Antwerpen

After a short break, our group headed to Antwerp for an afternoon visit. The bus found a parking space in a deserted hall of the once florishing port along the Scheldt River.

Red Baron felt as if he were at the Hamburg Landungsbrücken, though the Antwerp pier had no visitors or large ships. In the background on the right, you see the castle, Het Steen.

The Margraviate of Antwerp, established around 974, was a border march between the Holy Roman Empire and, on the opposite bank of the Scheldt, the County of Flanders, subject to the French king as its feudal lord.

Around 1200, Het Steen (the stone) was part of the city's fortifications, protecting access to the city from the western Scheldt. Most of the castle was demolished in the 19th century. Only the gatehouse remained of a larger complex belonging to the Dukes of Brabant. It is thus considered the oldest surviving building in the city of Antwerp.

Heading toward the Grote Markt, we passed the Vleeshuis (meat house) built by the butchers' guild in the late Gothic style around 1500. The red-and-white masonry was deliberately made to resemble speklagen (bacon layers). The towers, stepped gable, and the enormous hall were designed to give the rich butchers an imposing presence in the city.

Then we walked through narrow alleys lined with brick buildings.

The richly decorated guild halls on the Grote Markt bear witness to the city's former wealth.

A building with the inscription Bonaparte caught Red Baron's attention. In 1800, Antwerp belonged to France. Napoleon first visited Antwerp in 1803 and called the city "a pistol aimed at the heart of England." He loaded the pistol with two harbor basins, the Bonaparte and Willem docks, which were and still are the core of Antwerp’s modern port. 

The city became one of the Empire's most important naval ports and shipbuilding centers, where warships were built to support the Continental Blockade Napoleon announced in Berlin after his victory over Prussia. Cut off from global trade, the city was booming thanks to the arms industry.

And yet, the golden eagle on Antwerp's Renaissance city hall built in 1561-1565 is not l'Aigle Imperial, but the eagle of the Holy Roman Empire. It faces toward Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), the center of the HRE.

The Brabo Fountain (Brabofontein), right in the middle of the Grote Markt in front of the city halll, and the severed hand hold the key to explaining the name Antwerpen.

According to legend, a giant named Druon Antigoon lived on the Scheldt. He controlled shipping and demanded a high toll from every ship. Anyone who could not or would not pay had to suffer a cruel punishment: Antigoon would cut off their hand and throw it into the Scheldt.

When the Roman soldier Silvius Brabo passed by, he defeated and killed the giant, cut off Antigoon's hand, and threw it into the Scheldt. The figure at the top of the fountain depicts this moment when Brabo threw the hand. This throwing (werfen in German) gave rise to the popular explanation of the city's name: hand werpen → Antwerpen.

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The legend of the hand lives on to this day: Antwerp's famous Antwerpse Handjes - a pastry or praline shaped like a hand - draw inspiration from this very legend.

The Antwerp Coat of Arms shows a castle or fortified gate (Het Steen) in the center and two hands traditionally associated with the Brabo legend. In fact, the Brabo-Antigoon drama features two hands: the giant's hand and the hand Brabo severed.

For the city, the hand is a heraldic symbol, part of the founding legend, and a play on words with Antwerp's name.

On our way to the cathedral, we passed the restaurant Het Elfde Gebot (The Eleventh Commandment) that reads: "Thou shalt drink your beer with respect." Onze Lieve Vrouwe placed on a pedestal welcomes the guests. The interior of this old residential building resembles a church or an antique museum rather than an ordinary pub. Walls, ceilings, and open spaces are densely packed with historic wooden and plaster statues of saints, angels, Mary, and Jesus. Old pulpits, stained-glass windows, crucifixes, and altar fragments complete the decoration.

And there it was: the Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal in all its splendor.

The richly decorated main entrance was locked, so we entered through a side door and were confronted with a paygate: Adults €12. Red Baron qualified for the 60+ at €10. Even that seemed too much for a quick glance, with the rest of the group impatiently waiting outside in the warm September sun.

