In the Name of the Rose

On 4 July, we made a wonderful excursion to an old cistercian cloister, Eberbach, about 45 km from here near thepretty medieval town of Eltville / Rhine..It's better known from the film based on Umberto Ecco's book. One would never have guessed the film was made here. The surrounding landscape is totally different, rolling hills and woods as opposed to high bleak Alpine mountains.The cloister is in great repair, was secularized in 1806. Since then it is a working vineyard owned by the government of the Hessian State and makes lovely wines of some renown. The only room remotely resembling what I remember of the film is the so-called dormitory (for lay people). A huge empty hall where, in the film, the library was placed, with a door to the secret tower upstairs full of forbidden books. In the basement, musty as real wine cellar has to be, dozens of ancient, dark wooden barrels reminded me of the scene where they found one dead monk floating in a mixture of wine and blood. In the summer, classical concerts are played in the more than sparse, overly plain former chapel. They have a classic garden restaurant with typical fare for the weary traveler and, of course, wine and cider.