Lars and I spent an afternoon in Goerlitz, a city in the region called Lusatia of former Silesia, in order to scout out antique furniture. We had a pretty good time window shopping for antique furniture in the city, a lot of which is Art Nouveau, which is known as Jugendstil or "Youth Style" in German. This type of architecture was popular at the turn of the 19th-20th century and incorporated organic shapes, lines and occasionally figures into its motifs. The most famous city for Americans with a preserved and enormous amount of Art Nouveau buildings, furniture, houseware ist Prague. Art Nouveau art and architecture was embodied by the Arts and Crafts Movement in the US and Great Britain.
The following pictures really highlight what a beautiful town Goerlitz is. Many of the buildings are older than Art Nouveau and are medieval or baroque instead. Goerlitz is a Saxon city, as is Meissen, Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz (previously known as Karl-Marx-Stadt). There is a saying in Saxony, Germany: In Chemnitz, one works in industry; in Leipzig, one makes a profit. In Dresden, one spends the money (royal seat) and in Goerlitz, one can live comfortably in retirement. Maybe this is why Lars refers to Goerlitz as a retirment city for all the rich. The furniture we found was all very classy.
Here's a little bit of history: Goertliz was an important city in Silesia, before Silesia was almost entirely taken away from Germany after WWII, causing a mass exodus and human migration to other parts of Germany. This is a very sad history, the effects of which are still felt in Goerlitz. The border for the new Germany was the River Neisse, which runs through Goerlitz, thereby resulting in a split German-Polish city. The polish side of town is called Zgorzelec. Can a town be one if it has been split between two countries? If you have an opinion on this, come and look at Goerlitz. It is an interesting question. Residents here refer to their city as an "international" city, and it truly is! Maybe a more appropriate word would be "binational."
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| View looking out from a furniture store. |
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| Medieval city tower in center next to Art Nouveau row houses. |
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| Massive church with gothic? windows? |
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| Old Medieval streets and alleys are precious. |
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| Lars is taking a break, already tired of shopping |
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| Steps to old Town Hall?- Baroque or Neo?-Gothic |
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| Cooking pumpkin, spelt breakfast roll and Poppyseed cake |
This last picture is the odd picture in this post. I took all these pictures in September, when Fall was just starting to set in. I could feel the change in the seasons, but I could see the change in produce and local food being sold at markets, grocery stores, restaurants, cafes and bakeries. The Poppyseed cake is a Autumn favorite because, apparently, poppyseed is a fall crop, just like pumpkin. I didn't know this. Spelt is called "Dinkel" in Germany, and is used to make a variety of bread items. Here, it isn't back in vogue, because it was never was out of vogue. I think food is culture too, and I wanted to share my food experiences as well.
The bread rolls are for breakfast and are eaten with cold cuts, cheese, Leberwurst, eggs, marmalade and meat salads. Cakes are eaten at Vespars, or coffee time, around mid-afternoon, especially on weekends. Pumpkin is popping up everywhere here, in soups, main dishes, and in vegetable medleys.
Fall is a wonderful time. I like how the light seems a bit yellower. Maybe that is just because the sun is going down sooner, creating longer shadows and creating the yellow-orange tint associated with dusk.
