Tag: Germany

I’m a fan of Bismarck

May 11, 2020May 11, 2020 · 2 Comments ·

First of all, I’m a fan of serendipity. Let me explain …

2020 bismarck a

This is the Springbok hooker Bismarck du Plessis, warming up for the match against Scotland in the 2015 Rugby World Cup in Newcastle, one of the two international rugby matches I watched in my life.

This is what he looked like in the match, a bit more dignified:

2020 bismarck b

Bismarck is the guy on the right. He has been in the (rugby) news lately in South Africa as his merits were discussed in an all-time best Springbok team.

And then last week I was on a hike passing the Bismarck tower in Heidelberg:

Bismarckturm Bismarcksaeule

One of many, many monuments that were built in Germany to honour the “Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck. It is said that more monuments have been erected for him in Germany than for any emperor, king philosopher, or poet. And this in mainly 20 years, from 1890 to 1910. Somehow most of these monuments turned out to be towers but on the Feldberg, the highest mountain of the Black Forest, they build a kind of cairn with a relief of Bismarck:

2020 bismarck d

In my hometown we only managed a bust – which has a curious history. It was supposed to be melted down during the second world war when metal for grenades and the like had come into short supply. It was only rediscovered in 1961 and now stands in a little, unassuming park.

2020 bismarck c

And then, there was that recent pub quiz (zoom version) where I scored biggly because I knew the name of the capital of the US state of North Dakota.

Linked to I’m a fan of … #67 . More fanatical photos can be found here.

A ruin must be rightly situated

May 9, 2020May 9, 2020 · 3 Comments ·

to be effective. This one could not have been better placed. – That’s what Mark Twain said about the Heidelberg castle.

2019 place b

For Six Word Saturday. More six words and accompanying photo(s) to be found here.

Up

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020 · 5 Comments ·

2019 unusual angle b

2019 unusual angle a

2019 unusual angle c

Linked to The Cosmic Photo Challenge: From an unusual angle.

Not the top

Apr 29, 2020Apr 29, 2020 · 4 Comments ·

Feldbergturm

The Black Forest is almost synonymous with dark fir forests but its highest mountain, the Feldberg, is curiously bare. It is the highest mountain in the state of Baden-Württemberg, and the highest in Germany outside of the Alps. It’s the top of the non-Alpine mountain tops, so to speak. And this isn’t even the actual top (but close). I haven’t got pictures of the actual top as 2 years ago, when we had endless, warm, dry days towards the end of summer, we managed to pick the one weekend when it was cold, miserable, foggy, raining and cold. I went to the top (there is a kind of cairn marking it) but I didn’t take my camera because it would have been either drowned or blown away.

This is my twenty-ninth square for Becky’s April Square Challenge.

I’m a fan of rapeseed

Apr 27, 2020 · 4 Comments ·

065 rape a

I’m not sure whether I am in favour of the proliferation of rape seed fields all over the country, some grown for being made into oil but the majority made into petrol. I am also not in favour of the yellow muck that descends on cars and windows during its flowering time. But I can’t help being fan of the strips of yellow in the rural landscape, of the yellow fields and of the delicate little flowers.

Linked to I’m a fan of … #65. More fanatical photos can be found linked here.

Divided and misaligned

Apr 26, 2020 · 4 Comments ·

Verspannte Teilung

Verspannte Teilung, a bronze sculpture in Michelstadt im Odenwald. It’s open to interpretation. If you put a sphere in a vice and misalign the pieces, you end up with a distorted globe.

For One Word Sunday: Division.

It’s plain sailing

Apr 25, 2020Apr 25, 2020 · 3 Comments ·

2017 sailing a

Sailing in the late afternoon on the waters of the mouth of the river Wear.

2017 sailing b

The water glistening, the coast hazy in the background.

And now for something completely (?) different:

2017 sailing c

Sailing on the river Neckar where it is a mere 120 metres wide, with river cruise ships making the waterway even narrower, this guy showed some real acrobatics.

Linked to Friday Fun: Sailing.

The house on top of the stairs

Apr 25, 2020 · 11 Comments ·

23 stairs

“Honey, can you go down to the car, I forgot my bag …”

This is my twentyfifth square for Becky’s April Square Challenge.

Top-notch

Apr 23, 2020 · 6 Comments ·

22 top-notch

This is my twentythird square for Becky’s April Square Challenge.

Can I call you Sam?

Apr 19, 2020 · 3 Comments ·

Mark Twain

I couldn’t find any evidence that Mark Twain was ever in Lüneburg, although he spent a considerable amount of time in Germany. But now he sits next to the river Ilmenau in the middle of town and is open to any kind of discussion you would like to have with him.