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Eluveitie, Lacuna Coil, Infected Rain – Ategnatos-Tour – Turbinenhalle Oberhausen – 09.11.2019

Der Original-Artikel wurde bei stage2web veröffentlicht. Hier ist die englische Version.
The original article can be found under the link above (in german). Here you find the english version of the report.
Metal from Moldova, rock metal from Italy, folk metal from Switzerland – in this reading, the band line-up seemed much more coordinated than if you just looked at the names: INFECTED RAIN, LACUNA COIL and ELUVEITIE. The three are currently on tour together, sharing LACUNA COIL and ELUVEITIE as headliners. And that this mixture actually works quite well, you could experience on Saturday, 09.11.2019, in the Turbinenhalle 2 in Oberhausen.
Admission was scheduled for 6:30 pm, start of the concert at 7:10 pm. The show was probably not sold out, but getting to the venue can sometimes take an extremely long time due to traffic. Fortunately, on that Saturday, half an hour before admission, it went really quickly and the car park in front of Hall 2 was still very manageable. But that changed rapidly. While standing in the queue in front of the hall, you could watch the car park being filled up at a rapid pace – with cars and the ever-lengthening queue that skilfully snaked its way between the cars. Since the weather was not exactly the hottest, everyone was quite happy when the doors opened.
INFECTED RAIN started the evening at 7:10 pm. The metal band from Moldova was founded in 2008, but in the first years they were mainly known in their home country, before they went on a major tour through Romania with their first album “Asylum” (2011) and then also through Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria in 2013. In 2014, the second album “Embrace Eternity” was released and a European tour through 12 countries followed, which also made INFECTED RAIN known in our country. With album number three, everyone knew: you should really have them on your radar. They went on tour with LACUNA COIL, which made INFECTED RAIN even more famous, and in October of this year, the band around Lena Scissorhands followed up with album number four,” Endorphin”. Anyone who did not know INFECTED RAIN before has been a fan since last Saturday at the latest: Lena and her boys thrilled the hall from the very first moment. Not only because of the excellent music, or the pretty Lena, or her terrific singing skills, but also because of the charismatic characters who were on stage and had the audience wrapped around their fingers in no time. Most of the attention was drawn by Lena with her white polka dot dress and the colourful dreads, but the show of the boys was also impressive. This was no inexperienced, small support group on stage, but an already experienced band that knew exactly what the audience wanted and delivered exactly that with a lot of fun, joy and passion. It was a little sad when suddenly it was „Last Song“ … Definitely not the last performance of INFECTED RAIN.

Infected Rain @AmselBlick After a 20-minute break, the show continued at 8:10 pm – with none other than LACUNA COIL. You could write a whole novel about the Italians, if you consider that they have been around since 1994 (first as Sleep of Right, then as Ethereal, finally changing their name to LACUNA COIL in 1996). The band can look back on 9 studio albums. In October they released “Black Anima”, their latest work, which seemed to be a lot heavier than its predecessors. As far as shows are concerned, one could say that if you have seen one show by the Italians, you have seen them all. Admittedly, there was not much of a change from previous LACUNA COIL concerts, but since the shows are always brilliant, that was not really a bad thing. In Oberhausen, Cristina and her boys had the audience in their grip again and almost every note was celebrated. And what you have not seen too often so far: Cristina can jump really high from a standing position!!! It was pleasing that the drummer change was very well chosen. The fans already miss Ryan Blake Folden a bit, but Richard Meiz has integrated himself very well into the band and at least tries to animate the audience as much as his predecessor did. There is still some room for improvement, but Richard has also drummed his way straight into the fans‘ hearts. What else can be said about LACUNA COIL’s show? Excellent light, likeable people, great songs. Talking about songs: the setlist contained old favourites that should not be missing (like „Blood, Tears, Dust“, „Enjoy the Silence“, „Heaven’s a Lie“ and of course „Nothing stands in our way“), but also songs from the new album could be heard live in Oberhausen (like „Layers of Time“ and „Reckless“). There was a lot of singing along and even with the new songs you could hear absolute certainty of the lyrics from the audience. Was there anything negative? Yes – after all, the gig had to be over at some point … unfortunately.

