Easter Wells 2023
Apr. 7th, 2023 07:15 pmFor the holidays, I offer a pic spam of our Franconian Easter Wells again, starting with a new one I only discovered this year.
( It must be bunnies! )
( It must be bunnies! )
Obviously, this selection, prepared for ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
oracne, is highly subjective. (And based in pre-pandemic times.) Not to mention that as in every country, where to go partly depends on how mobile you are. I enjoy walking and exploring new towns and landscapes very much, but it's not possible for everyone. In 2019, an older couple I'd met in New Zealand visited Europe; he had a shattered knee and she had a bad hip. They went by ship, from Budapest to Amsterdam, which you can do when going from the Danube to the Main to the Rhine, and enjoyed it very much, with the travel organization they'd booked their trip on providing excursions via bus on the various towns their ship anchored at. (Including my hometown.)
Speaking of which: naturally, Bamberg heads my list of places to visit in Germany. This isn't just local bias speaking. Bamberg, which is over a 1000 years old, has the good luck of having its city centre almost intact, which means it looks great and you can go on foot almost everywhere. (In fact, you should go on foot, because good luck finding a parking spot in the city centre.) You don't have to take my word for it; check out the pictorial posts I did in the past.
Bamberg in the winter
Bamberg in the summer
Bamberg from above
And lastly, a post not by my but bykathyh on Bamberg, here.
Fortunately for travellers, Bamberg is a station on the direct train connection between Munich and Berlin, which means if you visit either of these cities, which you should, you can make a stop in Bamberg easily. (Nuremberg is also part of the same railway connection, and certainly worth a stop both if you're interested in older history or 20th century history (obviously), but as 95% of the city was bombed into oblivion in WWII, anything old looking you see other than the house of Albrecht Dürer is almost certainly reconstructed.
Berlin: hardly needs advertisement, between being the capital, and in the English speaking world known as a mixture between Cabaret and Bridge of Spies, pop culture wise. I would add that you should take one of the Spree boat trips offered there so you can see a lot of the city, east and west, from immensely picturesque perspectives. Also once they reopen the Pergamon Museum completely, go there. Previous photo posts of mine on Berlin are here and here, and for good measure, I'll throw in a 13 minutes tv special on David Bowie in Berlin, David Bowie: Hero of Berlin. Depending on how much time you have, you might also want to check out Potsdam, where they have not only the Babelsberg Studios (very much back in demand now; they shot several of the later MCU movies partially there, which is why we Germans got to watch them a week or so before the Americans did) but also Sanssouci.
Now if you are from a small-to-middle sized Franconian town, like me, a great many of your classmates after school either go to Berlin or to Munich in order to study. I went to Munich. Which is older than Berlin, like Berlin has a past both famous and infamous, and has the geographical advantage of being near the Alps, only three hours away from Italy on the road. (Again, in pre pandemic times.) It's not just in the most southern of the big German cities in terms of location but also in spirit: Monaco di Bavaria. Have two photo posts on Munich in autumn here and here, and one on Munich in winter. If its raining, Munich offers some great museums (both in terms of painting - the Alte Pinakothek - and in terms of science - I haven't met the kid yet which dislikes the Deutsches Museum with its electric demonstrations and original Konrad Zuse coomputer. If you're into cars, it also has BMW. Depending on your schedule, you might want to check out the surrounding area, like Tegernsee. (Do not go to Neuschwanstein unless you really have a lot of time. Firstly, it's in the middle of the countryside, far from the nearest Autobahn, secondly, it's overcrowded, and thirdly, its charm lies in being seen from outside, where from the right spot it does look fairy tale like. Inside, you have a never finished castle with incredibly camp 19th century interior design. And hordes of queueing people. If you absolutely want to visit one of the palaces Ludwig II. built for himself, go to Herrenchiemsee instead. That's in the middle of a league and looks like Versailles which is why it's currently doubling for Versailles in most movies you've seen made in the last decade.
Butselenak, I can hear you say, Berlin and Munich are on everyone's rec list, don't you have any less obvious destinations other than your hometown? Of course I do, and again they come with photo posts of their own.
Schwäbisch Hall: small, old, gorgeous
Hannover: not just of interest to Brits who want to know where their German Kings kept disappearing to for the holidays.
Speyer: has not just a wonderful cathedral but one of the best preserved Mikwas in Germany.
Marburg: where the Brothers Grimm studied.
Trier: oldest still existing city of Germany (courtesy of the Romans, who left a lot of great ruins there), hometown of Karl Marx.
Erfurt, in GDR times arguably the most beautiful town of East Germany (it's still beautiful, but now several other East German towns have gone through rebuildings and renovations)
Then again, maybe you're after landscapes more than towns and cities. In which case: there's a train connection that for a long time runs parallel to the Rhine, so from Frankfurt to Düsseldorf via Bonn and Cologne you can see the river, the picturesque mountains and castles, the vineyards. (Or you can do whatkathyh and my New Zealand pals did and take the boat for the same purpose.) If you're feeling up to a natural park, well, there's the Bayrischer Wald (offers lynx and bears along with mountains and forests). If you feel more like a mixture of landscapes and picturesque little towns, see Tegernsee above, but also, on a larger scale, the Bodensee, which is shared between Germany, Switzerland and Austria. If you want the ocean and the beach: I have a deep childhood fondness for the island Sylt in the Northern sea. (You can get there either via ferry or by train.) While en route to Sylt, there is of course the chance to check out the Belle of the North, i.e. Hamburg, see also here. Be sure to take warm clothing with you, because I haven't been there yet in all the years of my life when it wasn't either windy, rainy, or both. But it has a cool, stunning elegance in some parts and a raw vitality in others.
