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Chaney's Corner, Christchurch Northern Motorway.
"Fanfare" is a large-scale work by Christchurch artist Neil Dawson (he who created "Chalice" in Cathedral Square).
It is 20m in diameter, 25 tonnes and is covered by 360 separate 1m-round wind-powered 'pinwheels' (all independently attached and lit up for special occasions on the calendar).
"Fanfare" was originally commissioned by Sydney, Australia, for its 2005 New Year celebrations. It was raised from a barge at midnight and suspended from its Harbour Bridge for three weeks. Then in 2007, Sydney gifted it to Christchurch...
Now this giant bauble is being installed beside the northern entrance to the city. Total asset cost: $3.3 million.
Construction Phase: 2002
Completion: 2005
Highway 75 was once a two-lane freeway with heavy congestion back in the past.
If you lived in Dallas going through 75, you would remember once you're there, you can't get out. In the early 90's, Construction was underway to add more lanes to ease the congestion.
The first phase between Downtown Dallas to the north on I-635 was completed in 1999, Then the High Five was built five years later in 2005 to eliminate the outdated interchange to create a more efficient capacity for traffic flow. Because of the design and large height of the interchange is considered to be the largest and unusual roadways in highway history, especially in the City of Dallas.
Sorry for the long silence. Here is something from me again at last! ;D
I built this modell about a year ago in one day! It was meant to be part of a big Kashyyyk-MOC but that was taken apart before completion last summer.
However, I figured it would be nice to post this Gunship as it is. The studs for the water were bought for that MOC specially and now at least serve the purpose of presenting this small modell. ;)
There is not much playability to this ship as it was made for display.
Opinions are always very welcome!!
At the garden of Chamera Lake - near Dalhousie, Chamba District, Himachal Pradesh, India.
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The Chamera Dam impounds the River Ravi and supports the hydroelectricity project in the region. It is located near the town of Dalhousie, in the Chamba district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India The reservoir of the dam is the Chamera Lake.
After completion of the first phase, the Chamera-I generates 540 MW (3x180 MW) of electricity. The second stage i.e. Chamera-II Dam generates 300 MW (3X100 MW) of electricity. From year 2012, the 3rd stage i.e. Chamera III generates 231 MW (3x77) of electricity.
The unique feature of the region is the fluctuating day and night temperature. The temperature during the day near the dam rises up to 35 degrees Celsius and drops to a minimum of 18 to 20 °C at night.
The water level in the Chamera Lake rises to a maximum of 763 meters while the minimum water level is 747 meters.
The absence of aquatic life in the lake has made it an ideal location for water sports. According to the plan developed by the tourism department, the lake shares the scope of sports activities like rowing, motor boating, paddle boating, sailing, canoeing, angling and kayaking. House boats and shikaras are also available. The government attempts to provide all these facilities to the tourists.
SOURCE : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamera_Dam
This is the first time I have ever done anything like this. I have thoroughly enjoyed this whole experience and have had a fabulous month of music and fun, but most of all, have had a wonderful time with you all!! You Guys really rock!
Venus pointing out Psyche to Cupid.
Designed by Raphael the actual completion of the designs into frescos was carried out by his numerous workshop assistants, including Giovanni Francesco Penni, Giulio Romano and Giovanni da Udine. The latter, in particular, was the creator of the beautiful triumphal festoons.
The villa was built for the extremely wealthy Sienese banker Agostino Chigi, who was the treasurer of Pope Julius II. his main home was across the Tiber & this villa was designed for lavish banquets. The designer was a fellow Sienesi Baldassare Peruzzi who was virtually untried as an architect.
In March 2001, the United Enthusiasts Club organised a visit to Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Co., Wigan. Volvo B7TL / Plaxton President PVL220 (Y802TGH) for London Central is approaching completion. (31st March 2001: Sl.6747)
Built in 1905-1907, the Beaux Arts-style Cleveland Trust Company Building was designed by George B. Post as one of his last commissions prior to his death in 1913, stands at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 9th Street in Downtown Cleveland. At the time of its completion, the building was the third-largest Bank Building in the United States, and was the largest bank building in Cleveland, and the first building built in the city for sole occupancy by a bank. The building was constructed for the Cleveland Trust Company, founded in 1894, which merged with the Western Reserve Trust Company in 1903, and subsequently outgrew its original offices. The bank continued to grow throughout the early-to-mid-20th Century, merging with various other banks around Cleveland, and being one of the first banks in Northeast Ohio to have branch locations. The historic Cleveland Trust Building is clad in white granite with a rusticated base featuring large arched bays with keystones and bronze doors and window frames, with corinthian porticoes at the central bays of the west and north facades along the two street frontages, which are topped by pediments featuring decorative friezes, with ornate sculptural reliefs, a small two-column portico at the building’s chamfered corner facing the intersection of the two streets, windows on the second and third floors featuring recessed metal spandrel panels, a cornice with modillions and dentils, a balustrade on the parapet, and a drum and dome atop the roof over the interior rotunda. The nearly excessive ornateness and quantity of the decorative sculptural reliefs, ornament, and friezes on the exterior facade, when compounded with George B. Post’s Beaux Arts background and design philosophy, places the building into the Beaux Arts style of architecture, despite having many similarities to the Renaissance Revival and Classical Revival styles, which have been attributed to the building by architects and architectural historians in the past. Inside, the building features a four-story rotunda below a large stained glass dome, crafted by the famous Nicola D'Ascenzo, with several murals, known collectively as "The Development of Civilization in America,” which ring the top of the third floor balcony. The murals, dome, columns, arches, cornice, and stone floor of the four-story banking hall remain intact, gracing one of the most impressive rotundas in the state of Ohio, and one of the most impressive rotundas of any building designed by Post, comparable to the scale and details to another late Post design, the Wisconsin State Capitol, with the Cleveland Trust Company Building being one of his best-preserved commissions. The rest of the interior was altered in the 1970s, but has been partially restored, including original staircases, elevator screens, and balcony railings, though other areas of the interior, including ceilings and offices in areas outside the rotunda, were heavily altered during the renovation, and were not restored during the most recent round of renovations.
In 1908-1910, the 13-story Swetland Building was built to the east along Euclid Avenue, and was designed by Searles, Hirsh & Gavin in the Classical Revival and Chicago School style. Complimenting its earlier neighbor, the taller structure is simpler in appearance, with a buff brick and terra cotta facade, three-over-three and one-over-one double-hung windows, a similar cornice featuring modillions and dentils, a terra cotta-clad base with Chicago windows and large street-level openings, and light wells on the east and west facades. In 1919, a tower was proposed to be built atop the structure, but was never constructed, which helped to preserve the building's original appearance and configuration until the 1970s, and prevented the loss of the grand stained glass dome and rotunda, which would have been heavily altered or removed to accommodate the structure for the additional floors. In 1968-1971, the Marcel Breuer-designed 29-story Brutalist building, known as the Cleveland Trust Tower, was constructed immediately to the south of the original building along East 9th Street. When it was completed, it towered over the original structure, dwarfing it with its massive scale, and featured a facade clad in dark concrete panels, with a grid of concrete-framed punched window openings on the upper floors, and relatively simple, unadorned facades at the top and bottom of the structure, with wide and tall openings on the ground floor. During the next two years, the original building was renovated and heavily altered on the interior in response to the addition of the new office tower, leaving only its most significant features intact. A second wing of the tower was planned at one point to mirror the constructed tower, but wrapping the east side of the original Cleveland Trust building, which would have led to the demolition of the Swetland Building. However, these plans were never carried out, in large part due to the economic and demographic decline of Northeast Ohio that began during the 1970s.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The building remained in use by the Cleveland Trust Company until 1991, when the Cleveland Trust Company merged with Society National Bank. This was followed by an acquisition by Key Bank in 1993, which no longer needed the structure for banking purposes, and the final offices moved out in 1996, with all operations moved to the Key Tower. The building was largely empty and closed to the public until 2005, when it was purchased by Cuyahoga County, which intended to convert the complex into a new government center, a plan which was never realized. The county government then sold the complex in 2012, and the developer has transformed the Cleveland Trust Company Building into a Heinen's Supermarket, a local chain, with offices on the upper floors. The adjacent Swetland Building also became home to part of the supermarket, with market-rate apartments on the upper floors, while the Breuer-designed Cleveland Trust Tower was converted into a hotel and apartments. Now a thriving center of activity, the complex, now known as The 9 Cleveland, is one of the many bright spots of the revitalized and vibrant Downtown Cleveland.
Architect: Kingo Tatsuno 辰野金吾
Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Completion year: 1914, 2012 (restored)
With the completion of my closet shelving, I am actually starting two projects. Well, sort of redoing one of them, and starting another.
As I worked on my tree stump project a couple weeks ago, I discovered some irreparable issues with the project, and as nature would have it I lost two trees in a major storm. I took it as a sign to redo the project and do it a little differently- take my time, and make it better. Also, it gave me the opportunity to use what nature took down and recycle the forest.
I cut up one of the treed in eleven 39" lengths, plus one 48" length which will be the center post. I am going to strip down the bark, dry the wood, and seal the posts one at a time so the wood will not develop the issues it developed. It will take some time, but I will have to let nature do its thing- and as it does I will be able to work on other projects.
Theme: Re-Creation
Year Eleven Of My 365 Project
Completion of the Great Northern Railway and the railroad’s promotion of dryland farming in the American West drew homesteaders to this isolated stretch of Montana’s northern plains. Prominent among these settlers during the homesteading boom of the 1910s were Norwegian immigrants, who brought their Lutheran faith to this far-away place. As early as 1911, a circuit rider from Conrad provided Lutheran services, binding together the small, remote community.
The Recreation Pool is also part of the celebration of the completion ARC with Rec Fest, a party, for the students and our members on September 23, 2019.
Knuffingen Airport
Miniatur Wunderland (German for 'miniature wonderland') is a model railway and miniature airport attraction in Hamburg, Germany, the largest of its kind in the world. The railway is located in the historic Speicherstadt neighbourhood of the city.
In December 2021 the railway consisted of 16,138 m (52,946 ft) of track in H0 scale, divided into nine sections: Harz mountains, the fictitious town of Knuffingen, the Alps and Austria, Hamburg, America, Scandinavia, Switzerland, a replica of Hamburg Airport, Italy and South America. Of the 7,000 m2 (75,347 sq ft) of floorspace, the model occupies 1,545 m2 (16,630 sq ft).
The exhibit includes 1,300 trains made up of over 10,000 carriages, over 100,000 vehicles, approx. 500,000 lights, 130,000 trees, and 400,000 human figurines. Planning is also in progress for the construction of sections for Central America and the Caribbean, Asia, England, Africa and The Netherlands.
Prehistory
In the summer of 2000, Frederik Braun, one of the two founders of Miniatur Wunderland, was on vacation in Zurich. In a local model train store he came up with the idea for the world's largest model railway. Back in Hamburg he searched for email addresses online and started a survey on the popularity of real and fictional sights of the city. In the process, the Miniatur Wunderland, which did not yet exist, was ranked 3 by male respondents.
According to the twin brothers Gerrit and Frederik Braun, the idea for Miniatur Wunderland, including the business plan, fitted on just two pages. The financial backer was Hamburger Sparkasse.
Construction and expansion
After construction began in December 2000, the first three sections (Knuffingen, Central Germany and Austria) opened on August 16, 2001. Since then, new sections have been added. With the completion of the Hamburg, German Coast section in November 2002, Wunderland became the largest model railroad in Europe. Expansions in December 2003 with the USA and with Scandinavia in July 2005 followed. On September 10, 2015, Gerrit and Frederik Braun added the missing piece of track between the Switzerland section and a new Italy section. In doing so, they extended the track length from 13,000 to 15,400 meters. This was recorded by a Guinness judge, who then presented the certificate for the newly established world record. The 190 sq m Bella Italia section was opened on 28 September 2016 after four years under construction, involving 180,000 man hours and costing around four million euros. Work on the Monaco / Provence section started in August 2019 and, when completed, will mean the addition of another 315 meters. The total length of currently 15,715 meters therefore corresponds to 1,367.21 km in real length, so this is now also the largest model railway layout in the world across all scales.
System
Visitors walk back and forth between different rooms in a long corridor. Trains run along the walls of the rooms and on peninsula-like protrusions. The layout consists (as of September 2016) of nine completed sections of 60 to 300 m2 Model area:
The first three sections were created simultaneously. They show central and southern Germany with the Harz mountains, it also has a long ICE-high speed train track.
The fictional town of Knuffingen was given a road system with moving cars as a special feature.
The Austria section involved the implementation of the Alps theme, including a multi-level helix from which trains from the other sections change corridor sides above the heads of visitors.
The next stage of expansion includes the section with the theme Hamburg, German Coast.
The USA section includes Las Vegas, Miami, some Wild West, again a system with moving cars and a spaceport.
The Scandinavia section has a real water area: in the future, computer-controlled ships will operate in the 30,000 liter "North Sea" sea tub. At present, they are still controlled manually. Tides are also simulated here.