Lacuna Coil @AmselBlick Fortunately, that was not the end of the evening. One band was still missing – ELUVEITIE. Admittedly, some may have missed the fact that the Swiss folk metallers were very successful and therefore rightly had the headlining position for the concerts in Germany (on the rest of the tour, this position went to LACUNA COIL). And for those who did not know yet: ELUVEITIE have been around since 2002 and can look back on 8 studio albums, 3 live albums, various singles and videos. The studio albums regularly reach top ten positions in the album charts in Germany and Switzerland (“Origins” even made it to number 1 in Switzerland in 2014). “Ategnatos” had been out since April, but a tour was overdue. As a newcomer to ELUVEITIE, one could be a little overwhelmed at first by the amount of people suddenly appearing on stage, but quickly (apologies to the rest of the band) Chrigel and especially Fabienne cought everyone’s eye. Especially (apologies to Chrigel) Fabienne. No matter what song: if she started to sing, everyone cheered. Clear and precise, sometimes tender, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, sometimes hard: Fabienne had the whole palette and knew how to use it. But of course she was not the only one to deliver a great show: the rest of the men and women also helped to ensure that there was never a dull moment. Apropos no boredom: the tarpaulin hanging at the beginning, which covered the back part and thus the drums, did not want to work as it was supposed to and had to be temporarily tied to the side before it could be taken down manually between two songs. This caused a bit of amusement among the band and the audience. And then we could finally see the whole stage, including drummer Alain Ackermann. The set offered everything an ELUVEITIE fan’s heart could wish for (judging by the volume of the sing-along). Of course, there were various songs from “Ategnatos”, but also from “Helvetios”, “Origins” and other albums. Especially nice: for one song, the audience was allowed to decide in which language it should be sung. They did not had to think or vote long: the people wanted „De Ruf vo de Bärge“ in Swiss German and Fabienne delivered it directly. For this concert, too, only one criticism came to mind: it had to end at some point.

Eluveitie @AmselBlick As already written at the beginning: the selection of bands read somehow strange. In retrospect, however, one can only say: it worked. Musically, INFECTED RAIN, LACUNA COIL and ELUVEITIE lined up well and the fans celebrated each band in equal measure. Ergo: an all-round successful evening with three great bands and many lovely people.
Set-Lists
INFECTED RAIN
- Intro
- Mold
- Passerby
- Orphan Soul
- Lure
- Black Gold
- The Earth Mantra
- Sweet, sweet lies
LACUNA COIL
- Blood, Tears, Dust
- Our Truth
- Layers of Time
- My Demons
- Reckless
- Enjoy the Silence
- The House of Shame
- Sword of Anger
- Heaven’s a lie
- Veneficium
- Nothing stands in our way
ELUVEITIE
- Ategnatos
- King
- De Ruef vo de Bärge
- Deathwalker
- Worship
- Artio
- Epona
- A rose for Epona
- Thousandfold
- Ambiramus
- Drum Solo
- Breathe
- Helvetios
- Havoc
- Rebirth
- Inis Mona
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Gloryhammer – European Galactic Terrortour – Turbinenhalle Oberhausen – 18.01.2020

