june '18: remnants of the past.

stone putti on the remnants of a perron that once belonged to a palace.

georgenborn - that's a small settlement in the high taunus mountains about 10 kilometers in distance to wiesbaden. and while it's actually a rather sleepy little village and seems to not have much to offer, you are in for a surprising treat. the historic village was founded in 1694 by georg august, count of nassau-idstein who often stopped in the area for hunting expeditions. he settled the lands with refugees from the kurpfalz region and it slowly grew over the centuries, but not without problems, as it was once almost given up due to disputes with the close nearby village of frauenstein over the land laws.

in 1895 & 1896 a russian industrial called baron ferdinand von krauskopf ( don't ask why he had a german name - that's a secret to me, too, lol ) built a palace on the grounds of a former country estate from 1872 - it was called hohenbuchau palace. the dude was pretty wealthy as he was the producer of rubber shoes and other rubber related products back in the days, which was a pretty innovative object and highly sought after. i don't know how he came into purchasing the land, but fact is, he did set up his very luxurious palace ( in which most of the population of georgenborn got hired for jobs ). in world war 1, though, he lost all his money and had to eventually sell the estate to a russian friend, who never made it his home, since he lived in paris with his wife ( who eventually moved to georgenborn in the 50ies and lived there for some time, but never inside the palace ). and since it was unused for some time, it started to turn ruinous. the palace had a small resurrection in world war 2, when it was used as an accommodation house and school for the reich labour service, the state railway, the armed ss and gestapo. after the war the palace was struck by a fire, but soon some relocated nuns from silesia settled inside the leftover buildings and managed a little monastery until 1952. in the early 60ies the estate was sold to a big housing society by the wife of the russian friend, which sealed the faith of the palace - it would be torn down to make place for a modern settlement - to which a very famous modern architect contributed a construction plan ( that was only partially used ): richard neutra. though he didn't create an actual house for the residential area, the spirit of his perception of modern architecture is still apparent. flatroof houses with huge window walls can be found everywhere - which, i think, is something richard neutra was always very drawn to.

well, georgenborn in contemporary times is now a rather modern looking village, with a tiny ancient core. i was really enamoured with all the 60ies & 70ies architecture that now resides in the former park of the palace and the history of the palace is still not forgotten, as you can find various elements and landscape details of its layout throughout the residential area. like the puttis in the first picture  ( and the coming ones ) and the corresponding perron. my initial plan for visiting georgenborn was actually finding all the remnants of the palace, but what i discovered along the way, was a little modern paradise, idyllic and dreamy and it turned out to not be an antithesis to its history, but somehow an enhancement of it. old and new, it turns out, again and again, doesn't have to forclose each other, they can in fact, exist in harmony side by side.

the perron is the biggest remnant of the old palace and therefore was my first stop on my little walk through georgenborn.

the first flatroof i spotted.

the houses were often hidden under huge redwood trees ( which were planted in the years of the palace's erection ) and other old trees and also nature already started to find ways of overgrowing them. which created a wonderful juxtaposition - that of clean & modern structures intertwining with the chaotic, but lush growth of nature. don't you think that this combination is one of the best? in my opinion, it sure is. a house that is completely devoid of natural growth might look good in picture books, but as soon as it interacts with its surroundings, with nature elements, it starts to elevate into something living, something that breathes vibrancy.

this house is one of the very few i found any detailed info about. it's called house number ONE and was built in 1976 as one of the first project of gresser architekten - an architecture firm from wiesbaden. you can look at some layout and design images of the house over here.

the main entry.

i really liked the oriel addition to the house. and generally, there was an organic structure to the building, that really intrigued me. like the walls weren't totally clean-cut, but sometimes very uneven ( but maybe that is due to the plastering of the facades ). maybe i will try to return to georgenborn and shoot some more photos, because looking at it now i am really dissatisfied with what i came up with. it's really unfortunate that some of the coolest houses stand in residential areas, as one always kind of feels like a voyeur or an intruder when taking photos of houses of strangers. at least i always feel that way. and since this is just my hobby and i have no official reason for explanation other that i am interested in architecture it sort of also feels like a very weak excuse.

the view down to the upper rhine plain. i bet that out of some houses you definitely have a breathtaking view.

i left the residential area for a bit to roam around in some nearby wooded areas. encountered some blooming blackberry & raspberry bushes.

june is a wonderful month in that it is the first month that really showcases the jungle quality of nature. like everything is super saturated in all kinds of green and feels dense and tight. and when the sun hits leaves in a certain way it highlights it even more.

bumblebee on a mission. i'm a huge bumblebee friend ( insects in general, even though i dislike their maggot form 😢) and love being around them, hearing their loud buzzing sounds and feeling the tiny bit of air they sometimes produce when they fly very close to your skin.

and encountering butterflies is also very satisfying and holds lots of magic. this is a silver-washed fritillary - called kaisermantel in german for emperor's coat.

young blackberries, not ripe yet.

i stumbled upon a transmitter station on accident. it really stood out, because it was so hidden in the woods. the surrealism of it all made me snap a few quick pictures of it. also, because i like technology surrounded by nature ;)

strange that this transmitter was so easily accessible. there was no fence around it or any kind of warning. granted, it was in an area that a lot of people probably don't enter, even in their freetime, but still, what if there were any kind of wild animals chewing on some cables? i don't even want to imagine that 😵

alien structure. maybe in the future, if anybody survives us that is, we will stumble upon these strange machineries and wonder what they once were and what they were supposed to do. like we do now, when we excavate old houses or find strange stone formations we have no clue of how they came to be and how they were erected. i like that idea. it also makes me wistful. because i sure would like to be one of those people who tries to find out about those secrets, and of course that's stupid, because rebirth is impossible.

