The year 2020 brings us the so-called "New Normality" - whatever that means. But one thing has not changed: the STROB Galerie. The old one is the new one - and it will remain so for quite a while. That is not going to change any unnecessary beast!

I had almost given up hope that I could ever take the photos for this picture. But then it happened, after 11 months of waiting. On 2014-10-06 around 19:00. I could finally take the photos for my picture "Full Moon above the Residenzplatz". The place was cleaned up, no disturbing things were standing around and I was ready to go!

Times are tough - very tough. For almost everybody worldwide. But sometimes a look into the past helps - and suddenly everything appears in a slightly different light. On 2020-05-08 we celebrate "75 years of the end of the 2nd world war and the Nazi regime". What do I learn from this for my uncertain future?

This year one of the world's most important art and cultural events is to celebrate its 100th anniversary: the Salzburg Summer Festival. At least that was the plan - until a few weeks ago. Will the current epidemiological situation allow a big festival? That seems questionable at the moment.

There is not much that makes me cringe. And only a few times I have found myself in a situation where I had only one thought: Get out of here! The Plötzesee Memorial near Berlin was one of these places. A place of pure horror.

Closed restaurants. Closed shops. Deserted streets and squares. This is the city of Salzburg's appearance since 2020-03-16. The Getreidegasse, which was still heavily frequented days ago, appears to be completely extinct. Welcome to the Ides of March 2020.

Unfortunately there is no good news for one of the most important cultural events in Salzburg this year. It is unpleasant, but not surprising either.

What do a photo from the year 2006 and a photo from the year 2018 have in common?

From time to time we experience historically significant events. Some are positive, others are completely dispensable. We are experiencing one such negative episode in history right now: the greatest global health disaster of the last 100 years. The following post is a kind of "photographic diary" of the events of the first half of March 2020 as I experienced them. It reflects my personal mood of these momentous days.

In June 1987 the former US President Ronald Reagan spoke the famous words during his visit to Berlin: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" 2 years and 6 months later the Berlin Wall - "Iron Curtain" - became history. The 2 photos for my personal piece art "Tear down this wall!" were taken in 2019 during my visit to Berlin. Together, the two photographs symbolize for me the time from 1933 - 1989 in Berlin: after 56 years and two dictatorships, East Berliners are streaming through the Iron...