74/365 Tuesday, 03/15/2011

These caryatides which adorned the entrance to the building next to mine in Wiesbaden are a prime example of the neo-classical architecture that dominates the downtown area. The excellent German wikipedia page on Wiesbaden tells us that most of the downtown area's buildings were built between 1850 and 1914, which was Wiesbaden's heyday not the least because the city became a favorite summer residence of Kaiser Wilhelm II. This area also managed to remain fairly unscathed during World War II, unlike it's neighbor on the other side of the Rhein Mainz where over 80% of the city center was destroyed. Perhaps it is because I have been in America for quite a long time now, but it felt really cool to be living in a building/street where one got to walk by these lovely ladies on a regular basis! See my "Wiesbaden in March" flickr set for more impressions of the city.