The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon or short the Templars were a Cathology military order – one of the most powerful and massively engaged in the crusades. A building at London, England which was of great importance to them was the Temple Church, an Anglican built in the 12th century CE. It was also used for negotiations that lead to the signing of the Magna Carta.
Continue reading “Temple Church”The Victoria & Albert
The Victoria & Albert Museum (or short V&A) is a museum about design, arts and crafts at South Kensington, London. It is named after queen Victoria and her husband prince Albert. It is a wild mix of pictures, sculptures, and jewelry. There is a lot to discover, and you will be surprised while strolling through the aisles. You can find a copy of the Colonna Traiana here, as well as a copy of Michelangelos David and works of Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Continue reading “The Victoria & Albert”Natural History Museum
It is a nice and very entertaining museum at London, England – but you could also get here solely because of the building it is located it: the fantastic Waterhouse in Roman-Byzantine style from 1860. The Natural History Museum dates back to the year 1881 and was once part of the British Museum. It was separated in 1883 and became independent in 1963. The museum contains items from the 18th century CE and is based on the collections of Hans Sloane, Joseph Banks and Richard Owen.
Continue reading “Natural History Museum”British Museum
The British Museum is a cultural history museum at London, England that is the treasury of the British people. It was opened in 1759 based on the collections of Hans Sloane and was continuously extended. It exhibits items from Asia, Africa, Oceania, Egypt, the Middle East, America and Europe. The museum is a wonderful mix of neoclassical buildings and modern elements like the glass cupola designed by Norman Foster. You can easily get lost within for days.
Continue reading “British Museum”The King & Queen
Sometimes you just need a pint of beer and a relaxing atmosphere in a place that feels like your second living room. This pub at Fitzrovia, London is not a special fancy one – but an authentic pub with friendly staff and people. They show live sports and have several national and international beers on tap.
Continue reading “The King & Queen”Roseninsel
Within the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe at Kassel, Germany you can see one of the oldest collections of roses – it dates back to year 1767. When the current building of Schloß Wilhelmshöhe was errected the Schloss Weißenstein – formerly located there – was destroyed. In 1798 the remains were thrown into the lake Lac next to the castle. Since then they formed the island Roseninsel which is now home to the rose collection.
Continue reading “Roseninsel”Lac
If you like a stroll in a park or watching bats and raccoons the Lac at the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe at Kassel, Germany might be the right place for you. It is an artifical lake that belongs to the Schloss Wilhelmshöhe and was used by the different inhabitants of the castle. It was created in 1785 by connecting five former lakes and building small waterfalls and paths around the lakes. By that time it was normal to give French names to buildings and lakes (le lac = the lake).
Continue reading “Lac”Mulang
There was a time at Germany when everything from China was en vogue. That is why there was a Chinese village at the borders of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe at Kassel, Germany. It was built from the year 1781 on and was named ‘Mou-lang‘. Today still 13 of the 21 original buildings are in place – but you’ll have to search for them because their ‘Chinese style’ is unobtrusive and they are surrounded by different mansions built afterwards.
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The lake Asch at Kassel, Germany is an artifical lake created on a mountain belonging to the Habichtswald high above the city. It is used to store water for the ‘Wasserkünste’ of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe. In local dialect ‘Asch‘ means ‘pot‘ and that is exactly what this lake is: a pot full of water surrounded by a forest on a mountain. It is a nice place, there are benches to sit down and it is supposed to be very relaxing during summer – it doesn’t get that hot up there.
Continue reading “Asch”Hot Legs
It sounds much more erotic than it really is: the bar Hot Legs at Kassel, Germany. This venue was once decorated with the legs of display dummies – and therefore it received its name. Today it is just a nice and a little bit shabby bar at the Friedrich-Ebert-Straße, neighboring other party locations. Here they show major sports events and on Wednesdays you can often listen to live music.
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