Now, like I said: this is by no means a complete list, and it's entirely subjective. But I swear that visiting any of these places is something no visitor will regret.
The other days
oracne, is highly subjective. (And based in pre-pandemic times.) Not to mention that as in every country, where to go partly depends on how mobile you are. I enjoy walking and exploring new towns and landscapes very much, but it's not possible for everyone. In 2019, an older couple I'd met in New Zealand visited Europe; he had a shattered knee and she had a bad hip. They went by ship, from Budapest to Amsterdam, which you can do when going from the Danube to the Main to the Rhine, and enjoyed it very much, with the travel organization they'd booked their trip on providing excursions via bus on the various towns their ship anchored at. (Including my hometown.) Speaking of which: naturally, Bamberg heads my list of places to visit in Germany. This isn't just local bias speaking. Bamberg, which is over a 1000 years old, has the good luck of having its city centre almost intact, which means it looks great and you can go on foot almost everywhere. (In fact, you should go on foot, because good luck finding a parking spot in the city centre.) You don't have to take my word for it; check out the pictorial posts I did in the past.
Bamberg in the winter
Bamberg in the summer
Bamberg from above
And lastly, a post not by my but by
kathyh on Bamberg, here. Fortunately for travellers, Bamberg is a station on the direct train connection between Munich and Berlin, which means if you visit either of these cities, which you should, you can make a stop in Bamberg easily. (Nuremberg is also part of the same railway connection, and certainly worth a stop both if you're interested in older history or 20th century history (obviously), but as 95% of the city was bombed into oblivion in WWII, anything old looking you see other than the house of Albrecht Dürer is almost certainly reconstructed.
Berlin: hardly needs advertisement, between being the capital, and in the English speaking world known as a mixture between Cabaret and Bridge of Spies, pop culture wise. I would add that you should take one of the Spree boat trips offered there so you can see a lot of the city, east and west, from immensely picturesque perspectives. Also once they reopen the Pergamon Museum completely, go there. Previous photo posts of mine on Berlin are here and here, and for good measure, I'll throw in a 13 minutes tv special on David Bowie in Berlin, David Bowie: Hero of Berlin. Depending on how much time you have, you might also want to check out Potsdam, where they have not only the Babelsberg Studios (very much back in demand now; they shot several of the later MCU movies partially there, which is why we Germans got to watch them a week or so before the Americans did) but also Sanssouci.
Now if you are from a small-to-middle sized Franconian town, like me, a great many of your classmates after school either go to Berlin or to Munich in order to study. I went to Munich. Which is older than Berlin, like Berlin has a past both famous and infamous, and has the geographical advantage of being near the Alps, only three hours away from Italy on the road. (Again, in pre pandemic times.) It's not just in the most southern of the big German cities in terms of location but also in spirit: Monaco di Bavaria. Have two photo posts on Munich in autumn here and here, and one on Munich in winter. If its raining, Munich offers some great museums (both in terms of painting - the Alte Pinakothek - and in terms of science - I haven't met the kid yet which dislikes the Deutsches Museum with its electric demonstrations and original Konrad Zuse coomputer. If you're into cars, it also has BMW. Depending on your schedule, you might want to check out the surrounding area, like Tegernsee. (Do not go to Neuschwanstein unless you really have a lot of time. Firstly, it's in the middle of the countryside, far from the nearest Autobahn, secondly, it's overcrowded, and thirdly, its charm lies in being seen from outside, where from the right spot it does look fairy tale like. Inside, you have a never finished castle with incredibly camp 19th century interior design. And hordes of queueing people. If you absolutely want to visit one of the palaces Ludwig II. built for himself, go to Herrenchiemsee instead. That's in the middle of a league and looks like Versailles which is why it's currently doubling for Versailles in most movies you've seen made in the last decade.
But
selenak, I can hear you say, Berlin and Munich are on everyone's rec list, don't you have any less obvious destinations other than your hometown? Of course I do, and again they come with photo posts of their own.Schwäbisch Hall: small, old, gorgeous
Hannover: not just of interest to Brits who want to know where their German Kings kept disappearing to for the holidays.
Speyer: has not just a wonderful cathedral but one of the best preserved Mikwas in Germany.
Marburg: where the Brothers Grimm studied.
Trier: oldest still existing city of Germany (courtesy of the Romans, who left a lot of great ruins there), hometown of Karl Marx.
