up thetranquillity exuded by the ancientstones. Or the beauty of the sur-rounding countryside, within whichFreising flourishes like the roses inthe city. For hiking, cycling, swimmingor the many modern types of sport,striking new notes in placid OldBavaria with their call to activity.

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"Then there are the two monasteries of Weihenstephan andNeustift, which are assiduous at holding processions and evenmore assiduous at brewing beer."These mocking lines, penned 200 years ago by Enlightenmentauthor Pezzl, have a grain of truth at their centre. Whereverprayers are heartfelt, festivities are joyous – particularly inCatholic Old Bavaria, with Freising at its centre.

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Freising – Spiritual andCultural Centre of Old Bavaria

The true story goes that in the 12thcentury the Bear of Freising lostthe trial of strength with the mightyBavarian Lion, thus paving the wayfor nearby Munich to become thecapital of the State of Bavaria. Buta far more important aspect thanany power struggles and the manybattles and disputes fought betweenFreising's prince-bishops and themighty rulers of the Wittelsbachdynasty was the spiritual and reli-gious leadership of the state. Aleadership which also stood the testof an era when Freising was a ruralcity of civil servants slumbering atthe foot of Cathedral Hill, garneringstrength for its role in modernBavaria as a driver of the future.

How the Bear Came to Freising

It was around the year 720 thatCorbinian, a missionary later to be-

come the first bishop of Freising,crossed the Alps to Rome. One darknight deep in the mountains, a hun-gry bear scented Corbinian's pack-horse, killed it with one blow of itspaw and ate its fill of the flesh.Corbinian sat nearby at the fire,perhaps accompanied by a terrifiedservant, and calmly watched thefeast. When the bear was sated,the saint told him that although hefully understood that a bear mustallay his hunger in this way, thebear must also understand him. Thepack-horse had carried his baggage,and since it was now in the bear'sbelly, the bear would have to takeover its task. The bear understood –perhaps because the explanationcame from a saint – and, withoutgrowl or murmur, carried Corbinian'sbaggage to Rome, where the saintreleased him with thanks. This legend

Here, in the spiritual

heart of Old Bavaria,

worlds collide.

The cathedral towers

watch over an old

city pulsing with

today's young life.

All clothed in an air of

tranquil equanimity.

"If you haven't seen

Freising, you don't

know Old Bavaria!"

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An aerial view clearly shows theCathedral Hill complex, crammedwith buildings from a range of epochs

The remains of St. Corbinian lie in the Crypt and are exhibited in ceremonial processions

This arch leads to the “Belvedere”,which offers magnificentpanoramic views as far as the Alps

of Bavarian bishoprics in 739: todrive ahead the mission in the southand south-east. This is evidencedby the monasteries of Innichen andScharnitz and by extensive estatesin the Wachau, Lower Austria andwhat is today Slovenia. One of theseterritories and its appertainingprincely rights, albeit somewhatnearer, is associated with the foun-dation of nearby Munich. DukeHenry the Lion succeeded in trans-ferring the toll rights for OberföhringBridge, owned by the Bishop ofFreising, to Munich. We no longerknow exactly how: the illegal burn-ing of the bridge is not documentedwith any certainty in the history-books. Munich's rise as a city wasfounded on toll revenues from thesalt trade. Bishop Otto I. naturallyresisted this "dispossession" and, asthe uncle of Emperor Frederick Bar-barossa, achieved at least partialsuccess: Munich was obliged to pay

part of its toll revenues to Freising,right up to 1803. Only then, whenthe prince-bishopric was dissolvedand became part of Bavaria, wasthe capital able to free itself fromthis tiresome obligation with a finalpayment. Today, the view from the belvedere of Cathedral Hill, the bishops' "Bella Vista“, sweeps downthe valley of the River Isar as far asMunich, and extends on clear daysas far as the Alps, where Werdenfels– once owned by Freising – lay nearthe lofty Zugspitze.

