All posts in category Glass

August 23 Kottenheim / Maria Laach

Next up was finding our way to Kottenheim, in the Eifel, and Gertrud’s cousin. 2018 was the year for the biennial potato pancake festival there, the Kröbbelchesfest.

Before the festival began, we visited Maria Laach, a nearby monastery. It’s a huge place, including a restaurant, a hotel, a gift shop and a sculpture garden in addition to the monastery itself.

Maria Laach monastery

At Maria Laach

Courtyard at Maria Laach

Stained glass window

Another stained glass window

Sign at Maria Laach

Fused glass birds in the gift shop

In the sculpture garden

Fountain at Maria Laach

by dianesfusedglass on March 16, 2019 • Permalink

Posted in Germany, Glass, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on March 16, 2019

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2019/03/16/august-23-kottenheim-maria-laach/

August 17 Zwiesel

Zwiesel was a good choice for a hotel. I picked it because I was tired of changing trains with three pieces of luggage (suitcase, bag with DSLR, laptop) and purse. It’s a pretty town and I found some extra glass events.

Glass show by the church in Zwiesel

The exhibit included several glass artists with whom I wasn’t familiar. Here are a few:

Giuliano Luigi Gaigher – Delusione 2017

Vladimir Klein’s Blue Planet

Reiner Schlestein, Blumenmädchen 2018

by dianesfusedglass on December 27, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Art, Germany, Glass, Glass exhibitions, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on December 27, 2018

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2018/12/27/august-17-zwiesel/

August 15-16, Frauenau (and Zwiesel)

The manager at the hotel explained a different, less dangerous route to the train station.

: Zwiesel Aparthotel

: My hotel room

: Saguaro painted in the pedestrian underpass to the train station

: Zwiesel train station

: Phone booth at the Zwiesel train station

: Another hotel in Zwiesel

Zwiesel is a 15-minute train ride from Frauenau, my real destination. It turns out that hotels have visitor cards, which means I can ride the train and buses in the area for free. It also includes admission to some museums, etc. — except I always forget about the card for them.

: Frauenau church, across the street from the glass museum

: Mirror sculptures in park near the Frauenau train station

: Fused glass house number

: Stained glass window in a private house

Before I go to the museum, I wander around Frauenau a little, visiting a couple of stores that sell glass. This is a religious holiday in Bavaria, so many of the stores are closed. The bus I was expecting also didn’t run.

: Restaurant in Frauenau

: Frauenau city hall

: Hotel with restaurant in Frauenau

My first stop is the Glass Museum in Frauenau. It’s a good-sized (relative to the other three museums I’ve seen on this trip) museum, glass walls, glass staircase. It’s on two floors, includes a café, is located in a park with a pond and many glass sculptures. It’s next to the Eisch facility (gallery / sales shop / glass-blowing facility).

Glasmuseum Frauenau

Ron Fischer, “Arche II”, in the Glass Garden

Mosaic in the floor near the entrance of the museum

The museum offers a well-done history of glass, with apparently a lot of original pieces. It also offers an overview of glass in the area, which is on the border to what is now the Czech Republic. This area has had glass since the 1600s — the Poschinger Glass facility is still in business. The glass place I visited on my first trip to Germany in 1969 has disappeared, but it must have been in Zwiesel, because of its name (Arber –and many businesses have Arber in their names).

: Erwin Eisch, “Telefon”

: “Vase”, by A Philabaum + R Carlson (I was looking for this piece, by Tucson artist Tom Philabaum)

: Luigi Bona and kiln-formed Coca Cola bottle

: Erwin Eisch, “Self-portrait in Glass”

: Laszlo Lukacsi, “Fan”

I wander through the Glass Garden, which leads in part to the Eisch sales area.

: Garden gnome in glass, one of several in a variety of colors

: Thierry Boissel, “Antiphon” (with the church in the distance)

: Carmelo Lopez (small versions of his work were for sale in the Eisch Gallery).

: Bright cylinders of glass made up this piece. I didn’t get the artist’s name.

The sales part of Eisch is open, so I wander through that, as well. Eisch was begun in the mid-1940s, after the war. Best known is the son, Erwin Eisch, now in his 90s. He, along with Harvey Littleton, was a mover and shaker in the modern studio art glass movement. He was also one of the founders of the glass museum.

On Thursday I visit von Poschinger, complete with a tour.