Erfurt, in GDR times arguably the most beautiful town of East Germany (it's still beautiful, but now several other East German towns have gone through rebuildings and renovations)
Then again, maybe you're after landscapes more than towns and cities. In which case: there's a train connection that for a long time runs parallel to the Rhine, so from Frankfurt to Düsseldorf via Bonn and Cologne you can see the river, the picturesque mountains and castles, the vineyards. (Or you can do what
kathyh and my New Zealand pals did and take the boat for the same purpose.) If you're feeling up to a natural park, well, there's the Bayrischer Wald (offers lynx and bears along with mountains and forests). If you feel more like a mixture of landscapes and picturesque little towns, see Tegernsee above, but also, on a larger scale, the Bodensee, which is shared between Germany, Switzerland and Austria. If you want the ocean and the beach: I have a deep childhood fondness for the island Sylt in the Northern sea. (You can get there either via ferry or by train.) While en route to Sylt, there is of course the chance to check out the Belle of the North, i.e. Hamburg, see also here. Be sure to take warm clothing with you, because I haven't been there yet in all the years of my life when it wasn't either windy, rainy, or both. But it has a cool, stunning elegance in some parts and a raw vitality in others. Now, like I said: this is by no means a complete list, and it's entirely subjective. But I swear that visiting any of these places is something no visitor will regret.
The other days
Tags:
Witches: a personal addendum
Nov. 28th, 2018 03:36 pmIn Britain, England and Scotland alike, I'm told, witches were mostly hanged. In my hometown of Bamberg, and in a great many of the German principalities during the worst waves of persecution, they were burned. Our most infamous era of town history, not counting More Recent Events (i.e. 1933 - 1945), was smack in the middle of the Thirty-Years-War, when in addition to bad weather, sickness and the Swedes coming, the years between 1626 and 1631 saw roughly a 1000 people of a town population o f 8000 executed as witches. In other words, every eighth person. It's also one of the best documented eras, and not just because the local authorities kept files. From it, we have one of the few documents written by a victim after various torture sessions and before his execution, describing what happened during a witch trial.
The man in question was none other than the mayor, Johannes Junius. His wife had been the first of the family to be accused of witchcraft, and she'd already been burned when they arrested him. He was tortured four times, confessed, but managed to write a letter to one of his daughters, Veronica. It never reached her - she'd already fled to Nuremberg -, which is probably why it survived; it was caught and ended up with the rest of the files. This is what it looks like:
This letter is also a big reason why I'm always a bit touchy when stories use "real" witches. It's incredibly raw and devastating to read, especially considering Junius was but one of many. A complete transcription of the German original is here, and a translation of the majority of it into English is here. From the first sentence onward - "Many hundred thousand good-nights, dearly beloved daughter Veronica. Innocent have I come into prison, innocent have I been tortured, innocent must I die" it wrecks me, every time. Even the executioner showed more compassion than the judges: When at last the executioner led me back into the prison, he said to me: “Sir, I beg you, for God’s sake confess something, whether it be true or not. Invent something, for you cannot endure the torture which you will be put to; and, even if you bear it all, yet you will not escape, not even if you were an earl, but one torture will follow after another until you say you are a witch. Not before that,” he said, “will they let you go, as you may see by all their trials, for one is just like another.”
Here are excerpts read in the original Baroque German, with documents shown:
The families of the people burned in Bamberg, if there were still families, had to pay for the wood used for the execution, because wood had become rare with so many burnings.
The man in question was none other than the mayor, Johannes Junius. His wife had been the first of the family to be accused of witchcraft, and she'd already been burned when they arrested him. He was tortured four times, confessed, but managed to write a letter to one of his daughters, Veronica. It never reached her - she'd already fled to Nuremberg -, which is probably why it survived; it was caught and ended up with the rest of the files. This is what it looks like:
This letter is also a big reason why I'm always a bit touchy when stories use "real" witches. It's incredibly raw and devastating to read, especially considering Junius was but one of many. A complete transcription of the German original is here, and a translation of the majority of it into English is here. From the first sentence onward - "Many hundred thousand good-nights, dearly beloved daughter Veronica. Innocent have I come into prison, innocent have I been tortured, innocent must I die" it wrecks me, every time. Even the executioner showed more compassion than the judges: When at last the executioner led me back into the prison, he said to me: “Sir, I beg you, for God’s sake confess something, whether it be true or not. Invent something, for you cannot endure the torture which you will be put to; and, even if you bear it all, yet you will not escape, not even if you were an earl, but one torture will follow after another until you say you are a witch. Not before that,” he said, “will they let you go, as you may see by all their trials, for one is just like another.”
Here are excerpts read in the original Baroque German, with documents shown:
The families of the people burned in Bamberg, if there were still families, had to pay for the wood used for the execution, because wood had become rare with so many burnings.
