Local Information
Directions
Plenary session will be held in the Spiegelsaal in downtown Bamberg (Shillerplatz 7). Splinter sessions will be held at the Spiegelsaal and at Remeis-Observatory, about 15min by foot from the Spiegelsaal.
Dinner
The conference dinner will happen on Monday evening in the Gruener Saal. The cost of the dinner is included in the conference fee.
Accommodation
Bamberg is a tourist town and is host to a large number of smaller hotels. Apart from the usual hotel booking sites which cater to larger hotels such as HRS or Expedia, the city of Bamberg has its own hotel booking service which provides access to many of the smaller hotels and bed and breakfast places in Bamberg. In addition, there is the Ibis Hotel Bamberg Altstadt, which is very close to the conference venue.
A warning: The Spiegelsaal is located in the historic center of Bamberg. Parking is very difficult/impossible to find. Even though Bamberg is Germany's largest historic city center, the city is walkable. If you plan to come by car and your hotel does not provide parking, contact J. Wilms to organize parking at Remeis-Observatory. Do not plan to drive to the venue - walk or take the bus.
Lunches and evening entertainment
A wide range of different kinds of restaurants and pubs is located all over the old town. Near the conference venue (just cross the Regniz bridge towards the mountains and turn right) starts the Sandstrasse, the most famous street of Bamberg with many pubs and some brewery-restaurants typical for Bamberg (e.g., Schlenkerla). If you like it (a little) less touristic and cheaper, the conference venue is next to the Austrasse with its cafes and small restaurants. The refectory (Mensa Haus zum Schwan) of the university is also located there. The food is quite good and cheap. Officially you should show them a student ID, but normally they do not ask if you look young and fresh.
If you would like to eat and drink like locals, the brewery-pubs are the place to go. As Bamberg is the center of the region with the highest density of breweries in the whole world (no kidding, nearby Aufsess has four breweries and 1500 inhabitants, Bamberg has 9 breweries and 70000 inhabitants), there are many of these traditional places, here we only give a list of the most famous ones. Please see the Franconia Beer Guide for descriptions of the almost 300 breweries in Franconia.
In Bamberg, we recommend Fässla, Spezial (facing each other at Obere Königstrasse), Greifenklau (Laurenziplatz 20, a little remote, but very good food and beer), Klosterbräu (Obere Mühlbrücke 1-3, oldest brewery in town) and more. If the weather is good, people are leaving the pubs and gathering at the beer gardens (actually the correct phrase is "on top of the beer cellar", because the old beer storage cellars were built beneath). The most famous of these places is Spezialkeller next to Remeis-Observatory, which not only offers one of the best smoked beers, but also offers an impressive view of the old city. The largest beer garden is Wilde Rose Keller (Oberer Stephansberg 49, also near the observatory). The big trees there are shady, which makes it a comfortable place when it is hot.
International food is also served at various places. Especially for our friends from Great Britain we have a not too good Indian restaurant (Frauenstr. 2). There is an Irish pub, if you don't like the Bamberg beer any more (Obstmarkt 1, next to Altes Rathaus, ironically they do not seem to have a www page in English). Rather good Spanish food can be found at Bolero (Judenstr. 7, half-price cocktails from 17h00 to 19h30) or Tapas (Unterer Kaulberg 36).
Bamberg nightlife is taking place at the pubs (beer gardens close between 23h and midnight), which are concentrated Sandstrasse (e.g. Stilbruch, Mondscheinbar, Lewinskys) and Austrasse (e.g. Esspress, Hofcafe). The Haas Säle have a lovely terrace on the roof top where have a spectacular view towards the lightened cathedral at night - don't let the grubby look of the building deceive you. If you like to dance until late (different kinds of party music) you should go to Live Club (Obere Sandstr. 7), Morph Club (Obere Königstr. 39) or Calimeros (Lange Str. 8).