: Von Poschinger, one of the last hand-made glass companies in Germany

: Von Poschinger celebrates its 450th year

: In the von Poschinger sculpture garden

This is apparently the largest manufacturer in the area, as well as the oldest. It has a retail outlet, but apparently most of its production is fulfilling orders by other companies. The tour was interesting. One of the other participants was a woman whose father was American. The other part of the group is a couple with their daughter. It turns out the woman is a well-known Bavarian moderator/actress — I didn’t know who she was, but the other woman recognized her.

Back in Zwiesel I set out to explore and find the exhibit at the middle school. This is glass, ceramics, paintings, wood, metal… on three floors. With lots of windows, it’s great for glass.

Glass sculpture in show in Zwiesel

Copper in glass — sculptural piece in a show in Zwiesel.

Included in the exhibit are some pieces that were winners in a competition at the glass school. Most of the pieces are by women and represent a variety of techniques.

I was actually looking for the huge church. Finding the middle school was luck. Tomorrow I’ll visit the exhibit by the church.

by dianesfusedglass on September 6, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Fused Glass, Germany, Glass, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on September 6, 2018

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/august-15-16-frauenau-and-zwiesel/

August 14, Zwiesel

My goal today is Zwiesel, in the Bavarian Forest. This is a glass area. The train, from Karlsruhe to Stuttgart, Stuttgart to Nürnberg, Nürnberg to Plattling and Plattling to Zwiesel, offered plenty of chances for delays — and we had them. We got to Nürnberg about 20 minutes late, so I missed the connection to Plattling. Since the train there runs about once an hour and we were so late, the wait wasn’t too long.

In Zwiesel I needed a taxi — and that was a trick, but I finally got one. The Aparthotel Zwiesel, which I found online, turns out to be a 15-minute hike to the train station — through a narrow underpass that’s used by cars and has no sidewalk. I hope to survive the experience….

It turns out that today, beginning at 6 p.m., is the 16th Zwieseler Glas Nacht (Glass Night), complete with a glass pyramid at Zwiesel Kristallglas, tours, a visit to the showroom, glass-blowing demonstrations at the Fachschule für Glas (a government-backed glassblowing school), a glass flea market, a glass chapel, and several music events around, mostly in parks. The pyramid is made up of 93,665 white wine glasses, stacked (but not glued) in 65 layers.

: Zwiesel Glas Nacht

: Zwiesel Kristallglas with Pyramid

: Zwiesel Kristallglas pyramid

Hundreds of people were out and about. The music events were often competing, but the listeners didn’t seem to mind. Würst and other stands were at the music venues — it’s too bad I’m a vegetarian. The potato puffers at one would have been veggie, but looked soaked in grease.

: One of the many music performances, this one in the park

: Zwiesel park

: Glasfachschule Zwiesel, down the street from Zwiesel Glas

I wandered through some stores, especially the Zwiesel one, which is huge and includes a bakery, a condiment/wine shop plus all the glass. It would be a great opportunity to get really nice glasses (but not hand-made) at a great price — but shipping would be prohibitive and I don’t trust the postal services, since my other packages seem to be lost.

Zwiesel also seems to have a sculpture program – I found at least three that were labeled. Here are two:

: “Regenbogen”, sculpture by Oswald Faber

: Another Zwiesel sculpture on the Skulpturweg

by dianesfusedglass on August 16, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Germany, Glass, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on August 16, 2018

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2018/08/16/august-14-zwiesel/

August 9-11, Reutlingen / Riedlingen

Thursday morning it was off to Reutlingen. Although the street car works well, I had the hotel call a taxi. My luggage is too heavy, though I haven’t figured out exactly why.

In Reutlingen, which is also outside Stuttgart but in a different direction than Plüderhausen, I visit Margot and her husband, Ulf. I’ve known Margot since 1994, when she was in Washington on a sabbatical. She and Ulf show me around the area, with dinner at the Stausee, where we’ve been before but which is always nice to see again.

The next day we visited the cathedral at Zwiefalten, which turned out to be under renovation on the inside.

Zwiefalten cathedral

After that, we looked around Riedlingen, a picturesque town, while Ulf went to an “underwater circus”. Ulf is a circus enthusiast and expert who writes reviews for a circus publication.iedli

: Church in Riedlingen

: Window in church – unfortunately not super-sharp

: House in Riedlingen

: Another Riedlingen house

Afterwards, we had dinner at another excellent restaurant with a view.

Our walk by Reutlingen

Saturday Margot and I took a walk around her house, then went to lunch overlooking Reutlingen (with a great cherry torte) and then to the train station to go on.