pointing up, transmitting signals.

i returned to civilization with stumbling upon a forgotten house. it's probably called haus sonnenberg or something, i can't identify it on the door tag anymore and frankly i didn't even look at it while i was there and only noticed it upon editing the photos 😅

the entry to the house. loved the iron twine detail.

i discovered some more mid-century/60ies/70ies gems. the cleft windows are my favourite detail here.

st. john's worth. it's used as an antidepressant these days, but when not used properly can be poisonous or cause problems. it's got a very pretty blossom and in my opinion, just looking at it makes your day a bit brighter ;)

another abandoned building, a former catholic community center. it's not used anymore by the church and waits to be sold for other purposes.

the main entry. it's a rather faceless building, nothing quite special about it. except that it is abandoned ;)

a look inside.

another remnant of the palace - the tea house. 

not far away from the tea house you happen to come up to another delightful area, a little pond surrounded by more modern buildings. i had a tiny sneaky gaze at this brickstone structure, which was also decorated with entwining greenery.

the pond was installed back when the palace was constructed and outlived it to this day. it even has a tiny island in it. i stayed at this place for a little while, because it was so peaceful and restorative! there was a duck family on the pond and some geese as well and the whole sight was just so immensely calming.

on the other side you could make out a neatly kept garden, which is not something i really like, but i appreciated the sculptures the owners set up.

a putto vase and some grooming cranes.

the egyptian goose was not really amused by me taking pictures of him/her and its partner. as its open beak caught in mid-bluster probably already told you ;)

eventually it accepted me, though. i am not someone who likes to disturb resting birds who also look like they are nesting on new baby birds. i kept a good distance from them, so they could relax.

on the tiny island in the midst of the pond there was an artificial roman column.

another lovely flatroof house hidden behind lots of greenery. aaaaah, so idyllic. i call it a perfect dream house, overlooking the pond and being surrounded by so much nature.

a close-up.

the big pond is attached to another smaller pond ( via a little canal ) that presents you another remnant of the past: a siegfried sculpture. siegfried is one of germany's oldest heros - he fought against a dragon, bathed in its blood that made him invulnerable and moved on to marry his big love kriemhild. but he also suffered a bad faith, murdered by an old companion, hagen, who knew that a linden leaf had fallen down on his back during the dragon blood bath, which then turned out to be the only vulnerable spot on siegfried's body.

the nibelungensage ( the song of the nibelungs ) is a rather bloody and terrific old tale and if you are interested in mythology, you should really check out the story.

what a poser, that dude. 😂 couldn't get enough of this motive, though.

wait, dear maiden, i will follow you to the end of the world!

poor siegfried said, and couldn't move away from his column, as his feet were firmly attached to it. thus is the fate of sculptures.

more and more relicts started to show up, attached to old balustrades. you get the gist, the old palace had lots of neo-baroque elements in its composition, something that was super luxurious at the turn of the century.

former accommodation building, called schweizer haus ( it was built in the suisse chalet style ).

a tiny look onto some details.

only caught the roof section of the old gatehouse, unfortunately. but mansard roofs with lovely decorations are a good thing, especially when it seems to wink at you ;)

my last stop for the day was the cemetery. the cemetery was installed around 1900, so it is relatively young. here are some graves that i found particularly lovely.

mossed over. i thought it was super effective, especially since the name tag was still prominent and easy to read.

the mourning hall.

this plate tells of a freifrau julie von krauskopf, the wife of ferdinand von krauskopf. it is said that she committed suicide and poisoned herself, but i can't really find any evidence if that is true. fact is, she died relatively young ( at the the age of 50 ) and her husband built her a beautiful monumental grave with art nouveau elements ( as it was built in 1905 - the heyday of art nouveau-related things ). here's a painting of her by henriette de rege, when she was 30 years old.

the grave monument. i don't know why the sculpture is split into two materials - concrete & bronze, but it made it look even more interesting. maybe the grave was destroyed at some point and this was how they decided to repair it?

freifrau von krauskopf surely was a beautiful woman. i adore this sculpture, because it doesn't feel super dramatic, but actually subdued and deeply mournful. and julie doesn't look like a prettified version of herself, but like a real-life woman, with a softly round-shaped torso and a slightly chubby face.

the love will never end. a really beautiful goodbye, don't you think?

those chubby putti are giving me life! also loved the stars everywhere.

the final close-up of this precious baby.

this interesting grave monument also functions as a treasure case. you can put beautiful stones or other trinkets into the openings, which i personally think is a nice idea. also, can you see the sculpture smile - twice? i like to think of it as a friendly grave ghost ( or two in one :) )

a look inside the mourning hall didn't reveal any extraordinary elements, but a clean & simple atmosphere.

the view from the graveyard down into the rhine valley. it's a lovely view, isn't it? and it concluded a really nice trip to a little village that offered a lot of little surprises, some of which could be easily overlooked if one always focusses on the big cities. there is beauty, and history and architecture everywhere! you just need to make room in your mind for it.

next up is a walk around mainz-kostheim - an industrial district of wiesbaden. so stay tuned!