Huge and colorful Manneken Pis sculpture in Maasmechelen Village in July 2020.

The Manneken Pis is a landmark of Belgium. Its original is a 61 cm bronze sculpture, close to Brussels Grand Place. It was designed by Jerôme Duquesnoy in 1619 and depicts a naked boy peeing into a fountain.

The outlet center Maasmechelen Village is located about 20 km north of Maastricht. It's nice to walk through, but of course I wasn't there for shopping. Nearby you have interesting destinations like the National Park Hoge Kempen.🏞️

The Römerberg (Roman Mountain) in Frankfurt. A year ago today.

This Lourdes grotto in the garden of the Sint-Augustinus nursing home in Berlaar was built in 1912 and got decorated in 1915. Earlier it was also decorated with a church on the top of the grotto.

A Lourdes grotto is a replica of the original grotto at Lourdes, France or a grotto honouring "Our Lady of Lourdes" unassociated with the Lourdes site. St. Bernadette saw "Our Lady" (Mary, mother of Jesus) in this grotto in 1858. In place of the Marian apparition, a Madonna figure adorns the grotto. The original figure was created by Joseph-Hugues Fabisch in 1864 according to Bernadette's instructions.

The restaurant "De Molen" is located in an old windmill from the 17th century. In the background you can see the Doel nuclear power plant. It's one of two nuclear power plants in Belgium and the one with the most densely populated area in Europe. Around nine million people live within a radius of 75 kilometers. In my home country, Germany, the last nuclear power plant will be taken off the grid at the end of next year. After the disaster in Fukushima, a rapid nuclear phase-out was decided, which will be completed in 2022. Belgium is also in the process of phasing out nuclear power. Both nuclear reactors are to be taken off the grid by 2025.

🌳🦥🦋🌞

Wandering in the Kalmthout Heath.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Mine towers in Connecterra

🌳🦥🦋🌞

The chapel was built in 1946 in memory of the killed members of the resistance of the Secret Army, an armed Belgian resistance group. The symbol of this resistance group is an inverted triangle with a lion's head. The secret army was mainly active from 1944 after the Allies landed in Normandy. In September 1944, several resistance fighters gathered in this forest to attack the Germans with the Allies. The German troops became aware of the preparations due to treachery and attacked the animal shelter in Rotem (code name: Anatol), in which more than 130 resistance fighters from the region were killed or captured.

The Römerberg (Roman Mountain) in Frankfurt.
Numerous coronations of the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire took place on this square. Afterwards they met for the coronation meal in the town hall. The town hall, called Römer, built in the 15th century, was destroyed in the Second World War. You see a bit on the very right side. Since it was foreseeable that Frankfurt would be the target of bombs, much could be saved from the destruction beforehand and the building was documented as well as possible. So a very authentic reconstruction was possible.

The church is the medieval Lutheran Old St Nicholas Church. It was only slightly damaged by the bombing. Construction of the church began in the 13th century. It has had its current appearance since the 15th century. In the course of the Reformation, the church temporarily lost its function. It was leased for over 150 years and used as an archive of the municipal lay judge's court and at times as a warehouse during trade fairs. The lease was terminated in 1719 and the church was inaugurated again in 1721 after restoration.

In the building on the very left there is a small coffee and exchange office. There is a connection between the owner and me. His father was the American Ernest Biberfield from District Information Services Control Command. When my great-grandfather was still assigned administrative tasks in the Buchenwald concentration camp after the end of WW2, Bieberfield informed my family about the early takeover of Thuringia by the Soviet occupying powers and about my grandfather, who was missing in the West.
So my great-grandfather traveled to the American zone at the invitation of the American headquarters in Frankfurt.