Historical Tour of Freiburg, 26/01/2012:

Unlike the Minster, most of the buildings in downtown Freiburg are not original. The clock tower in the first picture is a reconstruction of the original city gate but it was rebuilt after World War II. You can tell that it’s new because there are clock faces onboth sides of the tower, whereas originally the clock would only face into the city. They also widened the tower so that cars can drive under it.

Nowadays, there is a McDonald’s on the ground floor of the building. I’m always struck by the locations of McDonald’s abroad. In the United States, they are in cheap, cramped, poorly-maintained buildings but in Europe, they are in gorgeous locations, sometimes built centuries ago. It kind of disgusts me to see American fast food degrading historic locations.

The second photograph is another “new” old building in downtown Freiburg. Schlappen is a bar with its own microbrewery. The building is modeled after the old German style. 

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  1. sashamblog posted this