Category: Helmut Schmidt

Every second year the historic Dutch town of Dordrecht celebrates a big steam festival. Steam powered boats, cranes, agricultural machinery, trains and even cars and buses come from places as far away as Germany and England (the latter made much more difficult by Brexit). Other historic gadgets decorate the streets, they even hide the parking meters under fishing nets. Photography is difficult because one of the 250.000 visitors always seems to walk into the frame….

In 2012 the thermal baths in the little town of Fichtelberg burnt down. When the fire started, 200 guests still were in the facilities. The guests and staff fled and fortunately nobody was hurt. The little town entirely depends on tourism and the loss of the baths was a hard blow for the local economy. However, instead of immediately rebuilding the place, town, operator and insurance started a legal fight. When it finally was solved after 4 years the operator died. What is left after fire, vandalism and time took their toll is another of these spots which seem to attract me magically……

Even in big cities in the third world the type of traffic is completely different from what is moving in a western country. Scooters, trishaws, bicycles, hand-carts are 0verloaded with everything possible. Here a little selection from the evening rush hour in Pnom Penh, Cambodia

The port of Rotterdam is always good for discoveries. Here the bow of an old freighter

Fifty years ago the railway shed in Weiden still housed numerous steam engines. Two turntables were used to take the engines from and into one of the 18 ports of the shed. A separate building housed repair facilities. After the age of steam engines ended everything was left to decay. Without maintenance the roof collapsed. Metal parts and even the rails were stolen. Birch trees are the first and fastest to grow between the remainders. The first animals settle and a hare flees from the intruder in a zigzag between the trees

Like years ago in the US, many small towns in Germany struggle with their abandoned city centers. The consequence of their previous policy of building shopping centers outside town with huge parking lots leads to emptiness and a desolate atmosphere in the old commercial center of town. Empty buildings which cannot be sold, line the streets. Demolition causes gaps and all attractivity is lost.

The previous German government has decided to stop all coal related activities. This also includes mining of brown coal in enormous open pits. In particular the mine in the Hambacher forest was controversial. To increase popularity, or decrease protests, the owner, RWE, is busy building viewing platforms and a hiking and cycling path along the rim of the mine. From the terra nove platform the visitor can meditate about the microscopic movements of the world’s biggest excavators of a weight of 13.500 tons, length 220 m and 96 m of height. Despite their sluggishness each can remove another 240.000 tons from the giant pit daily.

A puddle in the entrance reflects the shed of a tram depot

The little town of Schiedam is far less known than the tourist attractions of Amsterdam or Delft. However, it is full of monuments, windmills and old boats. The windmills were used to grind the grain used for Schiedam’s most important product, Genever, the local brandy. The bare trees of winter allow a much better view.