wilhelminian scenery in wiesbaden.
as you probably know by now ( because i've mentioned it in many of my posts ) wiesbaden has lots of good architecture to offer, from turn of the 20th century city houses with huge nods to art nouveau to classic mid-century sleekness and functionality. i like to take walks through my city sometimes, and even though i basically know the city by heart by now, i still discover new details, or change my mind about a building that i previously overlooked. i have to remind myself to walk with open eyes, take in the tiniest bits of imagery and quite often it turns out that, even though i previously thought i've seen it all, i actually didn't. and it's a good reminder to not let the everyday struggle get to me so much, but seek out the overseen & tiny aspects of life, that can contribute to feeling thankful to be alive ( because otherwise you wouldn't be able to marvel at these tiny wonders ). and it's sort of a satisfying feeling to lay eyes on something that touches your aesthetic & emotional senses so deeply, that a recognition of your self starts to emerge. and for a person like me, who is constantly searching for the true me, who is often unsure about who i am and who i want to be, it's relieving to discover another puzzle piece that makes me me. because so often i feel swept away by the pressures and demands of the 'outside' world, of society, of work and all the grime that comes with it, that i keep losing my sense of self and find me in a state of exhaustion, numbness & resentment. that's why i walk. it clears my mind of these things for a while. it gives me some armour to continue on my path, even if it hurts, and hopefully someday find the thing i am searching for, the person i want to be, the live i want to lead. maybe one of those walks will help to make a change, once and for all, without a compromise or an excuse.
this song by christine & the queens and the accompanying video pretty much summarizes these feelings. it's such a beautiful & deeply wistful song, wanting to escape the looks & stares of others, their ominous presence and finding a peace and solitude that you can't find by relying too much on others perception of you. after all, shouldn't we all try to find the source of courage and lust for life within ourselves? i feel that the bull perfectly reflects this and that it is also the hook you will need to hold onto to get over the pain of not fitting in and wanting to get out. it may provide the power you need to let go of your self-inflicted or external hurt.
I am out for a walk
And I will not be back 'til they're staining my skin
This is how I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
Every night I do walk
And if they're looking down I'm offering my chin
This is how I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
There's
A way to truly be seen
By furiously skimming in
Forget the jewels, I'm livid
Veins are shutting out fine on their own
Blood on my cheeks, birds come by
One of my stomps and they fly
People politely smile to make sure I won't come any closer
I am out for a walk
And I will not be back 'til they're staining my skin
This is how I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
Every night I do walk
And if they're looking down I'm offering my chin
This is how I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
Now
A swollen eye is four days
Of curious calm, snow in May
Way better off on my own
Since no one cries there's no one to blame
It hurts, I feel everything
As my sense of self's wearing thin
Such pains can be a delight
Far from when I could drown in my shame
I am out for a walk
And I will not be back til they're staining my skin
This is how I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
Every night I do walk
And if they're looking down I'm offering my chin
This is how I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
Say now
I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
Say now
I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
Say now
I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
Say now
I chose to talk
With some violent hits, violent blossoms akin
anyway, starting with such deep thoughts, let's light up this post with some eye candy.
beautiful art nouveau maidens can be found on lots of the city facades here. many buildings in wiesbaden were erected around the turn of the century from 19th to 20th ( as that was a blooming time for wiesbaden - it grew immensely due to getting famous as a luxury spa town for the rich & the noble ). it is one of the first impressions you will have of wiesbaden - the many city villas and townhouses in a style that is manorly, pompous, but also really fanciful and playful.
the mosaic glass work of the fanlight windows is so beautiful, too.
i'm sure if i counted all the stone heads in the city i'd end up with at least 500 or more ;)
this little pathway lead through a huge courtyard of an architectural ensemble from 1926. inside that courtyard you can find these houses as well, which are also part of the ensemble. i really liked the synchronicity of it all.
the dignity of man is inviolable.
