We doubled back to the Market Square, where Tom pointed out the Kielmeyer house from 1582. It is noted as one of the most impressive half-timbered houses in all of Germany. Originally built as a winepress, it has a relief of a winepress man on it. The house really catches your eye whilst walking through the square.
Kielmeyer House
We walked a short distance further, a little before noon, to the Rathaus, or Old Town Hall. Built in 1422-23 as a hall for selling things and a tax house, it is quite the amazing color and design. But I will get to that in a few paragraphs.
The astronomical clock was built from 1581-1589, with three different men in charge. It really is a thing of beauty. It moved around a bit, and was finally reinstalled where it belongs in 2007. It used to tell townspeople the time of day, the day of the week, the phases of the moon, the month, and the signs of the Zodiac. I'm sure there is other information I'm forgetting, but that's a pretty good summary for now.
One of the coolest aspects is the Drachenzeiger, or "Dragon Pointer." From second Wiki, which I'm not sure what
that site is:
The nodal line - the line connecting the two nodes - rotates once every 360 ° in the ecliptic every 18.61 years . Their direction of rotation is opposite to that of the sun and moon. [1] [2]
A solar or lunar eclipse only takes place when the sun and moon meet together in one of the two nodes. According to an old Chinese belief, the sun or the moon is devoured by a dragon (and then spat out again) when it is dark. This goes back to calling the pointer for the knot line the dragon pointer.
Let's get some looks at this clock, including the dragon pointer:
The Rathaus
The clocks.
The eagle flaps its wings
twelve times at noon.
The person in the middle changes at noonish
based on the day of the week. There on a
Thursday, we saw the whole seven days
parade on by.
The lion holding up the clocks.
The dragon, the moon, and the sun.
The clock, it's a bit after noon.
The dragon pointer, or "Drachenzeiger."
The sun, or "Der Sonne" (not quite as
dramatic a word as for Dragon pointer).
We spun around and looked at Esslingen Castle high up on the hill. Not a residence, but it was the key part of the town fortifications. First record of it is from 1314, it was made bigger in the early 1500s. We never made it up there as we ran out of gas (it's not part of Tom's tour, but we certainly could have hiked up to it). Besides as a defensive tower, the castle also was used to keep an eye out for fires. A big fire could easily destroy a city.
I mentioned the castle primarily
because, well two reasons:
1. Castles are cool
2. It's an excuse to use this pic.
We then went to the side of the Rathaus, where Tom pointed out the "Swabian Man" design. It is one of a few buildings in Germany with that design. It is as though the timbers are in the shape of a man spreading his arms and legs to support the building. It makes for a very cool design.
View down side road.
Side of the town hall.
Close up of Swabian Man.
The bottom inner circle are
his legs. The middle circle shows
the trunk of the body. The
upper circle shows his arms
holding up the next level.
The drawings show why I
was never good in art.
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