mousonturm in frankfurt.
this post is sort of a interim thing, because it's got some june photos in it, but also shows you the first images of july - which are the firsts from our summer vacation in hungary.
but those last few june pictures i didn't want to withhold from you, as it shows one of my favourite places in frankfurt: the mousonturm - an alternative theater that focusses on art productions that are always a little bit fringe. every year in late may and early june there's a film festival going on there ( and other surrounding buildings ) and my bestie from frankfurt and i try to attend every time. it's called nippon connection and it shows all kinds of movies, documentaries and images that are part of the japanese film scene. i can assure you that it's one of the best film festivals frankfurt has to offer, because frankly they don't shy away from complicated and in depth movies, but also add in the occasional classic, light comedies or animes.
some words about the building - the mousonturm was built in the time between 1923 to 1926 by some architects called gärtner & wollmann as part of a soap manufactury established by one august friedrich mouson. that factory also developed scents and creams and was quite popular back in the days. the manufactory was closed down eventually in 1972 and most of the production halls were torn down, except the expressionistic tower that got landmarked ( which also was frankfurt's actual first 'skyscraper' - if you can call it that at 33 meters of height ;) ). in 1988 the tower was officially opened as a place of cultural interest, a theater, that is and it's remained one ever since.
what i love most about that tower is the clinker facade and of course the very bauhaus-y feeling it gives off.
and look at those jags on the roof - another detail that's quite unusual. you can also see that the clinkers were arranged in a highly pleasurable pattern, visually very satisfying.
the future will be confusing - a work by tim etchells - can constantly be seen on the facade since 2012 and let me tell you, i feel so drawn to it, i can't even explain why. fact is, it makes me love that tower even more.
i just looked at this neon light installment and there came a song into my mind by kraftwerk, neon lights. here i am including it into this post :P
the front of the tower, that now just looks like a big building instead of like a tower, missing the actual tower sitting in the back. sneaky!
the main entry of the building. the distinctive pink posters announce the nippon connection festival - the colour pink being most prominent in that context, as it is the brand colour of the festival used every year! by the way... these windows are industrial gold, right? right! the whole building also looks a bit pyramidal or cake-like, one tier on top of the other. reminds me a bit of the lego stones as well 😅
the tower's west facade. the tiny triangle windows are super cute! here you can also see again what i mean with that cake association ;)
clinker and triangle detail shot.
i can't ever get enough of that mosaic-like structure of the clinker facade. and these windows!
overall - i LOVE this building ❤
now onto last year's summer vacation.
i am no newbie to hungary, we've been on vacations in that country for almost 10 years before we decided we wanted to see other things again, like the baltic sea or france or the north sea. but as the years went by we grew curious again and there was this strange nostalgia in our heads that remembered our vacations there very fondly ( we did have wonderful times there ). so my family decided we wanted to vacation there one more time and see if anything changed. and well, what can i say, there were a few changes and not all were positive, unfortunately. i suspect it's got a litte to do with the current political climate, with viktor urban being the political leader in hungary these days and creating a more right-wing society through his actions. i had the feeling that western tourists were quite rare and a little unwelcome ( namely german ones - which in the past contributed immensely to the wealth of the city ). a lot of the pensions and a few hotels in zalakaros ( our stay ) & restaurants were closed down, when in the past they have always been full & thriving. we haven't been to hungary for almost 10 years at the point we were visiting again, so of course things are bound to change, but i didn't expect that the changes would be so stark. i would've expected that the old restaurants and hotels were updated maybe, but closed down? that was really startling to me. hungary still has a very certain charm, though, and i was determined to not let the aforementioned things tinge my experience of the country too much and still look at everything with open eyes and an open heart.
the city we always stayed in in the past and stayed in again, zalakaros, is a spa city well-known for its hot springs that are known to help cure rheumatic sicknesses. it's the smallest city of hungary, with only 2000 inhabitants living here all the time ( but growing in the summer months due to tourists and vacationers flocking to it ). the springs were discovered in 1962, so actually very late in the annals of time and it kickstarted the spa history of this little settlement at once. a lot of hotels & pensions sprung up, creating lots of mid-century/post-modern/constructivist building structures - in a socialist modern setting. architecturally the city is really interesting to me, because i love to explore the socialist structures of yore, when russia still held its mighty hands over east europe - the former soviet union.
of course visiting the spa baths was the main reason for us all to stay in zalakaros and we were spending a lot of time there this time. going for a cool swim on warm days or lounging around in the hot waters on rain days was on the itinerary a lot, due to family-related reasons - we went on a few day trips to the balaton region and surrounding cities, but we also made compromises sometimes, since not everyone wanted to be on the run all the time and actually relax a bit every now and then.
i will talk about more adventures later down the road, but for now i think i babbled enough. let's move on to some first impressions of zalakaros.
immediately we start with an abandoned place, the hotel termàl. as far as i could find out about it, it was definitely built in the 70ies, but there was nothing else i could find. when we visited zalakaros 10 years ago, this was still used as a motel.
now it slowly crumbles away. a little brutalist gem.
the reception area.
withering window frames.
and tiny trees are already claiming its structure for themselves!
with a little modernization this thing could be a beauty again...
not far away from the hotel you can find a former dance club, the mexicana club. it probably closed around 2015, no news can be found after that year. i remember that many young people went to this club when i was a kid. i think when my brother was like 17 or 18 he went to this club, but i can't remember it well. should probably ask him. by the way, my brother was also with us on this vacation, which is a rare thing, and was very unusual for all of us. but we managed to get along relatively well, with a few hick-ups here and there, though. he's not that much into really exploring a place, but rather likes to stay in and work on rhymes and music ( he's very much into rap & hiphop & freestyle ), and that fact caused a little friction sometimes. anyway, my brother and me are not that close, but we are friendly with each other, accepting our very different personalities most of the time. and while it was sometimes hard for me to not go out and explore more and stay in one place most of the time, i managed to cope with that all right overall.
iron gate geometry.
isteni kirgalmasság templom, the divine mercy church, built in 2006. a little post-modern gem along the pathways to the spa.
the canna is zalakaros' symbol flower and you can find it everywhere. every year they also hold a canna flower festival where the canna flower queen is elected - basically they choose the most beautiful girl of zalakaros. i found these cannas right next to the zalakaros cinema.
the local cinema is basically an outdoor cinema, as it only opens in summer months. the zalakaros kertmozi is a very interesting structure - since 1976 it's in operation. check out the inner part of the cinema, i really like it. i've once seen star wars in hungarian in here and i still recite some parts of it, today 😂
not far away from our accommodation this luxurious house struck my eye. it's the villa panorama, a vacation rental building. very mediterranean.
cacti fruits found in front of the villa.
and this little gate could be found right next to our appartment house. it belonged to a seemingly uninhabited little dwelling.
so far so good, this was the first little teaser of our time in zalakaros, hungary.
stay tuned for a visit at the kis-balaton - the little balaton - a small ( but not so small ) lake not very far away from zalakaros.
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