2009-06-15

slag heap, woods,  stairs

Slag heap stairs

In the middle of the wild, untended forest north of Malstatt, you will find this grey mound — a slag heap from an old mine. On the top is a rustic plaque with the following inscription:
Auf der Spitze der 91-jährigen silbergrauen Schlackenhalde des Steinbachschachts hat sich eine Betula pendula angesiedelt und beobachtet dich. Das wärs schon für den Augenblick, das muß genügen.

(On the top of the 91-year old, silver grey slag heap of the Steinbach Shaft a Betula Pendula has made its home and is watching you. That is all for the moment, it will have to be enough)

Ellen Diesel 1994

11 comments:

  1. It's a bit strange, but again looks familiar, even trees the same as here!
    Have a nice week:)

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  2. A kind of mystery mood to let fly the imagination, great post!

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  3. joo:It's a bit strange, but again looks familiar, even trees the same as here!

    I am not surprised the trees are similar. The woods around Saarbrücken were cultivated for use in the coal mines. I imagine the same is true in Upper Silesia.

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  4. Carraol: A kind of mystery mood to let fly the imagination

    Mystery indeed! Who is Ellen Diesel? And did anyone celebrate the 100th anniversary of this silver grey giant?

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  5. That's interesting, and I just discovered that a Betula pendula is a Silver Birch tree. So we have a silver birch on top of a silver slag heap.
    Cheers!

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  6. Love the stairs in the middle of the forest. Sounds like their is a mystery to be solved there...

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  7. I don't understand the inscription, do you? Why is the tree watching me? Is it an official plaque? Did you google Ellen Diesel?
    Fragen über Fragen ... ;-)

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  8. I would be happy to be watched by a birch tree...I always think that the marks of their bark look like eyes anyway. Is the tree big or small?

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  9. Martina: Google? And spoil mystery?

    Well, Google comes up with several links. Link number two is to this page, which is not much help. Otherwise, Ellen Diesel would appear to be either a porn star, whose works include "Passion of Ass", or a writer from the Saarland, who in 1990 was the Stadtteilautorin from Von der Heydt, Saarbrücken. Given that the pit heap is a kilometre or so from Von der Heydt, I think the second Ellen Diesel is the more likely author of the plaque.

    The only mystery now is what is a Stadtteilautorin? Does every little village in Germany have its own Poet Laureate?

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  10. Of course we have - this is the "Land der Dichter und Denker" ... ;-)

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