sleeping geese at the fasanerie wiesbaden.
this post will contain pictures from three different moments of november 2018. the first ones are from a tiny visit to the fasanerie wiesbaden with my parents ( shot in early november ). usually i visit this animal park once a year, but this year ( 2019 ) i haven't been there at all. which is strange for me and should probably be inspiration to revisit again soon. it's actually a lovely little park, and very popular because it's free entry. if you are the person who dislikes crowds, my tip is that you visit from monday to thursday, because the weekends are just packed with families and their kids ( and you don't really get a parking spot ).
synchrony.
almost synchronic, too, but not quite: the nutrias!
this one was happily sleeping in his sawdust bed :3
the sun came out and illuminated the park's pathways wonderfully.
bright and wonderful, almost looking like spring!
we paid the foxes a visit, too! so fluffy and pretty ❤
alert and observant :3
the next moment in the month of november was actually only a few short days after my break-up. i call that day 'the day i processed all my crazy feelings', i put some tunes on and just walked through the woods near my workplace and every once in a while stopped to talk to my friend s., who helped me immensely just by listening and getting my head straight. i didn't really know how to talk about this to any of my friends, at least not in the capacity that i did with s. and i am really thankful for that support. i was so ashamed of myself, of my incapability to sustain a relationship, and i didn't feel like i could convey it to anybody i knew, except of s. i also think that this experience was the catalyst for deepening our friendship, so ya know, what do they say? when one door closes, another one opens? it was like that. i am still so thankful to call s. one of my bestest friends now, we go real deep. if you read this, my buddy, thanks again a million times for being there for me back then! and still being there for me now, when i go down on my ranting sprees ;)
tennelbach street is a really long street in the tennelbach valley, which is a green corridor between wiesbaden-sonnenberg, inner city and the first spurs of the taunus mountains. it's a lovely little valley, full of grasslands, fruit tree orchards and wooded patches of land. the residents living here are very close to nature, which i love. everytime i drive or walk down that street i am a little bit envious of the people living there, because it's so green and wonderful, and the buildings are great. lots of good architecture around here! maybe i'll manage to walk the whole street for you and document my favourite spots in the future!
my walk though led me to a different spot, the bahnholz woods. it's a little green space in the north of sonnenberg, connected to the city forest. i've made many walks here already, it is very quaint and restorative, and better, not usually on the radar of a lot of people! most times you encounter dog owners and the occasional promenader who lives close by, but other than that you won't run into a cluster of people here. there's also a little modern chapel that i love to visit whenever i am there, it also is mostly vacant, even though it is the coolest place ( and this is telling, because i am not religious, but i do appreciate a place of contemplation - which was very handy for me in that pocket of time ).
very idyllic bench under an apple tree.
i discovered a tiny path leading into the brushwood and i thought to myself, why don't i follow it inside? all these entangled and chaotic looking branches felt so extremely relevant to my situation back then. it reminded me of radiohead's song 'in limbo', which consequently was THE song of the day.
these pictures also remind me of medusa, a mythological figure that has snake hair. maybe mother earth is medusa and all the trees on the top of her head are basically symbolizing her hair? ;)
when you don't think about how close this spot was to the residential area nearby, you could easily take this for a jungle far off in no man's land.
wood overgrown with moss is easily my most favourite.
passing by yellow giants.
and finding joy in colourful leaves.
i eventually reached the little chapel i was talking about earlier. i have posted about it before, and i think i visited it a lot since that first post, but i still happen to find details that i haven't captured prior to that. and to sit inside this remarkable abode, kind of separated from the world outside, all still and quiet, you can't help but to breathe in deeply and feel tranquilized. it is a soul place, that's for sure.
i suppose these sandals symbolize jesus's path towards the cross and maybe has something to do with the resurrection, but frankly, that's just assumptions ^^;
a self-portrait inside the chapel.
