on the last day of my vacations at my parents i wanted to see altenburg, a town in the far east of thuringia. my dad originates from this area and i kind of want to know more about his homeland. the older i get the more i want to learn and see from my parent's past... maybe i'm clinging too much on them. i never want to forget them, never forget where i'm from. and it's so interesting to see my parents discovering places they forgot about. memories come up and it makes for interesting conversations and thought sharing.
we decided to have a look at the altenburg castle, a huge castle complex that involves quite a few architectural styles. really impressive. even though it's not always in good shape, it just reeks after history and antiquity.
the castle entry from the south. it was built on a porphyry hill, so it stands upraised in the middle of altenburg city. you can already see it from afar. here you can also see the castle's church.
right next to it is the theatre & philharmony altenburg.
modern heart on old walls.
the hausmannsturm. it is situated in the centre of the castle courtyard. the building on the left is the palais of the princes and the one in the back is the lord stewart office. you can also see a part of the agnesgarten ( a little green area - at this time it was more grey then green though :) ) and the neptune fountain.
view from the corps de logis onto the courtyard. on the left is the entry into the church and on the right the ballroom wing.
we had a look at the museum after this picture ( approximately took 2 or 3 hours, it was very interesting. ) it also houses a playing card museum. altenburg is known for the production of skat cards and the like.
when we came out again, sun made its way through! so here you have the courtyard with blue sky above in full glory.
also pictured here from right to left: junker house, the 'flasche' ( 'bottle' tower ). in the back: washhouse and service & living houses.
gate tower and forager building. also: a tidbit of the church.
ballroom wing & junker buildings.
palais of the princes and lord stewart office.
roofs of the castle buildings.
castle courtyard from the other side with view on the corps de logis, church, ballroom wing, entry gate and forager building.
the 'bottle' tower.
hausmannsturm. ( majordomo tower )
various wall types.
view from the south onto the church.
leaving the castle.
bartholomew's church on the right and unknown building ahead.
tower of waterworks.
waiting to cross the street.
the big pond. there is a small island on it with a tiny zoo. we didn't manage to visit it, but it may be a future plan.
zoo sign.
when we came home, my dearest shadow cat awaited me.
she's too beautiful. why are cats so unbearably beautiful?
i returned to wiesbaden soon, just in time to see the first signs of christmas coming.
at the beginning of december my parents also visited me again. we made a winter walk by the rhine and schierstein harbour.
overlooking the harbour.
living by the water.
a man feeding the birds.
corroding old ship.
a cormorant on a buoy. he stood there like this for at least 15 minutes.
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