#greifswald

[vintagegermany]

Greifswald, Germany 1900

[benkaden]

Ansichstkarte

Greifswald-Schönwalde Neuer Stadtteil

Berlin: PLANET-VERLAG BERLIN (A 4/74 606 02 01 03 035)

1974

[peoplematchingartworks]

[thirstytearex]

Sölkensee Weitenhagen, Germany Mai 2026

Sölkensee is a natural preserve for all kinds of amphibians, reptiles, bugs and birds. If you are quiet enough you can watch snakes bathe in swampy water and boast in the sun. There is also some frogs and fishes in the lake.

[whoisnancy1]

Merry Christmas

 I can feel the cold in my feet and the snow in the breeze, and yet I get sad when my mother denies ice cream.

I know you would say she is right. I always knew you would take her side.

I haven’t left my room since dawn. One may say: lazy Christmas— so lazy I did nothing at all.

So I write to you as the joy of warmth gets overshadowed by a gloomy day. Where is my Christmas spirit? It left to haunt someone else today.

Maybe you.

So don’t get scared— but run to catch it, if you dare.

Some are wondering what they did, some are wondering what to do. I think of this year’s end, but everyone thinks of what is new.

So I close the letter, shove it in my pocket, and go on a secret walk outside.

When I turn toward you, I make sure no one sees me, so that I don’t have to hide.

I walk to you and give a kiss, and your favourite candy that I never miss.

I place the letter under your name, and under your epitaph— that was lame.

I bought a jacket because you hate the cold. I sneaked it out through my window.

So I sat beside you, thinking of our Christmas Day and the get-together that you hate.

And yes, I bought you a gift, but you’ll have to wait.

And oh—your mom is coming tonight with your loving wine cake. And I am lucky that I don’t have to share, but unlucky that now you don’t care.

I wish you ate it one last time. And did I forget to tell you? I made key lime pie.

Yes, I burned it a little on the side, but I wish you could still snatch it all and I would be alright.

And last Christmas you said we would match, so I wore a red dress— as I know I buried you in red.

And I hate that you didn’t send flowers to my door. I hate to tell you the last ones are still at my desk, left to rot.

And no, there is no mistletoe. I don’t want your ghost to wander and haunt the whole floor.

And no, I didn’t decorate my room— who would judge? Who would question the little gingerbread hut?

But yes, Mom decorated the Christmas tree, and yes, your sister and I went on a shopping spree.

There is so much to tell, but I should stop. Mom must be waiting for her welcoming job.

And I wish you could just leave this place and walk me home. I wish you could kiss me under the mistletoe.

So I kiss you back, but my hands are cold. I must walk all alone.

And I hope you have your wish list. And I wish you a Merry Christmas

[videquod]

[diemelusine]

Chalk cliffs at Rügen (c. 1819) by Caspar David Friedrich. Kunst Museum Winterthur.

[gregdotorg]

In addition to the windows of handblown glass the color of the rainbow, Olafur Eliasson installed a heliostat across the street from the St Nikolai Cathedral in Greifswald, Germany, so that instead of once, sunlight would hit the windows multiple times each day.

image: Olafur Eliasson, Window for Moving Light, 2024, photo by Jens Ziehe