Photoblog - Munich through a zoom lens
Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 9:00 We blogged earlier about trying to look at your home city from a new, fresh perspective. In that case, it was actually paying attention to the detailed figures on some of Munich's fountains and buildings rather than take the typical touristy wide-angle skyline photo.
With a nice zoom lens (in this case, the simple 10x on my now deceased Canon SX200IS) we can also look up, to find more detail in places where the eyes don't travel as often.
The first pic is the front-top of the Justizpalast (justice building), home of the Landgericht (judiciary system). It's located at the popular Karlsplatz where people like to sit by the fountain and enjoy nice weather like the blue sky we see here. As in the prior post, I rarely know the meaning behind the statues or relief, but we can make out a figure with the scales of justice, and another with a caduceus representing commerce and trade (probably the desire for fair dealings).
Now that I have my Olympus micro-four-thirds camera, I will definitely be back for more of this building.
The next building is a poor thing -- the Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus) on Marienplatz. Because the New City Hall (Neues Rathaus) is so famous with its glockenspiel the Altes Rathaus almost never gets any attention! The sun reflecting off the clock caught my attention, and it turned out to be a nice subject. Many town halls in Germany have a clock with astronomical symbols (signs of the zodiac) and I think that's what we see here as well.
Staying at Marienplatz, I then tackled the column that is "in the way" of tourists getting an unobstructed photo of the Neues Rathaus -- the Mariensaeule (Marian column), right in the middle of the square. As Wikipedia explains: the column is topped by a golden statue of the Virgin Mary standing on a crescent moon as the Queen of Heaven. I'm guessing it's her royal sceptre that she's holding in the hand opposite the baby Jesus? And that's quite a crown too...
Finally, I went after another gold & gleaming piece, this time atop the Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Ghost). Of course there is the mandatory depiction of Mary again (bottom, with a similar crown and sceptre). But at the top, I believe this is the Eye of Providence, which represents God watching over humankind. Remind you of something? A version is also on the Great Seal of the United States and also on the U.S. One Dollar Bill.
It's funny... you see something new, and then realize it's been around you in other forms all the time.
Herr J ... 2 Comments Photography, Art, & Architecture tagged Munich, photoblog ... Print Article Email Article Share Article 
Reader Comments (2)
It seems to me that the symbols on the face of the clock show events throughout the year, like Christmas at 12, planting at 3, harvesting at 8, hunting at 10, a.s.o.
@Paulo - Interesting observation. We hadn't see it that way before, and it makes a lot of sense. At some point, we need to take the "formal" tour and ask the tour guide! Hope you enjoyed the photos, and thanks for the feedback. Regards, Herr J.