Kees' photos

Poor lonesome dachshund heading south along the Gregoriweg, Icking.

Ludwig Dürr's first Icking house dates from 1903. This is a shot of his second house from 1909 which he, again, built for himself and his family. It was aptly called “Luginsland” (Countryside View), but as the photo shows is no longer entitled to that name: it's surrounded now by a high forest. I don't feel too sad about that: extensions and changes have adulterated it.

Detail of the Little Red Riding Hood Fountain (Am Kosttor, Munich).

Dieser malerische Weiher in Irschenhausen wimmelte von Fischen, als ich vorbei kam. Ich vermute, daß sie auf den größeren Versionen dieses Bildes sogar sichtbar sind, dicht unter der Wasseroberfläche. Er ist benannt nach der Familie Stocker, die im Haus dahinter wohnt. Hans Stocker war Fäßler von Beruf, und 24 Jahre lang Bürgermeister Ickings; er starb anfang des Jahres im Alter von 84 Jahren. This picturesque pond at Irschenhausen was full of fish as I passed by. I fancy, on the larger versions of this picture, you can even see them –swarming just beneath the water surface. It is named after the Stockers, who live in the house in the background. Hans Stocker was a barrel maker by profession and had been Icking’s mayor for 24 years; he died earlier this year, aged 84.

The Munich Residence reflected in the windows of the Max Planck building, on the other side of the road. The contrast between old and modern is a bit obvious, perhaps...

A view from my room in the Bavarian Academy. In the background you can see the Opera, opposite on the left is the Spanish Cultural Institute. The Instituto Cervantes (as it is called) forms the head of a wing in which theater scenery is kept. Actually, it is part of the scenery itself: it was built after the war in the same style as the surrounding part of the Residence; behind this façade the wing continues in a much more businesslike manner. Ugly, hiding the nice church on the right (damaged in the war and restored just a few years ago), and destroying what once was a square, the Marstallplatz.

Ohne Ludwig Dürr wäre Icking wohl nie geworden, was es jetzt ist: er entdeckte das Dorf für die Welt. Er liegt begraben im kleinen Friedhof bei der alten Ickinger Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche. Without Ludwig Dürr Icking wouldn’t have been what it is now: he discovered the village for the world. He was buried in the small graveyard surrounding the old Holy-Cross-Church.

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In ihrer heutigen Form wird die Ickinger Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche um 1500 datiert, aber Teile sind noch romanisch, und man nimmt an, daß ihre Ursprünge bis ins 8. Jh. zurückreichen. In der unmittelbaren Umgebung wurden frühmittelalterliche Reihengräber ausgegraben. In den 60er Jahren des vergangenen Jahrhunderts, nachdem die neue katholische Kirche erbaut worden war, war sie in einem schlechten Zustand und wurde fast abgerissen. Ausnahmsweise haben Ickinger Bürger sich erfolgreich darum bemüht, ihre kulturelle Erbschaft zu bewahren: die Kirche wurde restauriert und wird bis heute für spezielle Gelegenheiten benutzt. In its present form, the Icking Holy-Cross-church is dated around 1500, but parts of it are Romanesque, and it’s believed to have 8th C. origins. Nearby, early medieval graves have been excavated. In the 60ies of the last century, after the new Catholic church had been built, it was in bad shape and got very nearly demolished. For once, Icking citizens were successful in preserving their cultural heritage: the church was restored and is still being used for special occasions.

Ich weiß nicht, wieviele Leute an Ickings Alter Eiche vorbeigehen ohne sie bewußt wahrzunehmen... Sie steht an der Ecke von Wenzberg und Ludwig-Dürr-Straße. I don’t know how many people pass by without noticing Icking’s glorious Old Oak... It stands on the corner of the Wenzberg and the Ludwig-Dürr-Straße.

This is a fine example of the kind of houses Ludwig Dürr meticulously planned and built in our village. Its rural style and generous setting have little in common with the industrial parts every DIY superstore offers today, and which are typical for many Icking houses. The address? Ludwig-Dürr-Straße, of course!

Just a pile of wood, between Icking and Irschenhausen. The mix of two generations of wood was what made it interesting to me...

Heute ein Bioladen, war dies einmal der Kiosk von Matthias Steiger, wo er Schuhe reparierte und den Schülern des Ickinger Gymnasiums Süßwaren verkaufte. Ihm wurde ein Denkmal gesetzt in einem Zeit-Artikel von Stephan Lebert. This is what used to be the kiosk of Matthias Steiger. Hias Steiger repaired shoes and sold candy to school children who passed by on their way to the Icking gymnasium (not in the sense of “gym”!). He was full of stories and his shop was a social center of the village; you could find people like Gert (“Goldfinger”) Fröbe here hanging out in animated conversation. He would, for instance, tell you about his father who suffered from cancer of the throat, and couldn’t speak anymore; how he used two card boards to make his opinion known: one said “Yes”, the other one “Kiss my ass”... Of course, we haven’t known him ourselves and can only repeat the memories recorded by others, who did know him. Still, there is a strong connection between him and us: he lived in the house which is ours now, just on the other side of the tracks. He died in 1983 without ever having left Icking for more than eight hours. The shop now sells organic food, and is being run by an actress (Sherry, you’re not alone!). It is called “Paradieschen”, which you may translate as “Little Paradice”.

Bedauerlicherweise ist letzte Woche der Bürgermeister von Icking unerwartet verstorben. Der Vorfall warf einen dunklen Schatten über die Festivitäten dieses Jahres. Hier die Trauerfahne halbmast am Ickinger Maibaum. Sadly, last week the mayor of Icking suddenly died. The event cast a dark shadow over this year’s festivities.

From this perspective, the abandoned Icking ski jump still looks very much intact...

I don’t know about Gödel and Bach, but Escher definitely belongs to my home town Baarn...

This one is too dark, and it lacks detail in the dark parts. But I like it: the sky is beautiful, and I wouldn’t like the details I would have seen... I must have a polaroid filter some day (B+W 67mm Käsemann –always go for the best)...

Do you remember the Olympic Winter Games of 1936? They weren’t held here.