Scholarly Centre

Bishop Otto (1137-58), of the royalStaufer dynasty, is primarily impor-tant for another reason: he is con-sidered one of the great philosophersof history of the Middle Ages andthe author of a major work abouthis nephew, Emperor Frederick I.Barbarossa. Together with the fa-mous Freising scriptorium, he formederfr

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explains why the arms of the Cityof Freising show a saddled bear. Theancient arms of the prince-bishopsadditionally show a Moorish figure,the origins of which are shroudedin history; not even a legend remains.Yet it too is so much a part of Frei -sing and its Cathedral Hill that PopeBenedict included the bear and theMoor in his own coat of arms as areminder of his life in Freising. Inearlier times the Moor was also de-picted on a fountain standing inthe centre of the vast cathedralsquare; the story goes that at the1000-year celebrations of the dio-cese in 1724, red wine gushed outof this fountain to refresh the guests.The fountain was forced to makeway for great Bishop Otto, butfound a new home at the foot ofCathedral Hill in Bahnhofstrasse.

Mons doctus

Cathedral Hill. Imagine it as thenucleus of Freising. Where Kardi-nal-Döpfner-Haus stands today wasprobably once the ducal palatinateof the Agilolfing dynasty. Count Gri-moald had appointed Corbinian thefirst bishop of Freising. The Cathedral

towers over the spot where Freising'sfirst Church of St. Mary stood. Cathe-dral Hill, at the end of the Munichgravel plain, is visible from afar. Yetonce it afforded an even more im-posing vision; in old engravings ahost of church spires can be seenjutting into the air all around, warn-ing travellers down the River Isarof the presence of this toweringspiritual city - as Freising was untilthe 19th century. This religious andcultural significance was by far themost dominant factor in the bour-geois city huddled at the foot ofCathedral Hill, yet the religious lea -ders were somewhat afraid of thissecular influence: why else wouldthey have separated their "Scholars'Hill" from the rest of the city – alsoowned by the prince-bishops, ofcourse - by a turreted wall? Andyet the bishops of Freising werenot only the religious leaders oftheir diocese, but also its secularlords.

They ruled with stately assuranceover their many territories, the wide-spread locations of which bore wit-ness to Bonifatius' command to thediocese of Freising at the conference

Freising's arms still show the

bear below the Bavarian lozenges

The monastery andbaptismal church ofSt. Johannes (1321)with Gothic vaultedceilings, one of the

oldest churches on Cathedral Hill

"Scholars' Hill" viewedfrom the west of

the city, the direction of Weihenstephan

The church of the Premonstra -

tensian Order was redesigned

in rococo style in 1756

Market square and Town Hall,

with St. George'sChurch in the

background andMariensäule

column in the foreground

Wieskirche, a popular

pilgrimagechurch at

the gateway to the city

But the Renaissance is also presenton Cathedral Hill. The Princes' Clois-ters (Fürstengang) are the earliestexample of this epoch in Bavaria.Their walls display a collection ofportraits of Freising's prince-bishopsfor our examination: from pious,withdrawn men of the Church tohaughty rulers exuding princely as-surance. Each era had the bishopsit needed to steer Freising's shipsafely through the storms of history.The diocesan museum, housing Ger-many's largest collection of religiousart and dubbed "Freising's spiritualgallery" by art historian HerbertSchindler, exhibits a selection ofworks that trace Freising's signifi-cance throughout the centuries.

In the Shadow of the Cathedral

Gazing at the bourgeois city of OldFreising clustered around CathedralHill, we can easily imagine thatcity life was once dominated byclerics, prelates and religious orders.

Freising was the spiritual and culturalheart of Old Bavaria until the late14th century.

Later it became a prosperous countrycity, and has retained an atmosphereof placid, cheery tranquillity: houseswith rococo facades announcingtheir owners' affluence and wealth,the Town Hall and 14th-century St. George's Church, whose Baroquetower hails St. Peter and Paul'sChurch and its PremonstratensianOrder, founded by Bishop Otto I.(around 1142) and today the DistrictOffice. Originally planned as theequal of the Cathedral, in 1756 thechurch was designed as a jewel ofBavarian rococo by artists includingFranz Xaver Feichtmayr, Johann Bap-tist Zimmermann and Ignaz Günther.

