Fes ~ The Mother of All Cities - Eberhard Hahne

FES - Die Mutter aller Städte  (The Mother of all Cities), by Eberhard Hahne, published by Terraviso-Verlag in Cologne, is a beautiful homage to the Medina of Fez, by a man who has spent almost 40 years visiting and photographing the city. While the text of the book is in German, the photographs speak a universal language. With his tribute to his favourite city in the world, Eberhard has created an unique portrait of the Medina of Fes

Fez is the most important and most mysterious of the four Moroccan royal cities. Founded 1200 years ago by the great grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, the Medina has become the largest oriental town in the world. Here, medieval life has been salvaged until the present time. The lovingly designed picture book describes, supplemented by 40 texts, the socio-cultural cooperation, the craft guilds, markets, private and spiritual life of this islamic city. The UNESCO declared Fes 1981 as a world heritage - Eberhard Hahne

Hahne has divided the book into five chapters, corresponding to the five pillars of Islam. The chapters deal with the determinants of this city: the population, the craft, commerce, privacy and the Spirituality. His pictures show the confrontation with its historical counterpart, the immutability of the subject.

Quotes from the travel literature of the past centuries underline this strange timelessness. One reads a quote from Leo Africanus from the 15th century and sees what is described in a splendid adjacent photo.

The most interesting and successful  aspects of the book are the inclusion of old historical photographs and numerous texts describing the peculiarities of everyday oriental life.

I just love to drift, getting lost in the seemingly endless maze of lanes with. Here I discover again and again to me unknown places, markets, workshops that inspire me. For a freshly brewed mint tea I like to go into the cafes around the Bab Boujloud. The small market Souk el Henna I visit on any tour of the Medina. To relax I like to go in the Jardin du Public to walk and then drink a freshly squeezed orange juice in the nearby Café Nouria - Eberhard Hahne

DETAILS

FES - Die Mutter aller Städte ISBN 978-3-00-045709-8
Price: 40 Euro plus 5 Euro postage (Europe)
Print length: 205 pages,

Links:
Eberhard Hahne's Website
YouTube - inspect the book
Amazon (German)


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