Hohenzollern Bridge

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Hohenzollern Bridge by Franz Heinrich Schwechten, 1911
Kennedy-Ufer
Cologne, September 2024

“The Hohenzollern Bridge (German: Hohenzollernbrücke) is a bridge crossing the river Rhine in the German city of Cologne (German: Köln). It crosses the Rhine at kilometre 688.5. Originally, the bridge was both a railway and road bridge. However, after its destruction in 1945 and subsequent reconstruction, the bridge has been only accessible to rail and pedestrian traffic. It is the most heavily-used railway bridge in Germany with more than 1,200 trains crossing daily, connecting the Köln Hauptbahnhof and Köln Messe/Deutz stations. The bridge was constructed between 1907 and 1911 after the demolition of old bridge, the Cathedral Bridge (Dombrücke). The Cathedral Bridge was unable to handle the increasing rail traffic imposed by the inauguration of the Köln Hauptbahnhof. The new bridge was named after the House of Hohenzollern, the rulers of Prussia and German Emperors. (At the time, Cologne formed part of the Prussian Rhine Province.)” (Hohenzollern Bridge, Wikipedia)

Andrea Palladio

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Monument to Andrea Palladio by Vincenzo Gajassi, 1859
Piazza dei Signori
Vicenza, May 2025

Schauspielhausbrunnen

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Märchenbrunnen (Fairy Tale Fountain) by Friedrich Christoph Hausmann, 1910
Untermainanlage
Frankfurt, September 2024

“The Fairytale Fountain or Schauspielhaus Fountain in Frankfurt am Main is located on the Untermainanlage next to the Frankfurt Municipal Theater. It is an Art Nouveau fountain that was completed in 1910. The construction of the fountain was initiated and financed by the art patron Leo Gans, who, as director of the Cassella works in Fechenheim, founded an art fund at the turn of the century and spent 150,000 marks (around 1.3 million euros in today's purchasing power) on the project. The sculptor Friedrich Christoph Hausmann was commissioned to create the fountain figure from white Tyrolean marble, a nymph (popularly known as the ‘Mainweibchen’). In the house of the city's well-known Jewish aristocratic family Carl and Arthur von Weinberg, where many social events took place, the choice fell on a young, pretty laundress from Niederrad who worked there: Margarete Endres, the later wife of the organist Eduard Gelbart. She was the daughter of a rubber mixer from Lower Franconia - not, as is often mistakenly believed, a baker. In 1906 (she was 19 years old at the time) she posed as a model for Städel professor Friedrich Hausmann.” (Märchenbrunnen, Wikipedia)

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua

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Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua
Piazza del Santo
Padua, May 2025

“The Pontifical Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua (Italian: Basilica Pontificia di Sant'Antonio di Padova) is a Catholic church and minor basilica in Padua, Veneto, Northern Italy, dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua. Although the basilica is visited as a place of pilgrimage by people from all over the world, it is not the cathedral of the city, a title belonging to the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Mary of Padua. The basilica is known locally as ‘il Santo’. It is one of the national shrines recognized by the Holy See. Two chapels within the Basilica of Saint Anthony — the Cappella di San Giacomo and the Cappella del beato Luca Belludi — are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Padua's fourteenth-century fresco cycles, inscribed in 2021.” (Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, Wikipedia)

Märchenbrunnen

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Märchenbrunnen (Fairy Tale Fountain) by Josef Mágr, 1906
(New bronze figures by Elfriede Ducke and Hanna Studnitzka, 1965)
Dittrichring
Leipzig, September 2024

“The Fairy Tale Fountain in the promenade on Dittrichring was created by Josef Mágr in 1906. In the grotto of the central section, life-size bronze figures of the fairy tale characters Hansel and Gretel are mounted on a pedestal. Above them is a stone relief of a witch and a raven. Above the benches on either side of the central section are two bronze reliefs depicting key scenes from the fairy tale (Getting Lost in the Forest, Discovering the Gingerbread House, Returning Home). The bronze parts of the fountain were removed in 1942 and used in the armaments industry. Since 1965, the fountain has been adorned with new figures designed by Leipzig artists Elfriede Ducke and Hanna Studnitzka.” (Fountain in Leipzig, Wikipedia)

Mercato delle Cure

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Mercato delle Cure (Le Cure market)
Piazza delle Cure
Florence, December 2024

Trümmerfrau

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Trümmerfrau (Rubble woman) by Walter Reinhold, 1968
(The original statue of 1952 was cast iron)
Rathausplatz
Dresden, September 2024

“Trümmerfrauen (lit. rubble women) were women who, in the aftermath of World War II, helped clear and reconstruct the bombed cities of Germany and Austria. Hundreds of cities had suffered significant bombing and firestorm damage through aerial attacks and ground war, and with many men dead or prisoners of war, this monumental task fell to a large degree on women. 3.6 million out of the sixteen million homes in 62 cities in Germany were destroyed during Allied bombings in World War II, with another four million damaged. Half of all school buildings, forty percent of the infrastructure, and many factories were either damaged or destroyed. According to estimates, there were about 500 million cubic metres of rubble (a volume of over 150 Great Pyramids of Giza) and 7.5 million people were made homeless.” (Trümmerfrau, Wikipedia)