Rainer

Corner building on Vinohradská, Prague. Built in 1903, Neo-Gothic with Czech Renaissance details.

Bode river, Harz Mountains, October

These medieval streets of Quedlinburg are over 1,000 years old.

Goodbye, Prague.

The Philosophical Hall of Strahov Monastery Library, Prague The tall walnut shelves were made for another monastery and later installed here. The hall was fitted around them. Overhead, Franz Anton Maulbertsch’s 1794 ceiling fresco traces the intellectual and spiritual development of mankind.

Antonín Dvořák’s grave at Vyšehrad Cemetery, Prague. He died in 1904 and is buried here among other Czech national figures. Dvořák is one of my favorite composers, next to Mozart, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky and John Williams.

Yes, we joined the crowd for the astronomical clock. It’s one of the most touristy things in Prague. At the full hour the figures start moving and the skeleton rings its bell. Still, it’s over 600 years old — you can decide if that makes it worth it.

Prague’s tram system began with horse-drawn cars in 1875. The first electric trams arrived in 1891. Seeing these historic ones was a highlight for me. I’ve always been a fan of old railways and trams.

Today we visited the St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana, Prague. The Baroque church was completed in the mid-18th century.

We are in Prague for a week of family vacation. The weather is nice and we found some lovely spots. View over the Vltava River to the Old Town

The inner courtyard of Veste Coburg, the “Franconian Crown.” One of Germany’s best-preserved medieval fortresses. Martin Luther stayed here in 1530 during the Diet of Augsburg.

The Königsstein, part of the Devil’s Wall (Teufelsmauer) in the northern Harz Legend says God and the devil divided the earth. The devil should own whatever land he could wall in before the first cockcrow. He wanted the Harz Mountains. The wall was almost finished when a cock crowed too soon: a farmer's wife had stumbled, and the bird in her basket took fright. The devil, thinking the night was over, smashed the wall in anger. These rocks are what remained.

„Appearance rules the world, and justice exists only on the stage.“ — Friedrich Schiller (from The Parasite, or The Art of Making One’s Fortune, 1803) Markgräfliches Opernhaus, Bayreuth

Klosterbräu Brewery Restaurant, Bamberg’s oldest brewery, brewing since 1533. Serving traditional Franconian food and house-brewed beers (including Rauchbier, Braunbier and Schwärzla).

On the left is the smallest house in Wernigerode, built around 1792. Only 2.95 metres wide, it was fitted into a narrow gap between the neighbouring houses and was home to large families – including a conductor with his wife and seven children.

Snow and rain over the Plönlein, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

In the late middle ages, Bruges was one of Europe’s richest trading cities — so prosperous, it was called Venice of the North.

Toppler’s little castle in the Tauber valley, just below Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Mayor Heinrich Toppler had it built in 1389 as a summer house. Back then, the stone tower base stood in its own pond.

The more clearly I face the idea of leaving Dresden, the more difficult it grows for me. — Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)

The Kronentor of Dresden’s Zwinger at dusk. From 1709 August der Starke (Augustus the Strong) had it turn into a baroque orangery and festival court. The complex was opened in 1719 for his son’s wedding to a Habsburg archduchess.