The Swiss Alps, extending over two floors, are modeled on the landscapes of the cantons of Ticino, Grisons and Wallis and were completed in November 2007. Through a hole in the ceiling on a total area of 100 m2 the mountains reach almost six meters in height. Visitors reach this new level via stairs, while trains negotiate the height differences in concealed switchbacks and in a locomotive lift.
The Knuffingen Airport section was opened in May 2011 after around six years in construction and development and an investment of 3.5 million euros. On display is a 150 m2 airport with a globally unique airport control system.
A small section forms the Hamburg HafenCity with the Elbphilharmonie concert hall. Planning began in May 2012 and construction began in August of the same year. A total of nine square meters (m2) were available, and 10 selected houses were built on this area. The opening was on November 13, 2013.
In 2014, a trip was made to Italy to gain lots of impressions of the country. These were brought into the 9th construction section Italy. In this section, some sights of Rome as well as landscapes like Tuscany or the lava-spewing Vesuvius can be seen. The construction section was presented in a specially created blog and opened in September 2016.
In February 2018, the Venice section was opened at only 9 m2 in size. Involving around 35,000 man hours, it is the most elaborate section – in relation to its size.
Special features
Special features include a simulated daily routine where twilight, night and day repeat every 15 minutes. This includes an automatic lighting control system that activates more than 300,000 lights to match the time of day.
The 120-square-meter fantasy town of Knuffingen, with a population of about 6,000, is equipped with more than 100 moving model cars, including numerous fire engines, which are used to simulate a firefighting operation in Knuffingen every 15 minutes on average. Traffic simulation is made possible by a modified car system that is also used in the USA, Scandinavia and Knuffingen Airport sections. In the America section, even an Interstate Highway is equipped with a dynamic Traffic Control System, which controls traffic through four different speed limits as well as permanent light signs and a variable text display.
The layout is considered to be rich in detail, examples include a changing scoreboard in the Volkspark Stadium or a crashed cheese wheel truck. There is also a Jet gas station there, displaying the real current gasoline prices of its prototype in Hamburg's Amsinck street.
Visitors can control operations on the system through ca. 200 pushbuttons. These buttons are highlights for many visitors. For example, a mine train starts, wind turbines turn, the next goal falls in the football stadium, a Space Shuttle takes off, a helicopter takes off or Pinocchio's nose begins to grow. A push button even allows visitors to watch the simulated production of a small bar of chocolate in a factory and taste the real product for themselves.
Certain tours also include a behind-the-scenes look at detailed figures that cannot be seen from the normal public area.
Knuffingen Airport
After six years in planning and under construction, Knuffingen airport was officially opened to visitors on May 4, 2011, as a special section of the facility. Its buildings resemble Hamburg Airport. As in the fictional main town of Knuffingen, there is also a simulation of a fire department with a large fleet of vehicles, including four airfield fire engines. On the 14 meter long runway, aircraft models can be accelerated to scale realistically on an invisible sled, and by means of two guide rods can also seemingly lift off the ground and disappear into a (cloud) wall. Depending on the launch phase, the guide rods allow a horizontal tilt of the aircraft that approximates reality.
There is also a wide variety of standard commercial aircraft including Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 in the liveries of many airlines around the world. Even models of the still relatively new Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" aircraft take off and land at Knuffingen. There is also a Concorde in British Airways livery, a Space Shuttle, a bee and the "Millennium Falcon" spaceship known from Star Wars.
The movement of the aircraft on the ground is realized with the help of technology based on the car system. The vehicles in the airport tell their own little stories with coordinated refueling, loading and unloading before and after landing starting from the aircraft parking positions.
Unlike the other landscapes, the railroad at the airport is hardly visible. There is only an airport station underground.
According to the operators, the 150-square-meter space has cost around 3.5 million euros, in addition to 150,000 man hours. The area is equipped not only with many rolling aircraft models, but also with hundreds of cars, passenger boarding bridges, parking garages, airport hotels, a subway and individual figures.
Visitors
On December 5, 2012, the ten millionth visitor came to Miniatur Wunderland, on December 2, 2016, the fifteen millionth. Around three quarters of visitors come from Germany, the remaining quarter from abroad, mainly from Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, England, the US and China.
Awards
In 2010, company founders Frederik and Gerrit Braun and Stephan Hertz were awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for their social commitment. The Miniatur Wunderland also holds the Guinness World Record for "Longest melody played by a model train."
Presence in the media
Several times following completion of the various expansion stages, the Hamburg section was visited by a team of reporters from Eisenbahn-Romantik from SWR. They were also give a look behind the scenes. Numerous television stations, magazines and newspapers have already reported on Miniatur Wunderland.
In May 2009, rapper Samy Deluxe filmed the video clip for his socially critical song Stumm in Miniatur Wunderland. Within just one night, about 100 sequences were recorded in which a miniature figure "runs" (stop-motion) through the layout.
On December 5, 2009, the outdoor betting section of the German television show Wetten, dass..? took place at Miniatur Wunderland.
The plot of several episodes of the Hamburg crime series Großstadtrevier took place at Miniatur Wunderland.
In 2015, together with singer Helene Fischer, a campaign for Ein Herz für Kinder was launched, in which over 450,000 euros (as of 01/2016) were collected. The campaign was presented, among others, in the Ein Herz für Kinder Gala.
In January 2016, Miniatur Wunderland partnered with Google MiniView – a miniature version of Google Street View.
(Wikipedia)
Das Miniatur Wunderland (Eigenschreibweise) in Hamburg ist die laut Guinness World Records größte Modelleisenbahnanlage der Welt. Sie befindet sich in der historischen Speicherstadt und wird von der Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg GmbH betrieben. Auf der 1.545 Quadratmeter großen Anlagenfläche liegen insgesamt 16.138 Meter Gleise (Stand: 2. Dezember 2021 nach der Erweiterung „Welt von oben“ und Rio de Janeiro) im Maßstab 1:87 (Nenngröße H0; entspricht etwa 1367 Gleiskilometern in Originalgröße), auf denen rund 1.120 digital gesteuerte Züge verkehren.
Vorgeschichte
Im Sommer 2000 war Frederik Braun, einer der vier Gründer des Miniatur Wunderlands, in Zürich im Urlaub. Dort kam ihm in einem Modellbahngeschäft die Idee zur größten Modelleisenbahn der Welt. Zurück in Hamburg suchte Frederik E-Mail-Adressen aus dem Internet und startete eine Umfrage zur Beliebtheit echter und fiktiver Sehenswürdigkeiten der Stadt. Dabei wurde das noch nicht existierende Miniatur Wunderland von den männlichen Befragten auf Platz 3 gewählt.
Nach Angaben der Zwillingsbrüder Gerrit und Frederik Braun passte die Idee für das Miniatur Wunderland inklusive Finanzierungsplan auf lediglich zwei Seiten. Geldgeber war die Hamburger Sparkasse mit einem Kredit von zwei Millionen DM, unterstützt durch Bürgschaften der Eigentümer und der Bürgschaftsgemeinschaft Hamburg. Die Anlage wurde ohne öffentliche Gelder finanziert.
Auf- und Ausbau
Nach dem Baubeginn im Dezember 2000 gingen am 16. August 2001 die ersten drei Abschnitte (Knuffingen, Mitteldeutschland und Österreich) in Betrieb. Seither wurden neue Bereiche angefügt. Mit der Fertigstellung des Abschnitts Hamburg, deutsche Küste im November 2002 wurde das Wunderland die größte Modelleisenbahn in Europa. Erweiterungen im Dezember 2003 mit dem Thema USA und Juli 2005 mit Skandinavien folgten. Am 10. September 2015 setzten Gerrit und Frederik Braun das fehlende Gleisstück zwischen dem Abschnitt Schweiz und einem neuen Italien-Abschnitt. Damit erweiterten sie die Gleislänge von 13000 auf 15400 Meter. Dies wurde von einem Guinness-Richter festgehalten, der anschließend die Urkunde für den neu aufgestellten Weltrekord überreichte. Mit dem im August 2019 begonnenen Bauabschnitt Monaco / Provence sollen weitere 315 Meter hinzugefügt werden. Die Gesamtlänge von zur Zeit 16.138 Meter entspricht damit 1.367,21 Kilometer in Originalgröße, so dass dies nun auch die größte Modelleisenbahnanlage der Welt über alle Maßstäbe hinweg darstellt.
Derzeit (Stand: Dezember 2021) gibt es 16.138 Meter Gleise, 289.000 Figuren, 1.120 Züge, über 250 fahrende Autos, mehrere Schiffe im 30.000 Liter-Echtwasserbecken, den größten Miniatur-Flughafen der Welt. Insgesamt wurden 990.000 Arbeitsstunden und 37 Millionen Euro Baukosten investiert.
Anlage
Die Besucher gehen in einem langen Flur zwischen verschiedenen Räumen hin und her. Die Züge fahren an den Raumwänden und auf halbinselartigen Ausbuchtungen. Die Anlage besteht (Stand: September 2016) aus neun fertiggestellten Abschnitten von jeweils 60 bis 300 m² Modellfläche:
Die ersten drei Abschnitte wurden parallel erstellt. Sie zeigen Mittel- und Süddeutschland mit dem Harz, außerdem verfügt es über eine lange ICE-Hochgeschwindigkeitstrasse.
Die fiktive Stadt Knuffingen erhielt als Besonderheit ein Straßensystem mit fahrenden Autos.
Im Abschnitt Österreich ging es um die Umsetzung des Themas Alpen, unter anderem durch eine vielstöckige Wendel, von der aus Züge aus den übrigen Abschnitten die Flurseite über den Köpfen der Besucher wechseln.
Die nächste Ausbaustufe umfasst den Abschnitt mit dem Thema Hamburg, deutsche Küste.
Der USA-Abschnitt enthält unter anderem Las Vegas, Miami, etwas Wilden Westen, wieder ein System mit fahrenden Autos und einen Weltraumbahnhof.
Der Abschnitt Skandinavien setzt den Schwerpunkt mit einer echten Wasserfläche: In der 30.000 Liter großen „Nord-Ostsee“-Meereswanne sollen in Zukunft computergesteuerte Schiffe verkehren. Zurzeit wird noch manuell gesteuert. Auch Ebbe und Flut werden hier simuliert. Eine Miniatur-Storebeltbrücke überquert das „Meer“. Ein Bergwerksbetrieb erinnert an Kiruna.
Die über zwei Etagen reichenden Schweizer Alpen sind den Landschaften der Kantone Tessin, Graubünden und Wallis nachempfunden und wurden im November 2007 fertiggestellt. Durch einen Deckendurchbruch auf einer Gesamtfläche von 100 Quadratmeter erreichen die Berge fast sechs Meter Höhe. Die Besucher erreichen diese neue Ebene über Treppen, während die Züge in verdeckten Kehren und in einem Loklift die Höhenunterschiede überwinden.
Der Abschnitt „Knuffingen Airport“ wurde im Mai 2011 nach rund sechs Jahren Bau und Entwicklungszeit und 3,5 Millionen Euro Investitionen eröffnet. Zu sehen ist ein 150 Quadratmeter großer Flughafen mit einer weltweit einzigartigen Flughafensteuerung.
Ein kleiner Abschnitt bildet die Hamburger HafenCity mit der Elbphilharmonie nach. Im Mai 2012 wurde mit der Planung begonnen und im August desselben Jahres mit dem Bau. Insgesamt neun Quadratmeter standen zur Verfügung, auf dieser Fläche wurden zehn ausgewählte Häuser aufgebaut. Die Eröffnung war am 13. November 2013 und wurde direkt übertragen.
Im Jahr 2014 wurde ein Ausflug nach Italien gemacht, um viele Eindrücke des Landes zu sammeln. Diese wurden in den 9. Bauabschnitt Italien eingebracht. In diesem Abschnitt sind einige Sehenswürdigkeiten Roms sowie Landschaften wie die Toskana oder der lavaspeiende Vesuv zu sehen. Der Bauabschnitt wurde in einem extra angelegten Blog vorgestellt und im September 2016 eröffnet. Der 190 Quadratmeter große Abschnitt Bella Italia wurde nach vier Jahren Bauzeit mit 180.000 Arbeitsstunden und Kosten von rund vier Millionen Euro am 28. September 2016 eröffnet.
Im Februar 2018 wurde der Teilabschnitt Venedig mit nur neun Quadratmeter eröffnet. Mit rund 35.000 Arbeitsstunden ist es der – im Verhältnis zur Größe – aufwändigste Abschnitt.
Am 2. Dezember 2021 wurde auf der neuen 25-Meter-Brücke, die die beiden Speicher in 16 Metern Höhe miteinander verbindet, der Teilabschnitt „Welt von oben“ eröffnet. Die 25 Meter lange Brücke verbindet den alten Speicher, in dem sich der größte Teil der Ausstellungsfläche befindet, mit dem neuen Speicher. Diese wurde am 15. Juli 2020 eingebaut. Die „Draufsicht“ verschiedener Landschaften der Welt hat eine Modellfläche von 13,75 m² und kostete 100.000 Euro. Auf zwei Schienensträngen fahren nun Züge auf insgesamt 25 Metern Gleisen.