Der Original-Artikel wurde bei stage2web veröffentlicht. Hier ist die englische Version.
The original article can be found under the link above (in german). Here you find the english version of the report.
When dwarves and goblins unite under the sign of the hammer, it can only mean one thing: Gloryhammer are calling for an intergalactic battle.
In May 2019, the men around Angus McFive released their album „Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex“ and were on tour in November and December as support with Powerwolf. Since 17.01.2020 and until 08.02.2020 GLORYHAMMER are on headliner tour through Europe. As support they have the dwarves of WIND ROSE and the goblins of NEKROGOBLIKON with them. On 18.01.2020 the European Galactic Terrortour entered the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen.
Originally, the concert was to take place in Hall 2. But by the end of November 2019, over 90% of the tickets had already been sold and so the event was moved up to Hall 1. This was a good thing, because the Turbinenhalle was packed from the start. The concert was not sold out, but there were certainly not many tickets left behind.
Admission was supposed to be at 7 pm. But the first guests were already there at 6 pm. From 6.30 pm onwards, the stairs in front of the entrance were completely full and, according to hearsay, the queue stretched all the way to Hall 2. The entrance itself went as quickly as usual with the usual friendly and competent security. The rest is Turbinenhalle tradition: exchange money for tokens, possibly get a locker, look at and buy merch, then into the hall to get first drinks.
The lights went out at 7:45 pm and the spectacle took its course.
[small note from the author: what writing photographers don’t like at all is the announcement: „3 songs, then the camera has to go out“. This is especially stupid when the equipment doesn’t really fit into the lockers of the Turbinenhalle. Therefore, the following report is primarily based on the impressions of the first three songs of each band and the deafening cheering that could be heard from outside afterwards].
WIND ROSE from Milan opened the evening. The Italians describe their music as dwarf metal and are completely true to this motto: Tolkien himself could not have tailored their outfits better. They won the hearts of the guests from the very first moment and put on an excellent show. Only last October they released their latest album „Wintersaga“, already the fourth album since the band’s foundation in 2009. The album reached a top 100 position in the German charts and thus clearly showed: we are ready for the dwarves. WIND ROSE is welcome to return to the German stages again and again and will surely gain more and more reputation in the near future.

Wind Rose,@ AmselBlick After the (unfortunately only) 30-minute set, not only the band changed, but also the atmosphere: if you thought you were in the mines of dwarven origin just a moment ago, you now had to handle an over-motivated, colourful and extroverted Goblin. NEKROGOBLIKON stormed the stage. And with that, the Americans‘ loud melodic death metal mercilessly pelted the fans. Their very own Goblin, in his colourful pyjamas, created an exuberant atmosphere, animated the audience and interacted with all band members. It’s a bit of a shame, though, that the Goblin was needed for this. The rest of the band members seemed to be more on their own without too much interaction with the audience. But that didn’t dampen the mood. After all, NEKROGOBLIKON have been around since 2006 and therefore have a lot of stage experience. The Californians released their last of four albums (and an EP) in 2018. So it’s time for a new one, and the fans are certainly just waiting for it. At least according to the cheers of the fans in Oberhausen.

Nekrogoblikon @AmselBlick Then it was time for the highlight of the evening. After all, the audience had come for one band in particular: GLORYHAMMER stormed in. But it was not really storming, it was more like being comfortably pushed. Bassist Hootsman had somehow managed to injure himself so badly that he had to go on stage in a wheelchair. But this did not affect his performance: he rolled from one side of the stage to the other, interacted with the audience as much as he could and still seemed to have a lot of fun. Hats off for that. Ser Proletius and Angus McFive made up for the forced restraint of their bassist. Especially Angus seemed to have had too much caffeine and animated the audience throughout the whole set. It was hard to believe, but of the three bands of the evening, GLORYHAMMER was actually the youngest. The idea for the band was born in 2009 (the year WIND ROSE was founded), but it was not until 2011 that Thomas Winkler aka Angus McFive was recruited as the singer and the debut album was finally released in 2013. NEKROGOBLIKON already had two albums on the market. GLORYHAMMER joined Napalm Records and the band’s concept was well received in Europe: while the album „Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards“ only reached number 53 in the German charts in 2015, the new work „Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex“ entered the Top 10 and thrilled the fans. So it’s no wonder that GLORYHAMMER always sells out concerts and can fill a venue like Turbinenhalle 1 with ease. And what else can you say about the show than to think back on it with a big smile on your face and comment on the evening with an enthusiastic „Hach ja“? As usual, excellent without being boring. Just a band that you can watch again and again and that will always be fun.