A screen displaying changing images of the cathedral's interior enticed those standing in front of it to visit.

Suddenly, the statue of De Buildrager (The Dockworker), bearing the inscription Arbeid Vrijheid (Labor Freedom), confronted us Germans with our past. Initially a symbol of the working class becoming conscious of itself, it also came to stand for regained freedom after WWII. The statue became the memorial for the dockers who kept working under the German V-bomb terror.

When we discovered these Stolpersteine (stumbling blocks) in Antwerp's Jewish quarter during an evening walk, our consciences were deeply troubled.

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Belgian Gems

... Belgische Juwelen was the name of a bus trip to Flanders. Unfortunately, the ratio was two days on the bus and two days of sightseeing.

Gaius Julius Caesar taught us: Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, quarum unam incolunt Belgae, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli appellantur. Hi omnes lingua, institutis, legibus inter se differunt ... and Red Baron adds: Belgium too consists of three parts - Flanders, Wallonia, and the Brussels Region.

Caesar continues in lingua Anglica: Of all these tribes, the Belgae are the strongest, because they are very far removed from the culture and civilization of the Roman province; merchants rarely visit them and do not bring goods that might soften their spirits; and they are neighbors of the Germans, who live across the Rhine, with whom they are constantly at war.

This might have been true 50 before Christ, but in the Middle Ages Flanders, together with Northern Italy, was one of the richest regions in Europe. The cloth trade, in particular, made cities like Antwerpen and Gent wealthy.

©landgeist.com

To soften their spirits, the Belgians brew beer in 395 breweries and drink 87 liters per year per capita, but in Europe their consumption is clearly beaten by the Czechs with 135 liters.

©Der Spiegl

The other famous Belgian "softening" product is no longer cloth but chocolate. In Brussels, every second shop sells chocolate to tourists, but when it comes to consumption, the Swiss, with 10.5 kg per year, are the frontrunners and the Belgians are way behind.

And finally, the only time we're "at war" these days is with the Belgian voetbalelftal- the Red Devils wearing red jerseys - in soccer.

What splendor!

We arrived in Antwerp after a ten-hour bus ride, had time to visit the famous central station just opposite our hotel, and later had dinner at one of the downtown restaurants called brasseries.

Why is the flag at the top La tricolore?

The following morning, we visited Brussels, and our first stop - where else - was the Atomium, combining the words atom and aluminum, the metal with which the spheres were initially covered. Since its inauguration at the World's Fair EXPO 58, the spheres of the Brussels landmark have become unsightly from corrosion and have been coated with stainless steel.

A close-up taken through the window of our passing bus

The nine spheres represent one elementary cell of an iron crystal, enlarged 165 billion times. Eight iron atoms are at the corners of a cube, and one is in the center.

Staying on the grounds of the Brussels World's Fairs, we drove toward the Palais 5 of EXPO 1935. Built in the Art Deco style, it has a stepped, almost pyramid-like silhouette and an austere, monumental facade. Verdigris-colored bronze statues top the vertical pillars.

In the background, the Palais de Justice dome rises.

As we entered Brussels's Manhattan district, the bus had to stop at a traffic light. We got a glimpse of a triangular steel form from which an arc has been removed and displaced. The black satin-painted object stands in the center of a shallow reflecting basin. The artist, Maria Wierusz-Kowalski, created the sculpture in 1997 and called it Esprit ouvert - Perspectives et Réflexions.

To the right, you enter the "bilingual" Galerie des Princes / Prinsen Galerij.

Eventually, we stepped off the bus and walked through the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert. This shopping mall was modeled after Milan's famous shopping gallery, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

We passed the chocolaterie, Neuhaus. Jean Neuhaus, a Swiss immigrant, founded his company in 1857 in Brussels and opened the first chocolate store in the Galeries Royales. In 1912, his grandson, Jean Neuhaus II, invented the chocolate praline, a decadent chocolate cream ganache center inside a chocolate shell. 

On our way to the other landmark every visitor must see, we noted La Friterie. Looking inside made our mouths water. 