this tag welcomes you at the entry of the dilthey gymnasium, a school that values the principles of freedom, autonomy and... yeah, dignity. it seems to me that this school attaches great importance on art, music and artistic expression. i probably would've loved to go to school here when i was young and someone would have presented me this as a different choice than a natural scientific gymnasium or the secondary school i went to. strange, now that i think back to my school time and to the time i had to decide on which kind of school i wanted to continue and decided for the less demanding secondary school instead of the gymnasium, i wonder if i had decided to choose differently if they had presented me a gymnasium that was more focussed on art & music. my brother, as a kid's leading role model, went to the scientific gymnasium they offered us after elementary school and he failed massively, which totally put me off when it was my turn to decide where to continue. i decided for secondary school, which didn't put so much pressure on me and i did relatively well there ( except for maths & sports - which would've broken my neck in gymnasium, i'm sure of it ). but if they had offered me a more artistic gymnasium, who knows how well i would've fared there? maybe the focus on arts and music would've lead me to somewhere else than the place i am now.
i know, to ponder about what could have been, isn't very helpful now. but it doesn't change the fact that i sometimes am quite sad, that if there had been different adjustable screws in my past i could possibly be leading a different life right now. back then, there wasn't a lot of choices for me. sure, my parents could've made more research about other possible choices further away ( in erfurt for example ), but i remember that i was being adamant about not going to gymnasium because i've seen my brother fail so terribly at it. i thought it would be like this in all kinds of high schools. besides, how do you make good decisions, when you are 10/11 years old? my parents asked me if i felt fit enough for that and i answered no, so it was decided. it wasn't like they forced me into it, at all, which i am thankful for.
i always was a very creative and artistic kid growing up, i loved to sing and dance and draw and play. my teachers in elementary school always emphasized my love for this in my school reports. they also saw that i wasn't doing good with mathemathical thinking. i don't know why the school didn't tell my parents there were more options than the scientific gymnasium. maybe a different kind of school was too far away. and i am sure my steadfast mindset to not end up like a failure because of too high pressures also contributed to the final decision of not going to high school. anyway. it's sort of funny how one tiny thing can change the entire course of a life. my fear of taking risks basically led me to where i am now, at a job that isn't what my heart desires, which keeps poisoning me more and more. but exactly that fear of taking no risks is also keeping me from changing my situation. and it led to a minimization of myself, a distrust of what i might be capable of. a sad existence right? but you know, i still am around. i still try to find a solution, a way out. just like i wrote above: i keep on walking, searching, in hope i will find the solution to my dilemma.
elegant kitsch inside the gritty schoolyard.
this is another school that i noticed due to its art nouveau facades: the leibnizschule. it focusses on music and mathemathical sciences. the building was erected in 1905 by felix genzmer - who was an architect who helped shape wiesbaden's town planning back then.
the school's clock.
i really like the gable facade. reminds me of the brickstone architecture in the north of germany. also, how cool is that rose window and doesn't it remind you of a church? i wonder how the light illuminates the inside of the building.
this unusual building is a church - st. elisabeth's. it was built in 1936, which is a time that falls into the time of the nazi regime and therefore makes it even more of a curiousity ( because there was a dissonance between the regime and the churches that was quite explosive ). it was planned by aribert rödel & alfred wahl as a steel frame construction.
it is sort of a link between historic and modern architecture, with a nod to the renaissance style, but also providing a possible look into a more minimalistic future.
the brutalist building of the local employment office. you literally can't find any infos about its development.
it clearly has an 80ies stamp on it, though. don't ask me how i know. i guess it's the soberness of the style and the overall practicability aura it emits.
when you look closer you discover the texture of the concrete used for the facade.
which is actually my favourite detail of the building. it is so porous and full of different kinds of pebbles.
the main entry. also, when will i learn to take balanced photos? it seems that i am always a little out of balance.
