"Hal around the World" -- color PICTURES of Frankfurt, Germany

We continued our scenic tour to the next stop, the <i>Kaiserdom</i>. The <i>Dom</i> is Frankfurt's history-rich gothic cathedral, where the election (until 1356) of the German emperors took place, and later, as from 1562 on, also their coronation. Unfortunately, Hal's lens wasn't wide enough again to take a nice photograph of this building and they didn't provide a model of the cathedral like they did in Vienna. So I entered the <i>Dom</i> and took a couple of snapshots of its interior. This picture shows some of the many works of art this church contains.

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f/2.8, 1/30th second, focus at 30ft. Not cropped.<div></div>

Despite the new, "German" pope, there wasn't much happening at the <i>Dom</i>. This shot was taken in the left wing of the church and shows the altar in the center and the organ in the right wing of the cathedral. As you can see the light was not so good and I was shooting wide open with Hal's slowest speed.

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f/2.8, 1/30th second, focus at infinity. Not cropped.<div></div>

Leaving the historic center of Frankfurt behind, we walked towards the commercial center of the city. We passed the Museum für moderne Kunst (Museum of Modern Art) where I spotted this graffiti on its entrance. Thinking that it is probably a valueable piece of art, I took a picture of the banana with the word <i>Liebe</i> (love) beside it. But back at home my girlfriend totally cracked up when I innocently told her that for this project I had taken a photo of a "love banana."

<br>Again you can see a very strong light leak on the right side of the frame. I don't know why this picture has such a strong flare, I guess I didn't press the polarizer correctly against the lens hood and light entered from the side, reflecting off the filter.

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f/16, 1/250th second, focus at 5ft, polarizer. Not cropped.<div></div>

This fountain may have a real name, but to the people of Frankfurt it is known as <i>Punkerbrunnen</i> (Fountain of the Punks). It is located right at the middle of Frankfurt's main shopping artery and it is the place where always a group of street punks hangs out and enjoys the sun. As these folks are pretty camera-shy, I only took a quick snapshot of their backs and swiftly moved on.

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f/16, 1/250th second, focus between 15-30ft, polarizer. Cropped a little bit.<div></div>

This shot was taken on a platform high over the main shopping street. You might be surprised that you see no skyscrapers in the panorama shot, but those were all located more towards the late afternoon sun, which would have terribly overexposed any shot I might have taken. So this picture shows only the historic center of Frankfurt with its many old churches. On the left you can see the <i>Dom</i>. It is not as photogenic as it used to be because it is being renovated for years now. At least now they have moved downwards working on the lower parts of the church tower. The last couple of years the cathedral had looked like it wore a condom over its spire.

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f/16, 1/250th second, focus between 15-30ft, polarizer. Not cropped.<div></div>

Back on ground level, I took a quick snap of the usual afternoon crowd shopping on the <i>Zeil</i>. As malls are pretty rare in Germany, shopping streets like this one are the places were the young shoppers satisfy their needs. The <I>Zeil</i> is actually the busiest and also the longest shopping mile in Germany, but as people are always in a hurry, street photography here seldom is rewarding.

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f/16, 1/250th second, focus at 15ft, polarizer. Not cropped.<div></div>

This is the <i>Eschenheimer Turm</i>, a former city gate and defense tower of the city walls of medieval Frankfurt. In those dark ages it also doubled as prison and, as local legend has it, once held an infamous poacher. For nine days he could barely sleep in his cell, because the metal weather vane on top of the tower would creak in the wind all night long. Angrily he told his guards that if he were free, he would shoot as many holes in the damn vane as days he spent listening to its noise, so that it would no longer move in the wind. The poacher was scheduled to be executed that day, but apparently the city officials saw the opportunity for a little additional public entertainment. They gave him back his rifle and told him that if you could really shoot nine holes with nine shots into the weater vane, he would go free. Well, this poacher was really a sharp shooter and not only did no bullet miss its target, the nine holes were arranged in a pattern that showed a "9". The crowd loved the poacher and the suprised city officials asked him if he wanted to become a captain in the city guard, because they were always in need of good marksmen (and also feared for the game in the forests of the city). But the poacher had enough of city life and returned to the woods and lived happily ever after.

