# Thuringia, heart of Germany



## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Thuringia is a state in the eastern part of Germany. For a long time the state was divided into many small duchies (like Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), which all had their small capitals. I will show you some of them.

We start our tour in Erfurt, Thuringias capital and most important city. Erfurt, which was founded in 742, however wasn't part of Thuringia until 1945 but part of the Archbishopric of Mainz. During the Middle Ages it was one of the most important German towns with more than 80 churches and the third-oldest university of todays Germany. The city, unlike almost every other important medieval German town, luckily survived WW2 without major damages. 

Lets start:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

The first beautiful ensemble, two houses called "zum Stockfisch" and "zum Mohrenkopf". The latter originates from the 15th century and was changed in 1607:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

House "zum Stockfisch" was built in 1607. The upper floor is plastered timber frame:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

View towards the centre:











And a look back:











Kaufmannskirche (merchant church), where Luther preached and Bachs parents were married:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Now the Anger, a square which is 600m long:











To the left the department store Anger 1, formery "HO-Warenhaus", formerly "Römischer Kaiser" (roman emperor). In the background the Ursulines monastery:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

To the right the main post office from 1880:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

The Anger street:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Lorenz church:











The Kurmainzische Packhof (customs and storage station of the Archbishopric of Mainz) from 1706-12:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Jugendstil:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

... und baroque:











Bismarck house:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

St. Wigberti:











Probably from the late 20s:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Outside of the old town are Commie blocks:











The ethnarchy of the Archbishopric from 1712-20. In 1808 Napoleon met Goethe there:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Street into the old town:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

edit


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

But we make a sharp right turn and see the Barfüßer church of the Franciscans, which was destroyed by British bombs in 1944:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Modern houses in a very cosy environment:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Déesse:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Still a lot of work:











The Krämerbrücke (traders bridge) for the first time. Documented since 1156 and covered with building from the 17th to 19th century:











Idyll with cat:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

These half-timbered houses were saved during Communist times (late 80s) by private initiatives:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Towards the centre the houses slowly become more representative:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

This is the house "zum Güldenen Krönbacken". Nice Renaissance portal:











But the house is much older. The ground floor is from 1200, the half-timber from 1326:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

In one of the houses to the left the Luther bibles for the region were printed:




















Now we visit the Krämerbrücke:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

The Fischmarkt (fish market) with the town hall. The Renaissance house in the middle is called "zum roten Ochsen" and was built in 1562:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

House "zum breiten Herd", a Renaissance building from 1584. The figures are made after Dutch models by Frans Floris:











Alongside the Neo-baroque Gildehaus (guild house):


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Neo-Gothic town hall from 1870:











Old (pre-war) tram, today used for sight-seeing tours:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Cathedral in the background:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Now the huge Domplatz (cathedral square) with the cathedral and St. Severi. AFAIK the square resulted from a bombardement of the Prussians against the Frech in 1813:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

House "zur hohen Lilie" from 1538:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Now the inside of the cathedral and St. Severi:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

edit


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Tomb of count von Gleichen with two women. One is his wife, the other one allegedly the daughter of a sultan, which liberated the count when he was imprisoned by Saracens:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

F***ing forum grrr


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Domplatz:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Next to cathedral and St. Severi is the citadel Petersberg, first a fortress of the Archbishopric, later of the Prussians. Entrance portal from 1666:











View of the old town:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

And some pics of the "Andreasviertel", a craftsmen quarter. Nice and quiet:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Domplatz again:




















Back to the Fischmarkt:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

And some pics of the "Andreasviertel", a craftsmen quarter. Nice and quiet:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Parks along the town wall: 











Friderikenschlösschen from 1748 - 51, a manor for princess Friderike von Sachsen-Weißenfels:











Done. More later.


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## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

Beautiful photos. Many of my ancestors actually come from Thuringia, more specifically in and around Mühlhausen. The surname was "Lungershausen", quite similar to "Lundershausen". They left for the United States in the mid Nineteenth century.


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

OakRidge said:


> Beautiful photos. Many of my ancestors actually come from Thuringia, more specifically in and around Mühlhausen. The surname was "Lungershausen", quite similar to "Lundershausen". They left for the United States in the mid Nineteenth century.


Next stop will be Mühlhausen.


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## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

Amazing photos! Great job!


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## JValjean (Oct 15, 2009)

Vielen Dank für die schönen Bilder. Selbst war ich bisher noch nicht in Bad Langensalza, aber die in Weimar lebende Mutter meiner Freundin ist dort geboren. Auf jeden Fall ein interessantes Ziel für meinen nächsten Thüringenbesuch!


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Bad Langensalza really is an underestimated place, I just love it! Been there before 1990 once in a time and visited it again some years ago. Magnificent turnout, as in many parts of Thuringia.


Thanks for sharing this stuff here, Karasek! Our _Grünes Herz_ is just too adorable to be true


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## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

Wow, these Thuringia towns look amazing. In many pictures it looks just like a perfect idylle where everything is well kept and people care about their surroundings.


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## Bristol Mike (Aug 5, 2007)

Nice shots there, this place looks lovely and funnily enough I had never even heard of it!


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Mühlhausen is our next stop. During the Middle Ages Mühlhausen was the second biggest town of Thuringia and a free imperial city. Mühlhausen became a religious center during the Reformation and the Peasants War, as Thomas Müntzer worked as a pastor there. In 1524 the citizenry voted out the old council and formed a new "Eternal League of God". Müntzer took over the town council and set up a communistic theocracy. A year later he led 8.000 peasants at the battle of Frankenhausen. They were defeated and Müntzer was beheaded outside of Mühlhausens town wall.


