Afternoon Over Alken

The Moselle Valley, and the village of Alken, in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. Shot from below Thurant Castle, in spring 2017.

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/160 • ISO100 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 • circular polariser •}

Bring Me Back the Thought of You

Wheat fields in the Hunsrück, Germany. Midsummer 2016.

^{• 18mm • f/3.5 • 1/1000 • ISO100 • 600D & EF-S18-200/3.5-5.6 • circular polariser •}

“You see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat…”

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry The Little Prince

Bridge of War

A covered Wehrgang, or set of battlements, serve today as a bridge connecting the two halves of Burg Thurant, a 12th century German castle in Alken, on the Moselle, in spring 2017. After exchanging hands several times, the castle was besieged and captured by the joint forces of Arnold II of Isenburg, Archbishop of Trier, and Conrad of Hochstaden, Archbishop of Cologne, who divided it between them. Each half of the castle then functioned independently to each other, each with its own residences and defences. The Wehrgang connected a turret (pictured) in the Trierer Burg, or Trier Castle, with another in the Kölner Burg, or Cologne Castle, and was probably jointly manned by defenders from both forces during sieges.

Man of Light

Chapel doorway, Burg Thurant, Germany. April 2017.

Juggernauts

Young German players line up for a game of jugger, in the Hunsrück Mountains, in spring 2017. Jugger is a team sport that originated in the 1989 sci-fi movie Blood of Heroes (also released as Salute of the Jugger), directed by David Webb Peoples, and starring Rutger Hauer. The first international jugger tournament took place in Hamburg in 2007, between German and Irish teams.

Calling in for a Book

In the age of the mobile phone, a better use for old pay phone booths; converted into little corner public libraries by the local Rotary Club. Simmern, Germany. Summer, 2015.

Boating on the Moselle

In spite of the steep sides of the Moselle Valley, the river’s loop around the Barl neck, which divides the Hunsrück Mountains from the Eifel Range, is slow and calm, and a popular stretch for boating. Kaimt, Germany. Summer 2016.

Farming the Wind

The long transition from the summer day to night silhouettes one of the most prominent modern features of the Hunsrück — its wind farms — seen as a much-disliked necessity by its inhabitants; bringing in revenue, but considered a blight on the beautiful landscape of this high plateau and its nature-based tourism industry. I shot this about 9pm, from my attic bedroom in Simmern, in August 2016.

Summer on the Moselle

Zell, in the beautiful Moselle Valley, Germany. July 2016.

In the Eye of the Lord of Light

The Hildegard Kapelle, Disibodenberg Monastery, in the Pfalz, Germany. Summer 2015. The chapel is named for the 12th century German Benedictine abbess and polymath, Hildegard von Bingen, who lived here for almost forty years.