Osnabruck, where things are not what they seem

We spend the day in Osnabruck.  It turns out to be a surprising place.

The rest of the band don’t arrive until tomorrow and we had planned to visit the town of Hameln (of Pied Piper fame) today, some 40 miles to the east.  But it’s pouring with no sign of abating.  The main activities in Hamelin are (i) rat-based and (ii) out of doors, so we abandon that idea.  The weather app on Anniemay’s phone suggests that the rain might clear to the west so we decide to visit Osnabruck, some 40 miles in the opposite direction, instead.

We go by train, which is fun.

Osnabruck is a delightful place. The city and the surrounding area have featured in world history since Roman times.

So - the main blip.  Not much of a photo, but bear with me.

As we walk through the old market place we notice blue lines on the walls of the buildings on either side of the street.  They even appear on the roof of a Gothic church.  What is this blasphemous graffiti?  

The lines appear to curve in a random fashion and nothing makes sense.  

We’re fiddling about with our cameras when a kindly local points down the street. As we walk further away it still doesn’t make sense.  Then suddenly we find a spot - the spot.  Our random lines join up to form a series of interlocking circles which seem to float in space between the houses.  (See first extra.)  I hope you get the idea. (No photoshopping involved).

Just outside the railway station are what look like two large paper cups.  They’re actually made of iron and are about 3m high.  And they rotate.

One has cut-outs which look like Roman soldiers falling in battle.  We marvel at this but cannot work out what the other one is for.  On closer inspection the surface is covered with horizontal slits - and if you get really close, they turn out to be arrows.  When we stand behind this one, the rotation gives the effect of arrows flying through the air and as the other one rotates, the soldiers appear to fall.  This piece represents the battle of Teutoburg Forest, a few miles north of here, where in AD9, the Roman Army suffered a massive defeat at the hands of the local Germanic tribes.  (See second extra).

The third extra shows the town hall.

In the end it rained all day here as well but somehow it didn’t seem to matter.  What an amazing place.