St. Eusebius church is named after the 4th-century saint Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli. On the site of the present building initially stood a church dedicated to St. Martinus but after some relics of St. Eusebius arrived in the town during the early part of the 15th century, it was decided to build a new church dedicated to the saint at the old site. This new structure gradually replaced the old building over the next century, commencing when Arnold, Duke of Egmond laid the first stone in 1452.
The church was extensively damaged during the Second World War following Operation Market Garden in 1944. When the battle over the bridge that crosses the Rhine occurred, between paratroopers under the command of British Lieutenant-Colonel John Dutton Frost and the Germans, the church was completely burnt out. Later the tower, weakened by the fire, collapsed entirely.
Following the war the church was restored between 1946 and 1961. It is no longer used for religious services but rather is a tourist attraction, specifically commemorating the bravery of the paratroopers of the Allied forces who attempted to isolate the Germans by capturing the bridge across the river Nederrijn.
In 1994 the municipality of Arnhem commissioned an elevator to be placed in the church tower. Visitors can pay a small fee and ride up the elevator past all of the array of bell and into the loft of the church, from where tourist binoculars or the naked eye can be used to survey a 360 degree view of the surrounding city.
Visitors are also able to enter the crypt below the building. This part of the building has only very dim light in a central part. By carefully exploring a number of darkened cavernous areas, most of which are either barred as if being a part of old gaol cells, or in some cases as clearly exhumed shallow graves, the visitor can find ancient human bones which have been left in the state of their burial or death.
Bamberg is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. Its historic city center is a listed UNESCO world heritage site.
Bamberg is a good example of a central European town with a basically early medieval plan and many surviving ecclesiastical and secular buildings of the medieval period. When Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, became King of Germany in 1007 he made Bamberg the seat of a bishopric, intended to become a 'second Rome'. Of particular interest is the way in which the present town illustrates the link between agriculture (market gardens and vineyards) and the urban distribution centre.
From the 10th century onwards, Bamberg became an important link with the Slav peoples, especially those of Poland and Pomerania. During its period of greatest prosperity, from the 12th century onwards, the architecture of this town strongly influenced northern Germany and Hungary. In the late 18th century Bamberg was the centre of the Enlightenment in southern Germany, with eminent philosophers and writers such as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and E.T.A. Hoffmann living there.
Bamberg extends over seven hills, each crowned by a beautiful church. This has led to Bamberg being called the 'Franconian Rome'.