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On Unter Kaulberg, which sweeps uphill from Judenstrasse, is Bamberg's main parish church, the Obere Pfarrkirche . Architecturally, it's something of a hotchpotch, though the chancel and the Brautportal (Bridal Portal), whose carvings of the Wise and Foolish Virgins strike a suitable warning note, are distinguished productions of the famous fourteenth-century Parler family. The interior was remodelled in Baroque style, and contains a huge high altar of the period incorporating a much-venerated Gothic statue of the Virgin and Child. Other furnishings of special note include a highly elaborate late fourteenth-century tabernacle , now banished to one of the ambulatory chapels; an early sixteenth-century font with reliefs of the Sacraments; and a large painting of The Assumption by Tintoretto . Further up the same hill is the Karmelitenkloster , whose Baroque church was designed by Leonhard Dientzenhofer. Of more interest are the surviving parts of the suppressed convent which formerly occupied the site: the Romanesque portal, guarded by lions, which is incongruously stranded in a walled-up position at the back of the present church, and the cloister (daily 8.30-11.30am & 2.30-5.30pm; free), the largest in Germany. The latter is now known to be late fourteenth century in date, though it was built in the long-superseded Romanesque style. Despite this anachronism, the column capitals were carved by masons possessed of fertile imagination: in addition to the biblical scenes, there's a fabulous bestiary, ranging from fearsome dragons to weird creepy-crawlies. Crowning the hill to the north of the Dom is the Abtei St Michael , an eleventh-century Benedictine foundation. The Abteikirche still preserves some of its Romanesque masonry from the following century, though it was badly damaged by fire in 1610 and partially rebuilt in a tardy Gothic style. Also from this period are the vault paintings , which depict more than six hundred plants with medicinal properties, and the organ gallery , which is in the late Renaissance style then fashionable. The small crypt to the rear of the high altar contains the beautifully carved thirteenth-century tomb of St Otto , a Bamberg bishop of the previous century; there's also a polychrome portrait slab of him, made around the same time. In the nineteenth century, the grand tombs of the prince-bishops who ruled between the mid-sixteenth and late eighteenth centuries were moved here from the Dom, and placed in the aisles of the nave. Among the many large-scale furnishings added during the Baroque era, the finest are the gilded pulpit , which is topped by a dramatic composition of St Michael overcoming Satan, and the choir stalls , with their backs of inlaid wood. The part-stucco, part-painted depiction of the Dance of Death on the vault of the Heilig-Grab-Kapelle is from the same period. Leonhard Dietzenhofer, who added a new facade to the church, also began the monumental complex of monastic buildings around the front courtyard; his work was continued by his brother Johann and Balthasar Neumann, among others. The cellars now house the Frankisches Brauereimuseum (April-Sept Wed-Sun 1-5pm; DM3.50/?1.75), which displays all the equipment used in traditional brewing, as well as memorabilia of Bamberg breweries past and present. From the terrace beyond, there's a wonderful panorama of the town and the surrounding hills. However, the most dramatic views of Bamberg's skyline are obtained from the footpath leading up to the Altenburg , a heavily restored feudal fortress at the southwestern edge of town. Dating back at least as far as the early twelfth century, it became the residence of the local prince-bishops a couple of hundred years later. During daylight hours, there's normally unrestricted access to the castle, whose ramparts command an extensive view over the surrounding countryside, but a far less satisfying one of the city itself than those en route.
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