From Koblenz there is a cable car across the Rhine leading up to the fortress Ehrenbreitstein. For an even better view a huge viewing platform has been constructed up on the hill plateau.
And contrasting this rather large construction, here is a little detail on how to beautify rails – also close to the Rhine but in Düsseldorf.
Linked to the Friendly Friday Photo Challenge: Rails.
The epitome of naughtiness are these two rascals, called Max and Moritz.
The poet and illustrator Wilhelm Busch brought their story to paper with his characteristic drawings and accompanying rhymed couplets. To this day their mischievous pranks delight children and adults alike. Many Germans can quote part of the story.
It is undisputed that Busch was a direct ancestor of all comic books. Max und Moritz inspired the cartoon strip Katzenjammer Kids in the US and from there his influence spread.
Many shops and restaurants are named after them. Here it is a pharmacy.
And here a restaurant which is fitting because their first prank involved first killing and then stealing and eating the chicken of a widow.
However, chips weren’t invented yet in 1860 when Busch wrote and illustrated the story.
Linked to Friday Fun: naughty.
Smiles all round with these two life-size sculptures in the middle of Koblenz in the Rhine valley. They depict a market-woman and a policeman illustrating an old joke which is written on a plaque in the local dialect (about Norbert’s dog who peed on the leg of the market-woman’s husband).
This is linked to A Photo a Week: smile.
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.
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