Pension bij Burg Anhalt in het Selkedal 1868 - 1890

Editor: This photograph, titled "Pension bij Burg Anhalt in het Selkedal," by Hermann Selle, likely taken between 1868 and 1890, offers a view of a seemingly quiet, rural scene. It evokes a sense of peaceful solitude, but something feels a little unsettling too. What catches your eye? How do you interpret this work? Curator: The repetition inherent in stereoscopic images—which this appears to be—certainly adds a layer of symbolic weight. The double vision subtly distorts reality, creating an echo. Beyond that, consider the 'Burg Anhalt.' Castles are rarely just structures; they are powerful signifiers of history, authority, and often, the weight of tradition. How does this rather plain-looking building complicate those associations? Editor: I see what you mean. It's not the imposing fortress I'd expect, more like a…domesticated castle? Almost as if the grandeur has been intentionally muted. Curator: Precisely! The symbols we carry of the castle as powerful become almost ironically subverted by its homelike quaintness in a mundane rural setting. Note the symmetry, too. It feels ordered, perhaps hinting at a controlled or even constrained existence. Does that order create a sense of stability, or perhaps a subtle feeling of oppression? Editor: That makes sense. So, the "Burg" isn't necessarily about overt power, but maybe about a more internalized or understated control? Curator: Exactly. By setting it amongst rolling hills with just the trace of wildness from untrimmed lawns. We still know there are structures and control beneath but the building becomes almost…melancholic, the idea of power almost self-contained. The artist shows not what the castle stands for but hints at how those symbols change or break down over time, offering, as all symbols can, both promises and implicit limits of experience. Editor: I never thought of it that way. I'll definitely look at other landscapes differently now.