Saturday, April 2, 2011

German cards

I've got these cards after a private trade with Juliane "lucyp21". She requested 2 of my cards and in return she sent a third card, the Bremen Musicians card, as an extra.

Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony.

Hannover's New City Hall, is a city hall and was opened on July 20, 1913, after having been under construction for 12 years. It is a magnificent, castle-like building of the era of William II in eclectic style at the southern edge of the inner city (outside of the historic city center of Hannover). The building is embedded in the 10 hectare Maschpark.

Wolfsburg is another city in Lower Saxony.
"Wolfsburg was founded in 1937 as Stadt des KdF-Wagens (City of the KdF Car), a planned town around the village of Fallersleben in order to house the workers of the newly opened Volkswagen factories, which were built to assemble the Volkswagen Beetle "people's car" and remain there today, although Beetle production finished there in 1978.

In 1945, the city was renamed Wolfsburg after the castle of the same name located in the city, which was founded about 1300 on the bank of the Aller river. Today, there is another castle at the place, which was built after 1600." - in: wikipedia

The Bremen Musicians bronze statue by Gerhard Marcks, was erected in 1953. Touching the front hooves is said to make wishes come true.
"The Town Musicians of Bremen is a folktale recorded by the Brothers Grimm.

In the story a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster, all past their prime years in life and usefulness on their respective farms, were soon to be discarded or mistreated by their masters. One by one they leave their homes and set out together. They decide to go to Bremen, known for its freedom, to live without owners and become musicians there.

On the way to Bremen, they see a lighted cottage; they look inside and see four robbers enjoying their ill-gotten gains. Standing on each other's backs, they decide to perform for the men in hope of gaining food. Their 'music' has an unanticipated effect; the men run for their lives, not knowing what the strange sound is. The animals take possession of the house, eat a good meal, and settle in for the evening.

Later that night, the robbers return and send one of their members in to investigate. It is dark and he sees the eyes of the Cat shining in the darkness. He reaches over to light his candle, thinking he sees the coals of the fire. Things happen in quick succession; the Cat swipes his face with her claws, the Dog bites him on the leg, the Donkey kicks him and the Rooster crows and chases him out the door, screaming. He tells his companions that he was beset by a horrible witch who scratched him with her long fingers (the Cat), an ogre with a knife (the Dog), a giant who had hit him with his club (the Donkey), and worst of all, the dragon who screamed in his voice from the rooftop (the Rooster). The robbers abandon the cottage to the strange creatures who have taken it, where the animals live happily for the rest of their days." - in: wikipedia

2 comments:

Aritha Vermeulen said...

Super! Nice cards and interesting to read about it.

Kiron Manuel said...

yes a very nice story of the Musicians of Bremen.I had the book long back but lost due to moving through countries.The story is stuck in my head still.Wonder of wonders we have the internet to revive such nice memories.I live and work in Asia.