Another country, another monument.

I pass this German soldier quite frequently in the course of a year....he's one of the features I got used too when I was living here the whole year round. He sits on top of a memorial pedestal which bears a German military cross and the words "Seinen tapferfen Söhnen" on it.


The soldier looks different every time I see him depending on the weather. The elements go to work, the weather changes and he does too.

Suddenly he's magestic in winter snow. Early in spring the branches are still bare as if something's missing, by the time summer comes around he is almost cheerful-looking as village life passes by at a happier, jauntier pace.


I had the feeling this evening that, unlike the rest of life which benefits immensely from this season's rush of colour, autumn brings the worst out of him but maybe I'm overdoing it a bit.

Either way, the soft light sinking across the Seidmannsdorf hills was stunning, perfect for the kind of portrait I had in mind..

In November, villagers from the area remember their war dead here, place wreaths at his feet and that, more or less, is it for another twelve months.

What never changes are the lists of names of the young men who left the villages of Löbelstein, Rögen and Rohrbach (to name but three,) and never returned.