Outside the city and once in a com-pletely rural setting, the beautifulold pilgrimage church of Wieskirchecontains a fascinating collection ofvotive images.

1110

During recon-struction (1159)stone reliefs of

Frederick 1. Bar-barossa and theFreising bishopOtto of Freising

(Frederick's uncle)were added to

the main portal

The richly stuccoed Asam-saal on Marien-platz square isFreising's most

magnificentvenue

The walls of thePrinces'

Cloisters depictall the predeces-

sors of today'sarchbishop of

the diocese

The enormouspainting by Peter

Paul Rubens focuses the

attention onevents at the altar

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part of a great tradition, alreadyvenerable in his era, of Freising's"mons doctus“. The first Bavarianhistorian to be recorded was BishopArbeo of Freising(764-83), who either wrote orcommissioned atext known as "abrogans“, the firstLatin-Old High Ger-man glossary, be-lieved to be the oldest book in theGerman languageand today kept in St. Gallen. Itsname is derived from the first wordof its text, "abrogans“.

Scholarliness has never left Freising,and is in evidence not only inBavaria's most beautiful library onCathedral Hill, but also in many ex-amples in the city below: the hallof the former Lyceum, for example,today the Asam Theatre and Frei -sing's most magnificent venue. Theinterior was decorated by HansGeorg Asam, father of the famousbrothers Egid Quirin and CosmasDamian Asam, whose work can alsobe seen in Freising: the old cathedralwas to receive a new, modern and

resplendent design for its 1000-year anniversary, and the most fa-mous artists of the time were chosento do this. The frescoes and plaste

work of the Asambrothers created aglorious, glowingBaroque master-piece. The altar-piece of the Madon-na of the Apoca-lypse was paintedby Peter Paul Ru -bens; its original isin the Pinakothek

in Munich. And the cathedral offersa host of further gems from art his-tory for interested visitors.

Belying its Baroque interior, itsfaçade and entrance still clearlyshow its Romanesque origins: Fred-erick Barbarossa and his wife Beatrixwatch over the portal. And the crypt,the last resting-place of St. Corbinianand others, has the magical Beasts'Pillar at its centre, depicting a gentlewoman with a flower subjugatingnightmarish images of knights batt -ling against monsters and being devoured. Unfortunately the sym-bolism underlying these images istoday lost to us.

Not to be missed: Cathedral Hill with

the cathedral, crypt, library,

Princes' Cloisters,belvedere and

diocesan museum

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Life Sciences –The Future Is Now

The spring on Weihenstephan Hillis said to have been struck out ofthe rock by St. Corbinian, and stillflows today. Only ruins now markthe site of the former Benedictineabbey. Like their brethren everywhere,the monks at Weihenstephan brewedbeer, and because beer in Bavaria

is considered a basic food, Weihen-stephan Hill was quickly renamed"Nährberg", or the "Hill of Nourish-ment". The spiritual scholars, deepin conversation and thought, mustoften have wandered from hill tohill and enjoyed a beer – if only tobe nearer to the blue Bavarian heav-ens. Throughout the centuries theseencounters developed into an activepartnership. Weihenstephan Breweryis the oldest in the world, and theUniversity's Brewing Faculty whichdrew on this venerable expertise istoday considered among the mostmodern international establishmentsof its kind. The monastery traditions,particularly in horticulture, prepareda fertile foundation for the institutesand faculties which transformedthe "hill of nourishment" into a"hill of learning", or "mons doctus“- and so modern and future-orientedinto the bargain.

Freising is among Germany's most modern and future-oriented centres of knowledge. But here too, as so oftenin the "city in the hills", the roots of thisdevelopment extend far into the past.

How the "Hill of Nourishment" became the "Hill of Learning"

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Freising is at the heart of events.At the gateway between richly tra-ditional Old Bavaria and a regionwith its sights set on the future.

