{"id":8988,"date":"2023-06-11T20:52:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T18:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=8988"},"modified":"2023-06-11T20:52:15","modified_gmt":"2023-06-11T18:52:15","slug":"kaliningrad-german-helmet-in-all-its-steampunk-glory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/kaliningrad-german-helmet-in-all-its-steampunk-glory\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaliningrad German Helmet in all its Steampunk Glory"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An illuminating experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

11 June 2023 ~ Kaliningrad German Helmet in all its Steampunk Glory<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the subject of vintage and antiques, which we were in my last post<\/a> and are in this one, the object featured today is, in its reincarnated form, neither, but as peculiar and fascinating things go, it has a promising future, and who knows who\u2019s interest it may collect from someone for whom it was destined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This item, which is a lamp, was made by and purchased from a Kaliningrad metalwares\u2019 sculptor and is yet another example of the talent and creativity which artist Victor Ryabinin <\/a>spoke of when he talked of the special people who are drawn to, or who have been nurtured within, the ancient K\u00f6nigsberg region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The components of the piece are identifiable enough: the shade most obviously is a WWII German military helmet; the stem is a length of shaped and sculpted pipework; and the base, though not so easily categorised, seems to have been taken from an engine of some description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The industrial look, the interior design concept which continues to dominate caf\u00e9s, bars, restaurants and nightclubs is simpatico. A close relative of steampunk, it, too, cuts to the basics, wedding and distorting common objects from the industrial past with their future in the present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaliningrad German Helmet goes all steampunk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My lamp, or rather the lamp I am looking after for future generations, is artistically endowed with an evocative bronze patina, which, when the lamp is lit, creates a deep and mellow aura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, when I am alone in the attic regarding the lamp over a beer, a macabre realisation seeps quietly out through the helmet\u2019s ragged holes and makes its way into my mind: \u201cJust think,\u201d it says, \u201conce upon a time the light bulb in this helmet was nothing of the sort; there was a German head inside the helmet.\u201d And I go on to wonder who that German was and what eventually became of him. Did he survive the war?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hmmm? Pieces from the past do that to you sometimes; they talk to you in your present and make you long to complete the jigsaw.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2018-2023 Mick Hart. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An illuminating experience 11 June 2023 ~ Kaliningrad German Helmet in all its Steampunk Glory On the subject of vintage and antiques, which we were in my last post and are in this one, the object featured today is, in its reincarnated form, neither, but as peculiar and fascinating things go, it has a promising […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8993,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[50],"tags":[435,1923,2168,2169,2170,82,55,94],"class_list":["post-8988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-konigsberg","tag-englishman-in-kaliningrad-russia","tag-kaliningrad-flea-market","tag-kaliningrad-german-helmet","tag-kaliningrad-german-helmet-lamp","tag-kaliningrad-junk-market","tag-konigsberg-history","tag-mick-hart-in-kaliningrad","tag-military-history-kaliningrad-konigsberg"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t