HL fotoeins

Posts by HL fotoeins

Nuremberg: The Landmark Trials in Room 600, 80 years on

Above: In front of the Justizpalast (Palace of Justice) at the corner of Benjamin-Ferencz-Platz and Fürther Strasse in Nuremberg, Germany.

On 20 November 1945, an extraordinary trial got under way in the German city of Nuremberg, only six months after the Nazis surrendered to the Allied nations in World War 2. For the first time in modern history, an assembled tribunal of international judges presided over trials against top leaders of a nation for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to carry out these crimes.

What is called the “Nuremberg Trials” refers primarily to the “Major War Criminals Trial” where over 20 leaders in German Nazi high command were put on trial before the International Military Tribunal (IMT) from November 1945 to October 1946. The IMT consisted of judges from each of the four Allied nations: Great Britain, France, United States, and the U.S.S.R. Subsequently from late-1946 to 1949, 12 additional trials were held before American military tribunals to uncover and highlight the extent and depth to which additional leaders in German society supported the Nazi dictatorship.

“… The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated. That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that power has ever paid to reason.”

– Opening statement by Robert H. Jackson, U.S. chief prosecutor, on the second day of the Nuremberg Trials (Major War Criminals Trial), 21 November 1945; see Sources below.

( Click here for images and more )

SF Mission: La Victoria Panadería & Pan de Muerto

Above: “La Victoria” mural painted in 2024 by Timewizard & Tressprays.

There’s something very familiar about a family-run bakery: the look, the warmth, the smell, the taste. As a product of Chinese immigrants and growing up next to (Vancouver’s) Chinatown, I have a very soft spot for their bakeries: every bite of the sweet and the savory are living memories of “home”.

On a wander through San Francisco’s Mission District on All Saints Day (2024), I find myself in front of the mural called “La Victoria” adjacent to the bakery with the same name. My eyes light up at “pan dulce” (pastries). Already aware of the “Día de Muertos” holiday, I turn the corner to see the stack of “sweet bread” in the window display, including the “pan de muerto” (bread for the dead) and the “cross of bones” on top of each “pan”. The holiday is a memorial and celebration of the dead. Small altars accompanied by golden brown pan de meurto and brilliant orange marigolds symbolize the connection between living and dead, allowing the dead to find their way back “home”.

To the amusement of the women behind the counter, I order and hold a pan de muerto in my hand, before digging into the slight crunch of the thin crust, delighting in the sugar sprinkle and orange tang in the glaze, and revelling in the soft interior of the bread. I’m grateful for a small glimpse of traditions in the Mexican-American community.

• November 1: Día de Todos los Santos, All Saints Day.
• November 2: Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead.
• I’d learn later about the bakery’s journey to its present location.
• I enjoyed reading about pan dulce and pan de muerto from The Other Side of the Tortilla.

La Victoria Panadería.

Pan dulce.

Pan de muerto with the “cross-bones” on top: glorious, delicious.

Location

• La Victoria: 3249 24th Street (at Capp), since 2019
• BART lines Blue, Green, Red, or Yellow to station “24th Street Mission”
• MUNI bus 14 or 14R to stop “Mission Street and 24th Street”
• MUNI bus 48 or 67 to stop “24th Street & South Van Ness Avenue”

( View this location on OpenStreetMap )

I received neither prior support or post-visit compensation for this content. I’m happy to pay for the pan, and I’m not asking for free pan; what am I: a dum’ colonizer?! I made all images above on 1 Nov 2024 with an iPhone15. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-wl3.

My Berlin: Dussmann Kulturkaufhaus, more than a bookshop

Pieces & places in Berlin

If I have 3 days or 7 weeks to spend in the German capital city, I make time to stop at Dussmann.

Conveniently located near Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse train station, the “department store of culture” offers more than simply German-language books to serve fiction read-needs or magazines to gauge what’s happening near and far. There’s a separate English language bookshop, as well as an enormous catalog of music, film, and television. The space is also large enough to hold some cultural events. Naturally, there’s a “BerlinShop” for my postcard and your souvenir requirements. And because it’s Berlin, they stay open past 11pm Monday to Saturday.

Dussmann is an important place and piece to the extensive conceptual mosaic I’ve created over the years with the amount of time spent in Berlin since 2002. I never regret any visit to Dussmann. I always regret what’s about to happen: my wallet gets a little lighter, and that I somehow have the massive fortitude to leave with “only” a handful of books.

Dussmann Kulturkaufhaus, Berlin, Deutschland, Germany, fotoeins.com

Completed in 1997, the lower 5 floors of the 8-storey building is all about the Kulturkaufhaus, whereas the upper 3 floors are reserved for office space which includes the Dussmann Group. Photo, 27 May 2025.

At the far end on the ground floor (Erdgeschoss) is the sphinx of Egypt’s Queen Hatshepsut (about 1475 BCE), on permanent loan from the Egyptian Museum of Berlin. The inscrutable statue greets visitors to the café below, as well as the English language bookshop at right. Photo, 27 May 2025.