<br>Too bad that from this angle Hal's lens was not sharp enough to resolve the number in the weather vane. It is really there!

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f/8, 1/250th second, focus at infinity, polarizer. Not cropped.<div></div>

This is a small old-looking ruin in the <i>Rothschildpark</i> (a small park). Although it looks like it was constructed in medieval times, it is in fact a fake neo-Gothic building from the 19th century. Some rich idiot must have decided that an accessory like this was just what his park needed to impress other rich idiots, so he had one built. It survived the destruction of Frankfurt in World War 2, but even today this building doesn't seem to fit in, it is completely unlike anything else you can find in this city. However, it is one of my standard subjects when shooting a test roll.

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f/8, 1/250th second, focus at 15ft. Not cropped.<div></div>

For the last two shots we went to the <i>Palmengarten</i>, the large botanical garden of Frankfurt. I was too tired to go searching for some interesting flower subjects, so I just entered the garden and walked a short way in and took a snapshot of the <i>Blumenwiese</i> (flower meadow) with the <i>Europaturm</i> in the background. With a height of 331 meters (1085 feet) this telecommunication tower is the highest concrete structure in Germany.

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f/11, 1/125th second, focus at 30ft, polarizer. Not cropped.<div></div>

This is the last picture I took with Hal. After this lame mystery shot we turned towards home and Hal prepared for his journey to the United States.

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f/8, 1/125th second, focus at 30ft. Cropped a bit.<div></div>

That's it, folks! I hope Hal arrives in the US in good shape. I am looking forward to see your pictures and hope Hal has a long world tour, visiting as many destinations as possible.

Hilarious. You have set the benchmark pretty high for the next shooter. Even with all the irregularities of the camera you still managed to create an appealing travel brochure for Frankfurt. I say that we all meet in Frankfurt at the end of Hal's trip and recreate the banker photo using photographers instead.

Bueh - you did a nice job showing us around.

I've had three long layovers in Frankfurt where I had the chance to walk around the city for many hours. I have seen almost all of these places and landmarks, but now I know what I was looking at! Thanks for the tour and the pictures.

Ausgeseichneten Fotos!

Thank you for kind comments on these rather average pictures of my boring home town! I know everyone of you can do better, so don't be afraid to participate. I mean, come on, you live in exotic locations like Hawaii or New York or other mystical places with abundant photo ops. Hal will probably see more of the world than most of us on his tour.

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Having accommodated this camera, I can finally understand why the German camera manufacturers didn't regard their Far Eastern competition as a real threat. Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan -- that was probably all the same to German managers in the fifties and sixties, and if a camera like Hal found his way into a German research lab, it was obvious that these cameras from foreign upstart companies with funny names could never be superior to true Aryan workmanship.

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But even I have the hope that the next "camera around the world" projects will feature some better picture-takers. Maybe I should part with one of my folders...

Excellent job Bueh!

 

Last spring at about this same time, my wife and I spent a couple days in Frankfurt on the way home to Canada from Rome.

 

It is wonderful to see your city through the eyes of someone who lives there. And Hal gives it a beautiful dream like look which makes me want to go back all the more.

 

Beautiful! Thank you.

With a commentary every bit as entertaining as the pictures, you've certainly set the bar high!

AAhh! Isn't Hal cute? Sounds like he had a real nice time in Frankfurt. Brilliant post. I'm really enjoying Hal's travels - so many thanks to all who are giving Hal a holiday!

Ausgezeichnet! Thanks for the photos and the words that explained things better.

What a wonderful post - Thank you for really brightening my day, and for the informative tour of Frankfurt. I salute your ability to extract the best from Hal.

Hal seems to have a great time in Germany.