haus rheinblick in eltville - a villa from 1920.
it's become a tradition of mine to ring in the new year with a walk. it doesn't always take place at the first day of the year ( i usually spend it somewhere else and then return VERY late in the day - which means i basically don't feel like doing much anymore other than rest and nap - even though there's never a lot of alcohol involved 😅 ). mostly my new year's walk will happen on the first day off after new year's, which is usually a sunday. last year i made it on january 3rd, though, i remember it being an actual day off, which is not very common in weeks where there's a holiday involved.
i decided to revisit eltville again, which is very close to wiesbaden and one of my most favourite little towns in the rheingau region. it's a super cute place with a wonderful old city core ( meaning lots of medieval timber frame houses, an old castle, and many, many stately villas ). i went for a walk at the 'eltville riviera' first, along the rhine river and ended up drooling over the old houses in the city center. i can never get tired of these, no matter what happens to my architectural tastes. timber framed houses were basically my first architecture love, and they continue to be, as there's an organic atmosphere to them that touches a string within me, like it feels primeval? i can't exactly describe why. maybe because those houses were built with lots of natural materials such as wood and adobe and straw and rocks and not a single artificially produced element ( like in modern architecture ).
alas, my architecture crazy brain is going on a tangent again. let's get back to what i saw on my walk through eltville, shall we?
on the balcony of haus rheinblick i discovered a cute little swan/goose couple ( i can't decide, really ).
the day started out grey and cloudy, but slowly the sky opened up with light spots and eventually would make space for a blue sky later on! i loved the cool mood by the river, warming up with little specks of light.
boats in the harbour. on the other side you can see the königsklinger aue - a stream island in the rhine river. there's a palace of the same name on it, you can glimpse it on the right side of the picture. the island is about 2,5 kilometers long and 500 meters in width, and it is one of the biggest rhine islands in this region. it is privately owned by a wealthy draper family from obertshausen, who use it as a week-end home. there's a caretaker living on the island as well who together with his wife looks after the mansion and lives a rather idyllic life on the island, farming and growing organic produce. you can't enter the island from any point, it's only accessible via boat or canu. and if you happen to land on the shores of the island chances are high that the caretaker will send you back on your way, by telling you that the island is private property. which is kind of shitty for people interested in that little island, but good for the actual island, since it is part of a protected landscape with its water meadows and floodplains.
the eltville riviera entices with a wonderful strolling path along the river on one side and manorial villas on the other side. the building with the interesting timber frame bay is the former villa lotos from 1901.
a lonesome swan sashayed through the water, curiously looking at the two-legged animal on the land directing a strange small something at it.
while lingering around on the bank path you start to notice tiny details - like purple coloured skeleton plants.
with tiny evil thorns on it.
and some leftover red deliciousness of the past autumn.
more skeleton plants were discovered, letting the phantasy run wild and imagine this as being a mutated walkingstick.
getting closer to eltville and the electoral castle. 😍
old walls and bricked doors is what you will find as you get closer to the town.
the river had really little water running down its course back then, which made the distance between the shore and the königsklinger aue seem shorter.
the blue sky breaking through spawned an interesting colouration. it was almost as if it was about to dawn for the evening, even though it was early afternoon.
sometimes you can find sweet colours in winter. it's not all grey and ugly, and that makes winter a little bit more tolerable for me.
the electoral castle from 1345. actually, only the tower house still stands without any damage, the rest of the castle is mostly ruins ( it was almost completely destroyed during the 30-year-war in 1635 by the swedes ). there are some sweet rose gardens inside the premises today, which attract lots of people every year for the 'rosen- & sekttage' ( rose and champagne festival ).
i love glimpses like these. good framing indeed!
tower houses were built in medieval times both for inhabiting & for defensive reasons, mainly for people of importance like bishops, territorial rulers or other vips who were prone to be targets of any kind.
there had once been another residential quarter, the so-called palas ( on the left ). it once was 3 storeys high, but now the wall shows only 1.
some leftover christmas decorations i found in the bailey. i kinda loved these?
inside the castle's museum you can view an exhibition on johannes gutenberg, the inventor of the letterpress printing machine. three gutenberg statues by ottmar hörl call your attention outside of the entrance into the museum.
you can also marry at the castle, hence why you often can find leftover rose petals or other remnants of those ceremonies.
leaving the castle via burgstraße you will find an assortment of the most beautiful and well-restored timber frame houses from the 17th century! the former house of the chaplain for example. this house looked different a few years ago, it had blue shutters and doors. someone now painted them dark grey. i have to say, it looks far better and more coherent 😍
some detail shots. the golden shutter holders and the red-painted elements are pretty good-looking in the overall monochrome appearance of the house.
and this door is absolutely gorgeous! this caresses my aesthetical brain so much 😄
another sweet ensemble in the same street. the yellow house is a wine tavern. the other two houses on the left are actually houses people live in! it's always been a dream of mine to live in one of these absolutely adorable houses one day. they're often really tiny, and... my heart beats for tiny homes ❤
another wonderful door situation!
timber framing is such a treat, especially when you can create the most wonderful patterns.
i just love seeing all these different timber frame patterns next to each other. as someone who loves structures and geometrical forms, this feels practically like... an orgasm to me? for real. so. fucking. good.
i mean, this is all made out of wood and adobe! sometimes, when i compare it to modern architecture, it absolutely blows my mind that people were able to design and built such absolute treasures with these natural elements!
from pretty simple patterns to very detailed and fanciful ones, there's pretty much no limitations to how they were designed. this house also has wonderful leadlight windows and the modern age did not pass it by either, as the little gazebo window suggests. this is such a beauty, isn't it?
my little new year's walk basically ended here, after marvelling at these beautiful houses i made my way back to the car again. it was a good way to start 2019 after 2018 ended on such a low note. it showed me that things were still waiting for me out there, that i could explore places all on my own again, which is actually something i LOVE to do, as there are no restrictions involved other than what i decide to do. i can walk for hours, without break, and no one scolds me for being hungry or wanting to rest or whatever. i can make these walks as long as i want them to last, either until i'm absolutely tired or hungry or too cold or too warm. i can explore places in depth, or explore them more superficially, whatever tickles my fancy. it is such a good feeling to do whatever i please when i go on these walks. and even though it can be nice to have others around and have them see the same things as you and talk about their impressions on you afterwards, or generally blab about things in life, it also always means that you are in some way distracted and maybe pass by something that would otherwise make your day, be it a sunny moment on an otherwise dark day, or a tiny detail on buildings or an encounter with an animal. when i'm out on my own, chances are so much higher that i get to experience this and draw memories and magic from it to feed my soul. again, i say these things not to dismiss exploring with others, as that can entail wonderful moments, too, i'm just saying that except of my parents who are wired the same way as me, i haven't found anyone yet who is equally interested in exploring places like i am. i thought that i had found someone in 2018, but that turned out to be a short-lived thing, only laying bare what i lacked in terms of sustaining a relationship. but maybe it's like i always say... that some people just function better solo... especially when they are not used to interacting with people on a deeper level.
next on the blog: a flying visit to the industrial district of mainz-amöneburg.
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