Tower Climbing
Oct. 6th, 2012 06:37 pmThe towers of our cathedral usually aren't open to the general public, but on very rare occasions, you get a guided tour. I got to be 43 years old before managing this, but today, I succeeded. Of course, I made photos. After all, the cathedral stands in the prettiest square of Germany, and it's this cathedral we're talking about:
Now, check out what you see if being let upstairs:
( Read more... )
Now, check out what you see if being let upstairs:
( Read more... )
Christmas Pic Spam
Dec. 27th, 2011 12:23 pmSomewhat belated, because the combination of my Aged Parent having a severe cold and bad weather on Christmas Eve meant we did our annual walk from one Bamberg church to another to admire the nativity scenes in same on the 26th instead. Said bad weather, which keeps going, ensures that you're not getting any outside pictures of Bamberg this year. Luckily, the week before Christmas the weather was quite nice in the snowy Alps when I was there, so, have an impression of the Tegernsee (Rottach-Egern, to be precise) in winter first before we get to the nativity scenes:
Now, on to the annualselenak Christmas tradition:
( below the cut )
Now, on to the annual
selenak Christmas tradition:( below the cut )
At first I thought this was a big practical joke and/or a fannish prank, but apparantly it is for real: Joss Whedon used his spare time (?) between Avengers directing to film Much Ado About Nothing at his house with various of his favourite actors from pretty much every show he ever was involved with. *blinks* I remember first hearing about the Shakespeare readings with the actors chez Whedon in the later Buffy and Angel days; for example, according to interviews he got the idea for Illyria through them since the Shakespeare revealed Amy Acker's range.
Cast thoughts: I remember how mainly but not only disgruntled Wes/Lilah shippers bashed not only Fred the character but Amy the actress through much of s4 and s5, getting sometimes really vicious and personal about everything from her legs to her voice... until Illyria showed up, at which point the Amy bashing stopped. Along with the cries of "no chemistry", because while Wesley and Fred might not have had, Wesley and llyria did. Then Amy Acker enjoyed herself as a villain in Alias' fifth season, which impressed people further, and while Dollhouse had a mixed reception for very good reasons, everyone seemed to agree she was outstanding there as well (one of many problems of the show being that everyone proved to be more versatile than the lead, but AA in one of the supporting roles was very good indeed). So I have no doubt she'll do justice to Beatrice. As for Alexis Denisof, it remains as big a mystery to me as to everyone else why his career didn't take off after his outstanding performance through Angel's run, and I am utterly unsurprised that Joss gave him the leading part for this one. I always found the guards scenes the only parts of Much Ado I don't enjoy, but Nathan Fillion might make Dogberry not just bearable but genuinenly amusing to me. And I'm looking forward to Sean Maher as Don John. Am very amused to learn that after ASH had to drop out (he was supposed to play Leonato), Joss stole Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson to you, if you've watched the Iron Man films and Thor) from the Avengers set and gave him the part. AndAndrew Tom Lenk! I can see Reed Diamond as Don Pedro, and am amused the other Dollhouse alumnus, Fran Kranz, who on that show played possibly the most twisted form of that Whedon archetype, the babbling gleeful fanboy, gets to play everyone's most disliked lover (aka Claudio - at least I never met anyone who likes Claudio, though I hasten to add there might be Claudio fans out there... somewhere).
In other news, I won't write a proper review of the latest Three Musketeers (it, err, is what it is), but as it was filmed partially in my hometown and surrounding areas, I shall include a few remarks on what location ended up being what. Not least it causes much amusement and cheers every time the film is shown in a Bamberg cinema.
( Steampunk France = Franconia in Bavaria, with spoilers )
Cast thoughts: I remember how mainly but not only disgruntled Wes/Lilah shippers bashed not only Fred the character but Amy the actress through much of s4 and s5, getting sometimes really vicious and personal about everything from her legs to her voice... until Illyria showed up, at which point the Amy bashing stopped. Along with the cries of "no chemistry", because while Wesley and Fred might not have had, Wesley and llyria did. Then Amy Acker enjoyed herself as a villain in Alias' fifth season, which impressed people further, and while Dollhouse had a mixed reception for very good reasons, everyone seemed to agree she was outstanding there as well (one of many problems of the show being that everyone proved to be more versatile than the lead, but AA in one of the supporting roles was very good indeed). So I have no doubt she'll do justice to Beatrice. As for Alexis Denisof, it remains as big a mystery to me as to everyone else why his career didn't take off after his outstanding performance through Angel's run, and I am utterly unsurprised that Joss gave him the leading part for this one. I always found the guards scenes the only parts of Much Ado I don't enjoy, but Nathan Fillion might make Dogberry not just bearable but genuinenly amusing to me. And I'm looking forward to Sean Maher as Don John. Am very amused to learn that after ASH had to drop out (he was supposed to play Leonato), Joss stole Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson to you, if you've watched the Iron Man films and Thor) from the Avengers set and gave him the part. And
In other news, I won't write a proper review of the latest Three Musketeers (it, err, is what it is), but as it was filmed partially in my hometown and surrounding areas, I shall include a few remarks on what location ended up being what. Not least it causes much amusement and cheers every time the film is shown in a Bamberg cinema.
( Steampunk France = Franconia in Bavaria, with spoilers )
All for one, indeed
Mar. 26th, 2011 05:11 pmNew Three Musketeers Trailer. I am completely distracted from complaining by the sights from my pretty hometown and assorted other Franconian locations. ZOMG swordfights in the Bamberger Alte Hofhaltung! The Würzburger Residenz doubling for the Louvre! I tell you, Franconian France is the prettiest AU France ever.
