Page 60 - BSAM 2018 Q1

Once Upon a Time
in Hameln
Annual National
Meeting and Exhibition
of Bonsai-Club Germany
and the German Suiseki Society
By Gudrun Benz, Germany Photos by Gudrun Benz
Hameln (Hamelin) is a small town of 59,000 inhabitants in northern Germany. It is located on the small upper Weser River and is synonymous with the world-famous 19th century tale of the Rattenfänger (Pied Piper) by the brothers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. Few people realize that the story is based on real events, which took place on the day of
Saints John and Paul on June 26 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany in 1284. e tale is about a 13th century rat-catcher who was cheated out of his pay by the city administration. He took revenge by using his music to lure children—instead of rats and mice—through the Ostertor gate (Eastern gate) and out of the town. e children disappeared with him and were never seen again. e Osterstrasse, the main street in the old city center, is famous for its colorful, half-timbered houses and sandstone buildings in so called Weser Renaissance style of the 17th century, characterized by lavish decorations, volutes, elaborate oriels, masks and grotesque faces.
e bonsai event took place on October 28, 2017, in a modern exhibition hall and a nearby hotel close to the city center. ere were more than 120 bonsai of high standard and about 15 suiseki on exhibit. is year’s speciality were 31 shohin compositions, a number exhibited for the rst time. As the previous years, a catalogue of all exhibits will be published and sent free of cost to Bonsai-Club Germany members. On this occasion, the New Talent Contest was a national competition. is year’s winner, Manuel Flammann, is invited for the European contest next year to represent Germany at the European Bonsai and Suiseki convention in Arco, Italy on May 4 to 6, 2018.
Top; A restaurant sign with the motif of the Pied Piper.
Bottom; In 2000 a modern representation of the Pied Piper was installed in front of an historic stone building in the so called Weser Renaissance style, now a museum.
58 | BCI | January/February/March 2018