A dormer window in Schwetzingen, Germany.
For more aquamarine coloured photos, click here.
Tag: Germany
Apricot – field
A field, ploughed and bone dry, in the Odenwald, in Germany.
For more almond coloured photos, click here.
One German corner
I was in Koblenz yesterday and in the cable car up to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. In the cabin one has a commanding view of the Deutsches Eck, the German corner, where the river Moselle joins the Rhine. The corner tip was called Deutsches Eck for a long time but was enlarged and a monumental statue of Emperor Wilhelm I on horseback was erected. The statue was destroyed during World War II and until German reunification only the plinth remained – meant to be a reminder of the German separation. A replica of the monument was erected amidst much public discussion in the 1990s.
Public discussion was again fierce when the cable car from the banks of the Rhine up to the fortress was built in 2011. The area where the Moselle flows into the Rhine is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and people were worried that the view was going to be spoilt but personally I think it does not distract from the beauty of the area.
This is linked to One Word Sunday: Aerial.
A man of many talents
“Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words.”
“Man soll alle Tage wenigstens ein kleines Lied hören, ein gutes Gedicht lesen, ein treffliches Gemälde sehen und, wenn es möglich zu machen wäre, einige vernünftige Worte sprechen.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
It is impossible to walk through Frankfurt and not see Goethe – he was born there and spoke the dialect of the town (the giveaway are rhymes in some poems which only work as rhymes in this dialect). The silhouette is on the side of a hotel in a part of Frankfurt called Bergen-Enkheim but the sculpture stands in Weimar, where Goethe and the other great German poet, Friedrich Schiller lived and for a while worked together.
In an area of Frankfurt which is a mixture of commercial and industrial buildings this quote by Goethe can be seen on the side of a house. It is the combination of a line taken from “The sorrows of Young Werther”, which Goethe wrote when just 24 years old and which was extremely influential at the time, and the words with which he signed a letter to his wife years later (in English). The quote is a a variation on 1 Corinthians 15; 55: “Death, where is they sting?” Werther (or rather Goethe) continues not: “Grave, where is thy victory?” but “Love, where is thy victory? You are leaving, I’ll remain …”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe combined many different aspects in his life: he was a highly successful author of poems, plays, and novels, he wrote academic papers, undertook research in various fields and made a few scientific discoveries, he was a trained lawyer, a politician at the court of Sachsen-Weimar, a theatre director, a man who lived for a few years fairly openly with a lover well below his social standing before marrying her. By all accounts, he was also a very worldly man who enjoyed food and drink. So it is only befitting that Frankfurt displays his likeness on a special tram, the so-called Äppelwoi-Express (a tram which can be booked by groups to party and drink Frankfurt style cider while driving through the city).
This is linked to Travel with intent: one little song.
Play it again, Böb!
This mural is at the entrance of the “artists’ quarter” in Böblingen. Pubs and bars crowded together in a small, provincial town.
Linked to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Hands.
Antique brass – sign
Colour peeling off an old sign in the Rhine harbour of Gernsheim.
For more antique brass coloured photos, click here.
The name is Kraft, Adam Kraft.
I went literal today for One Word Sunday: Power. Power translates as “Kraft” in German and the bust shows Adam Kraft, a sculptor who lived in Nürnberg in the second half of the 15th century.
It is displayed amongst many others at the Ruhmeshalle (hall of fame) in Munich, a colonade where busts of important people from Bavaria are displayed. It is situated right on top of the “Wiesn”, the place were the Oktoberfest in Munich takes place every year.
Almond – inn
Hurrah! Color your world is back!!
When I took this photo over the weekend I immediately thought of #cyw and the first colour, almond, this time round. The inn stands in Neckargemünd on the banks of the river Neckar, just outside of Heidelberg. Its name is “Old Barn” (or possible, Ye Olde Barn).
For more almond coloured photos, click here.
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Birds of different feathers
Bar-headed goose / Streifengans
Egyptian vulture / Schmutzgeier
Domestic chicken, or rather cockerel / Haushuhn bzw. -hahn
And some more feather bearers:
Linked to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenged: feathers.
The raising of the maypole
It is a tradition of the villages in the Rhineland-Palatium, the southwestern part of Germany to raise a maypole on 1 May. In some areas it is a naked pole carrying a wreath, in others it is a tall, slender birch with the young green leaves and a few colourful ribbons.
It is no mean feat to raise the fallen tree again as it is quite heavy belying its tender stature.
Many ladders are involved in the endeavour as one can see.
But the concerted action of the village people usually results in an upright pole.
Not much more to do now!
And the maypole is up. And yes, if you’ve been thinking about spring and erections and long, yet strong, slender symbols and wondering why sometimes there is a wreath that looks as if the pole has speared it, you’ve been right. The tradition dates back to Celtic fertility rituals, and no, you don’t have a dirty mind.
For Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: chutes and ladders.