It was a short visit, but it’s always good to see friends and catch up with what they’ve been doing.

by dianesfusedglass on August 16, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Germany, Glass, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on August 16, 2018

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2018/08/16/august-9-11-reutlingen-riedlingen/

August 8, Leipzig

: Shopping center in Leipzig

: Fountain, Leipzig

: Opera House, Leipzig

Down the street, more or less, from the hotel is the Grassi Museum für angewandte Kunst. The building features an Art Nouveau pineapple on the roof, which I found interesting.

Grassi Museum für angewandte Kunst and the Art Deco pineapple

I planned to spend an hour or so in the museum. It turned into more like four… with lots and lots of glass, including Art Nouveau and newer artists.

: Cinerary urn – 1st or 2nd century AD

: Window depicting scene from the life of St. Bernhard von Clairvaux

: Vase, iridized blown glass -Johann Lötz Witwe, 1904

: Statuette designed by Daum-early1900s

I also found the post office and spent an hour filling out forms to send tissues to my cousin in Dallas and more stuff home to me.

by dianesfusedglass on August 16, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Art, Germany, Glass, Glass Museums, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on August 16, 2018

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2018/08/16/august-8-leipzig/

August 6-7, Back to Germany / Leipzig

A few notes on traveling to and from Denmark:

If you’re going to Copenhagen by train, you have both German and Danish options. If you go straight north, as I did, to Aarhus, you have German trains to Flensburg and Danish after, more or less. I was told there are three trains a day, Denmark is a popular vacation area AND you must have a reserved seat on the Danish trains.

I managed to get around the reservation going up, primarily because the German trains were having mechanical problems and things were backed up horribly. But leaving…I went to the train station in Aarhus, expecting to be able to get on the direct train to Hamburg. No such luck. I was able to get a seat two hours later to Flensburg (Aarhus to Fredericia, Fredericia to Flensburg — the reverse of the trip up), with two changes of train. I should mention that I managed to have three pieces of small, but heavy, luggage.

This time the Danish train was a little late, but we still made the connection in Flensburg. In Hamburg I was able to continue on to Leipzig, and that train was on time, though it arrived at almost 8 p.m.

Because the Hotel Leipzig (formerly the Ramada) was not at the train station, I took a taxi.

An unfortunate sign was hanging in the building that housed the hotel (on the 7th and 8th floors). It’s dog food that’s supposed to be healthy for your pet:

An unfortunate sign advertising healthy dog food

The next day, armed with a small city map, I hoofed it to the train station – or almost – and found a city tour. Sixteen euros, 2 hours, and windows I couldn’t take much in the way of pictures through. It was useful for orientation, however.

Leipzig was a center of music and publishing as well as the fur trade and a giant trade fair in the good old days, a part of East Germany in the less-good old days. Wagner was born here, Bach is buried here. Among the better known musicians and writers who passed through: Mahler, Schiller, Goethe, Robert Schumann, and more recently Erich Kästner.

Deutsches Buchgewerbehaus front, just down the street from the hotel.

Deutsches Buchgewerbehaus side with an architectural add-on that I found interesting.

Deutsches Buchgewerbehaus – side door

: What appears to be church as part of university

: Tower of Mercure Hotel

: Gohliser Schlösschen, with restaurant

: One of many, many buildings on the tour that I found interesting

: Detail of a painted building – I missed the name of the artist.

: Gold recently renovated Russian Orthodox church, with the gold donated by the Russian government

A year or so ago, I was watching a TV series, Tierärztin Dr. Mertens, (Veterinarian Dr. Mertens), about a female vet at the Leipzig Zoo. I’m not particularly interested in zoos, but I was hooked on the series — and very upset when ARD decided it couldn’t be shown out of Germany and blocked it on my computer. At any rate, I spent almost four hours at the zoo — lost half the time because I was following signs and not the map. Because of the heat, most of the spaces were empty / occupied by hidden critters.TV

: Zoo entrance – On the TV series, it’s not so heavily shaded…

: Stained glass windows in the Aquarium

: The zoo works to keep the animals from being too bored. This enclosure was shared by some monkeys and some bears.

: The penguins were out and about

It’s a really interesting place, where many animals are separated by water and low fences from the people. I asked a zoo employee if the zoo had problems with people climbing into the enclosures. She said not so far, that Germans are careful about their children.

