IS PRETZEL FERDINAND REAL? - No. This is someone who really doesn't exist. Instead, it's an observation of a carving of a man on the famous Speyer Cathedral. It appears to be the figure of a man with his arms and hands contorted (if I recall correctly), and the carving makes it look like he is holding a pretzel. If you Google him, you won't find him. I think that our tour guide was just making a personal and funny observation.
WHAT WAS THE "BLACK DEATH" - If you don't know what the Black Death was in Europe, here's a quick history lesson so you'll understand the misperception that spread in Speyer. The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75–200 million people,[1] peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. Bubonic plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis spread by fleas, but during the Black Death it probably also took a secondary form, spread by person-to-person contact via aerosols, causing pneumonic plague.
THE SPEYER MISPERCEPTION - Most of the population who contracted the Black Death were Christians. Christians blamed the Jewish people for spreading the plague because Jews didn't seem to contract it, and die as much as Christians. In reality, Christians were not as good at practicing good hygiene and thus, more Christians caught the plague.
THE OLD CITY WALL - East of the Cathedral of Speyer are the remains of an old city wall called 'Heidentürmche" which means "Pagan Tower.' This dates back to 1281 and was part of Speyer's medieval city wall and lies behind the cathedral. It is located in a park near the Cathedral.
(Photo: Rob and Tom in the town of Speyer, Germany, hoping to find a pretzel! Credit: R.G.)
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NEXT: A Walking Tour of Strausbourg, France
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