As I think I mentioned before, I currently live in Duesseldorf. However, I really don't get into the centre of town much. However, the centre of Duesseldorf is very nice indeed! There's a lot of lovely old architecture in the very centre, but the best thing is the way it mixes with all the newer stuff into a varied landscape. There's a lot to discover wandering around, if you know where to look, and those discoveries make it a great place for an aimless walk. Obviously Vienna is more classically beautiful, but something that even the Viennese have to admit is that the 1st district is very architecturally monotonous in aggregate. Even if every house has a *different* crazy menagerie of over the top plaster gods and beasts, it's still all over the top mengeries, y'know?
Probably my favourite building is the
Stahlhof, built in 1909. This monumental red sandstone building was basically built by the steel barons of Duesseldorf as a statement of their immense prestige and wealth. It's an incredible building and a big contrast with architecture from the 19th century. There's huge chiselled robot-like faces, steel workers holding each other up, massive sandstone cogs and chain motifs, odd diversions into egyptian and greek imagery, and many many sandstone reliefs of elements of the steelworkers trade.
My other favourite part of the centre of Duesseldorf has to be the parks, which, though small, are wonderfully woven in between all the other buildings. They are also full of parrots (OK, parakeets), which are my OTHER other favourite thing about Duesseldorf and really liven the place up! Nothing like standing next to the famous Art Academy of Duesseldorf, steeped in 19th century grandeur and with a very illustrious list of alumni, as a flight of screaming green parakeets goes overhead.
Of course there is also the Rhine, with the narrow streets giving way to the huge open bend of the river, barges constantly passing in both directions and the TV tower lighting up on the horizon!
I have explored a lot of the centre by now, thanks to my numerous visitors here, but most of the time I have been exploring and not photographing... However, one cold and slightly snowy day in February, with the sun just occasionally peeking through the sky, I remembered to bring my camera as I took my friend Steve on the rounds of the city. Having eaten our fill at one of the amazing Japanese restaurants here (Duesseldorf has about 1% Japanese inhabitants!) we then hopped on the train to explore Wuppertal, the nearby city with a fantastic suspended railway system
which is a must see if you are excited by hanging, swinging trains over rivers...
So anyway,
hope you enjoy this small set of photos from our snowy day out! Click ze link for more...
as always, bis bald,
der Tom
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