A Prüm and proper good time awaits amid history and animals galore

If you’ve ever caught the curiosity bug after obsessing over an unfamiliar name that kept popping up, you can probably relate to how I ended up wayfaring off the autobahn A60 to the town of Prüm.

Part of my chronic compulsion for seeking out the obscure is attributable to my photography mentor, whose stock-in-trade is finding poignant places known only to him. He may be the world’s foremost Instagram curmudgeon.

In addition, my penchant for nerd tourism knows no bounds, giving rise to my encounter with Prüm, which is a roughly 30-minute drive from Spangdahlem Air Base.

It doesn’t exactly flaunt its millennium-spanning enticements, though. That’s why you need to know what to look for.

For centuries, Prüm was home to an abbey founded in 721 by the great-grandmother of Charlemagne, whom the Germans call Karl der Grosse, or Charles the Great.

The entrance to the Basilica of the Transfiguration of Our Lord in Prüm, Germany, is adorned with a statue of Charlemagne at right. His forebears established an abbey in the town, which has numerous traces of its Carolingian-era past. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

Closed after the French Revolution and now the site of a public high school and the Basilica of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, the abbey would acquire even greater significance both during and after his redefining reign.

I guess it makes sense, then, that I first set eyes on the town’s name while reading a biography of the most eminent Charles ever to be in charge in Europe.

But the book that turned out to be my best Prüm primer was “Oathbreakers,” a popular history of some of the Franks’ greatest hits in the lore of dynastic intrigue. It enthralled me so much that I bought a copy for my Army veteran brother, a fellow history aficionado.

Some years before Charlemagne’s coronation by the pope in 800, an illegitimate son of his who came to be known as Pepin the Hunchback tried to exact revenge for his removal from the line of succession. The regicidal plot was foiled, and Pepin was exiled into the monastic life at Prüm Abbey.

Approaching the entrance of the present-day church, with its sword-wielding statue of a glowering Charlemagne, I caught sight of an informational plaque dedicated to a major player in the saga of his successors: Lothar I.

A placard outside the former abbey church in Prüm, Germany, tells the story of Emperor Lothar I's final days. A grandson of Charlemagne, he relinquished his throne and retired to Prüm Abbey in 855. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

The sole surviving son of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious, inherited the throne in 814. He too eventually faced the problem of discontented offspring and was temporarily deposed.

Lothar, his eldest son, took part in the rebellion but later had a change of heart and restored his father to power. He was named heir to the throne as a reward. But after Louis died, Lothar’s brothers refused to acknowledge his primacy.

The squabble devolved into civil war, which didn’t end well for Lothar. In the wake of a humiliating defeat in the Battle of the Ries in 841, he was relegated by a subsequent treaty to ruling the middle third of the newly partitioned empire.

What one modern writer described as a sort of gigantic Luxembourg to tempt future statesmen like Napoleon and the fathers of the EU, the territory was later called Lotharingia.

The exterior plaque at the Prüm basilica hints at one of the sights inside. It says that late in life, Lothar renounced his earthly realm and entered the abbey. He died just six days later, on Sept. 29, 855.

The marble tomb of the Frankish ruler Lothar I is one of the historical highlights in the former abbey church in Prüm, Germany. The remains of Lothar, one of Charlemagne's grandsons, were rediscovered in 1860 and buried on the grounds of the place where he had died in 855. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

Frankish ruler Lothar I is one of three figures depicted in statues near the bus stop in Prüm, Germany, adjacent to the old abbey. His tomb is nearby in the Basilica of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

His tomb occupies a space along a wall of the church. Topped with a crown, it is engraved with a message describing Kaiser Wilhelm I’s intervention in the burial of Lothar’s remains, which had been rediscovered in 1860.

This was all a revelation to me, since I hadn’t known anything about the final chapter of his life.

While ambling around the other areas inside the church, I came across a touch screen all in German that described various elements. I scrolled through it looking for information about Prüm’s star attraction.

A touch screen in the Basilica of the Transfiguration of Our Lord in Prüm, Germany, shows a picture of its most precious relic, the sandals of Jesus. Crowds of pilgrims used to flock to the church to see the sandals, which are now displayed only on special occasions. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

Sandals said to have belonged to Jesus Christ are kept in a gilded reliquary in the church, but dejection was my lot, because the screen said the sandals are displayed only on special occasions. My visit did not rise to that standard.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find any mention of what those occasions are. So modern-day travelers to Prüm appear unlikely to have the opportunity of pilgrims past to be awed by sanctified footwear.

Another long-ago VIP of Prüm immortalized there in the present is the abbot Regino, who lived as the Carolingians’ world was crashing down and wrote one of the most crucial accounts of the era, known in English as the “Chronicon.”

Regino of Prüm wrote a major historical work while serving as abbot. This statue in Prüm, Germany, celebrates the “Chronicon,” a two-volume history whose time frame extends from the birth of Christ to 907. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

The statue of him in the environs of the old abbey is inscribed with “Weltchronik 907,” a reference to the last year covered in its two volumes. The first starts with the birth of Christ, while the second traces events from 741 onward.

Prüm’s penchant for standout statuary took a whimsical turn at my last stop, the Hubert Kruft Sculpture Park. The beautifully landscaped green space exudes calm while doubling as a showcase for fascinating feats of metallurgy.

The atelier of Hubert Kruft offers a prelude to the scenery of the accompanying sculpture park in Prüm, Germany. The park covers about 5 acres and is full of imaginative artwork blended into beautiful landscaping. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

Kruft Sculpture Park in Prüm, Germany, puts animal-themed artwork in surroundings designed to show the interplay with nature. Trees, ponds, fountains, structures and such create a relaxing atmosphere for visitors viewing the whimsical world tucked into the Eifel region. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

A sculpted eagle with wings spread over a pond offers a sampling of the artistic handiwork on display at the Kruft Sculpture Park in Prüm, Germany. Developed from a former cow pasture, the richly decorated park provides relaxation alongside creations inspired by local wildlife. (David Edwards/Stars and Stripes)

It’s a menagerie crafted in copper and bronze, with denizens that include herons, rabbits, dragonflies and fish as well as some miniature humans casting a line into ponds.

With a relentless sun causing me to perspire on par with Old Faithful, I welcomed the shady spots as much as the serenity. And kids are just as likely to be captivated by the park as grown-ups like me.

During the long drive back to Kaiserslautern, I had plenty of time to reflect on how pleasurably profitable this trip had been despite the sandals setback. Sometimes a bookworm is the best thing to be.

On the QT

Address: Klosterhof 4 for the basilica and former abbey grounds; St. Vither Strasse 62 for the sculpture park. Both spots are in Prüm, Germany.

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily for the Kruft Sculpture Park; for the exterior areas of the old abbey, daily around the clock.

Cost: 3 euros for admission to the sculpture garden

Information: tinyurl.com/4rk5tamn; skulpturenpark-kruft.de/park