Gloryhammer @AmselBlick Conclusion of the evening: excellent, of course. Except for the „only 3 songs“ thing. But even when leaving the hall to stow the camera, you could hear the fans cheering and singing along with every band, especially GLORYHAMMER. The hall was packed, right into the back corner and also on the upper level.
Ergo: if anyone is still hesitating to go to one of the concerts, they should put aside their hesitation as soon as possible and get a ticket for the nearest city.
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Equilibrium – Renegades-Tour – Essigfabrik Köln – 07.02.2020

Der Original-Artikel wurde bei stage2web veröffentlicht. Hier ist die englische Version.
The original article can be found under the link above (in german). Here you find the english version of the report.
Four bands that you would not expect to see on tour together, but with a common mission: united in music, united in spirit, and actually we are all the same. That this was not just a loose promise, could be seen on the Renegades tour of our German metal heroes EQUILIBRIUM. The masters of the genre added three more bands to the line-up: OCEANS (Post Death Metal), NAILED TO OBSCURITY (Melodic Death-Doom Metal) and LORD OF THE LOST (Dark Rock/Gothic Metal). But maybe it was exactly this mixture that made the concert so very special.
On 07.02.2020, they came to Cologne. It was day 20 of the tour, which was criss-crossing Europe. So the musicians, especially EQUILIBRIUM and LORD OF THE LOST, had already done a decent workload. The concert in Cologne was the fourth of the week and the bands had just flown in from Scandinavia. So the fans had to be prepared for the possibility of signs of fatigue. But that didn’t stop them from being ready at the Essigfabrik an hour before admission. Even those who didn’t have a ticket for a Meet&Greet (and the author knows this very well because she was there way too early herself). However, due to the band selection, one had to expect a relatively large crowd and those who wanted to be in the first row preferred to come too early.
Moreover, the early arrival was worth it if you wanted to see all four bands since the programme was quite sporty: admission at 5:50 pm, start at 6:10 pm. Those who know the Essigfabrik know that admission can sometimes be a bit delayed due to the narrowness of the gate. And with four bands scheduled, there is usually not much playing time left in the overall schedule for the first two.
This became clear with the opener OCEANS: the Essigfabrik was maybe only half full when the guys entered the stage. OCEANS is a very young band: only founded in 2018, with their debut album „The Sun and the Cold“ just out and not too much stage experience yet, a lot of attention came upon them with this tour. And they did very well. The combination of atmospheric, a bit gloomy mood and powerful riffs, plus the haunting, emotionally charged voice of singer Timo Rotten convinced right away and also the interaction with the audience worked out skillfully. The applause for OCEANS showed that they had made friends and so one can only hope to see the guys on stage more often.

Oceans, @AmselBlick As already written, the first two bands did not have much playing time and so OCEANS already left the stage after 30 minutes to make room for the second support. At 7 pm the show continued with NAILED TO OBSCURITY.
The band has existed since 2005 and can look back on four albums. The latest one, „Black Frost“, was released the year before and was the first album under the Nuclear Blast label. The East Frisians put on a solid show. Singer Raimund Ennenge seemed a bit taciturn in his communication with the audience, but first of all these are East Frisians (and North Germans are usually not very talkative) and secondly NAILED TO OBSCURITY only had 30 minutes to convince the audience. But they succeeded very well with their mixture of new and old songs.

Nailed to Obscurity, @AmselBlick The audience was waiting for the next two bands. Right on time for the start of LORD OF THE LOST, the hall was full of people. And that there were quite a few fans of the Hamburg guys among them could already be heard at the first note of the intro: it got loud.
The order of the guys‘ stage appearance was a bit unusual: Niklas and Gared first, as usual, then Chris and finally Klaas and Pi. In terms of outfit and make-up, everything was the same as usual: Elaborately made up, conspicuously dressed in glittering, idiosyncratic outfits (many of the female fans present probably wished they had legs like our Lord in his fishnet stockings), the Lords put on a show that was, as always, energetic and audience-oriented. A lot of interaction with each other, a lot of communication towards the audience and a real sports programme on stage (respect for the squat jumps, Mr Harms) have become a trademark of their performances. Unfortunately, and this is a big fat unfortunately that hurts the author’s heart a little, neither the outfits nor the make-up really stood out, as the lighting design left them in the dark. Klaas mostly stood in his rather dark corner, flying and jumping around the room as wildly as ever, but you could hardly see it. Also the sound left some room for improvement and it could be heard during the singing that this concert was not at the beginning of the tour. But there are no bad LotL concerts: even under adverse circumstances (just think back to last year’s Amphi, where a real thunderstorm broke out of the sky at Lord’s playing time) the guys put on an excellent show.