Also Dumas seems to have changed places with Jules Verne because there is an airship lurking and other steampunk stuff, but I am in a "who cares?" mode today because soon Bamberg's cinematic fame as 17th century France shall be assured. (And shezan will still be the only French person recognizing France due to getting the tour de Bamberg from me.) You know, I am on board with Milady having fighting skills, too, despite my complaint a few days back about female characters only being recognized as strong when they get sword fights. Never mind me contradicting myself, Milady swordfighting is a nifty prospect. Is it too much to hope she gets to have a go at Athos and D'Artagnan before the plot (such as it still exists) catches up with her?
Unconnected, but still on a theme of pleasing visuals: you wouldn't think that after 40 years there are still new Beatles photographs making the rounds, but you'd be wrong. Here's one from the 1966 tour (their last one), Paul and John doing their mirror position composing thing in some hotel room, with Brian Epstein in the background:
And not new, but always funny to look at, John's sketch of all four Beatles a few years later:
(If you have to ask which one is which you are new to this journal. *g*)
Also Dumas seems to have changed places with Jules Verne because there is an airship lurking and other steampunk stuff, but I am in a "who cares?" mode today because soon Bamberg's cinematic fame as 17th century France shall be assured. (And shezan will still be the only French person recognizing France due to getting the tour de Bamberg from me.) You know, I am on board with Milady having fighting skills, too, despite my complaint a few days back about female characters only being recognized as strong when they get sword fights. Never mind me contradicting myself, Milady swordfighting is a nifty prospect. Is it too much to hope she gets to have a go at Athos and D'Artagnan before the plot (such as it still exists) catches up with her?
Unconnected, but still on a theme of pleasing visuals: you wouldn't think that after 40 years there are still new Beatles photographs making the rounds, but you'd be wrong. Here's one from the 1966 tour (their last one), Paul and John doing their mirror position composing thing in some hotel room, with Brian Epstein in the background:
And not new, but always funny to look at, John's sketch of all four Beatles a few years later:
(If you have to ask which one is which you are new to this journal. *g*)
At the end of the year...
Dec. 31st, 2010 06:12 amSeen all over the net and so very true:
Copy and Paste if you have enjoyed the blessing of meeting people online that you never would have met any other way. This is an end of the year shout out to the many friends I have never been in the same room with but who have inspired, amused, comforted, encouraged, and touched me in so many ways. Here's to another year together.
I'm off to Munich with the APs to celebrate New Year's Eve there, so have two last photos which sort of symbolize my lj self in 2010 - Bamberg and the Beatles:
Copy and Paste if you have enjoyed the blessing of meeting people online that you never would have met any other way. This is an end of the year shout out to the many friends I have never been in the same room with but who have inspired, amused, comforted, encouraged, and touched me in so many ways. Here's to another year together.
I'm off to Munich with the APs to celebrate New Year's Eve there, so have two last photos which sort of symbolize my lj self in 2010 - Bamberg and the Beatles:
Bamberg: Still the Prettiest
Dec. 28th, 2010 03:15 pmToday we had sunshine and blue sky in addition to the snow, which means my hometown was literally sparkling. Clearly, this called for another pic spam.
( Soon to double as Paris and various other French towns in your local cinema )
( Soon to double as Paris and various other French towns in your local cinema )
Christmas pic spam
Dec. 24th, 2010 11:07 pmMerry Christmas to those who celebrate it and season's greetings to those who don't! (Also, thank you for the lj gifts, various friends, and kathyh & elisi for the new lj banner being put up.) The Aged Parents & self as ever did our annual nativity scenes walk through Bamberg and its churches. However, this year's pic spam also contains some Munich in winter from snapshots I took through the last weeks that were never enough to post them.
( Munich winter impressions )
On to my hometown and various artisans recreating the nativity in various churches. Also starring: the snowstorm through which we walked, surrounding the cathedral.
( This time, there was even a Tanzanian natvity )
And thus I leave you for now, wishing you once more frohe Weihnachten!
kathyh & elisi for the new lj banner being put up.) The Aged Parents & self as ever did our annual nativity scenes walk through Bamberg and its churches. However, this year's pic spam also contains some Munich in winter from snapshots I took through the last weeks that were never enough to post them. ( Munich winter impressions )
On to my hometown and various artisans recreating the nativity in various churches. Also starring: the snowstorm through which we walked, surrounding the cathedral.
( This time, there was even a Tanzanian natvity )
And thus I leave you for now, wishing you once more frohe Weihnachten!
More Baroque Splendour
Aug. 2nd, 2010 03:02 pmRemember Schloss Weißenstein, where the summer concerts take place? We went to another, and this time got a tour of the palace as well, which is really something to behold. Prince Bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn wasn't stingy with his summer house. There's a Rubens inside you might not know, too.
( Baroque Interior Design: Not Believing in Understatement )
( Baroque Interior Design: Not Believing in Understatement )
Musketeers invade Bamberg!
Jul. 22nd, 2010 08:56 amIn my last pic spam of my beautiful hometown, I mentioned the summer theatre festival taking place in one of the old residences, the Alte Hofhaltung. One of the plays this year is a dramatization of Dumas' Three Musketeers, which was basically fluffy fun, although for some reason while they only picked the first half of the novel (i.e. the affair with the queen's jewels), they included Mylady's death, which is problematical within the novel itself and even more so if you put it in the first half, because Mylady does most of her villainous deeds in the second. Still, other than that, it was a fun evening, one of the actors I've admired since teenagerdom played Richelieu, and it made for some neat pictures of Dumas' characters in my hometown.
