Cologne: Cable Car

Cologne: Cable Car

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Finally to get the cathedral complete on the photo - from where would that work easier than from a bird's eye view? The view of Cologne is breathtaking from high above. Visitors to the city can easily catch a very first impression of the city.

However, for 60 years there is the opportunity to hover comfortably over the Rhine. Tickets are available at the entrance to the building on the Riehler Straße - opposite Zoo and Flora. Compared to cable car rides in ski resorts, things are progressing rather slowly with the individual gondolas, each of which looks different, beautifully colored. Wait a few minutes and then it starts.

During the journey, the gondolas not only cross the river, but also the busy Zoo bridge, which is an exciting moment for car and gondola drivers. The ride, starting on the right side of the Rhine, can be very well combined with a visit to the zoo. Combi tickets for the visit and the return trip is best to buy the same.

Yes, it is an experience to suddenly see the busy Konrad-Adenauer-Shore and the traffic on the Zoo bridge from up here and the unique Cologne panorama from the Köln Arena, the Triangel tower over the bridges, the Stapelhaus frontage and the two spiers of the famous cathedral   from this perspective. Over the Rheinpark in Cologne Deutz we slowly float down again.

The cable car in Cologne is not only the first cable car in Europe leading across a river, but after more than 6 decades of existence is now regarded as the archetypal architectural gem of Cologne.

The cable car was once opened as an additional means of transport to the Federal Garden Show in 1957. In fact, the ropeway to this major event counted around 1.35 million passengers who wanted to cross the Rhine in the then extraordinary way.

Two 33- to 35-ton pendulum supports connected the 685 m long and 26.5 m high ropes. The original operating time should actually be only 5 years, but due to the great success, the survival time of the cable car was repeatedly extended after several discussions. Until the planned bridge construction was up and a solution had to be found, because the pillars of the cable car were in the way of the construction.

There was no other option than to dismantle the pendulum supports and rebuilt them by a few meters in the 1960s. As a result, the length of the route reached 935 m.

From then on, 1,600 people could be transported per hour. Since the BUGA, the cable car in Cologne has counted around 20 million passengers and was even awarded the Mercurius Prize of the Cologne Tourist Association.

With a little luck you can catch the gondolas, which are very popular with children, with the imprint of the "The Show with the Mouse" and can sit in them. Meanwhile, there are even designed by the BAP singer Wolfgang Niedecken gondolas and reflect the solidarity of the people of Cologne with their hometown.

  Many people in Cologne use their cable car to reach the opposite bank of the Rhine, but more and more tourists are looking forward to a ride on the cable car as well. On the left bank of the Rhine is the Cologne Zoo with a variety of animal species.

Especially for city children, the Cologne Zoo is a wonderful destination. In addition, there are large playgrounds in the zoo, where the little guests can romp extensively while their parents watch the hustle and bustle from the benches.

Supposedly there is even the possibility to be married in a wedding gondola under the eyes of a registrar and hanging over the Rhine to swore the mutual love and loyalty . Probably the romantic alternative to the town hall. But even non-lovers can experience an unforgettable trip over the Rhine in Cologne.

Rarely does one have the opportunity to enjoy the Rhine metropolis from this breathtaking bird's eye view in peace and to let the impressions sink in: Vessels on the Rhine, extended families sitting together for a picknick at the Rheinpark and sports groups meet on the shore.

The Rheinpark is located between the districts of Deutz and Mülheim in Cologne and has been a listed building since 1989. At the beginning of the 20th century, the complex was converted into a landscaped park and later hosted the Federal Garden Show in the 1950s.

Today you can look forward to water features, flowering beds, a portico garden and a fountain on the Adenauer pond. Especially in spring and summer, the park shines in colorful flowers. Various sculptures set highlights here.  

Shortly before arriving at the right bank of the Rhine, the gondolas also float over the Claudius-Therme, which was founded on the springs of mineral-rich water. The spa is one of the most beautiful thermal baths in Europe.

 If you look at the architecture of the spa, you immediately recognize its reference to the bathing culture in Roman times. Harmoniously embedded in the beautiful parkland, you can relax here greatly.

During the winter break of the cable car Cologne, the entire system is maintained. This happens every year from November on. The gondolas and base stations are also thoroughly cleaned every winter break. The gondola motifs will then be changed as well.

Either you organize a round-trip ticket if you parked on site - or you only buy the oneway trip. Our recommendation is clearly the combined ticket.

One Way Adults: 4,80 Euro Children (4 to 12 years): 2,70 Euro Round trip Adults: 7,00 Euro Children (4 to 12 years): 4,00 Euro

Various combined tickets (only available at the cable car!) are available.For example, cable car plus entrance to the Cologne Zoo and Aquarium.Round tripAdults: 21,50 EuroChildren (4 to 12 years): 10,50 EuroPersons with a disability pay the regular fare.If a "B" is noted in the disability card, the escort will get a free ride.Exception: Children up to the age of three - here the accompanying person drives to the children's price.

Shona-Art

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The creation of stone sculptures is an art for which Zimbabwe is known around the world.

