This tower has been standing in its place for over 700 hundred years. During this time repairs were occasionally needed, e.g. it got a new roof at one stage, the old, blue-black shimmering slate replaced by red brick tiles – but it nevertheless kept its name: Blauer Hut or Blue Hat. This summer the bodywork needed a repair. Now I am no expert and possibly the mortar between the sandstone bricks didn’t hold anymore and short of demolishing the whole tower and rebuilding it they slapped some material on the outside. It’s new alright and in years to come it might look weathered again, at the moment I just think the new lighter and smooter wall looks ugly.

While I am at it look at the castle ruin to the right in the photo. The summer photo was taken two years ago. The trees were growing close to the castle walls and only the tower and the top parts of the walls could be seen. The winter photo is from a couple of weeks ago. It’s not just the bare branches but the trees around the castle ruin have all but disappeared; this was apparently done for safety reasons, the trees in question being old and in danger of toppling over during the next strong winds. To me the Windeck (Windy Corner) still looks kind of naked but I am starting to appreciate that the new look shows the buildings structure and beauty much better than before

Hence the answer to the question in the title is – not always, but sometimes.

A Photo a Week: Something New.