Take the nearby airport: an interna-tional destination and arrival pointfor hosts of scientists attending con-ferences in Freising to exchangetheir newest theories and ideas.From the railway station on theedge of the Old Quarter, suburbantrains (S-Bahn) link Freising to the

In the Heart of Old Bavariacapital of Munich, with its sightsand museums, world-famous festi -vities and exclusive shopping streets,in a journey of only 30 minutes.

The ancient Bavarian city of Landshutor World Heritage Site of Regensburgare also a short motorway driveaway through the famous hop-grow-ing region of Hallertau, which hasso decisively shaped the world-classreputation of Bavarian beer. EvenNuremberg and Ingolstadt are close

by, and the Swabian metropolis ofAugsburg even closer.

But whatever the destinations soughtby Freising's visitors, when the shad-ows darken into blue and the sunpaints its last rays in golden strokeson the cobblestones, all return gladlyto Freising. To the little city whereintellectual animation thrives amidtranquillity and Old Bavarian hos-pitality is still firmly rooted. Freisingawaits you.

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The Green CentreThe institutes and departments ofthe Brewing Faculty are adjoinedby the Agricultural and HorticulturalScience Faculty, the Food ProcessEngineering Faculty and the ForestryFaculty. The Agricultural Meteorologydepartment monitors the weatherfor farmers, the Floristry College isresponsible for the flowers, whilethe Brewing and Distilling ResearchCentre keeps body and soul togetherin a more direct fashion. The showgardens of the Landscape Architec-ture Research Centre are the largestand most important in Germanyand, like the Court Gardens of theformer monastery, are a wonderfuland educational place for a stroll.And for somerefreshment a f t e r w a r d s .Modern as thebrewery is, ithas never for-gotten its original purpose. TheBräustüberl tavern and its shadybeer garden are ideal places for arustic picnic. The fame of the beerand "Obatzte", a mixture of Camem-bert, butter and other flavourings,extends far beyond their home region.

Modern ArtRefreshed and at leisure to continue,visitors can stroll through the ex-tensive campus where the landscape,modern architecture and art blendinto a unique setting. Freising hasalways been a centre of art and

has inte -grated mod-ern art intoits cityscape.Works by fa-mous artists

including Fritz König, Alf Lechneror Ernst Hermanns have helped tounderpin the lofty and essentialstatus of modernity today in thisvenerable city.

Remains of Corbinian's Chapel on Weihen -stephan Hill

Bavarian hospitality is alive and well inWeihenstephan beer garden

The "Salettl" was formerly a summer-house for the Benedictine monksof Weihenstephan,now long gone.

Not to be missed: The show gardens, the campus

with modern sculptures, the beer garden

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The Agilolfing dukes were probably not the first to settle on the landmark of Cathedral Hill. As early as the Stone Age its specialstatus was well-known. With the advent of St. Corbinian, Freising became the spiritual and cultural centre of Old Bavaria and lateran independent prince-bishopric. Only in the 13th century was Munich able to free itself from Freising's dominance and shift thebalance of power. After 1800 the rural Bavarian city slumbered until reawoken by its old virtue of scholarliness. Today Freising is ayouthful university city with an atmosphere of relaxed joviality.

Short History of Freising

approx. 4200 B.C. The first traces of set-tlement on Cathedral Hill date from theNew Stone Age.

approx. 1700–1500 and 1200–700 B.C.In two Bronze Age eras, mountain settle-ments on Cathedral Hill achieve supra- regional significance.

around 700 A.D. The Agilolfing dukes establish a palatinate on Cathedral Hill. Regensburg, Passau, Salzburg and Freisingare the centres of their Old Bavarian duchy.

around 720 The Agilolfing dukes call theperipatetic West Franconian bishop Corbinianto Freising. He is the city's first bishop andis honoured today as the patron of Freisingand its bishopric.

739 Foundation of the bishoprics of Re-gensburg, Passau, Salzburg and Freising bySt Bonifatius. Freising becomes an episcopalcity.