( All for one, and one for all! )
( All for one, and one for all! )
Bamberg Forever! Or: Still the prettiest
Jun. 26th, 2010 05:28 pmSince I'm spending the weekend with the Aged Parents, and since the sun finally graces us with its presence again, I wandered through my beautiful hometown with my trusty camera in my hand, setting out to convince Certain Friends, and indeed everyone reading this that if they visit Germany, they should come here. As for fellow Germans, if you haven't already been here, what's stopping you? Behold this completely biased view of the prettiest town in Germany.
( We haven't been made world heritage for nothing, you know )
( We haven't been made world heritage for nothing, you know )
Bamberg in Winter: A pic spam
Dec. 21st, 2009 07:08 pmAs those of you who've been reading these ramblings for longer know, I'm a wee bit prejudiced in favour of my hometown, Bamberg, and its prettiness. Making the claim that you can take a walk and admire the beauty of the city even when the weather is bad. Well, with all this snow we've been having lately, I put my money, or rather, my camera, where my mouth is. Behold the results.
( Bamberg in Winter )
( Bamberg in Winter )
Pic spam link and mini rant
Oct. 7th, 2009 01:30 pmkathyh put up a lovely Bamberg pic spam, which those of you I managed to interest in my lovely hometown might want to check out:Beautiful Bamberg here!
Also, it appears this year I actually managed to read a Booker winner before it won - Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. (Reviewed in these ramblings some weeks back, dear reader.) And lo and behold, there is snobbery in the press reaction, to wit, this article, which complaints that "novelists should be engaging with the issues of the day – like Balzac, Dickens and George Eliot did – not indulging in high-class escapism. Does anyone actually read Sir Walter Scott any more?"
Excuse me while I roll my eyes. (And admit to a certain bias, but still.) Firstly, you know what, Dickens and George Eliot wrote historical novels, too. (A Tale of Two Cities and Romola. Maybe not their best novels, respectively, but they undeniably wrote them.) Secondly, Walter Scott may not have that many readers, but you know who still does and still gets imitated to this day? Alexandre Dumas, that's who. Thirdly, don't make me brush up my George Lukács. If one of the most brilliant Marxist critics of his day was able to see how historical novels can always contain fascinating social commentary not just about the period they're set in but the period they're written in (see also: The Historical Novel from 1937, which is inflicted on every literature student over here, so it bloody better be inflicted on Anglosaxon students as well), so can you. Fourthly, how anyone can define a depiction of Henry Tudor's England in its back-stabbing, paranoid, religious strife torn darkness which starts with the depiction if a child getting beaten within an inch of his life in graphic detail as "escapism" is beyond me, but hey, that journalist proudly states he doesn't have the time to read historical fiction anyway.
The irony is that Wolf Hall, while brilliant, did cause me some problems, and I like Mantel's A place of greater safety better as far as her historical fiction is concerned. But right now I'm all ready to wave banners saying "Long live the historical novel". Bah, humbug.
On the occasion of...
Sep. 28th, 2009 07:35 pmOther than Germany having an election last weekend, which more or less turned out as I expected it would, I was kept busy during the last three days by turning forty. (Today was the day of writing thank you notes for cards, presents, flowers etc. Somehow there are always more of these when one passes a decade...) The actual birthday was yesterday, but the party was on Saturday-till-Sunday, and Saturday was also the day I dragged my hapless victims, aka the birthday guests, through my beautiful hometown, Bamberg. The weather was gorgeous, and this means you get a few pictures.
( Bamberg & self )
Back in Munich now, and not exactly feeling any different. I'm still in the process of catching up with what everyone else was doing, except for the dear lj friends who ware at the party and thus accounted for. :)
( Bamberg & self )
Back in Munich now, and not exactly feeling any different. I'm still in the process of catching up with what everyone else was doing, except for the dear lj friends who ware at the party and thus accounted for. :)
Short Films and Long Duty
Jan. 18th, 2009 12:47 pmLast night, the Short Film Festival in Bamberg came to a close. As a member of the jury, I had to watch every single one of the 52 movies presented, which was deeply exhausting but for the most part both fascinating and fun. Until now, I had watched the occasional short movie, of course, mostly before a long one, and never more than one or two in a row. Seeing so many together showed the amazing variety of what was possible to do with this form. Mind you, there was a slight downside to this, because while we had three awards to give, they were for best, silver and bronze, so to speak, not for categories. And comparing a comedic short film to a drama or tragedy is as difficult as in the long forms.