the glass panel definitely symbolizes ( i read it up! ) the night sky and the sunrise! looking at myself now, i see all the hurt and the bitterness inside that face. thankfully that mood is not a common theme around here anymore ( though once in a while it comes back, extenuated, still, and more connected to a general hopelessness when it comes to relationships ). all in all, i have to say that i feel so much better on my own now, not having to adhere to anyone's schedules or wishes, being able to fill my day with whatever i please to do and not having to worry about anyone's feelings or how i come across when i have a shitty day or showcase my occasional misanthropic demeanors, which always made me feel very self-aware and full of guilt and shame. which probably could've been used as some catalyst for bettering myself in those realms, but to be honest, why should i deny myself all those feelings? negative feelings have to be felt as well, and one should only be ashamed of them if they continue to poison and hurt other people or if it leads to an inability to recognize them as toxic and venomous for yourself. i don't have to feel sympathy for the human race, especially when i see every day how terrible we all can be. BUT, even though i don't like most humans, i still keep that special place in my heart for people who mean something to me, those, that you will only encounter very few times in your life. and those are the people that i will hold dear, you know? they don't have to be in a relationship with me, but provide a different kind of support and i feel that this support is so much more important than that of a romantic relationship. what good is having a partner, if it is not based on mutual understanding and trust? if this base is not fulfilled, i'd rather stay single for the rest of my life, than to go through the same pain and treachery again. i'd rather have friends and family members fill in that gap, than to submit myself to that uncertainty. whoever wants to get behind my walls and crack up the hardened skin, they will have to put in some tough work. over one year later, that's how i finally resolved this issue. i am not going to get soft for you if you don't pull up your sleeves and put in the work necessary to win me over. i am not an easy person, i know that very well, and i know that i have to work on some of those difficult shades of my personality like everyone else. but you know what, i am not only made of distrust and self-hate, i also possess the ability to love and to give support and to be soft with humans and show empathy and to be less judgy and more elastic and adaptive... but those parts? that person? you have to earn her. and she's not going to give herself so easily away anymore. she will take her time. and if that means there won't be anyone romantically involved in her life ever again, so be it. not all people are supposed to have a lid on their pot. i think i am already complete on my own.
night and day? we contain both.
after a bit of contemplation and talking some more to my friend s. i continued my way through the woods.
through the very yellow and autumnal woods, a natural balm for my soul.
so glorious!
one last picture of those apple orchard meadows.
next on my 'i need to do a stroll because i'm heartbroken' series is this one: a city walk - through wiesbaden. yes, even though i kind of feel like i have seen it all in the city i live in, turns out i never really do. somehow, there's always something new or something already existing to (re)discover. and as it happens, it's always good enough to let me fall in love with this city again.
this time i strolled through the dichterviertel ( poet's district ) towards the the second ring road.
the poet's district has a lot of wilhelminian architecture to offer, buildings mostly erected between the late 1800s and early 1900s. well, actually, that's what wiesbaden is known for, as you probably gathered. from art nouveau to historism to some sort of arts and crafts/biedermeier style, everything that popped up around the scene back then can be found in this city. many facades look like they were made out of very intricate glacé icing, which for a structure and texture buff like me, basically means one thing: detail overload.
these cute gables belong to the gutenberg gymnasium. it was built from 1901 to 1905 by felix genzmer, an architect that had many hands in the forming of the cityscape of wiesbaden. his style was very significant ( brickstones, art nouveau inspired forms, always looking a little bit antiquated ) forming the city's landscape immensely during his time as town master mason. he built quite a few schools equal in this particular style, he also contributed to the staatstheater ( state theatre ) and built the römertor ( roman gate ), which is a gate that looks antique, but never was, even though the foundation walls it is built upon are in fact of roman origin!
not far away from the school you'll find this church: the trinity church from 1912. architect was ludwig becker, who was actually a cathedral master builder from mainz ( and is known to have built or worked at 317 sacral buildings throughout his career! ). it's neo-romanic facade is crowned with two 65 meter high towers that flank the choir, which you can already see from afar.
kind of loved this serene little scene in front of the church.
there are gothic elements involved in the architecture as well.
it is quite an elegant looking church. it has two more ( tinier ) towers at the west side of the church, both of them 38 meters in height.
the trinity church is a catholic one, and one of two churches inside the poet's district. the other one is lutherkirche ( which is protestant ).
the beautiful portal of the trinity church.
looking up. the relief with maria surrounded by 8 saints was created by august weckbecker in 1911. also seen are god and god's son, jesus and of course 4 angels.
i am very fond of the little red mini turrets.
moving on again towards wilhelm-hauff-straße finding some autumnal fruits along the way.
the poet's district is called that way because the streets all have names of german poets and writers and occasionally you'll find something that emphasizes that like this mural, which depicts wilhelm hauff, a writer of romanticism, living from 1802 to 1827 ( he died real young! ) he's mostly known for creating a fairy tale almanach and quite a few novellas in his short career.
