The Speyer Cathedral

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Conrad II, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, ordered the construction of what would then be the world’s largest church in 1025 in the town of Speyer, Germany. Construction of the Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St. Stephen, was begun in 1030 and substantially completed in 1061. Emperor Conrad did not live to see the completion of the church. He died in 1039 and was buried in the cathedral while it was still under construction.

Around 1090, Conrad’s grandson, Emperor Henry IV, began a construction project to enlarge the cathedral. The expanded cathedral was completed in 1106, the year of Henry’s IV death.

As recounted in Wikipedia, “[t]he building became a political issue: the enlargement of the cathedral in the small village of Speyer with only around 500 inhabitants was a blunt provocation for the papacy. The emperor not only laid claim to secular but also to ecclesiastical power, and with the magnificence and splendour of this cathedral he underlined this bold demand. The purpose of the building, already a strong motive for Conrad, was the emperor’s “claim to a representative imperial Roman architecture” in light of the continuing struggle with Pope Gregory VII. Thus, Speyer Cathedral is also seen as a symbol of the Investiture Controversy.”

In 1981, the Speyer Cathedral was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cathedral is a significant, and the largest, example of Romanesque architecture.

Is Photography Dead? Manipulated Images in the Digital Age

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Synthetic image, not a photograph, generated by Google’s Nano Banana Pro in response to a text prompt by Rodney Martin, November 2025.

I will be giving a presentation on photography in the digital age at the Glen Arbor Art Center in Glen Arbor, Michigan, on April 25. As photography has moved out of the darkroom and into the computer, the ability to “doctor” an image or to create one using artificial intelligence has caused some to conclude that photography is dead. In this presentation, I will explore the impact of digital photography and the implications of generative artificial intelligence on our understanding of photographs. My hope is that those who participate will come away as savvier consumers of photography in the digital age.

Seating is limited. Registration and a small fee are required. The link to register is at https://glenarborart.org/product/is-photography-dead-manipulated-images-in-the-digital-age/

The Stolpersteine Project

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As we toured cities on the Rhine River, we came across little memorials embedded in the sidewalk. Our tour guide in Strasbourg, France, explained that they were stolpersteines or “stumbling stones,” placed there to commemorate the lives of Jews, Sinti and Roma, politically persecuted people, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses and euthanasia victims of National Socialism

The little memorials were conceived by artist Gunter Demnig in the early 1990s. They are placed in front of homes where the Nazis captured persecuted persons and sent them to concentration camps. Each stolpersteine begins with the words “Here lived” and provides information about the person being memorialized. In the case of Alfred Toczek, below, he was deported in 1941 and sent to Mauthausen, a Nazi concentration camp in Austria.

As of August 2024, the project had placed over 107,000 stones in nearly 1,900 municipalities in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Hungary.

We came across a few stolpersteines in Strasbourg and Koblenz, but saw them more frequently in Amsterdam, where we spent several days.

Jurriaan Haak and Henriette Haak Van Eek were taken by the Nazis in 1943 when they were in the 50s. They were sent initially to the Vught concentration camp in the north of the Netherlands. Vught was a transit camp from which Dutch Jews were sent to extermination camps. Jurriaan was sent to Sachsenhausen; Henriette was sent to Reichenbach.

In some instances the Nazis moved quickly to kill the persons they arrested. Two members of the Messias family were captured in Amsterdam on November 4, 1943. Both were in their 70s and were murdered in Auschwitz fifteen days later, on November 19, 1943. At their age, the Nazis had little use for them. Mary Messias successfully avoided capture and survived.

This sidewalk in front of this house at 43 Jacob Obrechtstraat in Amsterdam has nine stolpersteines, including six memorializing members of the De Hoop family.

Members of the De Hoop family were captured in Amsterdam on February 6, 1943 and put to death in Aushwitz six days later.

In places where hundreds of stolpersteines would need to be placed. the project lays a stolperschwelle, or stumbling threshold, that memorializes the group. Fifty stolperschwellen have been placed, although we did not come upon any of them.

For more information about the Stolpersteine Project you can go to its website.

Churches on the Rhine: St Thomas’ Church, Strasbourg, France

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Visitors to Strasbourg, France, flock to the Strasbourg Cathedral, the sixth-tallest church in the world and the tallest structure built entirely in the Middle Ages that is still standing. Our time in Strasbourg was relatively short, so we opted not to wait in the long line to visit the cathedral. Instead, we found a lovely boulangerie, purchased some baked goods and settled down in a quieter part of the old town to enjoy our snacks and watch people. The square was adjacent to St Thomas’ Church, so we took advantage of the chance to go in and enjoy the church without the crowds.

The site where the church stands was used as a place of worship as early as the sixth century C.E. The current building was begun in 1196 and completed in 1521. In 1524, the church, which had been Catholic, converted to Protestantism. It remained a Protestant church even after the Alsace region was annexed by Catholic France. The church is sometimes referred to as “the Protestant Cathedral,” or “the Old Lady.”

Behind that altar is the mausoleum of Marshal Maurice de Saxe, a prominent soldier, general and military theorist in the first half of the 18th century. When Marshall Saxe died, a funeral service was held in Paris, but since he was not Catholic, he could not be buried there. Instead, his body was transported to Strasbourg, where he was ultimately interred at St. Thomas in August 1777.

The monument shows Death holding a sandglass and calling Marshall Saxe to the grave, while…

a crying France tries to protect him from Death.

On the left side of the tomb, Hercules weeps.

Over Hercules’s shoulder are distraught symbols of France’s enemies, a British lion, a Dutch lion, and a German eagle.

