Decorous: Dress used to be much proper and seemly in days gone by. Monument: Bavaria guards Munich or possibly just the Octoberfest field. Petalled: Begonias are kind of neglected (by me) but they do have a nice array of petals. Bright: The most common kind … Continue reading Five of Five
“With monuments as with men, position means everything.” Honoré de Balzac Wednesday Quotes: Monuments
The international running group of which I am part is known for its – let’s call it: creative – nicknames. A nickname has to be earned – you come to a few runs, you do something gloriously stupid, you are named. So when you first come to runs you are referred to as a “just”. Just + first name. Hence, these two would have been known as Just Johann and Just Friedrich if they had joined the HHH.
The people of Darmstadt put their first Grand Duke on a really high pole. A really long one. They loved him so much that instead of calling him by his official name Ludewig I they call him “Langer Lui” (Long Louis) still today.
Here is slightly closer look of Lui.
Cee’s Black & White Challenge: Long Items
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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.
This monument of Grand Duke Ludewig of Hesse and by Rhine stands in the central square of Darmstadt. The plinth, the column and the 5 metre tall Ludewig measure a total of just under 40 metres. The Darmstadt people love the tall structure and only call it “Langer Lui” (or “Tall Ludwig”).
Not odd as such but odd because I could’ve sworn the one word today would be “tall”. So I leave this post as an example of the oddity of my brain.
The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.
J. Robert Oppenheimer
This is a monument to honour the victims of violence, war, and persecution by Hubertus von der Goltz. That their precarious position is threatened can be seen by the spikes on either side (I have to go back and get a better photo).
Linked to Travel with Intent. More photos inspired by J. Robert Oppenheimer, can be found here.
This sculpted group stands in Lampertheim, a salute to the asperagus farmers and sellers right in the centre of the traditional asperagus growing regions. I stress traditional because with the advent of plastic covering on fields (and a bit of help from global warming) white asperagus is farmed in many areas of Germany. In the wide Rhine valley the climate was always favourable and in combination with the sandy soil which has come on southerly winds from the Sahara dessert for aeons it became ideal for this spring vegetable. Germans eat “Spargel” with a passion and the season is from early spring until traditionally 24 June in order to give the plants time to recuperate before the next season. To this day more than half of the German asparagus is sold on roadside stands and in open markets.
Linked to Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Tables, Chairs, Picnic Tables, etc.
pictures imperfect blog 