I travel a lot and I´m rarely at home. At home means being in Stuttgart, in the south of Germany, where I was born and grown up. Whenever I´m there, mostly during european summer, I love to go outside and take photos. Photos of historical sights, the streets or whatever gets in front of my lens.
On this day I was visiting two spots within the city of Stuttgart, the first one is a historical sight I´ve visited in the morning and the second one was a event that takes place regularly.
For all photos in this post I was using my Olympus EM10 MarkII Camera with either my Olympus M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ or my Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 45mm F1.8 lens.
Birkenkopf
Birkenkopf also known as Monte Scherbelino is a debris mountain at the rim of the city.
Monte Scherbelino is a monument, a memorial and a good Lookout at the same time. In the decades after the WWII, 1.5 million cubic meters of debris, rubble and ashes were deposited here, as 45 % of the City were destroyed.
In the 50s the Birkenkopf grew about 40m due to these debris and today measures 511 meters. The platform with the remarkable remains of once magnificent houses, which tell their own story, offers an impressive panoramic view of the city.
The following is to be read on this reminder notice
This mountain, piled up from the rubble of the city after the Second World War, is a memory for the victims and a reminder for the living.
Flea Market in town
The second place I visited was the big flea market in the heart of the city. We´ve got flea markets every weekend but two times a year, in spring and autumn there is a massive one stretching over a few places in town.
I love flea markets for the win win situation alone. Someone sells something he does not need anymore and someone else who needs it buys it. But there are lots of professional sellers as well and they always win. :)
That one flea market I went to is held at a big place around a famous church in town called Johanneskirche.
This church is also considered a memorial against war, since it was also destroyed in the WWII. In the spring of 1944, the top of the filigree tower was finally hit. At that time it was still 66 meters high. Today there are only 45 meters left.
I hope you did like that little trip to my hometown Stuttgart and consider visiting it whenever you are near. And if so let me know, I´m happy to show you around.