Blühende Landschaften

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Kohl predicted a rose-tinted vision of the future for the country's former East German states.

He used the metaphor of blühende Landschaften – blooming landscapes – to describe the inevitable progress that would take place in these economically disadvantaged areas.

Almost 30 years later, countless delapidated buildings are still waiting for a new lease on life, for someone or something to give them new hope.

Often, however, Mother Nature gets there first and takes over. Buildings and walls are subjected to the ravages of time.

Quite probably not the 'blooming' landscapes Helmut Kohl was dreaming of...