« Stress | Main | A Crackpot? Moi? »
June 15, 2005
Decorated buildings
One of the striking features of many older German towns, and Idstein is a very good example, are the wonderfully decorated buildings. Many are also wonderful examples of the sort of structures beloved of the illustrators of Grimm's Fairy Tales and the stories of Hans Christian Andersen.
An interesting building with an almost "modernist" decoration. Behind can be seen the lower portion of the so-called "Witches Tower".
Other buildings in the town are even more decorative and show a long tradition here of artistic embellishment of buildings. It is rather fun to see some of the designs and to consider the thought and effort that has gone into creating them.
A decorated front to a building abutting the Market Square.
Many have been carefully restored in recent years, saved from the developers bulldozers and even the fire bombing of World War 2 in many instances. Some have been entirely recreated, making use of old skills and working from old drawings and photographs so that the character of these towns is retained.
It is an object lesson in valuing one's heritage - warts and all!
Posted by The Gray Monk at June 15, 2005 09:21 AM
Comments
One of things I miss from when I was living in Germany was all the interesting architecture. Thanks for posting the pictures!
Posted by: vw bug at June 16, 2005 11:57 AM