996 Emperor Otto III. awards Freisingmarket rights, first turning the spotlight ofhistory onto the "bourgeois" town at thefoot of Cathedral Hill.

1021 A Benedictine abbey is founded onWeihenstephan Hill, also with a traditiondating back to the 8th century.

1142 Bishop Otto of Freising founds thePremonstratensian monastery of Neustiftto the east of the ancient city.

1158 Bishop Otto of Freising, the greatpolitician and scholar and the most significantfigure among the bishops of the ancientbishopric. The same year is traditionallygiven as the foundation of Munich. Thetown arises under Freising's rule but overtakesthe episcopal city in the following centuries.

around 1300 The Moor of Freising is de-picted in the arms of the Freising bishops.As prince-bishops of the Holy Roman Empirethey reign over a small secular territorywhich holds estates as far afield as Austriaand Slovenia.

1724 Prince-Bishop Eckher holds a greatcelebration to commemorate the thousandthanniversary of St Corbinian's arrival, furthercrowning the image of the Baroque episcopalcity with glory.

1802/03 In the process of mediatizationand secularization, the secular territoriesof the Freising prince-bishop are incorporatedinto Kurbayern (later known as Bavaria).Monasteries are closed, the episcopal seatis moved to Munich in 1821 and the bishopricelevated to the Archbishopric of Munichand Freising. The residence of the prince-bishops becomes a Bavarian country town,its profile dominated by schools and officialand military institutions. On Cathedral Hillseminary institutions are founded in thenew archbishopric. In 1803 a state forestryschool is founded in the premises of thesecularized Benedictine abbey of Weihen-stephan.

1858 The Munich – Landshut railwayopens.

1945 In the final days of World War 2, on18 April, the area around Freising Stationis bombed.

1968 Cathedral Hill is reorganized, thecollege and priests' seminary closed ormoved to Munich. The following years seethe establishment of the Kardinal-Döpfner-Haus educational centre and the diocesanmuseum.

1972 As a result of territorial reforms,Freising loses its independent city statusand becomes a district seat.

1992 The new Munich Airport opens inthe vicinity.

1994 As part of the Bavarian state devel-opment programme, Freising is upgradedfrom a "medium-sized district centre" to"potential major centre". Key location factorsinclude the international "green" study andresearch centre at Weihenstephan. Thecity's unemployment rate is continuouslythe lowest in the country.

2006 Freising's citizens are concernedabout Munich Airport's plans for a thirdrunway. Pope Benedict XVI., whose careeris closely linked to Munich, visits the ancientepiscopal city on 14 September.

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The arms of Pope Benedict XVI. fea-ture two elements referring to hislife in Freising: the legendary Bearof St. Corbinian, standing for will-ingness to serve, and theMoor of Freising, a figurewhose significance isshrouded in history. In factthere are many and deepbonds linking JosephRatzinger to the episcopalcity of Freising. In 1945,aged 18, he entered the priests'seminary on Cathedral Hill and stud-ied philosophy there for two yearsbefore moving to the University ofMunich. At the end of June 1951he and his brother Georg were or-dained as priests in Freising Cathe-

dral, spending the months of prepa-ration in Freising. At the end of1952 he returned to the city totake up the position of lecturer at

the seminary,moving to theChair of Dogmaticand FundamentalTheology at Frei -sing Universityfrom the wintersemester of

1954/55 and living in an apartmenton Cathedral Hill. After holding pro-fessorships in a number of Germanuniversities, Joseph Ratzinger wasappointed Archbishop of Munichand Freising in 1977 and nominatedas Cardinal in the same year. During

his time as head of the archdiocesehe regularly visited Freising. In 1982Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was calledto Rome as Prefect of the Congre-

gation for the Doctrine ofthe Faith. Before leavinghe was awarded the Gol -den Medal of the City ofFreising, which had becomehis second home. In 2004he made a final personalvisit to Freising. For when

he returned to his Old Bavarianhome from 9 to 14 September 2006,naturally including Freising in hisitinerary, Joseph Ratzinger was al-ready Pope, and signed the city'sGolden Book as Benedict XVI.