After that I walked back to the main train station, looked around the many stores. The train station has about three levels — one for the trains and two for shops. It looks fairly new in that it’s clean. It claims about 140 shops and eateries on two levels — including McDonalds, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Dunkin Donuts.

by dianesfusedglass on August 7, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Art, Denmark, Germany, Glass, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on August 7, 2018

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2018/08/07/august-6-7-back-to-germany/

August 5, Ebeltoft and around Aarhus

After a quick (and expensive) breakfast at the hotel, I took myself to the bus station to catch Bus 123 to Ebeltoft. The clerk at the hotel the previous evening gave me a map and showed me where the station was. For 160 dkk (just under $25) round trip, I take off. The bus driver, not the youngest, understands me and speaks limited English.

: On the way to Ebeltoft

: Sailboats on the way to Ebeltoft

: Farmland on the way to Ebeltoft

Once in Ebeltoft, it’s a bit of a hike to the Glasmuseet. I’m there a few minutes early — it’s been so hot up to now. Today it’s rather cold and windy, a drop from the 90s to around 70 with a windchill factor. And I sent my down jacket home…Draw

The museum is pretty nice. The young woman at the reception desk speaks a few words of English. The exhibit has a flyer in Danish, in German and in English, so I’m OK on that. I wander through, taking lots of photos. The exhibit is modern Scandinavian glass artists, mostly glass blowers. It’s an interesting exhibit, including a short film by one and several light and sound pieces. On the top floor is more educational info and things for children to do with glass.

Outside is a separate building where the glass blowers work. Today a young man and woman are the team — it turns out they’re French. The man spent time at Cerfav in Vannes-le-Chatel (where I was in 2015 to visit) and worked at Baccarat (where Jacqueline took me two weeks ago). Small world. I talked to him in a break, but he wasn’t too impressed.

The good thing here is that people were coming to the museum. Several had quite young children (as in high chairs necessary), but at least they’re out and visiting (in Claret, Jacqueline and I were the only people in the museum; in Carmaux I was joined by a family with three children).

The museum has a little restaurant, very modern and nice. The menu was in Danish and Danish, so I told the young waitress that I was a vegetarian, no fish or meat. She pointed me to a potato and cheese dish that she said was typically Danish (as were all the dishes on the menu). I could pick out words here and there from German — in this case Kartoffel… I just wasn’t sure what went with the potatoes.

Lunch at the Glass Museum in Ebeltoft

It started as a slice of bread, covered with sliced boiled potatoes and a soft cheese, with radishes, tomatoes, carrots, onions, a couple of asparagus spears and lots of various greens. It was quite good — just a surprise.

I had been there for about three hours and that was enough, so I set out to find the bus stop. I decided to take a different route and see if I could manage not to get too lost. In the process, I found the heart of Ebeltoft, which is quite old and quite picturesque.

: A summer Sunday in Ebeltoft

: Tourists in Ebeltoft. I heard a fair amount of German.

: Museum in Ebeltoft

: House in Ebeltoft

: Half-timbered house in Ebeltoft

: Cafe in Ebeltoft

A lot of little cafes were open, along with a fair number of stores. I didn’t see a lot of glass, though what I did see seemed to be a lot of the same artists as the museum gift shop offered.

Eventually, I did find the bus stop, no thanks to my phone, which was going to send me to Thailand (I asked for Bus 123 stops…apparently that’s a big deal there).

On the way back, a whole group of teenagers — maybe 25 — got on the bus with their camping backpacks. It was full, full, full.

Back in Aarhus, I wandered back to the hotel, noticing a giant church (the Aarhus Cathedral) in the area. After dropping my stuff, I set out to look around. I could not have picked a better location for a hotel. It’s around the corner from the Aarhus Theater, close to the pedestrian shopping area, around the corner from 7-11, McDonalds and Starbucks (my grande latte here would cost about $7.50, instead of $4.80). I wandered through Magazin, a large, upscale department store that’s open every day from 10 to 8 (10 to 20). Depressing to see how much clothes cost… These included Hugo Boss, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger and a few other brands I’ve heard of and several that were unfamiliar.

Just a note: I keep hearing that everyone in Europe speaks English, especially the young people. I have not found that to be the case. I did get a brownie and a roll at a bakery in the department store, and the young guy there did quite well. Otherwise, it seems that in out-of-the-way places like Ebeltoft, English is less common, though I did hear quite a bit from visitors.

