The aquarium of the Frankfurt zoo is a world of its own - especially recommended on rainy days when other animals retreat to their stables…

a Prehensile-tailed porcupine or coendou at the Frankfurt Zoo

Seen from Wiesbaden.

Trees lined up on a hill near the “Bucher Stausee” a water reservoir. (”Ostalb”, Southern Germany).

A wooden cross with a diagonal bar like a gallows marks the site where the gallows of Ellwangen stood.
Here, also many “witches” were burned in witch trials in the 16th and 17th century.
The monument commemorating these sinister events was inspired by Sieger Köder.

Church windows by Sieger Köder

Church window in St. Francis Chapel of the “Marienpflege Children Village”, an orphanage in Ellwangen.

Moss and mushrooms in the woods near Neuler, Southern Germany.

Renowned artist Sieger Köder created all the windows for the small, mnodern Hl Geist Kirche (Holy Ghost Church) in Ellwangen, Southern Germany.
More on Sieger Köder at the Website of the city of Ellwangen.

These wooden “tree spirits” are one of the exhibits lining the “sculpture path” at Neuler, Southern Germany.

not that one could blame him - after all, on a hot afternoon it’s not really fun to wear such a costume…
Seen in Frankfurt Zoo

A very lively and impressive short play in Hamburg’s Ernst Deutsch theatre has Wilhelm Busch as the main character, who is asleep in his armchair throughout the play.
The action takes place around him as his ceations start to come alive in his dreams and a charming muse accompanied by two musiciand provides the musical background.

The first flowers have already been out for a while, but there also are some clear indications that spring has come to Wiesbaden’s “Fasanerie”, a small zoo specialising in domestic animals:

The goats are enjoying the first rays of spring

The bears are out - although they are a bit sleepy still

Love is in the air among the wolves

A golden Buddha is contemplating the city life from a quiet spot in a barber’s shop.
Seen in Wiesbaden

This man looks like a figure straight from an Arcimboldo painting…

This was truly an international event.
Visitors included a group of huns…

…and even a squad of imperial military straight from Star Wars.

A glorious winter day provides a good opportunity for the participants to show off their beauty…
Last year’s images:
Wiesbaden: Carnival 2007 - I
Wiesbaden: Carnival 2007 - II
Photos from the Carnival parade 2006
and
http://www.travelphoto.net/a-photo-a-day/wordpress/2006/02/25/carnival-in-wiesbaden/

A rusty statue seen in a Bad Hersfeld park.
Actually quite cute, isn’t he?

This fellow is hoping for carrots and you actually can see a few deep inside the hippos mouth.
The teeth are quite impressive, and fortunately you cannot smell the animal’s breath…

The Suricates or Meerkats (German: “Erdmännchen”) are everybody’s darlings…

The Marabou Stork may not be among nature’s most beautiful photo models, but it’s fascinating to watch and seems to be quite intelligent…

A nice day to relax on the lawn…

I took all these photos (and many more) at the Opel Zoo in Kronberg, not too far away from Frankfurt (Germany).

Here you can see the typical small tuft of black hair on the ears of the lynx.
This is easily the biggest cat species in central Europe and a very impressive sight.

Another typical feature of the Lynx is its short, stubby tail.
Again, these pictures were taken at the “Fasanerie” in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The “Fasanerie” in Wiesbaden is home to animals that used to live in the region such as the Wisent (a form of buffalo), wolves and even some bears.

more photos taken at the “Fasanerie”, Wiesbaden: racoon, young foxes.
more photos from Wiesbaden at A Photo a Day.
I also have a special site only showing photos from Wiesbaden.
More about Wiesbaden:
Official website of the city
The salient facts at Wikipedia.

I just liked the light on the withered bark of the tree…
Doesn’t it almost look like a face?

The lunar eclipse, seen a few minutes ago in Wiesbaden from my kitchen window.
Fortunately the clouds broke although there always was a little bit of a hazy cloud screen making the photo somewhat less sharp than desirable.
Minolta 7d, Tokina 80-400, image cropped.

