This year thus far has been rather hectic, with a new website to develop, another yet private project to finish, my work, knee problems and a cat that needed surgery. It thus was really a treat that I unexpectedly could join John from Adel in Nederland to a very special evening at nearby Landgoed Nienoord […]
Just back from a short trip with my mother to Leer, Germany. Only one hour by train from the city of Groningen it is my favourite place to travel to in the weeks before Christmas. The Christmas market in the main shopping street is not really interesting to me or my mother, but the Altstadt […]
Two weeks ago I took a two-day vacation. Due to Covid I didn’t dare to go away that far yet. But I managed to book a night in a hotel on the Island of Borkum in Germany. It turned out later on that the room had become vacant because of the pandemic. Lucky me, although […]
Not far from the Evenburg Castle in Leer-Loga you can find the Philippsburg Castle, the last grander building from before 1744, the year that East Frisia lost its independency. The castle was built in 1730 in Dutch style as residence of Freiherr Philipp von Wedel, wo named the building after himself. He also had a, […]
In an earlier post I mentioned that there are no less than four castles in the small town of Leer, East Frisia, Germany. In December I traced the Haneburg already. On Friday I did find the other three. Unfortunately the Harderwykenburg, situated near the centre, is hidden behind trees and fences. And I decided to […]
Did you know that East Frisia (Ostfriesland) in Germany once had its own counts from 1464 to 1654, and even its own Fürsten (princes) from 1654 to 1744? Then the Cirksena dynastie became extinct. The last woman died in 1761. Without much trouble the Prussians then claimed East Frisia. In Aurich is the family mausoleum. […]
