St Boniface and Fulda

The silver shrine preserves a fragment of St Boniface' skull

For years I have wanted to visit Fulda and see the book that is the subject of this film. For some reason I got the impression that Fulda was situated up in the Alps and I pictured a remote monastry clinging to some rocky cliff face. In fact the town is in the middle of Germany and situated in hilly but gentle countryside.

Even more surprising was the wonderful collection of Baroque buildings that make up the heart of the town. The suburbs are the usual melange of concrete or brick boxes - why can't some architect come up with a Baroque bus station? - but the town centre appears untouched since the 1700s.

To my extreme annoyance the museum had been arbitrarily closed for a month when I first visited the town and I thought I would have to do the film without the central object, but on my way back I had just enough time for a flying visit. The sky was blue, the buildings glowed in the sunshine and the museum was open with a very considerate curator in charge.

Fulda is definitely worth a visit.