Am 2. Dezember 2021 wurde der Teilabschnitt Südamerika nach vier Jahren Bauzeit und 60.000 Arbeitsstunden eröffnet. Südamerika ist 46 Quadratmeter groß und die Baukosten belaufen sich auf über 1,5 Millionen Euro. Alleine in diesem Abschnitt gibt es 20.000 Figuren und 18.000 LED-Lämpchen. Große Teile des neuen Bauabschnitts wurden in Südamerika produziert und nach Hamburg verschifft. Südamerika ist der erste Teilabschnitt im „neuen“ Speicher.
Besonderheiten
Zu den Besonderheiten gehört ein simulierter Tagesablauf, bei dem sich alle 15 Minuten Dämmerung, Nacht und Tag wiederholen. Dazu gehört eine automatische Lichtsteuerung, die die über 400.000 Lampen zur Tageszeit passend schaltet.
Die 120 Quadratmeter große Fantasiestadt Knuffingen mit rund 6.000 Einwohnern ist mit über 100 beweglichen Modellautos ausgestattet, darunter auch zahlreiche Feuerwehrfahrzeuge, mit denen in Knuffingen im Schnitt alle 15 Minuten ein Feuerwehreinsatz simuliert wird. Die Verkehrssimulation wird durch ein modifiziertes Car-System ermöglicht, das auch in den Abschnitten USA, Skandinavien und Knuffingen Airport eingesetzt wird. Im Abschnitt Amerika ist sogar ein Interstate Highway mit einem dynamischen Verkehrsleitsystem ausgestattet, welches durch vier verschiedene Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen sowie Dauerlichtzeichen und eine variable Textanzeige den Verkehr regelt. Pkw sind nicht beweglich, weil die Wartung der Mechanik zu häufig nötig wäre und die Akkukapazität zu gering ist, sodass sehr viele Ladestation erforderlich wären.
Die Anlage gilt als detailreich, als Beispiele gelten eine sich verändernde Spielstandsanzeige im Volksparkstadion und eine magnetisch gesteuerte Kuh in einem Kuhfladen-Bingo-Spiel, ein verunglückter Käserad-Laster sowie ein Miniatur-Blinkenlights im Hamburg-Teil. Auch gibt es dort eine Jet-Tankstelle, die die realen aktuellen Benzinpreise ihres Vorbildes in der Hamburger Amsinckstraße anzeigt.
Im Volksparkstadion spielen an jedem simulierten Tag der HSV und der FC St. Pauli gegeneinander. Alle Spiele enden mit 4:3 für den HSV.
Durch rund 200 Taster können die Besucher Vorgänge auf der Anlage steuern. Diese sogenannten Knopfdruckaktionen sind für viele Besucher ein Highlight. Zum Beispiel startet ein Bergwerkszug, Windräder drehen sich, im Volksparkstadion fällt das nächste Tor, ein Space Shuttle startet, ein Hubschrauber hebt ab oder Pinocchios Nase beginnt zu wachsen. Ein Taster ermöglicht es dem Besucher sogar, die simulierte Produktion einer kleinen Tafel Schokolade in einer Fabrik zu beobachten und das reale Produkt selbst zu probieren.
Bei bestimmten Führungen ist auch ein Blick hinter die Kulissen möglich, wo sich auch detaillierte Figuren befinden, die vom normalen Publikumsbereich aus nicht eingesehen werden können.
Knuffingen Airport
Nach sechsjähriger Planungs- und Bauzeit ist am 4. Mai 2011 als besonderer Anlagen-Abschnitt der Modellflughafen „Knuffingen Airport“ für die Besucher offiziell in Betrieb genommen worden. Seine Gebäude ähneln dem Hamburger Flughafen. Wie im fiktiven Hauptort Knuffingen gibt es auch hier eine Simulation einer Feuerwehr mit großem Fuhrpark, unter anderem vier Flugfeldlöschfahrzeugen. Auf der 14 Meter langen Startbahn können Flugzeugmodelle auf einem unsichtbaren Schlitten maßstäblich realistisch beschleunigt werden und mittels zweier Führungsstangen auch scheinbar vom Boden abheben und in einer (Wolken-)Wand verschwinden. Durch die Führungsstangen ist je nach Startphase eine horizontale Neigung der Flugzeuge der Wirklichkeit angenähert möglich.
Anzutreffen sind hier die verschiedensten gängigen Verkehrsflugzeuge einschließlich Boeing 747 und Airbus A380, in den Lackierungen vieler Fluggesellschaften auf der ganzen Welt. Sogar Modelle der noch relativ neuen Flugzeuge Airbus A350 und Boeing 787 „Dreamliner“ starten und landen in Knuffingen. Außerdem gibt es eine Concorde in British-Airways-Lackierung, ein Space Shuttle, eine Biene und das aus Star Wars bekannte Raumschiff „Millennium Falcon“.
Die Bewegung der Flugzeuge am Boden ist mit Hilfe einer an das Car-System angelehnten Technik realisiert. Die Fahrzeuge im Flughafen erzählen eigene kleine Geschichten mit aufeinander abgestimmten auftanken, be- und entladen vor und nach der Landung beginnend von den Flugzeugparkpositionen.
Im Unterschied zu den anderen Landschaften ist die Eisenbahn am Flughafen kaum sichtbar. Nur unterirdisch gibt es einen Airport-Bahnhof, an dessen Bahnsteigen nicht nur S-Bahnen, sondern auch Fernverkehrszüge halten.
Nach Angaben der Betreiber stecken in den 150 Quadratmetern neben 150.000 Arbeitsstunden auch rund 3,5 Millionen Euro an Kosten. Die Fläche ist nicht nur mit vielen rollenden Flugzeugmodellen, sondern auch mit hunderten Autos, Fluggastbrücken, Parkhaus, Flughafenhotel, U-Bahn und Einzelfiguren ausgestattet.
Maßstabstreue
Einige der Wirklichkeit ganz oder teilweise nachempfundene Bauwerke entsprechen nicht dem der Anlage zugrunde liegenden Generalmaßstab der verwendeten Nenngröße H0 von 1:87, sondern sind teils deutlich verkleinert dargestellt. So misst die Start- und Landebahn des Verkehrsflughafens in der Länge etwa 14 Meter statt der maßstäblich angezeigten 30 bis 45 Meter sowie in der Breite deutlich weniger als die verhältnismäßigen 50 bis 70 cm. Die Nachbildungen des Heinrich-Hertz-Turms und der Michaeliskirche sind jeweils deutlich niedriger als die geforderten Höhen von 3,20 Meter beziehungsweise 1,50 m. Der Fußballplatz in der Hamburger Arena ist mit einer dem Maßstab 1:150 entsprechenden Länge von 70 cm ebenfalls kürzer als die der Spurweite entsprechenden 1,20 Meter und auch entsprechend schmaler. Die Anstiegswinkel der Deiche sind gegenüber der Wirklichkeit deutlich überspitzt, um eine geringere Breite zu erfordern. Das Schloss Neuschwanstein ist im Maßstab 1:120 gebaut. In dem neuen „Abschnitt Hafencity und Elbphilharmonie“ wurde ebenfalls ein anderer Maßstab verwendet. Die Gebäude sind alle auf einem Grundriss von 1:120, deshalb mussten sie gestaucht und einige Stockwerke sogar ganz weggelassen werden, damit die Figuren (welche auch dort im Maßstab 1:87 sind) in die Gebäude passen. Die Elbphilharmonie selbst wird im Maßstab 1:130 nochmals etwas kleiner. Wenn man sich Gebäude von unten nach oben ansieht, wirken sie viel größer als von oben herab betrachtet. Auch der „Zuckerhut“-Berg in Rio de Janeiro ist deutlich gestaucht.
Besucherzahlen
Am 5. Dezember 2012 kam der zehnmillionste Besucher in das Miniatur Wunderland, am 2. Dezember 2016 der fünfzehnmillionste.[33] Im Jahr 2019 verzeichnete das Miniatur Wunderland rund 1,4 Millionen Besucher, 35 % davon kamen aus dem Ausland. Nachdem die Ausstellung im Zuge der Coronavirus-Pandemie den größten Teil des Jahres 2020 für Besucher geschlossen oder nur mit geringer Auslastung geöffnet war, reduzierte sich die Gesamtzahl der Besucher im Jahr 2020 um rund 1 Million.
Auszeichnungen
2010 erhielten die Unternehmensgründer Frederik und Gerrit Braun sowie Stephan Hertz für ihr soziales Engagement das Verdienstkreuz am Bande des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. 2012 wurde das Miniatur Wunderland für den europäischen Museumspreis Luigi Michelleti Award in der Kategorie „bestes Technik- und Industriemuseum Europas“ nominiert, der in Augsburg verliehen wurde.
Weltrekorde
Im November 2013 zogen 200 Modellloks der Spurweite H0 eine Elektrolok der DB-Baureihe 101 (84 t) über 10 m weit.
Mit 15.715 m (Stand: August 2019) ist das Miniaturwunderland die größte Modelleisenbahnanlage weltweit. Zugleich ist „Knuffingen Airport“ der größte Modellflughafen weltweit.
Im April 2021 wurde im Miniaturwunderland das längste Medley klassischer Musik von einer Modellbahn gespielt. Dafür fuhr eine Rangierlok mit mehreren Schlagstangen an mit Wasser gefüllten Gläsern vorbei.
Präsenz in den Medien
Der 106-minütige Spiegel-TV-Dokumentarfilm Miniatur Wunderland – Hinter den Kulissen der größten digitalen Modelleisenbahn der Welt aus dem Jahr 2004 gibt Einblicke in die Planungen, den Aufbau und den Alltag des Miniatur Wunderlandes.
Mehrfach wurden die Hamburger nach Fertigstellung der verschiedenen Ausbaustufen von einem Reporterteam der Eisenbahn-Romantik vom SWR besucht. Auch ihnen wurde ein Blick hinter die Kulissen gewährt. Zahlreiche Fernsehsender, Zeitschriften und Zeitungen berichteten bereits über das Miniatur Wunderland.
Im Mai 2009 drehte der Rapper Samy Deluxe den Videoclip zu seinem gesellschaftskritischen Lied Stumm im Miniatur Wunderland. Innerhalb von nur einer Nacht wurden ungefähr 100 Sequenzen aufgenommen, in denen eine Miniaturfigur durch die Anlage „läuft“ (Stop-Motion).
Am 5. Dezember 2009 fand die Außenwette der Fernsehsendung Wetten, dass..? im Miniatur Wunderland statt.
Die Handlung mehrerer Folgen der Hamburger Krimiserie Großstadtrevier spielte im Miniatur Wunderland.
Unter lebhaftem Medieninteresse wurde 2013 nach einjähriger Bauzeit ein Modell der Elbphilharmonie noch vor der Fertigstellung des Originalbauwerks eröffnet. Das markante Wellen-Dach über dem Großen Konzertsaal kann per Knopfdruck entlang der Längsachse aufgeklappt werden, woraufhin ein bewegliches Miniatur-Orchester zu sehen ist.
Im Mai 2014 wurde in Kooperation mit dem Rapper Das Bo ein Musikvideo anlässlich der Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 2014 gedreht.
Im Jahr 2015 wurde gemeinsam mit der Sängerin Helene Fischer eine Aktion für Ein Herz für Kinder gestartet, bei der über 450.000 Euro (Stand 01/2016) gesammelt wurden. Die Aktion wurde unter anderem in der Ein Herz für Kinder Gala präsentiert.
Im Januar 2016 brachte das Miniatur Wunderland gemeinsam mit Google MiniView heraus – eine Miniaturversion von Google Street View. Die Aktion fand weltweit Anklang.
Ende April 2018 besuchte der Unterhaltungskünstler und Comiczeichner Otto Waalkes die neue „Knopfdruck“-Anlage seines Bühnenauftritts mit beweglichen Figuren, originalem Otto-Video auf einem Miniatur-Großbildschirm und hüpfenden Ottifanten im Publikum.
Seit 2020 gibt es außerdem eine Sendung bei DMAX über das Miniatur Wunderland namens „Die Modellbauer – Das Miniatur Wunderland“. Im Jahr 2021 lief die Sendung „Deutschlands beste Miniaturbauer“ auf Kabel 1, in der fünf Modellbauerteams gegeneinander antraten und neben 10000 Euro auch einen Platz in einer Sonderausstellung des Miniatur Wunderlands gewinnen konnten.
Einmal im Jahr gibt es die „Ich kann es mir nicht leisten“-Aktion. Wer während dieser Tage an der Kasse sagt, dass er sich den Eintritt nicht leisten kann, kann die Anlage ohne Nachfrage kostenlos besichtigen. Während dieser Aktion kann es zu längeren Wartezeiten kommen. Die Aktion wird nach Angaben der Gründer nicht finanziell spürbar von Trittbrettfahrern ausgenutzt, da die Gastronomieumsätze im selben Zeitraum unverändert sind.
