Aachen 

Sometimes I have to go for work all the way to the south of Limburg which is pretty close to the nearest of all photos published by Kurt Hielscher. From Heerlen to Aachen it was less than half an hour drive. From my house the 166 km takes more than two hours. The photo from the Dom in Aachen I found on the website of Wolfgang Henkel, but I did not have it in my edition of the book. This way I learned that the different editions of the albums of Kurt Hielscher might have different content. So I took a copy of the photo from the website of Wolfgang Henkel when I went to Aachen. Later I managed to achieve also an earlier edition with the photo from the Dom in Aachen in it. For the occasion, I also bought an environmental sticker for my car to be allowed to go into the city center. Now, nearly three years later I can conclude it was the only time that I actually needed the sticker. Ofcourse I went to Germany more often later, but each time that was with the campervan.

I already knew I had to take it from an opposite building so I needed to have some luck some resident would help me out. After figuring out from which window the photo must have been taken and to which doorbell the window belonged to, I tried a few. I got some great help, first from VOM FASS and then from the ladies from BABOR Beauty SPA, though I had to wait some 15 minutes for the 2nd employee to come back from lunch. Finally, they let me upstairs accompanied so without leaving the cash desk unattended downstairs conform the shopregulations.

The entrance of the beauty center at the opposite site of the building so you have to cross to the otherdside to get a view on the Dom.

In the Aachener Dom, initiated in 804 ASD, 30 kings were crowned, Otto I being the first one in 936 AD. Its dome is 32 meters high. During WWII, the Dom remained largely undamaged. Only a few stained-glass windows were broken, and it was the first German monument to be placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978. unfortunately I did not get into the cathedral since I lacked the time and had to go back to The Netherlands to move on with my work.

Early spring with street musicians and people enjoying the sun. I also got a glimpse from some full terraces but, unfortunately did not take the time for a coffee nor even took the time to check th ecenter more widely.

And then I came back on May 25th 2024 on the occasion of my work for UNICEF: the UNICEF University Summit, a gathering with Student Teams, Hochschulgruppen, from all over Germany. But again I did not manage to make the photo in the footsteps of Kurt Hielscher, this time, because the shop was just closed an hour before I arrived, but I did took the opportunity to visit the Dom from the inside. 

With UNICEF at the Katschhof.

The Dom from the inside

And this is the result: