Groningen City Boundary Markers - Book I

This is the ninth blip in the Groningen City Boundary Marker series. This is the last actual boundary marker, but there is one more work of art in the city centre that also belongs to the project.

For this marker I have chosen to do HDR and make it look more surreal, because the whole marker is surreal by itself and then there's the adventure we had in getting this shot... I went to this marker together with my oldest girls Nienke and Inge. When we arrived I tried turning the car around on the small road but I failed and got stuck in the mud. Nienke and Inge started crying but I kept my cool... Still, I couldn't get the car out by myself and in the end I called my parents who quickly came to rescue us. Thanks a lot mom and dad, you're the best!

With my parents on their way, Nienke and Inge were convinced that we would be rescued so we walked to the boundary marker and started shooting. By now, Nienke and Inge are also interested in photography and they came up with the following shots:

Inge with the old Kodak camera; picture taken by Nienke
Me looking at my camera; picture taken by Inge
Nienke with our Panasonic compact camera; picture taken by Inge

Previous entries in the city boundary marker series:

Book C
Book R
Book U
Book O
Book N
Book N
Book G
Book A

This map shows the location of all the boundary markers (see below for explanation of the letters assigned to the markers). The sign next to this marker says:

For centuries, town borders were marked by walls and fortifications interspersed with highly decorated gates. The gates gave the outside world access to the towns and opened them up to the surrounding countryside. Many of the old walls and gates were pulled down in the 19th century, when towns lost their traditional shape. Groningen received the town charter in 1040. As part of the celebrations to mark is 950th anniversary, it was decided to erect a series of markers indicating the boundaries of the city and spelling its ancient name CRUONINGA. The project has been designed by Daniel Libeskind.

Heiner Muller's contribution is a tribute to Luigi Nono, the Italian musician who died in 1990. Light, sound text and maps on concrete blocks tell the suffering which people inflict on one another, both casually and in an organized way. This phenomenon is as old as mankind itself. Music provides the counterweight, a binding element which breaks through the confines of earthly reality.