Auf Youtube veröffentlichen die Brüder regelmäßig – derzeit sonntags – etwa viertelstündige Updates und Hintergrundinformationen.
(Wikipedia)
Shadows Of The Wanderer by Ana Maria Pacheco inside Norwich Cathedral which is dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity, it is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedral close is one of the largest in England and one of the largest in Europe and has more people living within it than any other close. The cathedral spire, measuring at 315 ft or 96 m, is the second tallest in England despite being partly rebuilt after being struck by lightning in 1169, just 23 months after its completion. In Norwich Norfolk.
In 672 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore of Tarsus divided East Anglia into two dioceses, one covering Norfolk, with its see at Elmham, the other, covering Suffolk with its see at Dunwich. During much of the 9th century, because of the Danish incursions, there was no bishop at Elmham; in addition the see of Dunwich was extinguished and East Anglia became a single diocese once more. Following the Norman Conquest many sees were moved to more secure urban centres, that of Elmham being transferred to Thetford in 1072, and finally to Norwich in 1094.
The structure of the cathedral is primarily in the Norman style, having been constructed at the behest of Bishop Herbert de Losinga who had bought the bishopric for £1,900 before its transfer from Thetford. Building started in 1096 and the cathedral was completed in 1145. It was built from flint and mortar and faced with cream coloured Caen limestone. It still retains the greater part of its original stone structure. An Anglo-Saxon settlement and two churches were demolished to make room for the buildings and a canal cut to allow access for the boats bringing the stone and building materials which were taken up the Wensum and unloaded at Pulls Ferry, Norwich.
The ground plan remains almost entirely as it was in Norman times, except for that of the easternmost chapel. The cathedral has an unusually long nave of fourteen bays. The transepts are without aisles and the east end terminates in an apse with an ambulatory.
The crossing tower was the last piece of the Norman cathedral to be completed, in around 1140. It is boldly decorated with circles, lozenges and interlaced arcading. The present spire was added in the late fifteenth century.
The cathedral was damaged after riots in 1272, which resulted in the city paying heavy fines levied by Henry III, Rebuilding was completed in 1278 and the cathedral was reconsecrated in the presence of Edward I on Advent Sunday of that year.
A large two-storey cloister, the only such in England, with over 1,000 ceiling bosses was begun in 1297 and finally finished in 1430 after the Black Death had plagued the city.
The Norman spire was blown down in 1362. Its fall caused considerable damage to the east end, as a result of which the clerestory of the choir was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style. In the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the cathedrals flat timber ceilings were replaced with stone vaults: the nave was vaulted under Bishop Lyhart (1446–72), the choir under Bishop Goldwell (1472–99) and the transepts after 1520.
In 1463 the spire was struck by lightning, causing a fire to rage through the nave which was so intense it turned some of the creamy Caen limestone a pink colour. In 1480 the bishop, James Goldwell, ordered the building of a new spire which is still in place today. It is of brick faced with stone, supported on brick squinches built into the Norman tower. At 315 feet (96 metres) high, the spire is the second tallest in England. Only that of Salisbury Cathedral is taller at 404 feet (123 metres).
The total length of the building is 461 feet (140 metres). Along with Salisbury and Ely the cathedral lacks a ring of bells, which makes them the only three English cathedrals without them. One of the best views of the cathedral spire is from St. James's Hill on Mousehold Heath.
The cathedral was partially in ruins when John Cosin was at the grammar school in the early 17th century and the former bishop was an absentee figure. In 1643 during the reign of Charles I, an angry Puritan mob invaded the cathedral and destroyed all Roman Catholic symbols. The building, abandoned the following year, lay in ruins for two decades. The mob also fired their muskets. At least one musket ball remains lodged in the stonework. Only at the Restoration in 1660 would the cathedral be restored under Charles II.
a completed project. I worked with the client right from the initial building stage to the completion of the decorating. the bachelor pad is my new favorite project.
Known for, Concept of lebensraum
Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 – August 9, 1904) was a German geographer and ethnographer, notable for first using the term Lebensraum ("living space") in the sense that the National Socialists later would.
Life - Ratzel's father was the head of the household staff of the Grand Duke of Baden. Friedrich attended high school in Karlsruhe for six years before being apprenticed at age 15 to apothecaries. In 1863, he went to Rapperswil on the Lake of Zurich, Switzerland, where he began to study the classics. After a further year as an apothecary at Moers near Krefeld in the Ruhr area (1865–1866), he spent a short time at the high school in Karlsruhe and became a student of zoology at the universities of Heidelberg, Jena and Berlin, finishing in 1868. He studied zoology in 1869, publishing Sein und Werden der organischen Welt on Darwin.
After the completion of his schooling, Ratzel began a period of travels that saw him transform from zoologist/biologist to geographer. He began field work in the Mediterranean, writing letters of his experiences. These letters led to a job as a traveling reporter for the Kölnische Zeitung ("Cologne Journal"), which provided him the means for further travel. Ratzel embarked on several expeditions, the lengthiest and most important being his 1874-1875 trip to North America, Cuba, and Mexico. This trip was a turning point in Ratzel's career. He studied the influence of people of German origin in America, especially in the Midwest, as well as other ethnic groups in North America.
He produced a written account of his travels in 1876, Städte-und Kulturbilder aus Nordamerika (Profile of Cities and Cultures in North America), which would help establish the field of cultural geography. According to Ratzel, cities are the best place to study people because life is "blended, compressed, and accelerated" in cities, and they bring out the "greatest, best, most typical aspects of people". Ratzel had traveled to cities such as New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Charleston, New Orleans, and San Francisco.
Upon his return in 1875, Ratzel became a lecturer in geography at the Technical High School in Munich. In 1876, he was promoted to assistant professor, then rose to full professor in 1880. While at Munich, Ratzel produced several books and established his career as an academic. In 1886, he accepted an appointment at Leipzig University. His lectures were widely attended, notably by the influential American geographer Ellen Churchill Semple.
Ratzel produced the foundations of human geography in his two-volume Anthropogeographie in 1882 and 1891. This work was misinterpreted by many of his students, creating a number of environmental determinists. He published his work on political geography, Politische Geographie, in 1897. It was in this work that Ratzel introduced concepts that contributed to Lebensraum and Social Darwinism. His three volume work The History of Mankind[1] was published in English in 1896 and contained over 1100 excellent engravings and remarkable chromolithography.
Ratzel continued his work at Leipzig until his sudden death on August 9, 1904 in Ammerland, Germany. Ratzel, a scholar of versatile academic interest, was a staunch German. During the outbreak of Franco-Prussian war in 1870, he joined the Prussian army and was wounded twice during the war.
Writings - Influenced by thinkers including Darwin and zoologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel, he published several papers. Among them is the essay Lebensraum (1901) concerning biogeography, creating a foundation for the uniquely German variant of geopolitics: Geopolitik.
Ratzel's writings coincided with the growth of German industrialism after the Franco-Prussian war and the subsequent search for markets that brought it into competition with Britain. His writings served as welcome justification for imperial expansion. Influenced by the American geostrategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, Ratzel wrote of aspirations for German naval reach, agreeing that sea power was self-sustaining, as the profit from trade would pay for the merchant marine, unlike land power.
Ratzel's idea of Raum (space) would grow out of his organic state conception. His early concept of lebensraum was not political or economic but spiritual and racial nationalist expansion. The Raum-motiv is a historically-driving force, pushing peoples with great Kultur to naturally expand. Space, for Ratzel, was a vague concept, theoretically unbounded. Raum was defined as where German peoples live, and other weaker states could serve to support German peoples economically, and German culture could fertilize other cultures. However, it ought to be noted that Ratzel's concept of raum was not overtly aggressive, but he theorized simply as the natural expansion of strong states into areas controlled by weaker states.
The book for which Ratzel is acknowledged all over the world is Anthropogeographie. It was completed between 1872 and 1899. The main focus of this monumental work is on the effects of different physical features and locations on the style and life of the people.
Born in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany
Orginal photo upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Bundesarchiv_...
Artwork by TudioJepegii
My 6 wide tornado, about 90% done, definitely needs name plates though. Any suggestions on how I might go about it?
After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for nearly a thousand years. It is the third-largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church. Since the world's two largest churches, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida and St. Peter's Basilica, are not the seats of bishops Seville Cathedral is still the largest cathedral in the world.
Seville Cathedral was the site of the baptism of Infante Juan of Aragon in 1478, only son of the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Its royal chapel holds the remains of the city's conqueror Ferdinand III of Castile, his son and heir Alfonso the Wise and their descendant king Pedro el Cruel. The funerary monuments for cardinals Juan de Cervantes and Pedro González de Mendoza Quiñones are located among its chapels. Christopher Columbus and his son Diego are also buried in the cathedral.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Alcázar palace complex and the General Archive of the Indies. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville_Cathedral
Withdrawn following the completion of ENL101-ENL110's refurbs, Arriva London ADL Enviro 200 ENL22 (LJ58AUW) is seen inside South Croydon Bus Garage awaiting disposal, alongside a sister which was blocked off by DW116 (which is still in service!)
Please note: This was taken from off garage grounds, I did not enter the garage in order to take this photo.
About 90% done, just need to do running gear and electronics next and get the missing drivers I need.
An unidentified Dennis Dart from the M-SBA batch for GM Buses North nears completeion at Northern Counties Wigan factory in 1995.
Exiting the runway after completion of a regional hop with reversers & spoilers deployed.
This is one of 15 A320s in the fleet & is ex-Tigerair because of the merger.
Master of the Bartholomew Altar (active 1470-1510)
Inv. Nr. 1183, 1184, 1185.
In the Boisserée collection in 1825. Sulpiz Boiserée (2 August 1783 - 2 May 1854) was a German art collector and art historian. With his brother Melchior he formed a collection that ultimately formed the basis of that of the Alte Pinakothek. He played a key role in the completion of Cologne Cathedral.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulpiz_Boisser%C3%A9e
Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
The saints are depicted standing on a narrow platform with their clearly shown attributes.
In the left panel:
St. John the Evangelist drank from a poisoned cup but survived.
St. Margaret scared off a dragon by making a sign of the cross.
More about St. Margaret:
According to the version of the story in Golden Legend, she was a native of Antioch and the daughter of a pagan priest named Aedesius. Her mother having died soon after her birth, Margaret was nursed by a Christian woman five or six leagues (6.9–8.3 miles) from Antioch.
Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, Margaret was disowned by her father, adopted by her nurse, and lived in the country keeping sheep with her foster mother (in what is now Turkey).[5]
Olybrius, Governor of the Roman Diocese of the East, asked to marry her, but with the demand that she renounce Christianity.
Upon her refusal, she was cruelly tortured, during which various miraculous incidents occurred. One of these involved being swallowed by Satan in the shape of a dragon, from which she escaped alive when the cross she carried irritated the dragon's innards.
The Golden Legend describes this last incident as "apocryphal and not to be taken seriously" (trans. Ryan, 1.369).
As Saint Marina, she is associated with the sea, which "may in turn point to an older goddess tradition", reflecting the pagan divinity, Aphrodite.[6]
Veneration
The Eastern Orthodox Church knows Margaret as Saint Marina, and celebrates her feast day on 17 July. She has been identified with Saint Pelagia, "Marina" being the Latin equivalent of the Greek "Pelagia" who—according to her hagiography by James, the deacon of Heliopolis—had been known as "Margarita" ("Pearl"). We possess no historical documents on Saint Margaret as distinct from Saint Pelagia. The Greek Marina came from Antioch in Pisidia (as opposed to Antioch of Syria), but this distinction was lost in the West.
The story was summarized in the 9th-century martyrology of Rabanus Maurus, even if it was too fantastic for many clergy (it went too far even for Jacobus de Voragine, who remarks that the part where she is eaten by the dragon is to be considered apocryphal).[7]
In 1222, the Council of Oxford added her to the list of feast days, and so her cult acquired great popularity. Many versions of the story were told in 13th-century England, in Anglo-Norman (including one ascribed to Nicholas Bozon), English, and Latin,[8] and more than 250 churches are dedicated to her in England, most famously, St. Margaret's, Westminster, the parish church[9] of the British Houses of Parliament in London. In art, she is usually pictured escaping from, or standing above, a dragon.
