Tag: Sachsen

  • Central Saxony – Lights and Shadows

    Central Saxony – Lights and Shadows

    Central Saxony, in the sense of this small photographic field trip, is wider than the Saxon district of the same name. A region was roamed, which is bordered by the Elbe river between Dresden and Torgau in the east and between Chemnitz and Leipzig in the west. At the center of my observations were small and medium-sized towns, whose names are not unknown from signposts along the A4 and A14 motorways or as railway stations, but so far have mostly been blind spots on my visual map.

    Most of these cities and towns have in common an almost perfectly refurbished center – at least the marketplace, thanks to the money invested over the past 30 years. This condition is probably been unparalleled in the history of these places. Most of the time, the splendor that pleases the viewers eye is not a publicly displayed wealth; rather, the whitewash applied covers the problems of a region that has been struggling with deindustrialization and emigration since the early 1990s.

    Without looking for it, one comes across evidence and relics of decay, especially of older dates, in many places, but also objects whose origins lie in more recent times. To depict some facets of this contradiction was the goal of a multi-day trip through a region that was previously almost unknown to me. The results of my photographic notes are summarized in two series.

    Series 1: Wilsdruff, Rosswein, Doebeln, Waldheim, Burgstaedt, Amerika, Lunzenau, Rochlitz, Colditz, Grimma, Wurzen

    fotografische Notizen aus Sachsen, das Gebiet zwischen Dresden, Chemnitz und Leipzig

    Series 2: Eilenburg, Torgau, Belgern, Dahlen, Oschatz, Muegeln, Oschatz, Wermsdorf, Mutzschen, Leisnig, Lommatzsch

    fotografische Notizen aus Sachsen, das Gebiet zwischen Dresden, Chemnitz und Leipzig

     

    The following pages provide a location-based index of the photographs.

  • Suspended? Provincial train stations in Eastern Saxony

    Suspended? Provincial train stations in Eastern Saxony

    A trip by train from Zittau back to Dresden in autumn 2018 inspired me to a small photo project whose implementation could be realized in the Easter season 2019. With bike and camera I traveled along the railway lines between Bischofswerda, Zittau and Görlitz.

    20 years after the company Deutsche Bahn began to sell more than 2,000 train station buildings and properties in Germany on a large scale, because they were considered unprofitable, the effects are now clearly visible. While larger towns have been willing and able to maintain and modernize their stations, many others, either in the hands of speculators or regrettably failed private enthusiasts, are decaying.

    What makes the sometimes difficult bearable state of the buildings with people who use stations like Putzkau or Neusalza-Spremberg daily on the work or school route?

    Putzkau, Haltepunkt
    Putzkau, Haltepunkt
    Bahnhof Neusalza-Spremberg
    Bahnhof Neusalza-Spremberg

    In some places, humor was proved and the unused and fenced building was provided with train-specific caricatures.

    Bahnhof Taubenheim (Spree)
    Bahnhof Taubenheim (Spree)

    Often the power is enough only for a sarcastic comment.

    Bahnhof Wilthen
    Bahnhof Wilthen

     

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