Eventually, we reached another Brussels landmark: the Manneken Pis. His origin is rooted in a legend. In the 14th century, foreign troops besieged Brussels. When the city stubbornly held ground, the attackers secretly placed explosive charges at the city walls. A little boy named Julianske, observing the preparations, urinated on the burning fuse and thus saved the city.

The earliest mention of Manneken Pis in a document dates to the mid-15th century. At that time, the pissing boy wasn't a tourist attraction, as Jacobus Harrewijn's 1697 gravure shows.

The water jet must have been stronger back then (©Jijuc/Wikipedia)

The Fontaine de Manneken-Pis was part of Brussels' water supply!

In 1695, during the Nine Years' War, Louis XIV's troops bombarded Brussels, heavily damaging the city's water supply. For some time the Manneken could not deliver his water. When the pipes were repaired, the little pisser was triumphantly returned to its pedestal. Above his head, the grateful citizens placed the text of Psalm 27:5-6: In petra exaltavit me, et nunc exaltavi caput meum super inimicos meos (He hath set me high upon a rock (pedestal). And now he hath lifted up my head above my enemies.)

On our way back, we passed La Frieterie again, and this time we stopped and stepped in. Without exaggeration, I had the most expensive, but best, French fries of my life. How do the Belgians make them ...

Seen in Gent

I asked ChatGPT, and here is the answer:

1. The potato
They traditionally use floury, high-starch potatoes, such as Bintje. The high starch and relatively low moisture are important for the fluffy interior.
2. Cut thick
Belgian frites are generally cut considerably thicker than fast-food fries - roughly 10- 13 mm. This gives enough potato inside to remain soft and creamy.
3. First frying - relatively cool
The raw fries are fried at around 140-160°C for several minutes. They cook through without becoming brown. The inside becomes soft and fluffy while the outside develops the beginnings of a crust.
4. Resting
This is an important part. The fries are taken out and allowed to drain and cool for a while.
5. Second frying - very hot
Just before serving, they go back into the fat at about 175-190°C. The remaining surface moisture rapidly turns into steam, producing a dry, crisp exterior.

Spectacular Gustav Klimt for sale.

Little of the traditional Belgian broderie remains. I didn't ask for the price.

Then our guide led us to Brussels' Grand-Place, devastated by the French bombardment in 1695 but, like the Manneken Pis, it rose from its ashes. The place is surrounded by the Hôtel de Ville, guildhouses, and La Maison du Roi. Many buildings around the Grote Markt were rebuilt and date to the late 17th century.

The Stadhuis, from the 15th century and built in Brabant Gothic, has a 96-meter-high tower crowned by a statue of the Archangel Michael. It largely survived the 1695 bombardment. But our guide didn't rant at the French but at the Spaniards.

At the end of the Middle Ages, Flanders, along with Brussels, was part of the Spanish Netherlands. La Maison du Roi, the Broodhuis, bears witness to this. Originally, bakers sold their bread there. The Dukes of Brabant kept the original name when they converted the house into an administrative building. Later, the building became the Habsburg governor's residence. 

Karl Marx, expelled from Paris, arrived in the Belgian capital in February 1845, and Friedrich Engels joined him that spring. La Maison du Cygne was a meeting place for the Democratic Association of Brussels where the pair often gathered. Marx was active in the group and gave lectures. 

In the aftermath of the February 1848 revolution in France, Belgian authorities moved against foreign radicals. Marx was arrested, expelled in March, and returned to Paris.

Horses pollute; electric vehicles don't.

Another historic building on the Grand-Place is La Maison du Pigeon. After Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte's coup d'état in 1851, in which he established an anti-parliamentary constitution, Victor Hugo, a staunch Republican, openly declared Napoléon III a traitor to France. Hugo fled to Brussels in December and stayed in the house decorated with a pigeon until the Belgian authorities pushed him out in 1852. He moved on to the Channel Islands, first to Jersey, from which he was expelled, then to Guernsey, where he stayed until 1870.