She is recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, being listed as such in the Roman Martyrology for 20 July.[10] She was also included from the 12th to the 20th century among the saints to be commemorated wherever the Roman Rite was celebrated,[11] but was then removed from that list because of the entirely fabulous character of the stories told of her.[12]
Every year on Epip 23 the Coptic Orthodox church celebrates her martyrdom day,[3] and on Hathor 23 the Coptic church celebrates the dedication of a church to her name. Saint Mary church in Cairo holds a relic believed to be Margaret's right hand, previously moved from the Angel Michael Church (modernly known as Haret Al Gawayna) following its destruction in the 13th century AD. It is displayed to the public and visitors on her feast days.[citation needed]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_the_Virgin
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About the artist:
The Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altarpiece (sometimes called the Master of the Saint Bartholomew Altar,[1]) was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Germany between 1475[1]/1480 and 1510.[2] Despite his anonymity, he is one of the most recognizable artists of the early Renaissance period in German art.[3]
Almost nothing is known of his life, including his name; nevertheless, his hand is distinctive enough that scholars have found it fairly easy to trace his career.[2] His name is derived from an altarpiece dated to between 1505 and 1510, depicting Saint Bartholomew flanked by Saint Agnes and Saint Cecilia. The painting is known to have hung in the church of Saint Columba in Cologne; the inclusion of a Carthusian monk in the picture indicates a possible connection to the Carthusian monastery in that city.[1] The identity of the Master remains unknown; it has been suggested, given the number of commissions he executed for the Carthusian order, that he may have been a member himself.[1]
It is now believed that, despite his associations with Cologne, and with German artistic circles, elements of his style suggest that the Master was initially trained in the Netherlands - a point of origin in Utrecht, or in the Gelderland region, has been posited.
A Book of Hours, open to an identifiably middle Netherlandish text, in the hand of Saint Columba in a panel attributed to the Master conserved at Mainz,[4] offers a clue to his cultural origins.
It is further suggested that he emigrated to Cologne in about 1480.[1][2] His early style may be seen in the miniatures he painted for the Book of Hours of Sophia van Bylant; the Flagellation in this collection is dated to 1475, the earliest date associated with the Master. The calendar in the book is that of the diocese of Utrecht; nevertheless, certain oddities of language indicate an affinity with Arnhem, which was also the home of the donor.[1]
Other early works, dated to the 1480s, include an Adoration of the Kings and a Madonna and Child with Saint Anne, both of which exhibit affinities with northern Netherlandish painting and may have been created in the Netherlands.
Among the very few works attributed to the Master for which the original location is documented are a pair of altarpieces commissioned for the Carthusian monastery in Cologne by a lawyer, Dr. Peter Rinck,[1] and the Deposition, now at the Musée du Louvre, that was executed for the hospital of the Antonite brothers in Paris.[5]
Style
It has been said that the Master is the last "Gothic" painter to be active in Cologne. Approximately twenty-five paintings have been attributed to him[1] on the basis of his highly individual style, which does not seem to bear any affinity to that of any other school then active locally.[2]
Despite the fact that he seems to have been the leading painter of his time in Cologne, no evidence of any followers, or of a school in the usual sense, may be found.[1]
A number of influences, mainly Netherlandish, have been traced in the Master's paintings. These include Dirck Bouts and Rogier van der Weyden,[6][7] whose influence may be seen in the Munich Madonna and Child with Saint Anne.
Stylistically, the Master's paintings are characterized by their use of bright, enamel-like colors[7] and an affinity to the International Gothic style of painting.[8]
The Master's work may be found in a number of international museum collections. Three panels from the altarpiece which gave him his name are in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, and the Deposition for the Order of St Anthony is at the Musée du Louvre.
There are four works in the National Gallery, London[9] and a double-sided panel of the Journey of the Magi (or Three Kings) and the Assumption of Mary at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.[2]
A Baptism of Christ is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.[1]
Other paintings are in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston;[10] the Philadelphia Museum of Art;[11] and the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne.[12] A Death of the Virgin formerly in Berlin is now lost.[8]
On the east side of the Inner Close is the Great Hall, or Parliament Hall. This was built by James IV following on from the completion of the King's Old Building in 1497, and was being plastered by 1503. Described as "the grandest secular building erected in Scotland in the late Middle Ages", it represents the first example of Renaissance-influenced royal architecture in that country. It was worked on by a number of English craftsmen, and incorporates some English design ideas, being comparable to Edward IV's hall at Eltham Palace, built in the late 1470s. It includes Renaissance details, such as the intersecting tracery on the windows, within a conventional medieval plan. Inside are five fireplaces, and large side windows lighting the dais end, where the king would be seated. It is 42 by 14.25 metres (137.8 by 46.8 ft) across,[60] making it the largest such hall in Scotland.
The original hammerbeam roof was removed in 1800, along with the decorative crenellated parapet, when the hall was subdivided to form barracks. Two floors and five cross-walls were inserted, and the windows were altered accordingly. As early as 1893, calls were being made for the restoration of the Great Hall, but it was not until the army left in 1965 that the opportunity arose. It was agreed that a historically correct restoration could be achieved, and works began which were only completed in 1999. The hammerbeam roof and parapet were replaced, windows reinstated, and the outer walls were limewashed.
VOS Passion
LENGTH 83.4m
BREADTH 18m
ORDER YEAR October 2013
COMPLETION August 2016
OWNER Vroon Offshore Services
BUILDER COSCO Guangdong Shipyard
DESIGNER Ulstein Group
DEADWEIGHT 3,650gwt
MAXIMUM SPEED 15kt
The ship is equipped with class-2 dynamic positioning system. Image courtesy of Vroon Offshore Services.VOS Passion platform supply vessel is one of six vessels based on PX121 design.
The naming ceremony for VOS Passion took place in July 2016. Image courtesy of Vroon Offshore Services.VOS Passion features X-BOW design concept that enables smoother navigation in harsh waters. Image courtesy of Vroon Offshore Services.
The ship is equipped with class-2 dynamic positioning system. Image courtesy of Vroon Offshore Services.VOS Passion platform supply vessel is one of six vessels based on PX121 design. Image courtesy of Vroon Offshore Services.
VOS Passion is a platform supply vessel operated by Vroon Offshore Services, an international shipping company. The vessel was built by COSCO Guangdong Shipyard in China and delivered to Vroon in August 2016.
The ship is the fourth of six vessels ordered by Vroon, of which VOS Pace (2015), VOS Paradise (2015) and VOS Partner (2016) have been delivered, while VOS Patience and VOS Patriot are under construction and scheduled for delivery in 2016.
Vroon’s PSV fleet is used for a range of operations, including cargo transportation, bulk transfers, fire-fighting, oil-spill recovery and safety standby. The vessels’ unique design enables them to support longer and deeper offshore drilling activities.
VOS Passion design
VOS Passion has an overall length of 83.4m, a moulded breadth of 18m and a clear deck area spanning 850m². The vessel’s maximum draft is 6.7m, maximum deadweight capacity is 4,200t and gross tonnage is 3,650gwt.
The ship design is based on the PX121 design developed by Norway-based Ulstein Group. All of the remaining five vessels ordered by Vroon are also based on the same design.
The PX121 design features Ulstein’s patented X-BOW concept, which enables smoother vessel navigation in harsh conditions.
Vessels with conventional bow designs rise on waves and drop violently onto the water, making navigation in adverse environments difficult. The X-BOW design, on the other hand, enables smoother navigation by minimising wave slamming and bow impact.
The X-BOW concept features a slender hull and a tapered fore, which provides more displacement volume. The vessel pierces smaller waves, and is therefore less affected by the vertical motions of the water.
It also uses less fuel to navigate through the waves, saving energy. In addition, the design reduces noise and vibration, improving crew comfort and safety levels.
Navigation and communication of the platform supply vessel
The ship’s navigation equipment includes an X-band radar, an S-band radar, two McMurdo S4 radio transponder units, a JRC eco sounder, a Navi-Sailor multi-function display, and a Yokogawa gyro compass.
The vessel is fitted with communication applications, including a JRC medium / high-frequency radio, a JRC portable VHF radio, McMurdo E5 Satellite EPIRB, two Inmarsat-C systems and two McMurdo S4 SART systems.
Deck machinery and fire-fighting equipment
Deck machinery aboard the VOS Passion includes two 10t tuggers, two 10t capstans and one 3t crane with a safe working load of 18m.
The ship is equipped with ABS FiFi class-I fire-fighting systems with a monitor capacity of 1,200m³/h and a throw of more than 120m.
VOS Passion propulsion system
The ship is fitted with four diesel generator engines, including two 1,639kW engines and two 990kW engines, as well as a 130ekW emergency generator.
The vessel is propelled by two diesel-electric Azimuth thrusters with a capacity of 3,800kW. It also features two 1,600kW Schottel stern thrusters and two bow thrusters.
"Deck machinery aboard the VOS Passion includes two 10t tuggers, two 10t capstans and one 3t crane with a safe working load of 18m."
The maximum speed of the vessel is 15kt.
Tank capacities and cargo handling systems
The ship is capable of storing 1,035m³ of fresh water, 1,674m³ of drill water, 1,464m³ of fuel, 1,293m³ of liquid mud, 150m³ of methanol, 260m³ of dry bulk and 127m³ of base oil. The ship is also fitted with heeling tanks with a capacity of 391.4m³.
Accommodation and life-saving facilities onboard VOS Passion
VOS Passion can accommodate 26 crew members in 14 single and six double cabins featuring hotel-type comfort beds. It is fitted with two anti-rolling tanks to increase crew comfort.
The ship is equipped with two 20-man life rafts and one six-man raft on each side. A man overboard boat (MOB) capable of accommodating six persons is also available.
Contractors
Ulstein was contracted by COSCO Guangdong Shipyard to supply power and control systems and to provide on-site services for the Vroon vessels.
January 14th 2014
Follow Through (verb): the act of carrying a plan, thought, or intention to full completion.
What you do is far more significant than what you say. Cliché, I know. But I'm tired of people not saying what they mean or saying what they mean only to turn their back on their own words. I'm also tired of people settling for just knowing what they want. Intention isn't always good enough. You have to pursue the things you want. You have to make an effort. In the end, your word is one of the most important things you have and being a man of your word is one of the most genuine things you can do.
Originally known as Gordon Falls, due to the completion of the original highway in 1915, this tiered-horsetail waterfall's received its current name from an old Yakima word meaning "Most Beautiful." Belonging to the Columbia River watershed and the Wahkeena Creek stream, at a total height of roughly 240 feet, Wahkeena Falls should be on any photographer's list of waterfalls to capture :) Be sure to bring a lens cloth; spray IS a huge factor here.
Photo of Wahkeena Falls captured via Minolta MD Zoom Rokkor-X 24-50mm F/4 lens. On the Wahkeena Creek Trail #420. Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Columbia River Gorge-Area. Cascades Range. Multnomah County, Oregon. Early April 2017.
Exposure Time: 0.4 sec. * ISO Speed: ISO-100 * Aperture: F/22 * Bracketing: None
Was going through resizing and uploading images to my website and found this old image , wasn't quite happy with the original edit so done a reedit of it .
My webiste is nearing completion as well so I have start a fan page which I will post specials deals and information on my photography www.facebook.com/pages/Kirk-Hille-Photography/275729253433
I have had a few requests for larger size image for the use as wallpapers computer . So over the next few weeks will resize and uplpad selected images to my blog: kirkhille.wordpress.com/ at the wallpaper page on (Link on the top right) which people will be able to use .
Blog: www.kirkhille.wordpress.com
website : www.kirkhillephotography.com
Face book : www.facebook.com/pages/Kirk-Hille-Photography/27572925343...
Twitter :http://twitter.com/Kirkhille
Various images of mine are for sale on various finishes and sizes from Gloss and lustre, Metallic and Fuji Flex prints. Laminating and Mounting are available and framing service are available for local customers. Any enquires please contact me by email at kirkhille (@) westnet . com . au . For more information on my photographs you can visit my blog at kirkhille.wordpress.com/
All images are © Kirk Hille, All Rights Reserved. You may not use, replicate, manipulate, redistribute, or modify this image without my express consent
The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, 285-foot (87 m) tall steel-framed landmarked building located at 175 Fifth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, which is considered to be a groundbreaking skyscraper. Upon completion in 1902, it was one of the tallest buildings in the city at 20 floors high and one of only two skyscrapers north of 14th Street – the other being the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, one block east. The building sits on a triangular block formed by Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and East 22nd Street – where the building's 87-foot (27 m) back end is located – with East 23rd Street grazing the triangle's northern (uptown) peak. As with numerous other wedge-shaped buildings, the name "Flatiron" derives from its resemblance to a cast-iron clothes iron.
The building, which has been called "one of the world's most iconic skyscrapers and a quintessential symbol of New York City", anchors the south (downtown) end of Madison Square and the north (uptown) end of the Ladies' Mile Historic District. The neighborhood around it is called the Flatiron District after its signature building, which has become an icon of New York City.
The Flatiron Building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
The site on which the Flatiron Building would stand was bought in 1857 by Amos Eno, who shortly built the Fifth Avenue Hotel on a site diagonally across from it. Eno tore down the four-story St. Germaine Hotel on the south end of the lot, and replaced it with a seven-story apartment building, the Cumberland. On the remainder of the lot he built four three-story buildings for commercial use. This left four stories of the Cumberland's northern face exposed, which Eno rented out to advertisers, including The New York Times, who installed a sign made up of electric lights. Eno later put a canvas screen on the wall, and projected images onto it from a magic lantern on top of one of his smaller buildings, presenting advertisements and interesting pictures alternately. Both the Times and the New York Tribune began using the screen for news bulletins, and on election nights tens of thousands of people would gather in Madison Square, waiting for the latest results.
