Lines

Low tide at the north Groningen coast. This is the river Ems (known as 'Eems' in Dutch), seen from the dike near Termunten. It runs from the German states of Nort Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony into the Dollart Bay, which is part of the Wadden Sea and therefore knows high- en low tides. At this point the Ems is very wide, and forms the border between Germany and the Netherlands -the land in the background is Germany.
Somewhere in the middle of the photo -taken a few weeks ago- are some seals lying on the sand. They were quite far away from us, this was as far as we could zoom in.

Tree art

 Photos taken in the Harz, Germany, earlier this month.

Witches and Walpurgis Night

On arrival in the Harz on April 27, we spotted witches on practically each corner of every street in the village where we stayed, Sankt Andreasberg. We soon learned that this had to do with witches and the celebration of 'Walpurgis Night' on April 30. It is the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess. She was hailed by the Christians of Germany for battling pest, rabies and whooping cough. She was also known to repel the effects of witchcraft.

According to 17th century German tradition, sorcerers and witches gathered on May Day eve on a Hexennacht or "Witches' Night". The Western Christian Church established the Feast of Saint Walpurga on the same night, believing that Saint Walpurga counteracted the evil magic.
In Germanic folklore, this witches' meeting took place on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz mountains. (info from Wikipedia)
Well, we thought it wise to stay as far away from the Brocken as we could on the night of April 30..

..though apparently some witches didn't go either as flying on a broomstick can be quite difficult :)

Between East and West

The former "inner German border", making Germany into an 'East' and a 'West', also divided the Harz region in two separate parts. At the actual spot of this border is now a memorial stone that commorates the reunification of Germany with the words "Deutschland wieder vereint" ('Germany united again').

Along the road near the city of Braunlage is a sign that says that: Here, Germany and Europe were separated until 2:30 pm on November 12, 1989".

And on both sides of the road the former patrol road is still visible -even though trees have grown into it by now-: two parallel lines of perforated concrete blocks that ran beside the border. Guards used this all-weather road to 'travel rapidly to the scene of an attempted crossing' (info from Wikipedia).

Ohrenpeyn

These guys from Leipzig call themselves "Ohrenpeyn" and this is their perfomance at the "Ritterfest"-event in the Wernigerode castle. Using traditional instruments they played music from the Middle Ages. Most of it was very rhythmical and nice to listen to, even though the band's name "Ohrenpeyn" sounds like the Dutch word "oorpijn" meaning earache ;)

It was obvious they enjoyed themselves on stage, and the public liked it too. You can find their website HERE (in German)

Doors and decorations

I always enjoy photographing doors and/or windows. Have a look at the decorations on and around the entrance here at no. 71..

..and here at no.1d.
Both photos were taken in the city of Wernigerode, Harz (Germany)

Wernigerode

During our stay in the Harz region in Germany we visited the old city centre of Wernigerode, a wonderful place.

With its many colourful and half-timbered buildings it has the nickname "Bunte Stadt am Harz", which is German for "Colourful city in the Harz"

Bicycle route signs

During our hike we saw these 2 poles, showing the colours of both the German and the Dutch flag. Back home I googled and found out that they mark the 84 km long 'Grenzsteinroute' , a bicycle route along the border between Germany and the Netherlands. During the route a number of boundary stones ('Grenzsteine' in German) are passed. hence the name. The route starts in Coevorden (NL) then goes to Schoonebeek (NL), Twist (Germany), Zwartemeer (NL), Rütenbrock (Germany), and ends in Ter Apel (NL). Or vice versa of course :)

I'm linking to signs, signs.

Ferry reflection

Standing on the upper deck of the Stenaline ferry to Göteborg, we slowly passed this huge cruise ship just after leaving the quay of Kiel harbour in Germany. As you can see, all huts there had large windows and their own balconies, in which we saw our ferry reflect as we passed.
Photo taken last July.

I´m linking to Weekend Reflections.

Nature here, industry there

A photo from a few weeks ago with a view across the Dollard Bay to the coast of Germany. Nature on our side, industry on the German side.

Come and have a seat, my dear..

..and smell the flowers.

Some of the flowerbeds had nicely painted chairs, like this one. 

At the Gartenschau in Papenburg, Germany.

The bench and the window

And somehow they fit very well together. Seen in Papenburg.

Four frogs and a cat

At the Garden Flower Show in Papenburg were lots of things to lighten up your garden, like these happy figures for your fence!

Linking to good fences #14

Butterflies..

.. on a plate with fruit, at the Garden Flower Show in Papenburg.

Rainbow bench

Following up on yesterday´s post, this is another view into one of the gardens at the ´Landes Gartenschau´ in Papenburg.

Ready to jump!

Colourful art at the 'Landes Gartenschau', a garden flower show, just across the German border in Papenburg.

from the archives #11

Harz - Germany (1995)

When searching for a photo for today I found this one from nearly 20 years ago, taken during a trip we made by motorbike in the Harz in Germany. This food truck (most likely a former army field kitchen) called 'KUKKI'S' was on a parking place, serving 'Erbsensuppe mit Bockwurst': pea soup with German sausage.

Can't remember if the food was good, but I'm sure it tasted great :)

charge your electric car

On our way on the German Autobahn last month we spotted these 2 parking places on a rest area, meant especially for charging electric cars. I had not seen these spots with charging facilities before!

--

Onderweg op de Duitse autobaan vorige maand zagen we deze 2 plekken op een parkeerplaats, voor het opladen van electrische auto's. Ik had dit soort oplaadpunten nog niet eerder gezien!

Linking to signs, signs.