km 0,0 — aufbruch
The Elbe from the bridge at dawn, under a lid of storm cloud
Dresden · 51.05° N 13.74° E · Oktober

Jeden
Samstag

Every Saturday. Rain or no rain — a bicycle, six kilometres, and the flea market on the banks of the Elbe.

losfahren ↓
00
Prolog — km 0,0

Es hat die ganze
Nacht geregnet

It rained all night. By seven the sky is still making up its mind.

Wet autumn leaves on dark stone

The pavement kept every leaf
the night shook loose.

01
Kapitel Eins — km 1,5

Der Grosse Garten

Through the Great Garden — the long way, obviously.

Park avenue in full autumn colour

Hauptallee, kurz nach sieben The park swallows the city whole. For a kilometre and a half there is only gravel under the tyres and a gold ceiling coming down one leaf at a time.

Palais im Großen Garten reflected in its pool

PalaisteichKeep pedalling —
the fountain never stops either.

Palais im Grossen Garten Holding its breath since 1683. On a morning like this it has the whole sky to itself.

Marble statue among autumn trees
StilleNo one else is out.
A crow perched on a baroque sculpture
Fast niemandAlmost no one.
02
Kapitel Zwei — km 3,1

Durch die Stadt

Out of the park, into the open city.

Cyclist waiting at a red light, Hofkirche in the distance

Schlossplatz voraus Red. The light takes its time, and the city — freshly washed — doesn't mind at all.

Grün.
Socialist mural on the Kulturpalast behind scaffolding and a crane

Der Weg der roten Fahne The Kulturpalast, mid-restoration. A blue crane leans in to read the old mural line by line.

Prefab tower block behind golden autumn trees

Johannstadt Prefab concrete, gold-plated by October. Even the Plattenbau dresses up for autumn.

03
Kapitel Drei — km 4,2

Am Fluss

Down to the Elbe, where the path runs flat and fast.

Dresden Altstadt skyline across the Elbe under heavy clouds
Canalettoblick — 8:37

Der Canalettoblick The famous view, in exactly the weather Canaletto would have kept for himself.

Riverside path with joggers and a distant ferris wheel

Joggers, dog-walkers, one ferris wheel —
the whole river is awake now.

TerrassenuferBell twice for the joggers.

Old power station chimney across the river, black and white

Der Fluss erinnert sich.
The river remembers.

04
Kapitel Vier — km 5,4

Ankunft

Cobbles, handcarts, and two hand-painted signs that keep a weekly promise.

Elbeflohmarkt sandwich boards and a parked bicycle on cobbles
Bicycle parked on the grass bank of the Elbe, ferris wheel beyond

Feierabend, vorerst The bike clocks off on the riverbank. From here, everything is on foot.

05
Kapitel Fünf — km 5,5

Der Markt

Half the city's attics, emptied onto the riverbank between the bridges.

The Elbeflohmarkt from above — stalls stretching along the river terraces

Käthe-Kollwitz-Ufer, von oben Seen from the bridge: a kilometre of trestle tables, tarpaulins and folding chairs, assembled before breakfast.

Crowds browsing the flea market stalls

Everyone here is looking for something
they didn't know they'd lost.

Die Funde — the finds →
Cardboard boxes full of old records
1

Crates of shellac and vinyl, sorted by absolutely nobody. That is the entire point.

Beatles picture discs under cellophane
2

Beatles picture discs under cellophane — Abbey Road, Sgt. Pepper. A hand hovers, does the maths.

DDR-era posters in a plastic crate — one euro each
3

DDR posters by the crate: »Das Beste zum Alltag machen.« Yesterday's future, jedes Teil ein Euro.

A seller proudly presenting a Marilyn Monroe picture disc
4

A man, a Marilyn, and a sales pitch that needs no words at all.

∞
Epilog — Heimfahrt

Der Regen
entscheidet sich

By noon, the rain finally makes up its mind.

A curtain of rain crossing the Elbe meadows

It can rain now.
The panniers are full.

Ende — bis nächsten Samstag

Jeden
Samstag

Elbeflohmarkt an der Albertbrücke · Dresden
Ein nasser Samstagmorgen im Oktober, circa 2016
21 Photographien · Fujifilm X100