During his life Eno resisted suggestions to sell "Eno's flatiron", as the site had become known, but after his death in 1899 his assets were liquidated, and the lot went up for sale. The New York State Assembly appropriated $3 million for the city to buy it, but this fell through when a newspaper reporter discovered that the plan was a graft scheme by Tammany Hall boss Richard Croker. Instead, the lot was bought at auction by William Eno, one of Amos's sons, for $690,000 – the elder Eno had bought the property for around $30,000 forty years earlier. Three weeks later, William re-sold the lot to Samuel and Mott Newhouse for $801,000. The Newhouses intended to put up a 12-story building with street-level retail shops and bachelor apartments above, but two years later they sold the lot for about $2 million to Cumberland Realty Company, an investment partnership created by Harry S. Black, CEO of the Fuller Company. The Fuller Company was the first true general contractor that dealt with all aspects of building construction except design, and they specialized in building skyscrapers.
Black intended to construct a new headquarters building on the site, despite the recent deterioration of the surrounding neighborhood, and he engaged Chicago architect Daniel Burnham to design it. The building, which would be Burnham's first in New York City, would also be the first skyscraper north of 14th Street. It was to be named the Fuller Building after George A. Fuller, founder of the Fuller Company and "father of the skyscraper", who had died two years earlier, but locals persisted in calling it "The Flatiron", a name which has since been made official.
The Flatiron Building was designed by Chicago's Daniel Burnham as a vertical Renaissance palazzo with Beaux-Arts styling. Unlike New York's early skyscrapers, which took the form of towers arising from a lower, blockier mass, such as the contemporary Singer Building (built 1902–08), the Flatiron Building epitomizes the Chicago school conception:[C] like a classical Greek column, its facade – limestone at the bottom changing to glazed terra-cotta from the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company in Tottenville, Staten Island as the floors rise – is divided into a base, shaft and capital.
Early sketches by Daniel Burnham show a design with an (unexecuted) clockface and a far more elaborate crown than in the actual building. Though Burnham maintained overall control of the design process, he was not directly connected with the details of the structure as built; credit should be shared with his designer Frederick P. Dinkelberg, a Pennsylvania-born architect in Burnham's office, who first worked for Burnham in putting together the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, for which Burnham was the chief of construction and master designer. Working drawings for the Flatiron Building, however, remain to be located, though renderings were published at the time of construction in American Architect and Architectural Record.
Building the Flatiron was made feasible by a change to New York City's building codes in 1892, which eliminated the requirement that masonry be used for fireproofing considerations. This opened the way for steel-skeleton construction.[8] Since it employed a steel skeleton – it could be built to 22 stories (285 feet) relatively easily, which would have been difficult using other construction methods of that time. It was a technique familiar to the Fuller Company, a contracting firm with considerable expertise in building such tall structures. At the vertex, the triangular tower is only 6.5 feet (2 m) wide; viewed from above, this pointed end of the structure describes an acute angle of about 25 degrees.
The "cowcatcher" retail space at the front of the building was not part of Burnham or Dinkelberg's design, but was added at the insistence of Harry Black in order to maximize the use of the building's lot and produce some retail income to help defray the cost of construction. Black pushed Burnham hard for plans for the addition, but Burnham resisted because of the aesthetic effect it would have on the design of the "prow" of the building, where it would interrupt the two-story high Classical columns which were echoed at the top of the building by two columns which supported the cornice. Black insisted, and Burnham was forced to accept the addition, despite the interruption of the design's symmetry. Another addition to the building not in the original plan was the penthouse, which was constructed after the rest of the building had been completed to be used as artists' studios, and was quickly rented out to artists such as Louis Fancher, many of whom contributed to the pulp magazines which were produced in the offices below.
Once construction of the building began, it proceeded at a very fast pace. The steel was so meticulously pre-cut that the frame went up at the rate of a floor each week. By February 1902 the frame was complete, and by mid-May the building was half-covered by terra-cotta tiling. The building was completed in June 1902, after a year of construction.
New York's Flatiron Building was not the first building of its triangular ground-plan: aside from a possibly unique triangular Roman temple built on a similarly constricted site in the city of Verulamium, Britannia,[28] the Maryland Inn in Annapolis (1782), the Granger Block in Syracuse, New York (1869), the Phelan Building in San Francisco (1881), the Gooderham Building of Toronto (1892), and the English-American Building in Atlanta (1897) predate it. All, however, are smaller than their New York counterpart.
The facade of the Flatiron Building was restored in 1991 by the firm of Hurley & Farinella.
The Flatiron Building has become an icon of New York City, and the public response to it was enthusiastic, but the critical response to it at the time was not completely positive, and what praise it garnered was often for the cleverness of the engineering involved. Montgomery Schuyler, editor of Architectural Record, said that its "awkwardness [is] entirely undisguised, and without even an attempt to disguise them, if they have not even been aggravated by the treatment. ... The treatment of the tip is an additional and it seems wanton aggravation of the inherent awkwardness of the situation." He praised the surface of the building, and the detailing of the terra-cotta work, but criticized the practicality of the large number of windows in the building: "[The tenant] can, perhaps, find wall space within for one roll top desk without overlapping the windows, with light close in front of him and close behind him and close on one side of him. But suppose he needed a bookcase? Undoubtedly he has a highly eligible place from which to view processions. But for the transaction of business?"
When the building was first constructed, it received a lot of mixed feedback. The most known criticism received was known as "Burnham's Folly". This criticism, focused on the structure of the building, was made on the grounds that the "combination of triangular shape and height would cause the building to fall down." Critics believed that the building created a dangerous wind-tunnel at the intersection of the two streets, and could possibly knock the building down. Although the wind is strong at the intersection, the building’s structure was meant to accommodate four times the typical wind loads in order to stabilize and retain the building's iconic triangular shape.
The New York Tribune called the new building "A stingy piece of pie ... the greatest inanimate troublemaker in New York", while the Municipal Art Society said that it was "Unfit to be in the Center of the City". The New York Times called it a "monstrosity".
But some saw the building differently. Futurist H. G. Wells wrote in his 1906 book The Future in America: A Search After Realities:
I found myself agape, admiring a sky-scraper the prow of the Flat-iron Building, to be particular, ploughing up through the traffic of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the afternoon light.
The Flatiron was to attract the attention of numerous artists. It was the subject of one of Edward Steichen's atmospheric photographs, taken on a wet wintry late afternoon in 1904, as well as a memorable image by Alfred Stieglitz taken the year before, to which Steichen was paying homage. Stieglitz reflected on the dynamic symbolism of the building, noting upon seeing it one day during a snowstorm that "... it appeared to be moving toward me like the bow of a monster ocean steamer – a picture of a new America still in the making," and remarked that what the Parthenon was to Athens, the Flatiron was to New York.[1] When Stieglitz' photograph was published in Camera Work, his friend Sadakichi Hartmann, a writer, painter and photographer, accompanied it with an essay on the building: "A curious creation, no doubt, but can it be called beautiful? Beauty is a very abstract idea ... Why should the time not arrive when the majority without hesitation will pronounce the 'Flat-iron' a thing of beauty?"
Besides Stieglitz and Steichen, photographers such as Alvin Langdon Coburn, Jessie Tarbox Beals, painters of the Ashcan School like John Sloan, Everett Shinn and Ernest Lawson, as well as Paul Cornoyer and Childe Hassam, lithographer Joseph Pennell, illustrator John Edward Jackson as well the French Cubist Albert Gleizes all took the Flatiron as the subject of their work.[39] But decades after it was completed, others still could not come to terms with the building. Sculptor William Ordway Partridge remarked that it was "a disgrace to our city, an outrage to our sense of the artistic, and a menace to life".
After the end of World War I, the 165th Infantry Regiment passes through the Victory Arch in Madison Square, with the Flatiron Building in the background (1919).
The Fuller Company originally took the 19th floor of the building for its headquarters. In 1910, Harry Black moved the company to Francis Kimball's Trinity Building at 111 Broadway, where its parent company, U.S. Realty, had its offices. They moved them back to the Flatiron in 1916, and left permanently for the Fuller Building on 57th Street in 1929.
The Flatiron's other original tenants included publishers (magazine publishing pioneer Frank Munsey, American Architect and Building News and a vanity publisher), an insurance company (the Equitable Life Assurance Society), small businesses (a patent medicine company, Western Specialty Manufacturing Company and Whitehead & Hoag, who made celluloid novelties), music publishers (overflow from "Tin Pan Alley" up on 28th Street), a landscape architect, the Imperial Russian Consulate, the Bohemian Guides Society, the Roebling Construction Company, owned by the sons of Tammany Hall boss Richard Croker, and the crime syndicate, Murder, Inc.
The retail space in the building's "cowcatcher" at the "prow" was leased by United Cigar Stores, and the building's vast cellar, which extended into the vaults that went more than 20 feet (6.1 m) under the surrounding streets, was occupied by the Flatiron Restaurant, which could seat 1,500 patrons and was open from breakfast through late supper for those taking in a performance at one of the many theatres which lined Broadway between 14th and 23rd Streets.
In 1911, the building introduced a restaurant/club in the basement. It was among the first of its kind that allowed a black Jazz band to perform, thus introducing ragtime to affluent New Yorkers.
Even before construction on the Flatiron Building had begun, the area around Madison Square had started to deteriorate somewhat. After U.S. Realty constructed the New York Hippodrome, Madison Square Garden was no longer the venue of choice, and survived largely by staging boxing matches. The base of the Flatiron became a cruising spot for gay men, including some male prostitutes. Nonetheless, in 1911 the Flatiron Restaurant was bought by Louis Bustanoby, of the well-known Café des Beaux-Arts, and converted into a trendy 400-seat French restaurant, Taverne Louis. As an innovation to attract customers away from another restaurant opened by his brothers, Bustanoby hired a black musical group, Louis Mitchell and his Southern Symphony Quintette, to play dance tunes at the Taverne and the Café. Irving Berlin heard the group at the Taverne and suggested that they should try to get work in London, which they did. The Taverne's openness was also indicated by its welcoming a gay clientele, unusual for a restaurant of its type at the time. The Taverne was forced to close due to the effects of Prohibition on the restaurant business.
In October 1925, Harry S. Black, in need of cash for his U.S. Realty Company, sold the Flatiron Building to a syndicate set up by Lewis Rosenbaum, who also owned assorted other notable buildings around the U.S. The price was $2 million, which equaled Black's cost for buying the lot and erecting the Flatiron. The syndicate defaulted on its mortgage in 1933, and was taken over by the lender, Equitable Life Assurance Company after failing to sell it at auction. To attract tenants, Equitable did some modernization of the building, including replacing the original cast-iron birdcage elevators, which had cabs covered in rubber tiling and were originally built by Hecla Iron Works, but the hydraulic power system was not replaced. By the mid-1940s, the building was fully rented.
When the U.S. entered World War I, the Federal government instituted a "Wake Up America!" campaign, and the United Cigar store in the Flatiron's cowcatcher donated its space to the U.S. Navy for use as a recruiting center. Liberty Bonds were sold outside on sidewalk stands. By the mid-1940s, the cigar store had been replaced with a Walgreens drug store. During the 1940s, the building was dominated by clothing and toy companies.
Equitable sold the building in 1946 to the Flatiron Associates, an investor group headed by Harry Helmsley, whose firm, Dwight-Helmsley (which would later become Helmsley-Spear) managed the property. The new owners made some superficial changes, such as adding a dropped ceiling to the lobby, and, later, replacing the original mahogony-panelled entrances with revolving doors. Because the ownership structure was a tenancy-in-common, in which all partners have to agree on any action, as opposed to a straightforward partnership, it was difficult to get permission for necessary repairs and improvements to be done, and the building declined during the Helmsley/Flatiron Associates era. Helmsley-Spear stopped managing the building in 1997, when some of the investors sold their 52% of the building to Newmark Knight-Frank, a large real estate firm, which took over management of the property. Shortly afterwards, Helmsley's widow, Leona Helmsley, sold her share as well. Newmark made significant improvements to the property, including installing new electric elevators, replacing the antiquated hydraulic ones, which were the last hydraulic elevators in New York City.
During a 2005 restoration of the Flatiron Building a 15-story vertical advertising banner covered the facade of the building. The advertisement elicited protests from many New York City residents, prompting the New York City Department of Buildings to step in and force the building's owners to remove it.
In January 2009, Italian real estate investment firm Sorgente Group, based in Rome, bought a majority stake in the Flatiron Building, with plans to turn it into a luxury hotel, although the conversion may have to wait ten years until the leases of the current tenants run out. The firm's Historic and Trophy Buildings Fund owns a number of prestigious buildings in France and Italy, and was involved in buying, and then selling, a stake in the Chrysler Building in Midtown New York. The value of the 22-story Flatiron Building, which is already zoned by the city to allow it to become a hotel, was estimated to be $190 million.