The length varied between three or four minutes to thirty. Mind you, none of us went for the 30-minutes contributions. They felt like missing the point of the genre, and like they would have been better off being developed into a feature length movie. On the other hand, there were contributions between eight or 14 minutes which managed to tell a complex story far better than many a feature has done. There was a lot of animation, comparatively speaking, and one of my favourites was a satire on the Deutsche Bahn, our railway system, presenting three conductors who were fired and tried to stage a train roberry in revenge, only to be foiled by their inability to not behave like conductors once they were on the train (for example, one of them saw a passenger putting his bare feet on the seat opposite him and just had to act). Two thirds were not animated films, though, and the acting was by and large excellent, with only a very few films betraying the fact their directors had to use buddies instead of "real" actors. Stylistically, they moved between bare minimalism - for example, two films showed nothing but a single actor in front of a white background - to incredibly elaborate and detailed settings. The film which won second place and is in fact on the short list for the Oscars (we'll find out next week whether it gets nominated), Spielzeugland, by contrast, is set during the Third Reich and everything from the hair style of the women to the type of suitcases used fits; it easily is up to comparison with big budget costume epics in this regard. And, incidentally, in fourteen minutes pulls off a complex story that works with two different timelines being intercut. It also takes on different types of lies, responsibilities and trusts its actors to sell the crucial moments of decision, which have almost no dialogue, just one very short sentence spoken.
The short film crowned as best, though, was another one: Dunkelrot, which in twelve minutes tells the story of a couple at the start of their 60s. The wife, Hannah, has Alzheimer, and her husband, Erich, then finds out something about their past he hadn't been aware of. What made this outstanding was both the sensitive acting and the script, which never made Hannah just into the object, the victim, but got across a sense of her strong personality even while she was falling apart, and managed to give us an impression of all the history of this couple, the complexity of their marriage, and made us believe in the decision Erich makes at the end. The sense of love and hope there doesn't feel fake or sentimental but earned.
A film I wish we'd been able to give an extra award: Sommersonntag, ten minutes long, which was the one that made me cry. About a father and son, with the father having to make a horrible choice between saving his son or saving 232 passengers on a train; the moment of decision, the actor's face - Axel Prahl delivering a fantastic performance - was incredibly intense and still haunts me. The only reason why after much discussion this one wasn't among the final three was that there was a final monologue which we felt was somewhat unnecessary; Dunkelrot and Spielzeugland didn't make that mistake and as I said trusted their actors and the power of the visuals more.
There were also several interesting documentaries, especially one about a Polish workers living near an old mine which has been closed years ago, who still illegaly scrape off what coal is left because of poverty and cold. There are no safety measures, nothing, and it was depressing but real, especially since there was the awareness it wouldn't change any time soon. On the lighter side, there was a documentary about a shephard which was fun to watch but a bit pointless, with an hilarious animated credit sequence.
Oddest occurance during the festival: when a Russian-German co production was presented, and the German producer, invited to talk about the film afterwards, used the opportunity to say he hates it now that that his romantic professional relationship with the director had fallen apart and how thoroughly disappointing he found the film now. What a jerk, thought we, and if the film had been better we'd have been tempted to give it an award just because, but alas, it was not.
Weirdest reality disconnect: when one of the journalists present wondered why there were no music vids, and whether the art died out. I said they were alive and well on YouTube but restrained myself from saying something about articles in the New Yorker about Luminosity's vids and the whole fannish art form. Clearly, he was not a geek. (Though many of the other people present were; also, the festival-visiting audience was mostly young, between 20 and 30, with only about 20% older than 40 or 50.)
My two fellow jurors never had been in Bamberg before - one was from Berlin, and as opposed to most people who moved there really from Berlin, he was born there, and became a film critic and radio moderator, and the other originally hailed from East Germany as well but like myself lives in Munich now - so I gave them a tour. Now, my hometown isn't called the "Franconian Rome" for nothing; we have seven hills, and you bet we climbed several of them in pursuit of beautiful churches and great views. The guys were somewhat exhausted after that, for some reason... Seriously, though, that was necessary because otherwise we were locked in a cinema for at least six hours in a row every day.
The length varied between three or four minutes to thirty. Mind you, none of us went for the 30-minutes contributions. They felt like missing the point of the genre, and like they would have been better off being developed into a feature length movie. On the other hand, there were contributions between eight or 14 minutes which managed to tell a complex story far better than many a feature has done. There was a lot of animation, comparatively speaking, and one of my favourites was a satire on the Deutsche Bahn, our railway system, presenting three conductors who were fired and tried to stage a train roberry in revenge, only to be foiled by their inability to not behave like conductors once they were on the train (for example, one of them saw a passenger putting his bare feet on the seat opposite him and just had to act). Two thirds were not animated films, though, and the acting was by and large excellent, with only a very few films betraying the fact their directors had to use buddies instead of "real" actors. Stylistically, they moved between bare minimalism - for example, two films showed nothing but a single actor in front of a white background - to incredibly elaborate and detailed settings. The film which won second place and is in fact on the short list for the Oscars (we'll find out next week whether it gets nominated), Spielzeugland, by contrast, is set during the Third Reich and everything from the hair style of the women to the type of suitcases used fits; it easily is up to comparison with big budget costume epics in this regard. And, incidentally, in fourteen minutes pulls off a complex story that works with two different timelines being intercut. It also takes on different types of lies, responsibilities and trusts its actors to sell the crucial moments of decision, which have almost no dialogue, just one very short sentence spoken.
