Wordless Wednesday

... but it needs some explaining anyway.  :)

This is the face of the clock on the Rathaus (town hall) in Jena.  It's considered one of the seven wonders of Jena (but I have no clue what the other six are... oh wait, I just found the rest of them here).  You can see the man in the middle just has a head.  The man (a pilgrim) to the left of him is holding a stick, and at the end of the stick is a shiny gold ball.  The gold ball represents a Kloß (plural: Klöße), which is a potato dumpling found throughout the state of Thuringia (Jason doesn't like them, I think they are okay, our friend Naomi loves them).  When the clock strikes the hour, the bells chime and the man on the left moves the Kloß towards the man in the middle, who obligingly opens his mouth to receive the Kloß.  I've recently, as in the last two minutes, learned that the man in the middle is named Hans, a typical German name since the middle ages, and he is fondly referred to as Schnapphans, or snapping Hans.  Rumor has it that if he catches the Kloß, the world will end.  If you're interested, feel free to read more. 


I may try to find the other wonders and take pictures for you... now I'm curious!  :)