A long weekend in March to the historical city of Aachen, with plenty of cameras and film, an appetite for some history and local beers. We had it all, except for good weather and people. Come join me for a tour around the old town of Charlemagne’s resting place.
This is is a bit of a long post. Oh, and if you don’t like cathedrals, you’re welcome to look away now. I’ve been sitting on these negatives for ages, however not overly unsurprising as these are from a trip back in March, just a few short weeks before everything got turned on its head.
A bit more about the trip
The idea was a long weekend from London, somewhere in continental Europe, but relatively accessible by train. Aachen came to mind as I’ve gone through there many times on the Frankfurt - Brussels train, but never actually visited. It is also surprisingly easy to get to: a 2 hour Eurostar train to Brussels, and just over an hour from there to Aachen on the Brussels to Frankfurt ICE route. It is actually Germany’s most western city, and holds an incredibly important place in the history of both Germany and Europe. I remember studying about Charlemagne in history in college, but I had no idea this is where he was buried. I was looking forward to a weekend of history, beers, and hopefully some good photograph opportunities. You can read more about the fascinating history of this early Roman town here.
A bit more about my gear
I decided to shoot mainly black & white, somehow thinking that historical scenes would work better. Also the weather at this time of year (Feb/March time) was not overly optimistic. I opted for a few rolls of Ilford HP5 as I figured ISO 400 would be sufficient for most lighting situations, and worst case I could push the film. It would also be easier to develop these all at once at home. These rolls were all shot on my Leica. I did pack 1 roll of colour film just in case along with my Kodak Retina camera, but that plan failed as the camera packed up and stopped working after apparently just looking at it, so back into my bag it went.
Not a bad weekend setup, if you ask me!
One of my favourite photo angles at St. Pancras Station, London. I took these shot ages ago on my Hasselblad Xpan and it was really effective, see that photo here.
A rather large statue to the front entrance of the station. Completely overexposed due to bright lighting coming in from the roof, a fact that comes back to haunt me when I try to print a photograph from the negative…
The long journey to getting a decent print!
Funnily enough this is one of my favourite shots. I really like the reflection in the window and inherent travel mood by people heading in the direction of their carriage.
First stop: Brussels.
I’m a big fan of frames within a frame.
Somewhere in the French countryside.
Arrival to Aachen on a German ICE train that follows the Brussels to Frankfurt route. You can just about make me out in the reflection.
My first shot in Aachen. Nighttime under the cathedral. We walked around and around (and around) that Cathedral many times over the course of the weekend!
Not bad for being shot handheld. A big tent setup for carnival time. Actually the city was quite empty as I imagine many headed to Cologne for the main carnival event. There were sporadic displays across Aachen, with everyone dressed up like Charlemagne. A bigger procession and sweet throwing (apparently this is tradition) occurred on Sunday (at which point I had ran out of film and grown tired of poor weather).
Not the happiest couple in the world, under the Aachen Cathedral. There are actually more statues around this small pond, apparently with a deeper meaning (more on that here).
A bit underexposed but I like how the finer details of the Cathedral come out.
One of my prints from the trip: Conor taking aim with his Mamiya.
Impressive architecture.
Probably the best angle I took of the Cathedral. It is a pity that the main view towards it was covered by the tent for the carnival festivities.
Another focused shot!
Shot of the Cathedral from the treasury building courtyard.
I really like this shot, the many different tones and shapes, definitely one to keep to print!
Probably one of the largest model train set (and any vehicle) shops in the world.
Had to show this shot off my phone too.
Contact sheet ready for some printing!
I shot a roll of Ilford Delta 3200 at night and then messed up on the development, so only managed to rescue a handful of shots.
A phone shot of city hall as I think it came out better than most of the film shots I took!
“Charlemagne after a marathon” (…still cracks me up)
It looks like they’re about the get into trouble with the policeman!
And off they went down the street, gun at the ready…
These processions occurred all day and just as you turned round a new corner of the city you would see another one.
And then they were a crowd!
The interior of Aachen Dom
“You’ll be amazed by the mosaics”, I was told. A comment to which I didn’t pay that much attention to until I walked inside the cathedral itself. “In awe”, “speechless”, or any other such word would be what I would use to describe the mosaics. I just had to have some colour shots so decided to include some phone shots in the gallery below. Whilst the black & white brings out a lot of the sharp detail, it really does no justice to the amazing and indeed awe inspiring colours inside.
The Byzantine-style mosaics are littered all over the interior of the cathedral, whichever way you look, with a really cool
You can read a detailed description of each area of the mosaics here.
I’m sure there were some heavy heads after drinking these!
Plenty of ‘Kolsch’ was drank over the weekend!
Overall observations
Despite going a bit crazy walking around in circles around the Cathedral over a long weekend and battling rain and bad lighting, we had a good weekend in Aachen. It is a pity that many people were obviously in Cologne for the Carnival, and I think this small city is very vibrant in the summer with loads of outdoor spaces for drinking and enjoying the good weather. That being said, a small thought to the importance of this city in general German and European history is quite amazing and humbling. If you didn’t know who Charlemagne was before arriving, you certainly would know when leaving. The Cathedral is quite unique, unlike any I have ever seen before, and the mosaics inside are really breathtaking and worth visiting. As a stopover to the rest of Germany (via train, of course), I would highly recommend a visit here for a day or two.
I’m undecided as to my film choice (now that I’ve had a few months to reflect on these shots), especially for the mosaics, which unfortunately I had to revert to my phone camera for shots. That being said, this trip ‘kept on giving’ from a photographic standpoint, and I thoroughly enjoyed the many prints I was able to get out of the few rolls of hp5 film. Well, except for that statue shot in St. Pancras Station, that nearly made me lose my mind after a few hours. Nothing like learning on the job though, and I learned loads about black & white photographs, ‘dodging and burning’, and the zone system.
I hope you enjoyed these shots and small overview of the old town of Aachen. Next time I will try to avoid a few months between photos taken and post written ;-)
See you next time!
Neil
