It’s been a while since I took some new pictures and I kind of ran out of pictures from my last trip to the US, so here is one from the archive. This picture was taken in Düsseldorf, Germany, a bit after the one I posted several months ago.
Käthe Wohlfahrt is a German company specialising in the sale of items related to Christmas, founded by Wilhelm Wohlfahrt and named after his wife in 1964. In 1977 they opened a specialist shop in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and moved their headquarters there. At this moment they have shops in Nuremberg, Oberammergau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Heidelberg, Rüdesheim am Rhein in Germany and in Riquewihr in France, Bruges in Belgium and in Stillwater in Minnesota.
This is a picture of their largest shop located in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The shop is made up of the two lighted houses on the left and the house with the Christmas trees on the other side of the road.
The German Christmas Museum is located in Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber. It houses a permanent collection of ornaments, decorations, toys and artifacts depicting the evolution of German Christmas traditions and practices from the Middle Ages through about 1950.
Attached to the museum, there is a huge Christmas store which sells traditional German decorations such as Räuchermännchen, Nussknacker, Christmas balls,…
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a town in the state of Bavaria, Germany, well known for its well-preserved medieval old town. It was also the inspiration for the village in Walt Disney’s masterpiece Pinocchio.
This photo shows Rothenburg’s most famous streets Koboldzellersteig and Spittalgasse. The two towers are part of the outer wall of the city. The city has a beautifully conserved medieval inner (built prior to the 13th century) and outer defense wall.
This view is also depicted on the cover of two Blackmore’s Night albums. 1999’s Under a Violet Moon and their 2006 festive album Winter Carols. Blackmore’s Night is a Renaissance-inspired folk rock band led by Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow) and Candice Night (Rainbow).
Neuschwanstein was built by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner, the King’s inspiring muse. In a letter to Wagner, the King wrote:
It is my intention to rebuild the old castle ruin at Hohenschwangau near the Pollat Gorge in the authentic style of the old German knights’ castles… the location is the most beautiful one could find, holy and unapproachable, a worthy temple for the divine friend who has brought salvation and true blessing to the world.
The construction of the castle started on September 5, 1869 and was was close to completion when, in 1886, the King was declared insane by a State Commission under Dr. von Gudden and arrested at the palace. He was taken to Schloss Berg, where he was found on June 13, 1886, in shallow water in Lake Starnberg, drowned, along with von Gudden, the psychiatrist who certified him. The exact circumstances of his death remain unexplained.
Some facts about the castle:
This weekend I went to Düsseldorf, Germany, together with my parents to do some shopping. Did not really find anything, except for my 5€ Leica lens cleaning cloth, but the day was rewarded with a beautiful sunset and I was lucky enough to be in the neighborhood of a full glass building which resulted in the following picture:
Haven’t had a lot of time to post this week and I haven’t been feeling well lately, I guess the flu which is circulating at work finally caught up with me… So just a quick post before the weekend starts.
This picture shows the traditional wooden stalls on the Christmas market in Cologne, selling delicacies like various kinds of jam.
Have a nice weekend!
Yesterday we went to Köln together with some friends to visit the Christmas markets.
Each year, Christmas markets spring up around Germany in the weeks before the holidays, signaling the beginning of Advent. Every city in Germany has it’s own Christmas market, offering traditional German handicrafts, local delicacies and traditional products. You can find some useful information about the markets in Cologne on this page: http://www.stadt-koeln.de/en/koelntourismus/christmas/index.html.
This picture was taken right outside of the Christmas market at the Kölner Dom. Since I didn’t bring a tripod with me on the trip, I had to improvise. Luckily I found this great tripod-trashcan which allowed me to make a long exposure picture.
It’s no secret, one of the most “annoying” characteristics of girls/women: spy on people.
Guilty as charged. I love to sit by example on a terrace and just watch people. Not that I am perfect, but still it is cool to see people walking by, especially when something just isn’t right. Last week we were visiting Köln. On Saturday we visited the city. We both didn’t feel like shopping that day so we decided to walk around a bit. The strangest couple passed by us:
The guy was not over 30 years old, and the women, parrot or whatever you like to call here, was over 70 years old. She was horribly dressed for a person older than 70 years. She was wearing to much make-up and the haircut was terrible. Everyone who was passing by was checking them out.
But maybe I should stop commenting those people, because actually in some kind of strange way we should admire them. They don’t care (at all) what other people think or say. They look pretty self-assured and probably they are. I can imagine they are happy the way they look.
So, come to think of it they are probably happier with themselves than I am 
.
But well, I know it’s not the sweetest thing to do, but I think it would be hard for me to stop watching people and to stop being curious, but you know what, I have an excuse, I’m a girl!
On Sunday we went to a health resort called Claudius Therme. We had a nice time you could visit the sauna complex, the swimming pool,… The weather was nice so we could also use the outdoor swimming pool and the jacuzzi. Pretty cool! There was a part were you had to bathe naked and another part where you could wear your bikini or your bathing trunks. The odd things was that their was a “seilbahn” going over the resort. So everybody who was sunbathing (naked) could wave to the people in the seilbahn. Really strange, I’m pretty sure if you have something like this in Belgium that not a lot of people would like it. But well we had a relaxing and nice time, a weekend to remember!
Kris Taeleman | 