As an icon of New York City, the Flatiron Building is a popular spot for tourist photographs, making it "possibly one of the most photographed buildings in the world", but it is also a functioning office building which is currently the headquarters of publishing companies held by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck of Stuttgart, Germany, under the umbrella name of Macmillan, including St. Martin's Press, Tor/Forge, Picador and Henry Holt and Company.[56] Macmillan, which is renovating some floors, published the following on their website:
The Flatiron's interior is known for having its strangely-shaped offices with walls that cut through at an angle on their way to the skyscraper's famous point. These "point" offices are the most coveted and feature amazing northern views that look directly upon another famous Manhattan landmark, the Empire State Building.
There are oddities about the building's interior. Bathrooms for males and females are placed on alternating floors, with the men's rooms on even floors and the women's rooms on odd ones. Additionally, to reach the top floor—the 21st, which was added in 1905, three years after the building was completed—a second elevator has to be taken from the 20th floor. On the 21st floor, the bottoms of the windows are chest-high.
When construction on the building began, locals took an immediate interest, placing bets on how far the debris would spread when the wind knocked it down. This presumed susceptibility to damage had also given it the nickname "Burnham's Folly". But thanks to the steel bracing designed by engineer Corydon Purdy, which enabled the building to withstand four times the amount of windforce it could be expected to ever feel, there was no possibility that the wind would knock over the Flatiron Building. Nevertheless, the wind was a factor in the public attention the building received.
Due to the geography of the site, with Broadway on one side, Fifth Avenue on the other, and the open expanse of Madison Square and the park in front of it, the wind currents around the building could be treacherous. Wind from the north would split around the building, downdrafts from above and updrafts from the vaulted area under the street would combine to make the wind unpredictable. This is said to have given rise to the phrase "23 skidoo", from what policemen would shout at men who tried to get glimpses of women's dresses being blown up by the winds swirling around the building due to the strong downdrafts.
In the 1958 comedy film Bell, Book and Candle, James Stewart and Kim Novak were filmed on top of the Flatiron Building in a romantic clinch, and for Warren Beatty's 1980 film Reds, the base of the building was used for a scene with Diane Keaton.
Today, the Flatiron Building is frequently used on television commercials and documentaries as an easily recognizable symbol of the city, shown, for instance, in the opening credits of the Late Show with David Letterman or in scenes of New York City that are shown during scene transitions in the TV sitcoms Friends, Spin City, and Veronica's Closet. In 1987 the building was used as the scene of a murder for the TV series Murder, She Wrote, in the episode "No Accounting for Murder". In the 1998 film Godzilla, the Flatiron Building is accidentally destroyed by the US Army while in pursuit of Godzilla, and it is depicted as the headquarters of the Daily Bugle, for which Peter Parker is a freelance photographer, in the Spider-Man movies. It is shown as the location of the Channel 6 News headquarters where April O'Neil works in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series. The Flatiron Building is also the home of the fictional company Damage Control in the Marvel Universe comics and for the CIA sponsored, super hero management team "The Boys" in the Dynamite Comics title of the same name.
In 2013, the Whitney Museum of American Art installed a life-sized 3D-cutout replica of Edward Hopper's 1942 painting Nighthawks in the Flatiron Art Space located in the "prow" of the Flatiron building. Although Hopper said his picture was inspired by a diner in Greenwich Village, the prow is reminiscent of the painting, and was selected to display the two-dimensional cutouts.
In 2014, the Lego Architecture series produced a model of the Flatiron Building to add to their landmark series. The subsequent New York City set, introduced in 2015, also included the building (Wikipedia).
Last time I was in Birmingham the Make Architects Cube was nearing completion so this was the first time I was able to venture inside. Despite some suspicious looks from the Security guard I was able to get a few shots of the slightly kaleidoscopic atrium space.
More Birmingham shots : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/sets/72157641857775864
After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for nearly a thousand years. It is the third-largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church. Since the world's two largest churches, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida and St. Peter's Basilica, are not the seats of bishops Seville Cathedral is still the largest cathedral in the world.
Seville Cathedral was the site of the baptism of Infante Juan of Aragon in 1478, only son of the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Its royal chapel holds the remains of the city's conqueror Ferdinand III of Castile, his son and heir Alfonso the Wise and their descendant king Pedro el Cruel. The funerary monuments for cardinals Juan de Cervantes and Pedro González de Mendoza Quiñones are located among its chapels. Christopher Columbus and his son Diego are also buried in the cathedral.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Alcázar palace complex and the General Archive of the Indies. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville_Cathedral
The refurbishment of Stratford upon Avon station is nearly complete. 172215 is the rear unit on the 12.03 to Stourbridge Junction.
I walked the grounds of the new Edwin B. Forsythe wildlife refuge at Cedar Bonnet Island this morning. Created in the 1950’s with the fill from construction dredging projects, Cedar Bonnet Island became overgrown and filled with a plethora of non-indigenous flora. The current project will replace that overgrowth with indigenous flora and create opportunities for public viewing of the island and surrounding areas. My hike was highlighted by a pair of Northern Flicker, busy gathering insects from the ground and nearby trees. These beautiful woodpeckers are fairly large and equally as skittish but I managed a few photos before they flew off. The the wooded areas of the refuge refuge are already home to a large variety of passerines and shorebirds wade along the shores and ponds on the premises. Several Osprey seem to have claimed the trees near the refuge entrance, but being unfamiliar with human traffic they flush fairly readily. I look forward to the completion and opening of this new addition to the Edwin Forsythe Refuge in the spring of 2017. #NorthernFlicker
And with these two photos I complete everything from the previous week that I wanted to upload.
Into a new week now... ;-)
Finally finished the landing gear. Very happy with how it turned out... and still amazed that it DID turn out, in any kind of functional form. Now, onto the wings...
Please.....View On Black
Only a few months now until our local college construction will be completed.
Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, UK.
Colour version is in comments.
Camera Olympus E-510
Exposure 60
Aperture f/22.0
Focal Length 14 mm
ISO Speed 100
B&W 10 stop ND filter.
The Dresden Frauenkirche (German: Dresdner Frauenkirche, literally Church of Our Lady) is a Lutheran church in Dresden, eastern Germany.
Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II. It has been reconstructed as a landmark symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies. The reconstruction of its exterior was completed in 2004, its interior in 2005 and, after 13 years of rebuilding, the church was reconsecrated on 30 October 2005 with festive services lasting through the Protestant observance of Reformation Day on 31 October.
Once a month, an Anglican Evensong in English is held in the Church of Our Lady, with clergy sent from St. George's Anglican Chaplaincy in Berlin.
A first Kirche zu unser liuben Vrouwen was built in the 11th century in romanesque architecture. It was outside the city walls and surrounded by a grave yard. The Frauenkirche was seat of an archpriest in the Diocese Meißen until Reformation, when it became a Protestant church. This first Frauenkirche was torn down in 1727 and replaced by a new church due to capacity requests. The modern Frauenkirche was built as a Lutheran (Protestant) parish church by the citizenry. Even though Saxony's Prince-elector, Frederick August I, reconverted to Roman Catholicism to become King of Poland, he supported the construction to have an impressive cupola in the Dresden townscape.
The original Baroque church was built between 1726 and 1743, and was designed by Dresden's city architect, George Bähr, who did not live to see the completion of his greatest work. Bähr's distinctive design for the church captured the new spirit of the Protestant liturgy by placing the altar, pulpit, and baptismal font directly centered in view of the entire congregation.
In 1736, famed organ maker Gottfried Silbermann built a three-manual, 43-stop instrument for the church. The organ was dedicated on 25 November and Johann Sebastian Bach gave a recital on the instrument on 1 December.
Church of Our Lady, 1880.
The church's most distinctive feature was its unconventional 96 m-high dome, called die Steinerne Glocke or "Stone Bell". An engineering feat comparable to Michelangelo's dome for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the Frauenkirche's 12,000-ton sandstone dome stood high resting on eight slender supports. Despite initial doubts, the dome proved to be extremely stable. Witnesses in 1760 said that the dome had been hit by more than 100 cannonballs fired by the Prussian army led by Friedrich II during the Seven Years' War. The projectiles bounced off and the church survived.
The completed church gave the city of Dresden a distinctive silhouette, captured in famous paintings by Bernardo Bellotto, a nephew of the artist Canaletto (also known by the same name), and in Dresden by Moonlight by Norwegian painter Johan Christian Dahl.
In 1849, the church was at the heart of the revolutionary disturbances known as the May Uprising. It was surrounded by barricades, and fighting lasted for days before those rebels who had not already fled were rounded up in the church and arrested.
For more than 200 years, the bell-shaped dome stood over the skyline of old Dresden, dominating the city.
Burials include Heinrich Schütz and George Bähr.
Destruction
Ruins of the Frauenkirche in 1958.
Catalogued fragments of the Frauenkirche ruins, September 1999.
On 13 February 1945, Anglo-American allied forces began the bombing of Dresden. The church withstood two days and nights of the attacks and the eight interior sandstone pillars supporting the large dome held up long enough for the evacuation of 300 people who had sought shelter in the church crypt, before succumbing to the heat generated by some 650,000 incendiary bombs that were dropped on the city. The temperature surrounding and inside the church eventually reached 1,000 degrees Celsius.[1] The dome finally collapsed at 10 a.m. on 15 February. The pillars glowed bright red and exploded; the outer walls shattered and nearly 6,000 tons of stone plunged to earth, penetrating the massive floor as it fell.
The altar, a relief depiction of Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives by Johann Christian Feige, was only partially damaged during the bombing raid and fire that destroyed the church. The altar and the structure behind it, the chancel, were among the remnants left standing. Features of most of the figures were lopped off by falling debris and the fragments lay under the rubble.
The building vanished from Dresden's skyline, and the blackened stones would lie in wait in a pile in the center of the city for the next 45 years as Communist rule enveloped what was now East Germany. Shortly after the end of World War II, residents of Dresden had already begun salvaging unique stone fragments from the Church of Our Lady and numbering them for future use in reconstruction. Popular sentiment discouraged the authorities from clearing the ruins away to make a car park. In 1966, the remnants were officially declared a "memorial against war", and state-controlled commemorations were held there on the anniversaries of the destruction of Dresden.
In 1982, the ruins began to be the site of a peace movement combined with peaceful protests against the East German regime. On the anniversary of the bombing, 400 Dresdeners came to the ruins in silence with flowers and candles, part of a growing East German civil rights movement. By 1989, the number of protesters in Dresden, Leipzig and other parts of East Germany had increased to tens of thousands, and the wall dividing East and West Germany toppled. This opened the way to the reunification of Germany.
Using original plans used by builder Georg Bähr in the 1720s, reconstruction finally began in January 1993 under the direction of church architect and engineer Eberhard Burger. The foundation stone was laid in 1994, the crypt was completed in 1996 and the inner cupola in 2000.
As far as possible, the church – except for its dome – was rebuilt using original material and plans, with the help of modern technology. The heap of rubble was documented and carried off stone by stone. The approximate original position of each stone could be determined from its position in the heap. Every usable piece was measured and catalogued. A computer imaging program that could move the stones three-dimensionally around the screen in various configurations was used to help architects find where the original stones sat and how they fit together.
Of the millions of stones used in the rebuilding, more than 8,500 original stones were salvaged from the original church and approximately 3,800 reused in the reconstruction. As the older stones are covered with a darker patina, due to fire damage and weathering, the difference between old and new stones will be clearly visible for a number of years after reconstruction.
Two thousand pieces of the original altar were cleaned and incorporated into the new structure.
The builders relied on thousands of old photographs, memories of worshippers and church officials and crumbling old purchase orders detailing the quality of the mortar or pigments of the paint (as in the 18th century, copious quantities of eggs were used to make the color that provides the interior its almost luminescent glow).
When it came time to duplicate the oak doors of the entrance, the builders had only vague descriptions of the detailed carving. Because people (especially wedding parties) often posed for photos outside the church doors, they issued an appeal for old photographs and the response—which included entire wedding albums—allowed artisans to recreate the original doors.
The new gilded orb and cross on top of the dome was forged by Grant Macdonald Silversmiths in London using the original 18th-century techniques as much as possible. It was constructed by Alan Smith, a British goldsmith from London whose father, Frank, was a member of one of the aircrews who took part in the bombing of Dresden.[2] Before travelling to Dresden, the cross was exhibited for five years in churches across the United Kingdom including Coventry Cathedral, Liverpool Cathedral, St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh and St Paul's Cathedral in London. In February 2000, the cross was ceremonially handed over by The Duke of Kent,[1] to be placed on the top of the dome a few days after the 60th commemoration of D-Day on 22 June 2004.[3] The external structure of the Frauenkirche was completed. For the first time since the last war, the completed dome and its gilded cross grace Dresden's skyline as in centuries prior. The cross that once topped the dome, now twisted and charred, stands to the right of the new altar.