Some more pictures of the carnival parade in Wiesbaden.

Some pictures from this year’s carnival parade in Wiesbaden.

Hungry Prisoner, originally uploaded by laurenz.

A racoon in Wiesbaden’s “Fasanerie” is begging for food.

Araucaria, originally uploaded by laurenz.

quite a big plant?- inviting passers by to enter a flower shop next to Wiesbaden’s “Marktkirche”.

The cupola inside Wiesbaden’s Russian Chapel.

A dove sitting on a tree in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Minolta Dynax 7d, Tokina 80-400mm lens.

Merry go round, originally uploaded by laurenz.

Here you see the flags representing the 32 nations participating in the FIFA World Cup 2006.
The photo was taken at the “Theatrium” in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Here is a puppet sold by one of the many artisans at the Theatrium festival in Wiesbaden.

The Theatrium is the street festival of Wiesbaden’s most fashionable street, the Wilhelmstraße.
The name of course is related to the state theatre of Hesse which re-opened in 1977 with a relatively small festival.
Today, there are several music venues, 140 food stalls, lots of street events and many artisans.
This picture was taken at a Brazilian stall where one could buy the cocktails to go with the international speialties sold nearby.

A stately knight enjoys his glass of local sparkling wine in Eltville (Rheingau).

Today, I visited the “Fasanerie” a small zoo in Wiesbaden specialising in local animals.
There now are many young animals, but especially the young foxes were everybody’s darlings.

in a nearby park, Wiesbaden, Germany.

Luminale Wiesbaden, originally uploaded by laurenz.

These are the last minutes of the Luminale for Wiesbaden.
This event took place in most of the Rhein Main area with illuminated buildings and art projects everywhere.
In Wiesbaden, the “Kurpark” was illuminated by many art installations.

Goose Family, originally uploaded by laurenz.

Mother goose with her young. A moment later, they all would get under a her right wing!

church windows in St Stephan, a catholic church in Mainz.
The blue glass windows by Marc chagall are a major tourist attraction.

Some impressions from the Carnival parade in Wiesbaden:

Even though the big carnival parade in Wiesbaden only takes place tomorrow, there were many international groups to be seen in the city today.
This is a costumed musician from Basle (Switzerland).

a clown selling balloons

The weather was cold - but beautiful - and a good chance to try out my new toy, a Sigma 15-30 mm wide-angle lens…
(Minolta Maxxum 9, Fujichrome Velvia 100).

I took this photo on one of those big revolving balls made of granite - the somewhat ghostly appearance comes from the structure of the stone.
Otherwise, this is just a normal street scene on a beautiful winter day in Wiesbaden, Germany.

More photos from the same occasion on a special site I dedicated to my hometown Wiesbaden.
The official page of the city.
Facts about Wiesbaden at Wikipedia

A bus paases the railway station in wiesbaden (Germany).

Church in Kriegsfeld

Kriegsfeld is a small village in Rhineland Palatinate that is pleasantly situated between fields and woods and has three churches for its 1103 inhabitants, as well as some historic buildings.

seen on the lawn of a Tae-kwon-Do studio in Wiesbaden (Germany)

Aren’t these nice autumn colours? That’s what the local park is like right now….

seen in Ingelheim, Germany

Another image of the foggy park in Wiesbaden.

Fog in the Park II, originally uploaded by laurenz.

also taken in the “Walkmühltal”-Park, Wiesbaden (Germany).

Fog in the Park.

When I saw the fog in the street this morning, I grabbed my cameras and took quite a few photos.
I hope. I can bring across a bit of the almost mystical atmosphere.

I’ll have to wait a few days to find out what the slides are like, but here already are some shots from my Lumix.

Kochbrunnen, Wiesbaden, originally uploaded by laurenz.

Although the water of this source does not quite reach boiling temperature (”kochen” = to boil), it’s still steaming hot.
The hot sources have been a major tourist attraction for Wiesbaden ever since the time of the Romans.

