Tag: Germany
Lemon Exotic
Our area is known to have the mildest climate in Germany (together with the island Mainau in Lake Constance). In the local park, adjacent to the castle, there are a couple of lemon trees. Not so unusual, there are more citrus trees in Germany. But these are the only ones that I know being outside all year long and the fruits actually turn yellow.
Clear Autumn Skies
The clear, crisp air was just wonderful for the last few days.
Weekend Sky
Ladder in the Sky
The Odenwald, the low mountain range to the east of us, sports a new tower. On top of the Tromm (a mountain/hill of 577m altitude) stood the Irene Tower (named after the Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria) but the wooden construction was destroyed by rot and bark beetles and demolished in 2020. In its place the new Tromm Tower was erected, a beautiful, modern construction made of wood and metal. It’s beautiful, modern, 33 m high, leaning over the side of the hill and granting a beautiful 360° panoramic view of the Odenwald. It opened to the public in June this year.
Cee’s Black & White Challenge: My Pick
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A Cork Popped Every Two Hours
The Andernach cold-water geysir is the highest in the world, the jet reaching between 50 and 60 metres each time. An eruption lasts about 8 minutes and occurs approximately every two hours.
In a cold-water geysir the jet is driven by CO2-bubbles,
Woolsack Weathering
The forces of nature lay bare rocks and smooth them down.
FOWC with Fandango: Elementary
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I’m a Fan of Monuments and Pigeons
At least, when they are just sitting there (the monument looked clean all round).
This is the Alice monument for the Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine in Darmstadt. Incidentally, she was the second eldest daughter of Queen Victoria, HRH Princess Alice Maud Mary of Great Britan and Irleand which – if my thinking is correct – made her the great-great aunt of Queen Elizabeth II and also the maternal great-grandmother of her husband, Prince Philip. Her memory is alive and well in Darmstadt as the hospital she founded in 1869 is still going strong; I myself was a patient there for a couple of days a decade ago.
Questionable Memories
I’ve always been skeptical about war memorials. They usually reek of pathos if not bathos and I question the motives behind them.
I came across this rather odd war memorial in Bad Dürkheim. It’s in memory of the participants of the Franco-Prussian war. The participants – not the fallen as is more common – are listed with their military regiment, and a curt “gefallen” if they didn’t return. Even worse, in my mind, is the use of the ditto mark ” – not just for the same regiment but also for the word “gefallen” as if in such a monumental glorification set in stone they had to economise with letters.
On one side the non-combatants are listed, I suppose these are the financiers of this war. But what is even more disconcerting to me is the fact that this memorial was erected 40 years after the war, which resulted in the formation of the German empire, only three years before the next one, the so-called “Great War”. Almost as if a new generation was being prepared for the ultimate sacrifice. Of course, I say this with hindsight but it gives the impression of a fractured relationship with history.
The Cosmic Photo Challenge: In Memory
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