More Münster Churches: Part 2

Today's Münster churches come to you with a very special twist!  It so happens that 'M', Philine's best friend in Münster, joined us on Saturday (back on February 8th) to show us some masterpieces of her father's handiwork in stained glass and mosaics.

First of all, let me introduce you to Ludwig Baur:

August 26, 1904 - September 8, 1977 (with further bio)

He was a devote catholic who dedicated his life to his art.

Lucky for us, we got to visit 3 churches where we viewed his craftsmanship.

 We drove first to the Catholic Church of St. Joseph, built in 1894.

See the glass work with only hints of color?  It's his work, all of it, from 1950.

(the details are explained here)

But it's the Madonna and Child alcove that set this church apart for me.

His mosaic work is intricate and colorful, with doves of peace flying overhead.

A huge pillar stands nearby with these 2 guardians.

I so wanted to know what they were there for!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

From St. Joseph's we drove to the Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit, built in 1928.

There was actually a contest for the architectural design as well as for the interior glass and art.

 Guess who won the contest for the latter!

(the details are explained here)

Can you imagine looking at this scene above the altar each Sunday!

'M' used her trusty book to describe everything to us.

She was so calm, cool and collected.  I would have been popping my buttons with pride!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

From that point we drove 10km outside of Münster, to Telgte, where 'M' grew up with her parents and 2 siblings.  It's a town of just under 20K inhabitants, best known for its annual pilgrimage dedicated to the Black Madonna, the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It's Germany's second largest pilgrimage.

We were in for a real treat!

 As we entered the town from the parking lot, we passed this mosaic marker.

Guess who did the mosaic work!

(Pay attention to the Black Madonna and the Chapel, coming up.)

 But first things first.  It was time for lunch...at the Alter Gasthof Seiling.

If you want real German food, that's the place to eat, 'M' said.

 And because it was right there on the town square, we walked around afterwards.

Did you ever hear about the town crier...and about not looking a gift-horse in the mouth?

And see that delightful Markt Café (top-left)?

(hold that thought....

...while we first check out the markers all over the square's coblestones)

That's where we had koffie to follow up our real German lunch!

Yes, we ate lunch in one place and then walked across the square for koffie and dessert.

Don't you love how the Europeans do these things!

THEN we were ready to see the Chapel of the Black Madonna (Gnadenkapelle).

This chapel, at the doorstep of the St. Clemens church, was built expressly for her in 1654.

Small.  Intimate.  Cozy.  Built for the pilgrimage.  

This Sorrowful Mother (Black Madonna) is from 1370, 

connected to Mother Earth and the ancient goddesses.

Right next door is the Catholic Church of St. Clemens, built in 1522 on the River Ems.
(you can see how close it is to the chapel in the top-right image above)

Everything means something with these churches, of course.
It would take a lot of digging to unearth it all, I'm sure.

But THIS is what we were there to see.  The stained-glass masterpeices of Lugwig Baur from 1947-52!
Those right-bottom images are for separate municipalities in the area.
Only the bottom-center tower window is not his, from 1878.
(the details are explained here)

Another magnificent church made special because of a personal connection!

And since we were right there, we walked across the street to see the River Ems
and Dümmert Park on the other side of the bridge...with LOVE PADLOCKS!
"Thanks for 40 years."  Isn't that sweet!

Walking through the park on our way back to the car, we saw the fish dams
and the statue of the Judas Kiss....and the new crocusses starting to bloom.

Back at the parking lot, who could miss this work of art!  Bucheum:
It apparently drives around Münsterland with fairy tales and stories for children of all ages.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Later that evening, after we all had a rest, we drove over to 'M's lovely home...

...for a "lite" supper and fellowship that took us long into the evening.
And while we had dined with her there 3+ years before, this was different.
This was the pure cementing of a friend for life, made more special because of her father!

'M' is one year my senior.  We could be sisters.  We ARE sisters.
And now I know for sure our dads would just love getting to know each other!
My dad, the Preacher.
Her dad, the Church Painter.
Oh, and Astrid's dad, the Trumpeter/Musician.

ANTWERP, Belgium: Part 1

True to form, it's taking me two weeks to get all my Antwerp photos processed!  So, let's start at the very beginning....

Antwerp is only an hour's drive, 100 km, from our apartment here in the Netherlands.  To give even me some perspective, it took us an hour to get to the airport from where I used to live in Atlanta.  That's nothing!  But when you think about it being in another country from where we live now, it just seems farther away.  But it's not!

If you need to cover your eyes, do it now and skip this collage....

but if we can't take a joke, right!?!

This was the first corner where our cameras got busy as we walked towards city center!

Robin had already warned us about it when she was there recently.

 By now you know that the market square is the center of these wonderful European cities.

The town hall and the guild houses mark the perimeter of the square.

The huge Christmas tree was up, ready to be trimmed, probably the following week.

And see that statue (bottom left above)?

Yup.  That's the giant's hand being thrown into the Scheldt River. 

The giant, Druon Antigoon, severed the hand of anyone who wouldn't pay his tax to cross the river.

Eventually, he was slain by a young Roman soldier named Brabo, 

who cut off the giant's own hand and flung it into the river.

Thus the name of the city, Antwerpen = hand and werpen = hand throwing.

And with that history, we were ready for our koffie met appeltaart!

Energy for the Church of Our Lady, to be exact....

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, a Roman Catholic church.

One of those churches you see from almost everywhere in the city!

And then you go inside.  Very Roman Catholic!

In fact, more Roman Catholic you cannot get.

Besides, the country itself is a Roman Catholic country

(compared to the Netherlands, which is Dutch Reformed).

So, Madonna niches were everywhere as we walked around.

Everywhere means everywhere!

(Does it make up for the first collage???)

Don't you love how some things really catch your attention?

Umbrella in Dutch and French is parapluie.

See how it stands in the shadows of Our Lady!

 Robin had also told us about the Goossens bakery from 1884.

The site tells you to be prepared for a long line.  They're not kidding.

But it was totally worth it.

And how can you resist these penguins just waiting to be captured!

By then our appetite was fully whetted.

Astrid had been dreaming of mussels for as long as we were planning the trip!

She can have them!  And I enjoyed my pork medallions.

Lovely.  At De Kleine Post. 

We then took our time, as it started getting dark, to walk back to our car.

Lots of window shopping, getting ready for Christmas.

We got a good night's sleep at a nearby hotel and prepared for the next day.  To be continued....