One of the things I happened to like most about Erlangen, was its manageable little city center that enabled me to reach every point of my interest by foot, and its huge castle garden that turned out to be a perfect point of orientation.
It too became a perfect way to stretch my legs and clear my head during the first intensive days when my commitments didn't allow me to take a longer absence. More than the actual castle, the orangery seems to be the center of attention in the green oasis of Erlangen. Built in 1704-1706 it is owned by the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg and seat to a couple of institutes. Its staterooms host concerts and weddings on a regular basis, too.
Main portal decorated with the Alliance crest of the Brandenburg-Bayreuth prince pair, which is surrounded by statues of the four seasons.
Hugenot fountain in front of the castle and orangery, built to honour margrave Christian Ernst of Brandenburg-Bayreuth.
My other quick little escape turned out to be a tour by the Schwabach behind the clinic facilities.
I did try the Europakanal, too, but it turned out to have something cold and unattractive. Maybe a sky too grey and cold to really enjoy it? Or just the fact that total flatland isn't my thing, no matter what.
But the region doesn't really offer any mountains or even hills that would be worth mentioning. A welcome exception is the Burgberg located just behind the Schwabach that offers views of the surrounding flatland, as well as a stroll past sculptures of Heinrich Kirchner.
From the sculpture garden one may take several paths to discover Erlangen's greenery.
Atop the hill, I found what turned out to be a Rapunzel-like water tower...
... But I was actually looking for something else. Unable to identify it's location beforehand, I ended up following some kind of intuition and in the middle of nowhere, next to a trail leading high above tha rails, I happened to find the old Jewish cemetery. In fact, it is still used as a cemetery today, with new gravestones using up the front rows while the really old ones seem to be standing here for ages.
On my way back, I stumbled upon beautiful verses that turned out to be part of Friedrich Rückert's "Abendlied".
Ich stand auf Berges Halde
als heim die Sonne ging
und sah, wie überm Walde
des Abends Goldnetz hing.
Des Himmels Wolken tauten
der Erde Frieden zu;
bei Abendglockenlauten
ging die Natur zur Ruh.
In reality however, nature was far from any kind of peace. With loads of nuts and else among the leafs, squirrels everywhere were in a hurry to prepare for cold winter days.
And inbetween the hectic activity, the little worker decided to pose for pictures. But, as the guru of all bloggers once said, one needs the right key words to increase the hits on the site... Maybe I should accordingly try with "redhead posing for pictures"? :)
It wasn't all about posing though. Lots of energy was put into climbing trees, knocking on the bark with the bushy tail to intimidate intruders. Or just trying to bring the nuts across fences and roofs.
And as for myself, there was a fence in the middle of the city I was particularly interested in...
~ to be continued ~
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