Lord of the Lost, @AmselBlick Even though the Lords can quickly sell out venues like the Essigfabrik even on headlining tours, they were not the heroes of the evening this time. The heroes came at last: the metal masters EQUILIBRIUM.
For 20 years now, the men have been thrilling the metal scene with their self-proclaimed epic metal. With „Renegades“, they published their 7th album last year, which made it into the Top 20 of the German and Swiss album charts and was only slightly „worse“ than its predecessor „Armageddon“. The concert started with „Renegades“. However, clear vocals could not be expected this evening. „We are all sick“, Robse told his fans. But it did not matter, it was fine like that (according to hearsay, one or the other fan wasn’t enthusiastic about clear vocals on the album anyway). And there was no sign of sickness at all: there was pure energy on stage, which was directly transferred to the audience. Wall of Death, Circle Pit and Moshpit were now part of the audience’s standard repertoire of movements – from the beginning of the concert to the end! There were no signs of fatigue among the fans, so Robse only asked in between if anyone had hurt themselves. Meanwhile, on stage, the band happily went through their musical history. The fact that the band is not afraid of unusual sounds in the scene (terms like electronic and, even worse, dubstep appear) was evident in several songs, but obviously met with great enthusiasm from the audience. They only stopped for a moment when the band suddenly left the stage at 10:30 pm. And „suddenly“ really meant suddenly. It got dark, the guys were gone. Of course there were obligatory shouts of „encore“ and of course EQUILIBRIUM came back. The previous had only been the „warm-up phase“ and now the concert was really getting started. And they really made the Essigfabrik glow for another 30 min. But all good things have come to an end sooner or later. At this concert, it was a good end.

Equilibrium, @AmselBlick Four bands that you would not expect to see on tour together, but with a common mission: united in music, united in spirit, and actually we are all the same. And it works.
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Castle Rock 2018

Der Original-Artikel zum Festival erschien bei Live-in-Pictures und Eventreports-Online. Beide Original-Artikel sind leider nicht mehr erreichbar. Hier folgt eine kurze Zusammenfassung.
[Originally, the report was posted in Live-in-Pictures and Eventreports-Online. Sadly, both cannot be accessed anymore. Here you find a short summary and collections of the pictures].
Sommerzeit ist Festivalzeit und für jeden gibt es das ein oder andere Festival, das in der Termin- und Urlaubsplanung nicht fehlen darf. In NRW gehört vor allem ein Event dazu: das Castle Rock in Mülheim a.d.R. Seit fast 20 Jahren zieht es seine Fans jedes Jahr aufs neue zu sich, glänzt mit einer wunderbaren Location, einem sorgfältig aufeinander abgestimmten Line-Up und einer unglaublich familiären Atmosphäre. Nicht nur Fans fühlen sich hier wohl, auch die Musiker. Und nicht nur die, die auf der Bühne stehen werden, sondern auch andere, die einfach nur zu Besuch kommen.
[Summertime is festival time and for everyone there is the one or the other festival that should not be missing in the schedule and vacation planning. In NRW, there is one event in particular: the Castle Rock in Mülheim a.d.R. It has been drawing its fans every year for the last 19 years, shining with a wonderful location, a carefully coordinated line-up and an incredibly familiar atmosphere. Not only fans feel at home here, but also the musicians. And not only those who will be on stage, but also others who just come to visit.]
Line-Up 2018
Tag 1 / Day 1:
microClocks, Harpyie, Cypecore, Stahlmann, Pain
Tag 2 / Day 2:
Seelensturm, Another Tale, Godex, Heimataerde, The Beauty of Gemina, Tanzwut, Evergrey, Lacuna Coil
Ein paar Bilder von damals/some pictures (in the order of the line-up)

MicroClocks, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Harpyie, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Cypecore, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Stahlmann, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Pain, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Seelensturm, Bilder @Amselblick 
Another Tale, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Godex, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Heimataerde, Bilder @AmselBlick 
The Beauty of Gemina, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Tanzwut, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Evergrey, Bilder @AmselBlick 
Lacuna Coil, Bilder @AmselBlick -
10 Bilder – Brügge

