Elmar Rettinger has been a tour guide for the city of Mainz since 1980. For ten years now, he has been offering Gutenberg costume tours to convey history in a lively way. I met him and asked him what appeals to him about the historical figure, how he feels in costume, and what makes his alter ego's workplace so charming.
Tailored to the body
On the way to my meeting with "Johannes Gutenberg" I meet the greatest son of the city of Mainz already in the form of his larger-than-life monument on Gutenbergplatz. Sublime, he watches over the lively hustle and bustle at his feet. I stroll past the imposing Imperial Cathedral past in the direction of the Gutenberg Museum, where the whole world of printing, books and writing awaits me. Just like an exciting conversation with historian and tour guide Elmar Rettinger.
For around ten years, he has embodied the man who, in the 15th century, revolutionized the conventional, laborious methods of book production with movable type, a printing press and some printing ink. And thus democratized the transmission of knowledge and access to education. For my interlocutor, his Costume tour as Gutenberg a great way to convey this story as vividly and vividly as possible.
Elmar Rettinger reveals that he initially slipped into the role of the letterpress printer rather by chance. As part of a scientific project, clothing typical of the 15th century was being tailored and he was allowed to pose as the project manager at the time. It was only afterwards, he says, that he had the bright idea: "A costume draws special attention, and that's how I came to implement this for my guided tours for guests."
Velvet and silk
Authenticity is particularly important to the historian. "You have to be careful when you make a costume like this," the tour guide points out. Beforehand, he had extensively researched how patricians once dressed, because Johannes Gutenberg was one such patrician. High-quality materials such as natural silk and heavy velvet, puffy sleeves with "strange slits" and distinctive beaked shoes are all part of his ensemble. "Everyone thinks the shoes are particularly chic," he notes with amusement.
I quickly realize that Elmar Rettinger has a gift for packaging concentrated historical knowledge into exciting facts. For example, when he talks about the muted colors of his robe. Garish clothing was reserved exclusively for the nobility and purple for the clergy. Of course, he doesn't wear a watch during his city tours either; after all, it has to be authentic. "But if the guests are interested and ask questions, then you don't look at the watch at all. Then it's just fun to tell them something," he says.
Of the cherry orchard and eating cherries
And he likes to tell: "I want to inform about the time back then. Who was the boss in the city, what were the social conditions like, and why was Mainz so heavily in debt?" Of course, his tours also revolve around the life and work of Johannes Gutenberg himself. Elmar Rettinger takes his groups to all the places associated with him. He starts here at the Gutenberg Museum - with a demonstration of the printing press, of course - and leads once completely through the old town.
Both professionally and privately, the tour guide especially loves Mainz's squares. And the old trading city has many of them. Be it the four lively cathedral squares, the central Schillerplatz or the beautiful Kirschgarten with its historic half-timbered houses, some of which have been preserved from Gutenberg's time. "It's the squares in Mainz that make this city so charming," Elmar Rettinger enthuses.
During our conversation about Johannes Gutenberg, he repeatedly lapses into the first person. He has to laugh when he notices this and assures me that he already knows that he is not the real thing: "I am a very calm guy and Johannes Gutenberg was probably a very irascible person, very different." Very little is known about him, he said, and what little is known is mainly from court records. "He was not at all easy to deal with, and maybe that's what attracts me to the role," the tour guide admits.
The double Gutenberg
But the costumed Elmar Rettinger never gets angry like his alter ego, because he actually doesn't feel all that different in the heavy coat. In Mainz, wearing a costume is no problem at all, he notes with a shrug. On the contrary: "The people of Mainz are the most Shrovetide used to here." Again and again, he is even pleased about warm greetings and big, amazed children's eyes.
The participants of two groups were certainly astonished when they suddenly saw double one fine day. The tour guide had to laugh when he told me his favorite anecdote. A colleague also had a costume and on that day two Johannes Gutenbergs happened to run into each other. He pauses for a moment. Maybe he should think about going to Strasbourg, because that's where the printer lived for a few years. But he quickly shakes his head: "They probably already have their own Gutenberg." So Elmar Rettinger will be staying in Mainz for a long time to come!
Your Gutenberg costume tour through Mainz
In addition to the exciting Gutenberg costume tour, which you can find on this page booking, Elmar Rettinger also covers many more city tours from Roman times through the National Socialist era to the present day. After meeting the charismatic historian and tour guide, I am sure that each one is a vivid experience.
