Entrance detail - a Greenman

Looking up in front of an entrance I noticed one of these faces again I've been wondering about before. Luckily, one of my visitors - Thomas - explained them to me. Here is his explanation:

"It is a figure known as the Greenman ("Blattmaske" in German). Foliate head sculpture motifs are ancient but were particularly popular in medieval European cathedral construction though the figures are often located in obscure locations.

What the Greenman symbolizes is, of course, subject to a variety of interpretations: the author William Anderson suggests it symbolizes human beings' connection to nature; others say it indicates that nature has consciousness. Many consider it a Pagan "god/goddess" (there are Greenwomen, too, though not as frequent) related to Bacchus."

Thanks a lot for this information, Thomas! I hope it's alright that I quote you here.

If you're curious to see more greenmen, check out my photoblog archive and you'll find more. :)

Happy Wednesday

Just a photo of a facade with the flower pots outside and some very durable flowers as decoration :). Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Floor Tiles

I know this is more of an abstract shot but I couldn't help it. Taking photos for this photo blog just makes me pay more attention to details like this one :). Some of the older houses in Wiesbaden still have the original floor tiling like this one, which I think are quite interesting.

Details of a facade

This house was built 1900 (it's written below the window when you click on the image to enlarge it) and the decorations you see are all from that time. Also included in this facade decoration is Wiesbaden's coat-of-arms: yellow/golden "fleurs-de-lys" (stylized lilies) on blue background.

Red Bubble Mural

Please note that this is not the official title of this mural, it's just what comes to my mind everytime I see it. In fact, I don't know if it has a title at all. The house and mural can be found close to the city hall in downtown Wiesbaden. I like the style of the mural on the right where it imitates the rest of the facade. What made the artist include these red "bubbles" I have no idea (and to be honest I wish he or she hadn't)...

Trees in Reflection

This is the facade of the Theater parking garage. I just liked the reflection of the trees across the street in the windows and was happy that I'm not the one in charge of cleaning them... ;)

Facades

Here you see some typical facades outside the main shopping area downtown. I took this photo in the "Rheingauviertel" (Rheingau quarter) - streets are named after different towns of the Rheingau in this quarter.

Since I took this shot in the morning, the sun didn't reach the sidewalk yet. But it must've been nice to sit on one of the balconies - well, people are busy and off to work I guess.