Stay tuned for more Flanders.

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A Rainbow With No Ends

On the bus ride back from my trip to Flanders (blogs to follow), I photographed a strange phenomenon that resembled a rainbow with no ends. 

I took the photo on the Autobahn A5 near Bühl on September 23, at 18h30. The low evening sun illuminated a small cirrus cloud and created this rare (?) spectacle. That's a case for ChatGPT.

Do you know anything more about this weather phenomenon?

This is a cloud iridescence in cirrus, caused by diffraction of low evening sunlight by tiny ice particles. With the Sun only about 8° above the horizon, sunlight came through the atmosphere at a very shallow angle, illuminating the thin high cloud from the side.

It is a relatively uncommon sight in ordinary mid-latitude cirrus. A published long-term study found that vivid iridescence in mid-latitude cirrus is quite rare because the very small ice particles needed for it do not persist for long.

And there is also a nice coincidence: September 23, 2026 was the autumnal equinox (at 02:05 CEST). So you photographed this essentially on the day when the Sun crossed the celestial equator.

You always get a bonus with ChatGPT.

Iridescent clouds in Liebenwalde on April 10, 2020

The phenomenon that sunlight is not refracted by water drops causing a rainbow, but diffracted by ice particles, was photographed by ©Andreas Möller, too.

And remember the spectacular pink in Freiburg's sky on December 9 last year.

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Dyrhólaey, Skógafoss and Back to Reykjavík

On the last day of our Iceland trip, we continued on the Ring Road along the southern flank of Vatnajökull, with a breathtaking view of the Mýrdalsjökull glacier tongue. 

Vatnajökull reached its greatest extent in the late 19th century, but its tongues have since retreated due to climate change. The glacier covers seven active volcanoes, so geothermal heat keeps lakes beneath it. Glacial rivers originating from Vatnajökull created large outwash plains.

Our first stop was the Skeiðará Bridge Monument, a monument made of twisted iron girders. In October 1996, the dormant Gjálp volcano erupted beneath the Vatnajökull. The heat melted massive amounts of ice, which collected beneath the glacier to form a lake. In late November, this subglacial lake burst, resulting in a jökulhlaup (glacial flood) that carried up to 45,000 m³ of water per second, along with meter-high floating ice floes.

The flood wave destroyed a large section of Iceland's Ring Road as well as its longest bridge, the 900-meter Skeiðará Bridge. The bent steel girders, twisted like wire, bear witness to the impact of the plummeting masses of ice.

An artist's idealized view of the south side of the Vatnajökull

And here is the map. On the left is the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier tongue and Jökulsárlón; in the middle is the mighty Skeiðarárjökull tongue.

Further west, we visited the Vatnajökull National Park visitor center in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, where lava samples were on display. 

On the left is Apalhraun (A'a) lava filled with gas that makes it porous and its surface rugged. On the right is Stuðuli (basalt) lava, which forms hexagonal columns as it cools.

This is a good introduction to Eldhraun, the world's largest lava field, covering about 565 km² and located south of the Ring Road between Kirkjubæjarklaustur and Vík.

On June 8, 1783, preceded by several earthquakes, the Laki crater fissure opened, and approximately 12–14 km³ of basaltic lava poured over part of southern Iceland. The eruptions lasted until February 7, 1784, and are considered one of the largest documented in recorded history.

The eruption devastated much of southern Iceland. Approximately 10,000 people (about 20% of the population) died from famine and fluorine poisoning, as toxic gases destroyed livestock and crops. In Iceland, this is called Móðuharðindin (the fog disaster), as aerosols spread across the Northern Hemisphere, causing crop failures and a cooler summer. Some historians think that the poor harvests in France and the resulting famines were one trigger of the  Revolution.