The modern African stone sculpture is not "traditional", although much of its themes has traditional roots. Even in the pre-colonial era, the residents were artistically inclined. This is evidenced by numerous stone artefacts such as the Zimbabwe bird from the Great Zimbabwe State of the late Iron Age.

Making works of various natural materials such as fibers, wood, clay and stone for functional, aesthetic and ritual purposes. World-famous artist Bryn Taurai Mteki made a mark with his large sculpture entitled "Chippi", which was unveiled during the Sixth All-Africa Games, which took place in Zimbabwe in September 1995.

In 1997, Bryn went on a "Historic European Tour", where he attended several sculpture workshops in Germany and London. Also in Germany he was honored in the cities Auerbach and Adorf with silver medals.

Prior to the opening of the Rhodes National Gallery in Salisbury in 1957, his first director, Frank McEwen, Thomas Mukarobgwa, met a young native, steeped in rural knowledge and spirituality, and offered him the opportunity to pursue a career in the arts.

The workshop school set up by the gallery soon attracted more artists, many of whom were already exposed to art education from early mission schools and were established art practitioners. These include John Takawira and Kingsley Sambo.

The emerging art movement developed relatively slowly. However, in 1966, Tom Blomefield, a South African-born white tobacco farmer, found extensive serpentinite-stone deposits at his farm in the Tengenenge Sculpture Community near Guruve.

Blomefield, himself a stone sculptor, wanted to diversify the use of his land and welcomed new sculptors to form a community of work artists. This was partly because international sanctions were imposed on the white government of Rhodesia at that time, which was then led by Ian Smith, who in 1965 had made the unilateral declaration of independence, and the tobacco was no longer able to provide sufficient income to generate. Appropriately enough, Tengenenge means "the beginning of the beginning" - in this case a significant new company that continues to grow and thrive.

Further details on establishing the "first generation" of new Shona sculptors can be found in the individual biographies of the leading members. This group also includes the famous Mukomberanwa family, whose works have been shown worldwide. Works by several of these first-generation artists are included in the McEwen legacy to the British Museum.

In the early years, the emerging "Shona Sculpture Movement" was described as art-renaissance, art phenomenon or art miracle. Critics and collectors could not understand how an art genre in an area of ??Africa could develop with such force, spontaneity and originality that did not have the great sculptural heritage of West Africa and had previously been described as artistically barren in terms of the visual arts.

Fifteen years of sanctions against Rhodesia limited the international presence of sculpture artists. Nonetheless, the work has been shown mainly due to the efforts of Frank McEwen in several international exhibitions. In the pre-independence period, the technical skills were sharpened, the expressiveness deepened, harder and different types of stone used and many outstanding works created. The "Shona Sculpture Movement" was in full swing and had many supporters and advocates.

Since the independence in 1980, the sculptures have continued to be exhibited in the art capitals of the world, and contemporary artists such as Dominic Benhura and Tapfuma Gutsa and the art form itself have been well received.

Despite the growing worldwide demand for sculpture, dedicated artists demonstrate a high degree of integrity, never copying and still working entirely by hand, with spontaneity and confidence in their abilities, unhampered by externally imposed notions of what their "art" should be. Now, more than fifty years after the first tentative steps towards a new sculptural tradition, many Zimbabwean artists now live full-time from the sculptures and the very best can compete with contemporary sculptors worldwide.

The sculptures they produce are speaking of basic human experiences. Experiences such as grief, elation, humor, fear and spiritual search - and have always managed to communicate these in a deeply simple and direct way that is both rare and extremely refreshing.

The artist "works" with his stone and it is assumed that "nothing that exists naturally is lifeless" - it has it´s own spirit and his own life. One is always aware of the contribution of the stone in the finished sculpture and it is indeed fortunate that in Zimbabwe a great selection of stones to choose from: hard black sour stone, color intense serpentine and soapstone, solid gray limestone and semi-precious stone Verdit and lepidolite.

Jonathan Zilberg has pointed out that there is a parallel marketplace in Zimbabwe for what he calls Flow sculptures - the subject of which is the family (Ukama in the Shona language) - that are made across the country, from the suburbs of Harare to Guruve in the northeast and Mutare in the east.

He believes that these readily available and inexpensive forms of sculpture are of more interest to the native black Zimbabweans than the semi-abstract figurative sculptures found mainly in museums and exported overseas. The Flow sculptures are still able to demonstrate innovations in art, and most are individually carved in styles that are characteristic of each artist.

Some sculptors in Zimbabwe use other media than stone. For example, in 1988 Paul Machowani won an Award of Distinction in Zimbabwe Heritage for his metal piece "Ngozi" and in 1992 Joseph Chanotas for the metal piece "Thinking of the Drought" the same price.

Bulawayo was a metal sculpture center with artists such as David Ndlovu and Adam Madebele. Arthur Azevedo, who works in Harare and produces welded metal sculptures, won the 1998 President's Honorary Award at the first Mobile Zimbabwe Heritage Biennale.

Wood carving also has a long history in Zimbabwe and some of its leading representatives are Zephania Tshuma and Morris Tendai. Boarding Dzinotizei, a digital sculptor, works with 3D sculpting software and 3D printing to create his contemporary sculptures based on the Shona Sculpture process.

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