From the 2nd floor (erste Obergeschoss) this view along the central aisle shows how the combination of natural light from above, mix of artificial lighting and colours, and hanging leafage provides a welcoming atmosphere, which undoubtedly makes it easier for customers to spend. Photo, 30 May 2025.

“Under Berlin’s skies, there’s only one Dussmann.” On the 2nd floor, the theatre banner-like display highlights the movie and television section, and if the quote is indeed from Wim Wenders, it’s an interesting play on the title “Der Himmel über Berlin”, a film Wenders directed in 1987. In the television section, I found DVDs for early-seasons (series) of New Zealand’s “The Brokenwood Mysteries”, distributed in Germany as “Brokenwood – Mord in Neuseeland”. Photo, 30 May 2025.

Café Nénom, Dussmann Kulturkaufhaus, Berlin, Deutschland, Germany, fotoeins.com

Afternoon break at Café Nénom with coffee and book: “The Wall” (“Die Wand”), a work of fiction published in 1963 and written by Austrian Marien Haushofer. Photo, 27 May 2025.

Directions & Hours

• BVG U-Bahn U6 train to Friedrichstrasse station.
• S-Bahn Berlin train: S1, S2, S25, S26; S3, S5, S7, or S9 to Friedrichstrasse station.
• Leaving Friedrichstrasse station, it’s a short 120-metre (400-ft) walk south to the shop.
• BVG Tram M1 or 12 to stop “S+U Friedrichstrasse Bhf”.

Monday to Friday: 9h–0h; Saturday: 9h–2330h; Sunday (BerlinShop only): 13h-18h.

( View this location in OpenStreetMaps )

I received no prior support or subsequent compensation for this piece. I made all above images with a P15 on 27 and 30 May 2025. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-wj0.

Nuremberg: Fuji(film)-Store

“Home of X Photography”

It’s a busy active crowded Saturday in Nuremberg’s city centre. There’s a big music festival with acts ranging in size from solo artists to 3-piece bands. But as I walk across town, I see a big Fujifilm sign, and as I approach, I can see this is no ordinary camera shop.

I learn there’s been a Fuji shop in the city for a number of years, and only this past February did they move to this new location. Judging by layout and the upstairs gallery, the Fuji shop has a feel similar to aLeica shop. That’s because the owner of Nuremberg’s Fuji-Store created the shop based on their experience operating the city’s Leica shop nearby. I chat with Peter, the gentleman in the shop about what’s out now and what else might be expected. We agree to a common wish: to have Fuji fill a current niche with a compact portable point-and-shoot at the right price point. How about an X80 product variant?

I’ve done my fair share of drooling (but no buying) at Leica shops in Frankfurt and Vienna, and I enjoyed doing the same to available X-models on display at Nuremberg’s Fuji-Store. Did I buy? No. Am I thinking about life after the X70? Yes.

I can also see Fuji X Weekly having some fun here in the shop.

I received neither support nor compensation for this piece. I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 2 August 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

Vienna in (the) 5: artist Julia Bugram

(“Raising Hands”)

The sculpture provided the introduction three years ago. Two clasped hands, each as tall as a person. Each hand made of 1-million 1-Eurocent coins. Seen in 2022, next to St. Stephan’s Cathedral. Seen next in 2023, the sculpture moved near the big fountain at Schwarzenbergplatz. A wonderful crowdfunded project, created by Austrian artist Julia Bugram.

This past spring, I receive a kind invitation to visit her studio. It’s July and I’m in Vienna’s 5th district. I make my way up to the 2nd floor of an “Altbau”, and arrive at a cozy working art-space shared between Julia and another artist.

Julia is presently exploring themes surrounding community and society; and how art can create, enhance, and strengthen connections among people. Artistic influences include: Hilma af Klimt, Mela Diamant, Renate Bertlmann, Margot Pilz, Jakob Lena Knebl, Martha Jungwirth. Her “Raising Hands” sculpture is presently in storage, waiting for new benefactors and fresh eyes.

We spoke at some length about the economic and cultural challenges contemporary Austrian artists face in the creation and distribution of their work, as well as the difficulty of commuting between Vienna and her home in Burgenland. Despite challenges, I’m looking forward to seeing what she’ll create in the near future.

Links to her website and Instagram.

*Working art space shared by Julia Bugram and Elisabeth Hansa. (I’ve greyed out their contact numbers.)*

Julia’s recent book with images of her recent art pieces, including extensive discussion and the context of her work: “Widerstand & Neugierde: Kunst, die Veränderung fordert.” (Resistance & Curiosity: art that demands change).

*Most who directly supported the publishing her book are from Vienna, other parts of Austria, and Europe.*

Her triptych creation, “Fut – Mut – Wut”, presented here in alphabetical order with carefully selected wallpaper-like background motifs. Three words of equal length that rhyme, each word an expression of an essential facet or dimension for a woman.

*Defiance and empowerment, body autonomy, questioning the gaze, control of their own narratives*.

*Many of the pieces on the wall include sketches of plants, emphasizing her desire to commune with and derive inspiration from nature.*

My thanks to Julia for her invitation and her time. I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 11 July 2025. I received neither support nor compensation for this piece. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.