The short film crowned as best, though, was another one: Dunkelrot, which in twelve minutes tells the story of a couple at the start of their 60s. The wife, Hannah, has Alzheimer, and her husband, Erich, then finds out something about their past he hadn't been aware of. What made this outstanding was both the sensitive acting and the script, which never made Hannah just into the object, the victim, but got across a sense of her strong personality even while she was falling apart, and managed to give us an impression of all the history of this couple, the complexity of their marriage, and made us believe in the decision Erich makes at the end. The sense of love and hope there doesn't feel fake or sentimental but earned.
A film I wish we'd been able to give an extra award: Sommersonntag, ten minutes long, which was the one that made me cry. About a father and son, with the father having to make a horrible choice between saving his son or saving 232 passengers on a train; the moment of decision, the actor's face - Axel Prahl delivering a fantastic performance - was incredibly intense and still haunts me. The only reason why after much discussion this one wasn't among the final three was that there was a final monologue which we felt was somewhat unnecessary; Dunkelrot and Spielzeugland didn't make that mistake and as I said trusted their actors and the power of the visuals more.
There were also several interesting documentaries, especially one about a Polish workers living near an old mine which has been closed years ago, who still illegaly scrape off what coal is left because of poverty and cold. There are no safety measures, nothing, and it was depressing but real, especially since there was the awareness it wouldn't change any time soon. On the lighter side, there was a documentary about a shephard which was fun to watch but a bit pointless, with an hilarious animated credit sequence.
Oddest occurance during the festival: when a Russian-German co production was presented, and the German producer, invited to talk about the film afterwards, used the opportunity to say he hates it now that that his romantic professional relationship with the director had fallen apart and how thoroughly disappointing he found the film now. What a jerk, thought we, and if the film had been better we'd have been tempted to give it an award just because, but alas, it was not.
Weirdest reality disconnect: when one of the journalists present wondered why there were no music vids, and whether the art died out. I said they were alive and well on YouTube but restrained myself from saying something about articles in the New Yorker about Luminosity's vids and the whole fannish art form. Clearly, he was not a geek. (Though many of the other people present were; also, the festival-visiting audience was mostly young, between 20 and 30, with only about 20% older than 40 or 50.)
My two fellow jurors never had been in Bamberg before - one was from Berlin, and as opposed to most people who moved there really from Berlin, he was born there, and became a film critic and radio moderator, and the other originally hailed from East Germany as well but like myself lives in Munich now - so I gave them a tour. Now, my hometown isn't called the "Franconian Rome" for nothing; we have seven hills, and you bet we climbed several of them in pursuit of beautiful churches and great views. The guys were somewhat exhausted after that, for some reason... Seriously, though, that was necessary because otherwise we were locked in a cinema for at least six hours in a row every day.
Christmas Eve: Crib Walk Pic Spam
Dec. 24th, 2007 10:41 pmMerry Christmas, everyone. The Aged Parents & self followed our family tradition for Christmas Eve and visited the churches in our hometown Bamberg with the most beautiful cribs (build by hand and sometimes in incredible detail just for the December weeks and the first January one). The resulting pic spam, like last year, is my way of wishing happy holidays to friends virtual, some of whom I know in person by now, and all of whom have contributed through the last year to make my life both interesting and fun. Before I get sentimental enough to disgust Scrooge pre-reformation, have some pictures:
( 1001 ways to depict a manger...well, not quite that many )
( 1001 ways to depict a manger...well, not quite that many )
On Christmas Eve, we always take a long walk through Bamberg, visiting all the churches. It's a tradition here for all the churches to have presentations of the nativity scene via little dolls; some do it very elaborately, with near the whole of Bethlehem depicted, some just present Mary, Joseph and the child, but it's always very beautiful to watch. (As are, for that matter, the churches.) Here are some pictures to demonstrate what I mean. Enjoy. And best wishes to everyone!
( Follow me.... )
( Follow me.... )
Whilst my parents are making noises about me spending time at the computer does not square with being a good host to our visitors - they're right, of course - I give you more links, as ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shezan continued her Bamberg picspam, and I do adore my hometown:
Bamberg 2
Bamberg 3
Bamberg 4
The saga of the Botero statue she alludes to in one of the posts in short: the main sponsor who enabled the city to buy the lady in question insisted it should be displayed in the backyard place where he lives. The owners of the local antique shops weren't the only ones who thought this was a bad idea, but they were the ones who get permission for the statue to be displayed on a platform in the middle of the river in front of our old city hall instead, during the duration of their festival last year. Where the statue floated for about one hour, then sank. So it's back in the backyard, alas.
shezan continued her Bamberg picspam, and I do adore my hometown: Bamberg 2
Bamberg 3
Bamberg 4
The saga of the Botero statue she alludes to in one of the posts in short: the main sponsor who enabled the city to buy the lady in question insisted it should be displayed in the backyard place where he lives. The owners of the local antique shops weren't the only ones who thought this was a bad idea, but they were the ones who get permission for the statue to be displayed on a platform in the middle of the river in front of our old city hall instead, during the duration of their festival last year. Where the statue floated for about one hour, then sank. So it's back in the backyard, alas.