The vegetation is hraungambri (fringed moss) that thrives on nutrient-poor, porous lava rock because it absorbs water and nutrients not through roots but through a fine network of leaves. Over about 250 years, a thick, cottony-soft layer of moss has formed, up to 40-60 cm thick in places. When dry, it appears grayish-white (little rain in Iceland, too), but when wet it glows a rich green. The moss is extremely delicate, which is why it is only allowed to walk along marked trails. Once trampled, the moss takes decades to recover.

Low-hanging clouds and a little church

Vík, Iceland's southernmost town, is not far from Dyrhólaey, the southernmost point of the Icelandic mainland.

Tourists were everywhere, and a cheeky fly had settled on the sign.

  

Dyrhólaey (door hill island) is thought to have formed 80,000 years ago in a submarine volcanic eruption. 

Atlantic waves have since eroded the black lava columns, forming the sand and leaving vertical cliffs.

Looking south, you notice a gigantic black arch of lava standing in the sea, eroded by the waves. The rock protrusion extending from the mainland, with the hole, gave the peninsula its name, Dyrhólaey (door hill island).

As promised by the tour operator, we not only enjoyed a spectacular view of the coastline, but since it was summer, we had the chance to spot numerous adorable puffins.

In German, these cute birds are called Papageientaucher (parrot divers).

We continued toward Reykjavík and passed the Skógafoss waterfall.

The Eyjafjallajökull and Myrdaljökull glaciers. To the left is Iceland's capital, Reykjavík

The river Skóga is fed by meltwater from the Eyjafjallajökull and Myrdaljökull glaciers. When the water reaches the cliffs, it rushes down as a beautifully shaped waterfall: Skógafoss, 15 m wide and 62 m high.

These cliffs formed from marine erosion at the end of the last Ice Age, when the sea level was much higher than it is now. As the glacier melted and its weight lifted, the land rose out of the sea.

Our ever-concerned tour guide, Andrí, is looking for his flock.

©Steinninn/Wikipedia

After we arrived in Reykjavík, we visited a national shrine. In front of the church stands the statue of Leif Eiríksson, the Iceland-born early explorer of the Americas.

Hallgrímskirkja* is a Lutheran parish church in Reykjavík built in Icelandic modernism and natural aesthetics. The form is inspired by basalt columns. It is Iceland's largest church and, at 74 meters, the country's second-tallest building.

*The church is named after the Church hymn writer and cleric Hallgrímur Pétursson

Since its completion in 1986, it has been regarded not only as Reykjavík's architectural landmark but also as an important symbol of Iceland's national identity.

I focused on the statue of Christ on the left.

The statue is a replica of the original located in Copenhagen Cathedral (Vor Frue Kirke). Kristus is considered one of the most significant works of Scandinavian classicism by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.

But this artwork in the church's northern aisle intrigued me.

Known as Madonna And Child, Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik

A stained-glass window depicts Mary and the Baby Jesus. A Marian chapel in a Lutheran church? Red Baron asked ChatGPT.

Hallgrímskirkja received the stained-glass window of the Virgin Mary as a gift, and indeed parishioners initially found its acceptance controversial. However, the church is not simply decorated in a Catholic style; rather, Mary is understood here in a Christological sense: the focus is not on Mary, but on the Christ Child.

In an ancient Christian iconographic tradition, Mary sits with the Christ Child in a cosmic, star-filled heavenly setting. She appears here not as a realistic mother, but as the Theotokos (God-bearer).

The Christ Child spreads his arms wide, which can be understood as a reference to his later crucifixion. In this way, the depiction links Christ's birth and Passion.

Were these also the reasons why Luther, despite his aversion to all saints, venerated the Mother of God throughout his life — and why there is a St. Mary's Church in Wittenberg and the Church of "Our Lady" in Dresden?

This ends the heptalogy of my Iceland blogs, as there are:

My Icelandic Diary

On Yule Lads, Alðingi and BCPPs

Of Craters, Rural Postmen, and Cruise Ships

Grenjaðarstaður and Myvátn

Dimmuborgir, Dettifoss and Hverarönd

Rjúkandafoss, Reyðarfjörður, Djúpivogur and Jökulsárlón

and this blog.

Goodbye, Iceland.