Linked to Simply Snapes: Simply Lines.
Author: eklastic
Zu alt, um nur zu spielen. Zu jung, um ohne Wunsch zu sein.
Every cloud
“Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected.”
Robert Frank
Linked to Travel with Intent. Visit Debbie’s site to find more posts inspired by the Frank quote.
My blog runneth over
… because. books.
Open bookcases where anyone can take or bring books are seen all over the place these days. Sometimes they are found in sturdy cupboards,
sometimes in display cabinets,
often they are built into old telephone boots.
There are always people perusing the shelves to see if some book whets their appetite.
And sometimes they leave already poring over the first pages of their new reading material.
Some readers need a proper place and other creature comforts before they settle down with a book.
Some people need company, even if it is inanimate.
A sculpture of a reading girl in front of a bookstore in Michelstadt,
and another one in front of the public library in Ladenburg.
And this is Peter Schöffer.
Who was he? You heard of Johannes Gutenberg who invented movable type printing. But he had help – hardly any great inventor can do without – and today we recognise that Peter Schöffer of Gernsheim was more than an assistant but a highly educated inventor in his own right who improved on Gutenberg’s design and was to a large extent responsible for the economic success of book printing and thus the spread of books to the masses.
Linked to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: books and paper.
Silhouette
Linked to Simply Snaps: Simply Silhouette.
Reach for the digestif
How many people does a building need to ingest before it will start digesting?
The building, known as Stadttor (City Gate), is an office building in Düsseldorf. From 1999 until 2017 the seat of the state-chancellery of the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westfalia was situated here but after the last election the offices were moved back into their former location.
Linked to K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge: Archtecture digestif.
Firm stands the watch
The late 19th century, after the Franco-Prussian War which lead to the unification of Germany was a great time to build monuments to the glorification of Germany. One such monuments (I almost wrote monstrosities) is the Niederwald Denkmal in Rüdesheim am Rhein.
It features a more than 12 metres high personification of Germania, holding aloft the laurel crown of the victor and the sword, pointing downward, as well a symbol of victory.
At the foot of the huge figure is this relief of 133 Germans considered important – all of them life-size to give an indication of the size of the monument. Underneath, larger than life, are the Rivers Rhein (male) and Mosel (female), Father Rhine handing the horn of the guardian to his daughter (tributary) Moselle hinting at the land gain of Elsass und Lothringen (Alsace and Lorraine) through the means of war.
The words are the verses of hymn called Die Wacht am Rhein, the watch towards the west, the heriditary enemy France, glorifying the blood that is ready to be spilled for the German Reich. We all know how that ended.
For One Word Sunday: Monumental, on this day of the “open monument” in Germany which will see me looking for less martial examples of monuments.