another fave gritty building of mine: the gym at elsässer platz. probably built in the 70ies, but as is often the case with 70ies to 80ies architecture, infos about details are rather scarce.
i love the support pillars of this building and of course that it looks so wonderfully dingy :). a true brutalist design.
not far away from the gym you can find a slightly curved housing complex of the stephanus centrum - built from 1928 to 1930. it formerly housed the community of st. stephanus, but nowadays it is more of a housing complex than a religious space. you can find some pastoral offices here, still, but all in all, it is not an overtly important building anymore ( except maybe for the local soup kitchen 'die tafel' ). it still is an interesting building, though, especially with that curve creating a nice perspective.
on the left corner in the image before this you can make out a stone closure with these cute dudes. it's based on the tale of the town musicians of bremen, though this depiction misses the donkey. i thought it a cute detail, though i'm not sure why the architect decided to incorporate it into his building.
basically in the backyard of the aforementioned gym you can find this ( probably ) unused structure. 
concrete jungle.
there's another school around here, the gerhart-hauptmann-schule, a secondary school. as the gritty environment already indicated, the facades of the school didn't stray far from the overall impression.
i call this 'the bottle tree'. we're still near the school grounds.
this entry door also belonged to the school, but to an older building. sometimes the allegedly ugly can create something different, and looking at the juxtaposition of beautiful old architecture embellished with modern vandalism wouldn't you agree that it conjured up an interesting image? there's something to be said about unused and forgotten parts of a building, something strikingly sad, but also beautiful.
this lovely art nouveau facade was created by fritz hildner in 1902.
a closer look at the eagle and the heads.
most of the blinds were down on this tenement from 1904. it made a slightly disheveled impression on me, but it didn't distract from the reality that it still was a breathtaking building. the architect was august horz. also notice the mid-century balconies.
the most eye-catching detail of the house: the horseshoe window with beautiful flower and fruit decor.
some more facade details. all the nature reliefs and intricate patterns - so typical for art nouveau.
a lurking wolf about to jump onto...
... an already mischief sensing duck! the animal sceneries were really cute.
only a few meters away i discovered this lovely balcony.
seriously, even though a lot of the art nouveau/historism architecture resembles each other and bears the same elements again, you can always find something that also distinguishes them from each other. like i though the structure of the facade here, recreating cracked plastering, was something exceptional that i haven't seen anywhere else, yet. the house was built in 1904 by fritz born.
more details. the building houses cafe klatsch, an old bar that already exists for over 30 years and is a meeting point for the alternative left population of wiesbaden. i've never been inside, but apparently it is one of THE institutions in wiesbaden to meet up people who are thinking different than the mainstream.
found these random greeting dudes embedded in a facade of a 1926 building near the ringkirche.
the ringkirche. it is a real gem of a church and quite prominently positioned on one end of a big street ( rheinstraße ). it's built in the romanesque revival style ( architect was johannes otzen ) and was opened in 1894.
the houses found around the church are some of the most exquisite adresses as well! you can practically smell the wealth and the luxury of their former inhabitants. wilhelm rehbold designed this spruce dwelling in 1897. can you imagine living in one of those appartments with such nice encased loggias? i sure do! i would fill it with lots of plants and create my own little jungle.
what an exceptional door! it's a work of art, isn't it?
what caught me here wasn't the fact that this is a tattoo shop, but actually the entry door. i just really like the design of the mouth/heart symbol. also... i really want to get another tattoo sooner or later... and i keep deepening that desire by looking at tattoo shops, lol 😅
the clock at the friedrich-ludwig-jahn-schule ( another school, you say? indeed, you're correct, i say, though it is an elementary school ). really love how industrial it looks.
not very far away from where i live you can find this overgrown beauty on adelheidstraße. everytime i walk by this house in late spring or summer it pulls me in again and again. i love me some good old jungle architecture!
and another walk thus ends here.
stay tuned for the next little adventure.
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