Founded in 1147, the Cistercian Maulbronn Monastery is considered the most complete and best-preserved medieval monastery complex north of the Alps. Surrounded by fortified walls, the main buildings were constructed between the 12th and 14th centuries. The monastery's church, built in the transitional Romanesque-Gothic style, had significant influence on the spread of Gothic architecture over much of northern and central Europe.
The water management system at Maulbronn, with its elaborate network of drains, irrigation canals and reservoirs, is exceptional. (from UNESCO's World Heritage List)
After Reformation Duke Christopher of Wuerttemberg established in 1556 a Protestant monastery school, which was converted into a Protestant theological seminary in 1807 and still exists today. Johannes Kepler, Friedrich Hoelderlin and Hermann Hesse studied there.
More informations: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maulbronn_Monastery_complex?uselang=de
Martin painted and drew this atmospheric view in the shady depths outside of the fortified walls, looking at the monastry forge. And in contrast to some of his cards in the past, there was obviously a sunny day. As usual Martin made some funny remarks. This time they are about visitors at the place where he was working for this card. I'll quote his words in German because its difficult to translate. I'm sure you will find out the meaning yourselves.
Martin wrote: »Lieber Albrecht, ich gruesse Dich herzlich von den Untiefen des Maulbronner Klostergrabens. Rocky und Herrchen kommen auch vorbei. Rocky will mich fressen. Herrchen traegt Zopf, Hosentraeger und Schmerbauch. So geht ein beschaulicher Nachmittag zu Ende. Dein Martin«
Lieber Martin, vielen Dank für diese schoene Karte. Sie bekommt einen Ehrenplatz in meiner Mailart-Sammlung!
12 comments:
Albrecht - you can't leave us dangling like that - I rushed off to Google Translate!
This is what i got
"Dear Albert, I greet you warmly by the shallows of the Maulbronn monastery moat. Rocky and dad come over too. Rocky wants to eat me. Master wears braids, braces and belly. Such a tranquil afternoon comes to an end. your Martin"
I love seeing Martin's different paintings of Maulbronn.
That is a lovely piece of artwork.
I went to Babel Fish - a quaint variation on the Google translation: I greet you cordially from the Untiefen of the Maulbronner of monastery ditch. Rocky and Herrchen also go past. Rocky wants to eat me. Herrchen carries Zopf, suspender and paunch. Thus a contemplative afternoon goes to end....fun captions for a very beautiful and expert sketch!
It's lovely to have Martin's humour coming through again- and Cathy's very funny translation! I like the interesting composition with the building peeping over the wall.it's a very picturesque card.
Hilarious!
and a great sketch from an interestingly different viewpoint :>)
Katherine, now you have an idea how I'm dangled all the times. Your translation is (almost) perfect:
»Herrchen« ist a German expression for the owner of a dog. A »Zopf« is one braid. »Hosenträger« holds up pents of men with an enourmes belly, called »Schmerbauch« - a belt won't work. »Beschaulich« is a mixture of tranquil, contemplative, introspective, sedate... I think contemplative fits best to Martin.
I need hours to write a comment in English. From now on, I will write them in German, or Kisuaheli. It's much more fun...
Albrecht
Yes, an interesting composition and a beautiful card! The description is so funny!
I always love Martin's composition and take a note to learn from them and then promptly forget again! Beautiful and so lovely to see some watercolour in there.
All this translation reminds me of a wonderfully funny essay by Mark Twain about his efforts to learn to speak German. It's called 'The Awful German Language'. Anyone who has struggled with a second language will surely enjoy reading it.
http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/awfgrmig.html
Great composition ... and very funny translations! LOL suspenders and paunches?! The mind boggles. Thank goodness Albrecht provided a more detailed explanation! :o)
This Martin is quite a character, he is deeper than most. I love it! Very interesting and different seeing this color rendition from Martin. Great job and thanks for the translation everyone. I thin its funny that it took three people to explain Martins postcard! LOL
I love Martin’s humor and of course the wonderful style of all the art he creates. Every postcard is so special.
Martin..your beautiful card provoked such an uplifting conversation...may I say that I love the result of your card too? See...this is exactly what art should be...evoke conversations, uplift the spirit, entangle the brain. Love it!
Marília
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