And just like that, a new collection is born!
It's a longer story than this, going back to trips to England where our hosts were constantly on the lookout for Green Men, especially in churches. Then recently we heard of a German friend who found a Green Man somewhere here in the Netherlands and Astrid and I were immediately like WHAT!!! HERE???
Believe it or not, there's even a Dutch database that tells you where you can find them. So, without having to think twice about it, we pointed our finger and picked nearby DEVENTER, 120 km from home, for our first search.
But, for starters, what are Green Men?
The Green Man is a legendary being primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the
cycle of new growth that occurs every spring...most commonly depicted in a sculpture, or other
representation of a face which is made of, or completely surrounded by, leaves. [Wiki]
...and, I might add, any variation thereof!
Hold onto your seatbelt because this is also a post about Deventer. But I will clearly indicate WHAT images are Green Men along the way.
Because we started the day at city center (after a latte macchiato, of course),
De Waag Museum had our full attention, the oldest weighing house in the Netherlands, from 1528.
No Green Men there but plenty of faces.
Next door, however, we were in luck at The Three Herrings from 1567.
Nope, not these faces, though I wonder?
But THIS one, at the top. A bit wild and unruly?
A zig and a zag from there was the VVV (information center) behind the Albert Schweitzer statue.
This Green Man is as clear as they come. No question at all.
At that point it was time to eat lunch, during which we had a delightful downpour of rain.
Can you see De Waag Museum there in our line of view (top-left)?
It was the perfect location for a respite...
...and to show how carefully everything was set up for safe-distancing and hand-sanitizing.
We felt perfectly safe at all times.
Right around the corner from lunch were more Green Men, on the Kantongerecht District Court.
These faces were also there but supposedly not Green Men? I liked them anyway.
This is a classic and unmistakable Green Man on Spijkerboorsteeg (an alley).
On Rijkmanstraat are these 2 (almost identical) Green Men.
Why do so many of them look so mean and devilish? To scare the evil spirits away?
Thankfully a few cherubs showed up to lighten the day.
See what I mean!
These are not in the database as Green Men but I wonder. Lions, yes.
But maybe my English friends know if the others are Green Men?
At this point it was time to spend the rest of our time in the St. Lebuinus Church from 1450.
Notice that, absent pews, they're able to nicely distance the chairs.
Supposedly there are 3 such Green Men on the church ceiling but this is the only one we found.
I don't think I would have known this was considered a Green Man, so I got my education.
Still, everything else on the ceiling was worth the visit.
A sermon in Old Dutch: Vrees Godt (Fear God), Dient Godt (Serve God),
Looft Godt (Praise God), Eert Godt (Honor God), Danck Godt (Thank God).
By the end of our time there, our necks were "cracked," so to speak.
You know me with needing to see the organ and pulpit (for Mom and Dad).
Not only the ceiling had frescoes.
We even had time to light a candle for two important people who died that day and the day before,
one being my grandson Nicholas' other Grammy with red hair and named Virginia.
The day before my best English friend, Lis, lost her husband of 35 years, age 83.
It was time to start back to the car, catching 3 more Green Men, these two first from Assenstraat.
And then one more at the Bergkerk/St. Nicholas Church from 1209.
We took time to only pop in to find the Green Man, and then headed back to our car.
I wonder what my preacher dad would think of a Green Man carved in his pulpit.
My guess is he would get a kick out of it and would love telling jokes about it.
With that, I leave you with more impressions from the day...
Bikes.
Gable stones.
Misc. faces.
Deventer misc.
And so we start this Green Man journey here in the Netherlands. Who knew! Next up, Astrid says, is Delft. Remember, we have a database, so it's like a scavenger hunt!
The green men are such interesting people.
ReplyDeleteThe church from 1450...how was it done during that time? Incredible. Vision and execution...perfection.
Green Men make for a great collection, Marie. I'm newly excited! :) And yes, how is it possible that they built such grandiose structures so long ago!
DeleteOh, this was very very interesting to see and read.
ReplyDeleteMaar een goede vertaling voor green man weet ik eigenlijk niet.
Astrid wel ?
Maar wat een erge mooie leuke en interessante log is dit.
Prachtige stukjes Deventer laat jij ons zien.
Astrid says she knew nothing about Green Men until we started learning about them from our friends in England, so she's as surprised as I am that they're also here in the Netherlands. It's going to be a fun journey, going to different Dutch cities now to find them. :) Whenever you get to Deventer, you will love it, I know.
DeleteIk heb op www opgezocht maar green man zijn "sluitstenen" in het Nederlands en die bestaan veel in gebogen rijen van stenen
DeleteYes, inderdaad, Marjolein. The Green Man database (https://www.abedeverteller.nl/groene-mannen-van-nederland/) shows where most of them are in the cities/towns around the Netherlands. That's why we're going to start our hunts now, next in Delft. :)
DeleteWhat a great adventure! Loved reading about the green men!
ReplyDeleteAnd the adorable town of Deventer! Thanks so much for sharing the adventure!
Hugs and love,
Robin
You know me, Robin. Have to get in on all the excitement! :)
DeleteIt always surprise me what we see in a day and now it is extra fun to have a goal to see how many of these Green Man we can "catch". A very impressive post you made, Ginnie. Deventer is one on the list to see more than once and show to visitors to come. IHVJ.
ReplyDeleteDeventer was the perfect place to start our hunt for Green Men, Astrid! Now that we both have the bug, we have many goals for the days and months and years to come! Thanks, as always, for being my Partner in Crime. :)
DeleteAll so beautiful! I LOVE those old brick buildings, wow. It astonishes me that once again you discovered a place like this, packed with SO much, previously undiscovered by you! Well we know what a treasure it is to live where you are. Green Men are fun and right up your alley for a new collection. Did we tell you that Don's mom had a large fancy dish cabinet with a Green Man on it? Lesley had it for a while and then sold it. It was too massive for their little house. Wish we'd taken a photo so you could see it.
ReplyDeleteI love that you can picture where we live, Ruth. This is so important to me. I actually had a small collection of Green Men hanging on one of our walls in my past life and brought one of them with me to the Netherlands, hanging on the wall above our DVDs. I should take a photo of it. But it's different from what we see here in Europe. Hmmm.
Deletewow.... love that pulpit. I make it a point to click the pulpit of every church I visit.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Haddock. Since my dad was a preacher all of his life, I make sure I pay attention to each pulpit in every church we enter!
DeleteWhat an interesting post. I was not aware of the Green Men or knew their name. I think I may have seen some in old French churches but I’m not sure where. I believe there is one on a 4th century tomb at the St Hilaire le Grand church near Poitiers, France. But I read that there are many more in Nepal and India – so Ginny you’ll have to travel to these countries to catch them.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are lovely as usual - nice that you can get out. Here the virus is raging (just heard there were 12,478 new cases today in Florida alone.) Georgia and Tennessee are not doing well so I’m not venturing out because masks are not imposed and many refuse to wear one – It’s against their freedom they say. D. Trump today repeated on TV that the virus is disappearing …so he won’t do a thing. I was supposed to go visit my cousin in Alsace, France, in September – I can’t now.
I actually had some Green Men in Atlanta, Vagabonde, bought at fairs/festivals over the years. But they're not exactly like what we see here in Europe. I'm on a mission now to visit cities here that I've visited before but now to make sure we find the Green Men!
ReplyDeleteI hate what's happening in America these days in regards to the Coronavirus. It makes me sick to see the lack of leadership. God have mercy on us all.