Brügge ist nicht nur eine alte Stadt, sondern auch eine schöne. Nicht umsonst ist der mittelalterliche Stadtkern ein UNESCO Weltkulturerbe. Aufgrund dieser Schönheit ist Brügge ein beliebtes Ausflugsziel. An einem Samstag bei hervorragendem Wetter kurz vor einem Feiertag (und damit mitten in einem verlängerten Wochenende) war die Stadt bei meinem Besuch allerdings so dermaßen überfüllt, dass der Ausflug eher kurz ausfiel. Also sehr kurz. Nicht einmal zwei Stunden ließ es sich dort aushalten. Aber: das reicht, um einmal zu den wichtigsten Sehenswürdigkeiten zu gelangen, die einem auf diversen „Brügge an einem Tag“ Seiten angepriesen werden.
Equipment und Regeln
10 Bilder und nicht mehr. Das Ganze mit der Instax Mini LiPlay und zur Verfügung stehen nur die 10 ausgedruckten Bilder. Bzw. die „transferred printed images“. KEINE nachträgliche Bearbeitung!
Die Anreise erfolgte mit dem Auto und Startpunkt war die t‘ Zand Tiefgarage. Von da aus ging es direkt in den Trubel der überfüllten Stadt, in der zu allem Überfluss auch noch ein Markt stattfand. Nun ja, da hieß dann durchzwängeln und von einem Ziel zum nächsten.

1.) St. Salvator Kathedrale
Der erste „Stop“. Bzw. das erste Vorbeilaufen. Die Kathedrale macht einen beachtlichen Eindruck. Aber das Bild täuscht etwas: drumherum war die Hölle los. Die umgebende Treppe scheint Treffpunkt etlicher Leute und Reisegruppen zu sein, so dass man hier nach wie vor Slalom laufen muss. Aber reingehen lohnt sich bestimmt auch mal. Der wikipedia-Artikel lässt vermuten, dass ein Besuch des Inneren der Kathedrale durchaus lohnenswert ist. Typisch katholische Bischofskirche irgendwie. Viel Prunk, viel Überfluss, aber eben auch irgendwie atemberaubend. Von der Kathedrale ging es die Steenstraat entlang zum zweiten Punkt der High-Speed-Sightseeing-Tour.
2.) Grote Markt
Der Markplatz taucht wirklich in jedem Brügge-Reiseführer auf. Die bunten Häuser sind auch schön anzusehen. Das Gute am Grote Markt ist auch das „Grote“: der Platz ist wirklich groß und weitläufig, so dass man hier kurz mal Luftholen kann, wenn man sich zuvor durch die Menschenmassen gezwängt hat. Da zum Zeitpunkt des Besuchs eine Bühne mitten auf diesem zentralen Platz von Brügge aufgebaut war, scheint der Grote Markt auch Schauplatz verschiedener Veranstaltungen zu sein. Laut wikipedia war das quasi auch schon immer so. Denn hier fanden früher auch mal Turniere und Hinrichtungen statt. Die zeitgenössische Publikums-Belustigung also. Von hier aus kommt man zudem sehr schnell zum Rest der in diesem „Bericht“ gezeigten Stationen. Wie dem nächsten Highlight.


3.) Belfort
Der Belfort steht direkt am Grote Markt (quasi gegenüber von den Häusern in Bild 2). Und wie auf dem Bild zu erkennen ist, handelt es sich tatsächlich um ein Highlight, das auf keiner Brügge-Tour fehlen darf. Der 83 m hohe Turm dürfte wohl eines der höchsten Bauwerk in Brügge sein, denn laut wikipedia durfte ihn zumindest bis 2010 kein Neubau überragen. Man kann den Turm gegen Eintritt auch besteigen, was zu einem unglaublichen Überblick über Brügge führen müsste. Dazu sollte man sich aber tunlichst Zeiten abseits der üblichen Touristen-Invasionen suchen. Bei meinem Besuch in der Stadt war das demnach nicht möglich. Das Bild links ist tatsächlich in der Kamera vor dem Druck etwas zurechtgeschnitten worden: da waren noch viel mehr Menschen!
4.) Heilig Blut Basilika
Geht man am Belfried vorbei, kommt man in der Breidelstraat zum einen zu „Bruges Beer Experience“ (kein Bild, viel zu viele Menschen in der engen Gasse) und zum anderen direkt auf den Burgplatz, auf dem sich auch die Heilig-Blut-Basilika befindet. Es handelt sich dabei um eine Doppelkirche (siehe auch wikipedia), also im Prinzip eine zweigeschossige Kirche. Während die Kapelle in der Unterkirche eher schlicht und schmucklos, aber nicht weniger beeindruckend ist, ist der Sakralbau der Oberkirche genau das, was der Name impliziert: prunkvoll. Die Oberkirche ist im Prinzip auch noch mal in zwei Abschnitte eingeteilt: der, in dem fotografiert werden darf und der, in dem man das nicht darf.