Another shot from the local flower shop.

A macro shot I took at the next flowershop with my Lumix FX8. No tripod, no filters.

The harbour of Wiesbaden-Schierstein and the river Rhine.

Again, the old cemetary, Wiesbaden.

another grave on the “Alte Friedhof” (”old graveyard”) in Wiesbaden

Grave on the old cemetary of Wiesbaden.

Cropped Wasp, originally uploaded by laurenz.

a macro shot of a wasp taken in Wiesbaden Schierstein with my tiny Lumix FX8.

Wiesbaden: Russian Church, originally uploaded by laurenz.

in Wiesbaden itself, this building is universally known as “Griechische Kapelle” (Greek Chapel).
It was, however, built for Elisabeta Michailovna, the Russian wife of the grand Duke Adolf of Nassau.
There is an interesting small Russian graveyard nearby

park bench in Wiesbaden

A park bench in the Schlosspark (”palace gardens”) belonging to the Grand Ducal palais in Wiesbaden Biebrich.
Across the pool is the “Moosburg“, a ruin that was built as an adornment of the park.

A striped shiel bug sitting on a flower. Seen on a walk in Wiesbaden-Schierstein.
The scientific name of the animal: Graphosoma lineatum.
Incredible that it is possible to hand-hold such a shot with a tiny camera like the Lumix FX8…

Today, I had a few minutes time to explore the “Kurpark” (”Spa park”) of Bad Homburg and have a look at the sculpture exhibition currently taking place there:

The Russian chapel, a small orthodox church

The “Thai Sala” a Siamese Temple in German park…
The modern plastic “tent” in the foreground was an attraction for quite a few children who were inside when I took this image.

All pictures taken with my new small Panasonic Lumix FX8 camera.

While I’m not going to really give up analogue photography any time soon, I also wanted to have a small digital camera to always carry with me.
So I got a Panasonic Lumix FX8.
Here are some shots I took with it:

A giant Steiff Bear (about 2 metres tall) in Wiesbaden

I can get much closer to an object than with my current SLR and the image stabilizer of the tiny camera works quite well.
(No tripod used)

Luisenplatz, Wiesbaden
When it comes to dark objects in front of a bright sky, my SLR combined with Fuji Velvia works much better…

Balloons at the Theatrium festival in Wiesbaden, 2005.

The Theatrium is a yearly festivity in Wiesbaden. It started as a small celebration by the state theatre, but now is quite a big affair with many music groups, artisans and international food stalls.
The giant rubber giraffe was part of a playground set aside for the younger visitors.

The old town hall on the left of the picture now is the main registration office for Wiesbaden.

The famous monastery church of Maria Laach.

The Laach lake - close to the famous monastery of Maria Laach, Germany.

Fog in the park of the Grand Ducal palace in Wiesbaden Biebrich.
The Moosburg was built as a ruin - to lend a special flair to the park.

One more reflection seen in the Walkmühltal, Wiesbaden, Germany.

Autumn foliage reflected in a small pool in Wiesbaden, Germany

Thick fog hides the park of the palace in Biebrich.

The sculpture “Froschkönigin” (”The Frog Queen”) by Birgid Helmy in Wiesbadem-Biebrich.
It is currently the time of the “5th season” - carnival. Just across the bridge from Biebrich is the city of Mainz, one of the most important centres of carnival celebrations.
Birgid Helmy was born in Wiesbaden and is known for her dynamic sculptures.

small fountain in Biebrich, Germany

also see: Clown in the fog, also taken in Biebrich and a photo taken in Biebrich Schlosspark.

A photo from the Aikido training in Wiesbaden, Germany. More Aikido-photos at Online Photo Galleries.

It’s quite hot now, so here’s a shot from cooler times.
You find more photos from Germany over at the main site.

Autumn in a park in Wiesbaden, Germany

Evening light in the Rheingau. A pity that the lantern was not lit from inside.

seen in Wiesbaden, Deutschland.

Currently, the weather is not at its best here, so how about a nice shot from this fall?