Seven new bells were cast for the church. They rang for the first time for the Pentecost celebration in 2003.
The church, almost finished, dominates the historic skyline of Dresden.
Interior.
It was decided not to reproduce a replica of the Silbermann organ, despite the fact that the original design papers, description and details exist. The decision resulted in the Dresden organ dispute ("Dresdner Orgelstreit"). A 4,873 pipe organ was built by Daniel Kern of Strasbourg, Alsace, and completed in April 2005. The Kern organ contains all the stops which were on the stoplist of the Silbermann organ and tries to reconstruct them. Additional stops also are included, especially a fourth swell manual in the symphonic 19th century style which is apt for the organ literature composed after the baroque period.
A bronze statue of reformer and theologian Martin Luther, which survived the bombings, has been restored and again stands in front of the church. It is the work of sculptor Adolf von Donndorf from 1885.
The intensive efforts to rebuild this world famous landmark were completed in 2005, one year earlier than originally planned, and in time for the 800-year anniversary of the city of Dresden in 2006. The church was reconsecrated with a festive service one day before Reformation Day. The rebuilt church is a monument reminding people of its history and a symbol of hope and reconciliation.
There are two devotional services every day and two liturgies every Sunday. Since October 2005 , there has been an exhibition on the history and reconstruction of the Frauenkirche at the Stadtmuseum (City Museum) in Dresden's Alten Landhaus
Die Frauenkirche in Dresden (ursprünglich: Kirche Unserer Lieben Frau – der Name bezieht sich auf die Heilige Maria) ist eine evangelisch-lutherische Kirche des Barocks und der prägende Monumentalbau des Dresdner Neumarkts. Sie gilt als prachtvolles Zeugnis des protestantischen Sakralbaus und verfügt über eine der größten steinernen Kirchenkuppeln nördlich der Alpen.
Die Dresdner Frauenkirche wurde von 1726 bis 1743 nach einem Entwurf von George Bähr erbaut. Im Luftkrieg des Zweiten Weltkriegs wurde sie während der Luftangriffe auf Dresden in der Nacht vom 13. zum 14. Februar 1945 durch den in Dresden wütenden Feuersturm schwer beschädigt und stürzte am Morgen des 15. Februar ausgebrannt in sich zusammen. In der DDR blieb ihre Ruine erhalten und diente als Mahnmal gegen Krieg und Zerstörung. Nach der Wende begann 1994 der 2005 abgeschlossene Wiederaufbau, den Fördervereine und Spender aus aller Welt finanzieren halfen.
Am 30. Oktober 2005 fand in der Frauenkirche ein Weihegottesdienst und Festakt statt. Aus dem Mahnmal gegen den Krieg soll nun ein Symbol der Versöhnung werden.
Es wird vermutet, dass der früheste Frauenkirche-Bau eine Missionskirche aus Holz war und kurz nach 1000 errichtet wurde. Von diesem Bau liegen jedoch keine Zeugnisse vor. Im 12. Jahrhundert wurde an der Stelle der heutigen Frauenkirche eine kleine romanische Kirche erbaut, die der Mutter von Jesus, Maria, geweiht war und folglich auf Mittelhochdeutsch Kirche zu unser liuben Vrouwen hieß. Von dieser Kirche wurden bei Grabungen Wandreste gefunden.
Im 14. Jahrhundert wurde die romanische Kirche mit einem neuen Sakralbau im Stil der Gotik umbaut. Er erhielt 1477 eine Choranlage im Stil der Spätgotik und 1497 ihren bis zum Abbruch 1727 letzten Dachreiter.
In der Reformation fiel das Kirchengebäude aus dem Mittelalter an die nun lutherische Gemeinde der Stadt. Bis dahin war sie die einzige Stadtkirche mit Sitz des Erzpriesters des Archidiakonats des Bistums Meißen. Unter anderem wurde in ihrer Vorhalle Heinrich Schütz bestattet. Anfang des 18. Jahrhunderts wurde das Gebäude baufällig und reichte für die wachsende Zahl der Gottesdienstbesucher nicht mehr aus. Da der Bau der Bährschen Frauenkirche neben der gotischen Frauenkirche begann, konnte der Gottesdienst während der Bauarbeiten am Neubau aufrechterhalten werden. Erst als die alte Frauenkirche den Weiterbau des Bährschen Baus behinderte, wurde sie 1727 abgetragen. Auch der die Kirche umgebende Frauenkirchhof wurde bis 1727 säkularisiert.
Nach dem Luftangriff auf Dresden durch Bomber der britischen RAF und der amerikanischen USAF in der Nacht vom 13. auf den 14. Februar 1945 brannte die Frauenkirche vollständig aus. Einige Fenster waren zugemauert worden, die anderen wurden durch am Neumarkt einschlagende Sprengbomben beschädigt oder platzten durch die enorme Hitze. Die Frauenkirche war dem Feuersturm schutzlos ausgesetzt, der im Stadtzentrum mit einer Brandhitze von bis zu 1200 Grad Celsius am stärksten wütete.
In den Kellern der Kirche war ein Filmarchiv der Luftwaffe untergebracht. Die Filme bestanden damals aus Zelluloid, das leicht brennbar ist und dabei enorme Hitze erzeugt. Da einige der Filme jedoch bei der archäologischen Trümmerberäumung im Vorfeld des Wiederaufbaus fast unversehrt geborgen werden konnten, geht man nach sorgfältiger Untersuchung heute davon aus, dass diese Filme nicht zur Entwicklung der Brandhitze und damit zum Einsturz des Gebäudes beigetragen haben. Der Hauptgrund dafür war der mit viel Holz ausgestattete Innenraum, der nach dem Schmelzen der Fenster dem Feuer reichlich Nahrung bot. Auch kann Sandstein nicht so große Hitze aushalten wie Hartstein, wie er beispielsweise in der Kreuz- und der Hofkirche eingesetzt ist. Er dehnte sich aus, bis er schließlich Risse bekam und platzte, womit seine Stabilität verloren ging.
Nach dem Großangriff auf die Stadt 1945 stand am Neumarkt kein Haus mehr. Das Martin-Luther-Denkmal vor der Kirche wurde schwer beschädigt. Lange nach dem Angriff brannte die Frauenkirche immer noch, während die Kuppel über den Ruinen thronte. Am 15. Februar um 10 Uhr morgens konnten die ausgeglühten Innenpfeiler schließlich die Last der gewaltigen Gewölbekonstruktion mit der steinernen Kuppel nicht mehr tragen. Aufgrund der Position der nach dem Einsturz noch stehenden Teile, der Umfassungsmauern des Chors bis zum Hauptgesims und der nordwestlichen Ecke, ist davon auszugehen, dass einer der Pfeiler der Südwestecke infolge Materialermüdung in sich zusammenbrach. Die gesamte Last des Gebäudes fiel schlagartig auf die Südwestseite, was weitere Pfeiler zum Einsturz brachte. Unter dem gewaltigen Druck der Kuppel wurden die massiven Außenmauern auseinandergesprengt, das Gebäude fiel mit einem dumpfen Knall in sich zusammen. Eine riesige, schwarze Rauchwolke stieg über der Stadt auf. Dieses Ereignis übertraf in seiner Symbolkraft für viele Dresdner die vorangegangenen Zerstörungen noch; für sie war die letzte Hoffnung, wenigstens etwas vom alten Dresden erhalten zu können, zerstört. Ein riesiger Trümmerberg lag da, wo einmal die Kirche war. Der von Johann Christian Feige geschaffene Altar wurde vor der Zerstörung bewahrt, da herabtropfendes Zinn der schmelzenden Silbermann-Orgel, die völlig zerstört wurde, ihn konservierte und herabstürzende Holzteile der Orgel die Wucht der fallenden Kuppeltrümmer abmilderte.
Umgang mit der Kirchruine nach 1945 [Bearbeiten]
Denkmal Martin Luthers vor der Ruine der Frauenkirche, aufgenommen 1958
Mai 1973:Mahnmal ohne Gestaltung
Nach dem Krieg wurden auf Initiative des damaligen Landeskurators Hans Nadler erste Untersuchungen zum Wiederaufbau durchgeführt. 1947 wurde der Altar gesichert und zugemauert, um ihn vor der Witterung zu schützen. Zudem wurden 850 Steine inventarisiert, zur Salzgasse transportiert und eingelagert. Auf Drängen der Stadtverordneten wurden 1959 diese Steine zur Pflasterung der Brühlschen Terrasse benutzt, wobei die Hälfte gerettet und zum Trümmerberg zurückgebracht werden konnte. Die großflächige Trümmerberäumung in der Dresdner Innenstadt im Sinne neuen sozialistischen Städtebaus zerschlug die Hoffnungen auf einen Wiederaufbau schnell. Der Versuch der Behörden, den Trümmerberg 1962 zu Gunsten einer Parkfläche zu beseitigen, scheiterte. Es kam zu Protesten aus der Bevölkerung, außerdem fehlte das dazu nötige Geld. Der Trümmerberg wurde mit Rosen bepflanzt.
So blieb der Trümmerberg im Stadtzentrum von Dresden zu Zeiten der DDR über 40 Jahre lang als Mahnmal, ähnlich der Ruine der Berliner Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, erhalten. Viele überlebende Dresdner gedachten hier ihrer bei den Bombenangriffen ums Leben gekommenen Angehörigen, für die es oft keine Gräber gab.
Die DDR erklärte die Kirchenruine 1966 offiziell zum Mahnmal gegen den Krieg. Zwar erfolgte keine Gestaltung, sodass die zunehmend baufällige Ruine de facto in einer Stadtbrache lag. Der Tag der Zerstörung Dresdens wurde aber fortan zu staatlich gelenkten Gedenkdemonstrationen an der Ruine genutzt. Zum 13. Februar 1982 riefen Dresdner Christen erstmals zum stillen Gedenken gegen den Krieg an den Trümmern der Frauenkirche auf.[3] Dieser Aufruf führte in den 1980er-Jahren zu Zusammenkünften von Gruppen der DDR-Bürgerrechts- und Friedensbewegung an jedem 13. Februar an der Ruine, um stumm des Krieges zu gedenken. Versuche staatlicher Stellen, diese Treffen zu verhindern, hatten kaum Erfolg.
Die Sächsische Landeskirche plante in dieser Zeit eine Konservierung der Ruine, die als Versöhnungsdenkmal erhalten bleiben sollte. Die Unterkirche sollte eine Ausstellung über die Geschichte der Frauenkirche aufnehmen und gleichzeitig als „Raum der Stille“ dienen. Die staatliche Forderung von Anfang der 1980er-Jahre, die Kirche mit Westgeldern wieder aufzubauen, lehnte die Landessynode der Sächsischen Landeskirche ab. Sie wurde darin auch von Teilen der Friedensbewegung unterstützt.
1985 wurde im Stadtrat Dresden eine Langzeitplanung für die nächsten Projekte nach dem Abschluss der Rekonstruktion der Semperoper erarbeitet, die auch den Wiederaufbau der Frauenkirche nach Beendigung der Arbeiten am Stadtschloss beinhaltete. Als Gründe dafür wurden unter anderem die fortschreitende Verwitterung der Sandsteinüberreste und der damit eintretende Verlust des Mahnmalcharakters angeführt. Durch die Wende wurden diese Planungen jedoch hinfällig.
Der Wiederaufbau der Frauenkirche [Bearbeiten]
Erste Pläne [Bearbeiten]
Die Ruine der Frauenkirche 1991
Am Reformationstag 1989 setzte ein „Offener Brief“ von Günter Voigt an den Landesbischof der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Landeskirche Sachsens Johannes Hempel mit dem Gedanken, den Wiederaufbau neu zu bedenken, ein wichtiges Zeichen. Aus einem Kreis gleichgesinnter Dresdner Bürger heraus, der sich im November 1989 traf, entstand der „Ruf aus Dresden“, den der Pfarrer Karl-Ludwig Hoch formulierte. Der Aufruf ging am 12. Februar 1990 in die Welt.
Die Idee eines Wiederaufbaus des Gotteshauses nahm nun immer konkretere Formen an. Aus der Folgewirkung des Aufrufes wurde die „Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Wiederaufbaus der Frauenkirche in Deutschland e. V.“ gegründet, deren Kommission unter Beteiligung einiger prominenter Dresdner wie Ludwig Güttler das Konzept für einen archäologischen Wiederaufbau entwickelte, fortan entscheidende Überzeugungsarbeit für den Wiederaufbau leistete (anfangs gab es nur zehn Prozent Befürworter) und Spenden sammelte. 1991 wurde die „Stiftung für den Wiederaufbau Frauenkirche“ gegründet, die den gesamten Wiederaufbau leitete. Am 18. März 1991 beschloss die sächsische Landessynode den Wiederaufbau der Frauenkirche.
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