Lars Reichow, a local satirist and cabaret artist, is rarely at a loss for an elegant turn of phrase.
In his weekly newspaper column, he segues from bemoaning the lack of a sports facilty in Finthen to a sucker punch on the neighbouring villages of Drais and Marienborn, both of which – in his words – appear to be suffering from an “aesthetics crisis”.
He asks which council employee gave building consent for the “Versailles for Beginners” belonging to the soft fruit market gardener on the top of the hill and whether they’re not a strawberry short of a picnic.
(To me, it looks as if 2 teams of builders were at work – one working on the left-hand structure from provisional plans and the other from a totally different set of documents…)
And marvels at a) the skill required to ruin a suburb by consenting 800 (only a slight exaggeration…) different styles of terraced houses, all visible from the motorway and one (ahem…) more attractive than the next and b) the ability of drivers to stay of the road on being exposed to the sight.
They really do look for all the world like Shane McGowan’s set of teeth. I can’t bring myself to photograph them….
Mainz Daily Photo 