Ich muss zugeben, dass ich eher ein bisschen unwissend rein gegangen bin und mich daher über die Einteilung gewundert habe. Und auch darüber, dass im „nicht-fotografieren“ Abschnitt ein Geistlicher am Schrein thronte und auf etwas aufpasste. Dieses „etwas“ war allerdings genau das, was im Namen der Basilika steckt: die Heiligblut-Reliquie, die von den Besuchern bewundert werden kann. Wie gesagt, ich war etwas unvorbereitet und hab sie mit nicht angeschaut. Ich gehöre aber auch nicht unbedingt zu den Menschen, die eine lange Schlange wartender Gläubiger in Kauf nimmt, um sich solch eine Reliquie anzuschauen. Also ging es nach einer kurzen Bestaunungsrunde wieder nach draußen, vorbei am Stadthaus über die Blinde-Ezelbrug (ja, der Name geht angeblich wirklich auf einen blinden Esel zurück) und dem Vismarkt zum nächsten Fotopunkt.

5.) Rozenhoedkaai
Aus irgendeinem Grund hat der Rozenhoedkaai keinen eigenen deutschen wikipedia Artikel. Das wäre dringend nachzuholen, denn die Menschenmassen hier zeigen deutlich, das es sich um eins DER Highlights in der Stadt handelt. Es aber auch ein wirklich schöner Fotospot. Das Instax-Bild wird dem überhaupt nicht gerecht. Der Name geht darauf zurück, das früher an diesem Ort Rosenkränze verkauft wurden. Heute macht man halt Selfies für Instagram. Man hat ja neben einem wunderschönen Panorama (links auf dem Bild wäre noch etwas mehr Wasser und Gebäude zu sehen) eines DER Wahrzeichen der Stadt im Hintergrund: den Belfried. Aber wie dem dem Text, also nicht nur diesem Abschnitt, sondern dem gesamten Text zu entnehmen ist: VIEL ZU ÜBERFÜLLT. Also weiter der Dijver entlang zum Arentshuis und auf den Arentshof. Hier warten Statuen.
9.) Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
Genau, hier stehen im Halbkreis Statuen der Vier Apokalyptischen Reiter. Das Bild zeigt Hunger. Die Statuen sind nicht sonderlich groß (die Perspektive im Bild täuscht etwas, aber wenn man von unten nach oben knipst, sieht’s halt größer aus), aber nicht minder beeindruckend. Jeder Statue ist an verschiedenen Details anzusehen, um wen es sich handelt. Natürlich gibt es aber auch Informationstafeln, die vorsichtshalber nochmal sagen, wen man sich da gerade anschaut. Bei meinem Besuch tummelten sich nur ein paar Fotografen und ganz wenig interessierte „Normalos“ auf dem Platz. Kein Wunder, denn nur ein paar Schritte befindet sich ein weiterer von DEN Fotospots in Brügge. Im Gegensatz zum Besuch der Heilig-Blut-Basilika wusste ich hier genau, was mich erwarten würde: Menschen über Menschen über Menschen.


