All posts filed under: Heimat

Winter blues

The wide mountain scenery is spreading out its gentle green hills and brown woods before my eyes. The cloud-covered heaven rarely reveals some rays of sunshine. But the birds in my mothers garden doesn’t seem to care about this uncomfortable cold weather at all. I had come here in the hope of seeing the landscape covered in glittering snow but like most times around christmas there is no snow at all. Nevertheless I’m enjoying my little end-of-the-year-retreat. Over the years it had become my personal ritual to spend a week at my mum’s place on the countryside before starting into a new year. Often the time together didn’t turned out to be as peaceful and relaxed as I had hoped it to be like and in many years I packed my backs earlier than planned and was happy to be back in Cologne, the city, my own place. But this year we somehow managed to pull ourself together and so I can enjoy the time here and even find some time to finally finish some …

nippes wilhelmplatz

The beauty of Cologne (Part 1: Nippes)

(English text below) Der Geruch von verbranntem Holz liegt in der Luft und erinnert mich an die Eifel, an den Holzofen meiner Großmutter, der im Winter immer noch zum Heizen der Küche benutzt wird und als zweiter Herd dient. Ich kann förmlich das Knacken der glühenden Holzscheite hören. Mit dem Rad fahre ich durch die Hartwichstraße, vorbei an einem kleinen Spielplatz und an mehreren urig aussehenden Kölschen Kneipen. Es fühlt sich an,