when you leave the poet's district you'll encounter the second ring road, which basically separates the older wiesbaden districts from the newer ones. and you immediately are aware of that because when you cross this street it's all modern architecture, baby. you'll find the occasional old house inbetween, but all in all it's mostly mid-century to contemporary architecture, a lot of administrative or public buildings.
like this beaut, the coliseum at the second ring road. i think it was built in the late 80ies, but unfortunately there is literally no proof out there to be found ( at least not on the internet ). i've never been here before so i was caught a bit off guard when i encountered it. it's not in a very fresh state anymore, a lot of patina can be found on the metal elements of the construction, but i personally think it adds a certain charm to it! and it's also so typically 80ies! the characteristics of deconstructivism are so apparent, it basically screams 'i am a child of the 80ies' at you.
from this angle it looks like it's made out of glass entirely ( it's actually some kind of plexiglass? ). the whole building doesn't seem to be made out of traditional building material like stone or wood, but actually entirely of artificially produced stuff. when i think of the 80ies i think of plastic, bubble-gum, wild hair and bright-coloured sportswear, and if that doesn't fit in with this building, i don't know what is? like this gym is practically predesigned to have a starring role in an 80ies movie ^^;
when you get closer it gets clearer that the gym has seen better times once.
the sun shining through those transparent plexiglass windows created a lovely tranquil effect.
the right kind of patina ❤
couldn't get enough of that entry situation.
moving a little bit further you get an idea how transparent the gym actually is, big windows to each side. the halls inside are lowered into the ground, which is kinda cool. it's only when you get real close to the building that you will get the chance to see what's going on inside, from this point of view you can't see the playing fields at all.
the funny box trees in the front were also adding to that 80ies feeling.
the building also reminded me of greenhouses and i wouldn't mind if they decided to turn this gem into one one day! wouldn't it be amazing to walk through that futuristic jungle?
the gym is mostly used for ball games like volleyball, but also houses a branch of the local judo club.
some rusty details! i love how these indicate that the building only stands its ground with the help of these brackets. kind of adds an old-timey feeling to it, like this could've also been a building erected in those times where iron was first used as new building material. ( thinking of the eiffel tower or various iron bridges in the world ).
still admiring those abstract trees.
the other end of the gym looks exactly the same to the side we first entered. both those entries are not the main access into the hall, that was in the middle of the building ( unfortunately there were too many people around and i didn't feel comfortable shooting ).
better picture of the side entries. i LOVE the forms and shapes!
the back of gym, clearly showing you that it was dug inside the earth.
there's another possibility to get inside the building from the back, it didn't look used, though. probably is a great getaway to catch some breath after a tough game of volleyball or some serious judo training.
directly next to the gym i found a very curious looking species! a trunk bird! seriously, this bird made my day and i hope whoever created it is living a good life 🐤
after checking out the gym i continued my path towards the administrative district i talked about earlier. this is the back of the local finance office - a stairway into the sky. this building was completed in 1976.
this is the entrance situation of the state office of criminal investigation in hessia. it is quite a huge complex and i am definitely not comfortable enough to check it out further. there are cameras everywhere and i felt like an intruder just by snapping this tiny image.
there's also some more brutalist architecture around the corner - a parking garage building and the k33 building - which houses an insurance company and provides more room for businesses.
eventually i returned to the poet's district. these chiseled stone figurines graze the door frames of a block of houses in the klopstockstraße. unfortunately there is no info on these houses. i do love these figures, though, they remind me of socialist realism - the art movement of the former soviet union. i think it's the abstract way to depict physiques of the figurines. the buildings they are chiseled into do look like workman's dwellings, pretty generic and uniform. so... maybe some communist ideas found their way into wiesbaden at one moment in time?
a woman to even it out. my guess on the creation of the dwellings is somewhen between 1920 and 1940, i don't know, the way these were executed don't speak for mid-century architecture but more the language of traditionalism.
let's have some art nouveau thrown into the mix!
balcony with perfect art nouveau details!
this house can also be found on klopstockstraße, it was built in 1908 by fritz arens. completely in love with the balloon carrying couple ❤
the entrance of the building.
sometimes wiesbaden feels like it has nothing to offer for me anymore. but then i decide to venture out into its streets again and have to realize: it's not true. i might think i've seen it all, but then comes a different point of view, a new perspective, a newfound interest into something i didn't have a focus on, and whoops, suddenly i see it all with new eyes.
Comments