6.) Bonifaziusbrücke
Denn wenn Reiseführer schon sagen, dass man, wenn man ein Foto ohne Menschen haben möchte, wirklich früh zur Bonifaziusbrücke kommen soll, kann das an einem Samstag zur Mittagszeit bei bestem Wetter nur eine Katastrophe werden. Und das war es auch. Also die Menschen betreffend. Die Brücke ist wirklich pittoresk, auch dem wird das Instax-Bild nicht ganz gerecht. Google sagt dazu: „Reizvolle Fußgängerbrücke“. So kann man es auch sagen. Ich habe irgendwo gelesen, dass Pärchen, die sich auf dieser Brücke die Liebe schwören, auf ewig zusammen bleiben. Ob sie das später noch wollen oder nicht, wäre dabei egal. Ich hab es nicht ausprobiert, so weit geht mein kleines Forscherherz dann doch nicht.
7.) Immer noch Bonifaziusbrücke
Übrigens: nicht nur die Brücke selbst ist hübsch anzusehen, sondern auch die Gebäude links und rechts davon. Beim Fotografieren muss man aber auch hier etwas Glück haben. Nicht, weil sich dort Fußtruppen voller Menschen aufhalten würden (wie auf dem Bild zu sehen ist das auch eher nicht möglich), sondern weil hier ständig Boote durch die Grachten fahren. Das ist übrigens eine der Möglichkeiten, die Stadt zu erkunden: mittels Boot. Dazu sind etliche Anlegestellen in der Altstadt zu finden, man muss nicht lange suchen, um einen zu finden. Aber auch hier: am besten nicht an einem Samstag bei schönstem Wetter. Die Warteschlangen an den Anlegern waren schon erschreckend. Es hatte übrigens noch einen Grund, warum ich über die Bonifaziusbrücke gegangen bin: ich wollte zum nächsten Punkt.


8.) Liebfrauen Kathedrale
Die Liebfrauenkirche befindet sich nämlich direkt dort. Die Kirche wird doppelt genutzt, als Kirche (Überraschung) und als Museum. Auf wikipedia gibt es übrigens ein Bild, das die Liebfrauenkirche hinter der Bonifaziusbrücke zeigt, und es sind KEINERLEI Menschen auf der Brücke. Dafür muss diese aber abgesperrt gewesen sein. Außerdem lässt sich über den Artikel vermuten, dass auch hier ein Besuch im Inneren nett sein könnte. Das muss ich wohl auch irgendwann nachholen. Aber die Menschenmengen auf der Brücke haben mir wirklich den Rest gegeben, so dass ich schon auf dem Rückweg zur Tiefgarage war. Gut, dass da noch eine Sehenswürdigkeit mehr auf dem Weg lag.
10.) Sint-Janshospital
Das alte Sint-Janshospital liegt quasi gegenüber der Liebfrauenkirche. Früher, also so im 12. Jahrhundert laut wikipedia, war es wirklich mal ein Hospital. Seit in den 1960er aber eine moderne Klinik gebaut wurde, wurde dieses Hospital als solches nicht mehr benötigt und das Gebäude bekam eine andere Funktion. Heute befindet sich dort ein Museum und die Denkmalsverwaltung. Das Bild zeigt den südlichen Krankensaal von der Mariabrug aus. Und hier endete die High-Speed-Sightseeing-Tour. Über die Mariastraat und Heilige-Geestraat ging es zurück zur St. Salvator Kathedrale und von dort zur Tiefgarage, wie das Auto schon wartete. Und dann ganz schnell raus aus der überfüllten Stadt und eben ans Meer zum Durchatmen.

Fazit:
Brügge ist schon schick. Durch die „Kompaktheit“ der Innen- bzw. Altstadt braucht man nicht lange, um alle wichtigen Sehenswürdigkeiten zu finden und zu besuchen. Die hier gezeigten 10 Wegpunkte sind nur ein kleiner Ausschnitt dessen, was besucht werden kann. Da gibt es ja noch die Beer Experience, an der man vorbei kommt, das Schokoladenmuseum und so viel mehr.
Aber: Brügge ist nun mal schick. Und demnach durchaus mal extrem überfüllt. Wer Sehenswürdigkeiten nicht nur von außen, sondern auch von innen sehen will und das dann auch noch in Ruhe, der muss je nach Tag etc. Zeit und Geduld mitbringen.
Ein Besuch lohnt sich alle mal 🙂