Town wall with the only remaining gate, the inner Frauentor:











The outer Frauentor. Both gates are the remains of a medieval avenue, which was used to welcome dignitaries like the emperor:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Müntzer:











Other side of the gate:











Imperial eagle:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

The house to the left was built as the town house of a monastery and later used as a stagecoach stop of the Thurn and Taxis:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Courtyard of a house:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Some Imageshack servers are currently down. I will continue when the servers are online again.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Thanks for the photos so far!


Imageshak sucks, anyway. You could try tinypic.com  Or flickr. Or photobucket. Or another photo uploading service, as there are some Dutzend of 'em around.

The best uploading service clearly is *Wiki Commons*. No downtimes, your photos won't get deleted and will still be available in some decades. And if someone's searching photos of a specific place, he'll found 'em on Wiki Commons first. Give it a try! There are also mass-uploading tools, such as Commonist.


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## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

Thank you Karasek!!! The photos are spectacular.


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## John123 (Jul 11, 2008)

Amazing!


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Servers are online again, we continue our tour.

Thomas Müntzers church, the second biggest in Thuringia:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

This house, like most churches in Mühlhausen, was built by the Teutonic Knights. Later Thomas Müntzer lived and Prussian architect Friedrich August Stüler was born here:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Most houses aren't medieval but built in later centuries:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Prewar Persil advertisement:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Nice view:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Mühlhausen is located in a rural part of Eastern Germany and therefore lost quite a few residents in the last 20 years. As a consequence of this towns like Mühlhausen have problems to preserve all parts of the old town. This part was in a pretty bad shape:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Beautiful baroque door (the right one):











This huge parking lot is in the middle of the old town. The houses were most probably destroyed in Communist times:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Divi Blasii in the background:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Divi Blasii and St. Jakobi:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Now the Untermarkt (lower market) with Divi Blasii:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Divi Blasii and St. Jakobi:


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## durio uno (Oct 26, 2009)

Great pictures, great buildings...


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Thr town wall is surrounded by small parks:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Now some inside shots of Divi Blasii, which was also built by the Teutonic Order. The stained-glass windows are from 1310:











Johann Sebastian Bach was organist of Divi Blasii between 1707 and 1708:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

St. Jakobi, today used as the public library:












Done. More later.


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## RamItDown (Oct 14, 2007)

brilliant pictures, looks like a lovely place. so many of the buildings are so colourful. I need to go to Germany soon :cheers:


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## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

Great photos!


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Wonderful :applause:



Been to Gera and Gotha frequently during my studies in Cottbus.


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Next stop Schmalkalden. Schmalkalden is a small town on the southern side of the Thuringian forest. The town is important for the Protestant reformation. In 1531 the Schmalkaldic League was established here, and later the Smalcald Articles were drawn up here by Luther and Melanchthon.





























View from castle Wilhelmsburg:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Courtyard of the castle:










This is the oldest profane mural painting (1250) in Germany, showing the Iwein saga:





























Front of the castle:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Some Commie blocks:




















Parts of this house are from the early 13th century:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

This house is from 1350. During the meeting of the Schmalkaldic League in 1537 the Papal nuncio resided here:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

The Commies didn't have the money to preserve the old towns of the country and replaced entire quarters with nice and shiny Commie blocks:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Melanchthon lived here:











And Luther here:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Now we reach the market square: 





























Town hall from the 15th century, the meeting place of the Schmalkaldic League:


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)




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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Done.


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

Erfurt must be one of Europe's most beautiful cities.









I love this building!


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## HS (Jun 7, 2008)

Oh, I love Thüringen, it's my second favourite region in Germany (after Baden-Württemberg)

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/7590/schmalk028.jpg - children! It's very hard to meet children in former DDR


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Nightsky said:


> I love this building!


Yeah, it's a pretty nice Jugendstil building. The Jugendstil in this part of Germany is usually rather modest. This building here looks like it was influenced by Hungarian secession, which was far more colourful and expressive.


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## groentje (Apr 15, 2006)

I'm going to make a roundtrip in Germany by train, but with a very tight schedule, my only stop in Thuringia will be Nordhausen, to stay the night. Too bad...


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## Chadoh25 (Dec 28, 2007)

Great photos!


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## Gauthier (Nov 10, 2009)

THis thread is soooooo BEAUTIFUL!!!! absolutly amazing photos!! thank you for sharing  I cant wait to see your other threads and fotos! and i cant wait to visit these unknown places


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## Johnor (Jan 8, 2008)

@Karasek

Did you make any photos of Weimar?


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## aster4000 (Jan 28, 2010)

these places are simpy AMAZING!!!!


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## Karasek (Apr 6, 2008)

Johnor said:


> @Karasek
> 
> Did you make any photos of Weimar?


Sure. I will add them sometime later.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

^ That'd be really nett. kay:




Nightsky said:


> Erfurt must be one of Europe's most beautiful cities.


It undoubtedly is. Especially if you like this kind of Central European, medieval townscape like I do. Similar to Prague or Görlitz. Just lovely.


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## Terpentin07 (Oct 3, 2009)

Great photos.What a shame that the architecture in the west part of Germany is not that attractive.I hate the 70's.:lol:


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## King-Krunch (Jul 20, 2004)

Any more towns? Really loving this series


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## Herbie Fully Loaded (Aug 28, 2009)

Pics of German towns are chicken soup for the heart.


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## Skrapebook (May 7, 2010)

There aren´t any more colourful and beautiful cities in the whole world!
Germany owns so much that´s it boggles the mind!


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## Johnor (Jan 8, 2008)

Thank you for your photos!


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## TheReconstructer (May 27, 2011)

Beautiful pictures and city! I went to Erfurt a month ago, and it was just a lovely old city with a lot of beautiful and colourful houses. Really a great city for a day- or weekendtrip


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## Xorcist (Jun 18, 2006)

definitely a beautiful city....


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