Among the relics at the church is the sarcophagus of Bishop Adelochus (ca. 1130).

In the back of the church is the rose window and the Silbermann organ from 1741.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed on the organ in 1778. Albert Schweitzer also performed at the church.

Churches on the Rhine: St. Stephen’s Minster, Breisach am Rhine

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St. Stephen’s Minster rises above the town of Breisach am Rhine on Münsterberg hill. Our river cruise docked in Breisach, where we loaded on buses to tour the Black Forest and Colmar, France. But early in the morning I wandered around Breisach and took a few photos.

Construction of St. Stephen’s Minster was begun in early in the 12th century and substantially completed in 1494, although construction continues to this day.

The road to the Minster begins at the Gutgesellentor in the town square. The gate was built in 1402 and is sometimes referred to as the Journeyman’s Gate.

The road to the church is steep and offers a gorgeous view of the mountains in the distance.

In the distance is Eckartsberg, a small volcanic mountain that rises 50 meters above the market square in Breisach. Legend has it that as early as the 4th century C.E. “Faithful Eckehart” had a castle atop the mountain. Through the centuries Eckartsberg was fortified. During the 12th century, it was the protected home of merchants and soldiers. During World War II, Eckartsberg once again was fortified, with bunkers and tunnels used for military purposes. Residents of Breisach sought refuge there during the bombing at the end of the war.

Half way up the hill to the church, you pass through Hagenback Tower (circa 1319).

Beyond the tower, you come upon a small plaza, dedicated to peace and the persons who have died in war.

Churches on the Rhine: Basel Minster

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In August 2025, we took a Viking River Cruise on the Rhine from Basel, Switzerland, to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Along the way, we had the chance to visit several remarkable churches. Earlier, I posted photos of Our Lord in the Attic, a clandestine Catholic church in Amsterdam. In a series of posts, I will share photos from several other churches we visited along the way.

On a hill above the Rhine River in Basel, Switzerland, stands Basel Minster. Originally a Catholic cathedral, during the Protestant Reformation, Basel Minster became a Reformed Protestant Church.

The building dates back to the last third of the 12th century and was completed around 1225. Work continued on the church building periodically and was completed in 1500.

In 1528 and 1529, valuable pieces of art in the cathedral were were removed and destroyed during the iconoclasm of the Protestant Reformation. Remarkably beautiful stained glass windows were installed in the 1850s.

Our Lord in the Attic, Amsterdam

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On a recent visit to Amsterdam, I toured the Our Lord in the Attic museum. Our Lord in the Attic is a Catholic Church that was established in 1663 in the home of a wealthy merchant when, during the Protestant Reformation, it was illegal for Catholics to practice their religion publicly. The church was one of several “schuilkerks” or “clandestine churches” that were forbidden, but tolerated, by the local government in Amsterdam. The church occupies the top three floors of the canal house and includes a residence for the priest.

Here is a model of the house.

The main entrance to the house looks out on the canal and the street.

A stair way leads up to the families living quarters.

The parlor is a remarkable room, reflecting the wealth of the merchant.

Because of the perspective of the lens, the two photos of the parlor, above, make the room appear much larger than it was. The view below from the side more accurately shows the proportions of the room.

The size of the sanctuary surprised me, with seating on the main floor of the church and in the balconies.

The church has its own pipe organ, evidence, I think that the church was tolerated. I am sure when the organist played the hymns, the sound reverberated beyond the walls of the house.

From a window in the room behind the altar, one can see the steeple of Oude Kerk (Old Church), a Reformed church in Amsterdam. The oldest structure in Amsterdam, the church building was consecrated in 1306 as a Roman Catholic church. It became a Reformed church after the Reformation in 1578.

The robes of the priest who resided above the Our Lord in the Attic church.

The priest’s bedroom.

Amsterdam Canals

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My Lightroom catalog has thousands of photographs that I took on a river cruise down the Rhine last year. I haven’t shared them on my blog because they are mostly record shots made to help us remember our trip. They were taken on the go, often with my cellphone rather than my DSLR. I visit them often in my catalog, though, and think it is about time to share some of them.

We spent four days in Amsterdam. I rose early in the morning and walked among the canals taking photos. It was quite peaceful in the morning. We took a canal tour in the evening, but it didn’t measure up to simply walking along the canals. Here’s a few snapshots from my walks.

Winter on the Third Coast

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Earlier this week, I traveled north to the Leelanau Peninsula to see what winter has brought to northwest Michigan’s shoreline. I began my exploration in Frankfort, Michigan, where the Betsie River flows into Lake Michigan. Snow and sand were piled up on the beach while the lighthouses that mark the opening of the harbor were covered in ice.

On the shoreline was a collection of benches. They faced the town, but one bench stands sentinel, looking towards the lake.

A few miles north of Frankfort, is the Point Betsie Lighthouse. I have photographed here many times. It is especially interesting in the winter when the ice forms of the trees and the breakwaters.

North of Frankfort, after you enter the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, you cross the Platte River. I followed the river down near where it enters Lake Michigan. As it makes a turn to the lake, it cuts through an area of dunes.

Sand Dunes on the Platte River

Another ten miles or so north is Empire, Michigan. As you stand on the beach, Empire Bluff is to the south, while the Sleeping Bear Dunes are in this distance to the north.

Empire Bluff
Sleeping Bear Dunes

I stopped near the Dune Climb to photograph the frozen mill pond and the snowy dune.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

I finished my trip with a visit to Good Harbor Bay, where Shalda Creek flows into Lake Michigan. It always interests me to see the path the Creek cuts to make its way to the lake.

Shalda Creek before it reaches Lake Michigan