Right at the start of the new year 2025, I was drawn to Bad Muskau, a small town in the very east of Germany not far from my home. I was inspired to take this trip by the wintry weather and the soft blanket of snow that lay across the landscape, creating a very peaceful atmosphere.
So I packed up my new camera and tripod and set off with the clear desire to photograph Bad Muskau Castle in the middle of the snow-covered UNESCO World Heritage Site, as which the associated cross-border park is protected.
When I arrived at my destination, I parked the car in the car park and made my way to the castle. Its history dates back to the 13th century, when a water castle was built on its current site in the floodplains of the Lusatian Neisse, today the border river between Poland and Germany. From the beginning of the 16th century, the castle complex was gradually remodelled into a representative absolutist palace.
In the 19th century, the estate finally passed into the ownership of Herrmann Prince von Pückler-Muskau, whose landscaping ambitions laid the foundations for the park, which is now part of one of the few cross-border UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
However, the castle owes its current appearance to Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, who had the castle remodelled in the neo-Renaissance style. The last aristocratic owners then gave it the striking coat of paint that fascinated me so much.
But back to the present and my visit in January. As I walked through the park to the castle, it was deserted. Only the occasional ducks were swimming on the water. They were quiet, like everything else. As if everything had frozen, as if time had stood still. It was freezing cold, the air was dry.
My aim was to photograph the castle in all its beauty, with the pond in the foreground, framed by the leafless trees and snow-covered meadows. The contrast between the colourless winter and the brightly coloured castle was what I was looking for.
And I should succeed.
My photo spot, which I had considered beforehand, was also to be my first stop. It was on a small bridge and allowed a direct view of the castle through the vegetation on the lake shore. The ducks swam beneath it, and a pair of swans also approached curiously.
I started to set up my equipment. The tripod, the camera and, of course, the filters. My plan was a long exposure that would create a washed-out sky and a blurred water surface. My intention was to bring movement into my shot, make it look less static to add contrast to the frozen landscape.
So I put on the 1000 ND filter, added a graduated filter and off I went. As the sky was overcast with thick clouds, the light was very soft. With an exposure time of 30 seconds, I got what I was looking for. After a few more attempts, I decided I had achieved my goal and was able to pack up again. I was particularly lucky as there was a hole in the sky during my photos from this point, which added to the overall mood.
But it won't be my personal favourite photo of the day!
- The SchludgyShot of the day -
My favourite picture of the day came quite unexpectedly, as it is so often the case. Unplanned and more or less from the hip on the way to the photo spot I had planned, I pulled out my camera and simply snapped my path that was still ahead of me.
The result is a scene in which the focus of attention is not on the palace itself, which is why I went there in the first place, but on this very path to my destination.
The picture is dominated by the contrasts I had hoped for. On the one hand, the bright colour of the building in contrast to the desaturated surroundings, the snow-covered trees and the cloudy sky, and on the other, the gradient from the bright left edge of the picture to the dark right side dominated by the bare undergrowth.
All the footprints in the snow on the path tell their own stories of the people who, like me, came here to admire the nature of the park and the magnificent palace grounds, to observe the magic of winter in all its facets, to absorb the peaceful atmosphere that the snow-covered landscape radiates.
This picture represents the mood, the weather, the feelings experienced that day in this place by the people walking along the paths of the park. Icy cold with a gentle wind, a very soft light, the crunching of the snow under their shoes and the clicking of my camera in the distance.
A cold, icy winter wonderland in the very east of Germany.
And this marks the end of my trip to Bad Muskau. Looking back, it was definitely worth it. Snow has become something of a rarity in our region. So you have to take the opportunities when they present themselves, even if you are sometimes freezing.