Tomorrow it’s back to Germany and a few days in Leipzig.

more photos to come

by dianesfusedglass on August 7, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Denmark, Fused Glass, Glass, Glass exhibitions, Glass Museums, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on August 7, 2018

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2018/08/07/august-5-ebeltoft-and-around-aarhus/

August 1-2, Stuttgart

Wednesday Sylvie had to work. I went with her into Stuttgart — she went to the Planetarium, I went shopping. But first she took me to a crafts store so I could get some pierced earring backs. It was a neat store — I spent about an hour, checking out everything. I found some purple ribbon in different shades than I get at home and a butterfly shape to use for designs.

On the way I saw Kaufhof. My daughter asked me to get some Schulmappen for the kids — those are cases that contain all the pencils, markers, pencil sharpener, etc. I also got a box and some tape. Wandering around, I found a post office where I could buy a couple more boxes and a drug store to get some of my favorite Saptil stain remover in a tube. I wandered around the castle area…

Schloss (castle) in Stuttgart

Tents around the square by the Schloss, apparently for an event

Funky building with panels that look like crinkled aluminum foil

Then it was back to meet Sylvie to go home. The planetarium used to be in the middle of a park with lots of trees. Then came “Bahnhof 21”, the train station that will probably be finished in 2100… The trees were chopped and replaced by this…

Construction area by the train station

Construction of the new train station

The planetarium is now behind a fence and not so easy to reach as it used to be.

The planetarium is now behind a fence and not so easy to reach as it used to be.

In the evening, I put the boxes together and filled them up — two to my daughter and two to myself in care of a friend. My luggage was way too heavy — I had my down jacket and lots of socks, expecting to find some cool weather. Since it’s anything but, I decided to send the things home instead of dragging them around. I also had gotten some documentation at Claret and Carmaux and, of course, Jacqueline gave me some things.

Thursday I read while Sylvie went swimming in a local lake. Then she took me to a post office in a local store, where I spent a small fortune sending packages. After that, we went to visit her 90-year-old mother. We took her out to lunch — mom kept saying she wasn’t very hungry and was tired. However, at the restaurant she scarfed down her senior lunch and part of Sylvie’s as well. It was a really nice covered patio. Sylvie and I had spaghetti with a nice tomato and vegetable sauce, mom had a smaller portion of a local specialty with meat patties.

Interesting colored glass windows at Sylvie’s mom’s house

We went back to Sylvie’s mom’s. Sylvie goes a couple of times a week to help clean there. Then we stopped at a friend of hers who was celebrating her birthday. Michaela is an artist working with clay who restores old porcelain ovens, among other items. She’s also working with some Syrian refugees. One family arrived while we were still there: dad, who’s got a German driver’s license despite not being able to read and who works taking care of parks; mom, an attractive young woman in a head scarf who speaks rather good German and who will start training as a dental assistant in September; and a cute daughter without front teeth, so I’m guessing she’s six or so. They represent a success story for refugees — able to fit in pretty well.

Then it was back to Sylvie’s and packing to leave in the morning.

View from the balcony at Plüderhausen

Morning glory vine working its way up to the balcony at Plüderhausen

by dianesfusedglass on August 5, 2018 • Permalink

Posted in Germany, Glass, Travel

Posted by dianesfusedglass on August 5, 2018

https://dianesfusedglass.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/august-1-2-stuttgart/

July 29, Albi, Carmaux

After getting the apartment closed up, we set out for Albi. Passing through one town, we found a giant detour. Trying to get back on track, we stumbled on a small parade celebrating the wine harvest.

: Wine parade in one of the small towns we passed through

: Another part of the wine parade

Then it was on to Albi, a little north of Toulouse in southwest France. Many of the buildings are made of bricks, including the cathedral, which is one of the largest buildings I’ve ever seen. The cathedral, in its size, is absolutely breath-taking.

: Street in Albi

: Old house in Albi

: Stairway up to the Cloister Saint-Salvi in Albi

: Arch of bricks by the cathedral in Albi

: Cathedral in Albi, built of bricks

: Stained glass window in the cathedral in Albi

: Detail from stained glass window in the cathedral in Albi

After Albi, Jacqueline took me to Blaye l. mines, where her husband grew up. We just passed through the village when we found the glass museum of Carmaux.

The exhibit at Carmaux, Aujourd’hui et Demain (Today and Tomorrow) brings together 70 young designers and artisans who are French or have studied in France. I found out about the museum because I’m on the email list of Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert, a glass blower who has a piece in the show: