tobias m. schiel
I cannot figure out who made this sculpture or what it is (if you know, please help me with a hint). Yet it has its part in defining the space between the museum and the Rhein-Main-Hallen in Wiesbaden. Since the latter are to be demolished, I wonder what will happen to this piece.
The first picture shows the memorial for “Wilhelm I., Fürst von Oranien, Graf zu Nassau-Breda, Statthalter von Holland, Seeland, Friesland und Utrecht” (erected in 1908). Wilhelm was born to the House of Nassau as Count of Nassau-Dillenburg. He became Prince of Orange in 1544 and is thereby the founder of the branch House of Orange-Nassau and the ancestor of the monarchy of the Netherlands.
The second picture shows the obelisk erected to commemorate June 18, 1815 – namely the soldiers of the “Erste Nassauische Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87” who participated in the Waterloo battle.
When I think of pictures, I often think of lines – outlining the shape of an object, or adding up to shades of gray in a hatching. Michelangelo, however, thought that there were no lines in nature; there are only surfaces. And from a photographic point of view, he is spot-on: Photography gives us a unique chance to present surfaces with relatively little effort. Maybe that’s why I like photographing stone so much.
My contribution for this week’s photo challenge – culture – shows a statue by F. Schaper (dated 1904/05) representing Gustav Freytag, a German homme des lettres.
Spielende Hengste (Playing Stallions) by German sculptor Gerhard Marcks. The sculpture was commissioned by a local insurance company in 1962 and donated to the City of Wiesbaden in 1963. It refers to Wiesbaden as a host to the Pfingstturnier, an annual horse race of international scope.
If things pan out as planned, this picture will be part of a larger series called Le città e la memoria (another bow to Italo Calvino) which will explore landmarks, memorials, and some buildings.
This is my second contribution for the Weekly Photo Challenge.
empire of lights 