Villages in Europe which have buildings from four or five centuries ago are not uncommon. Cochem, a charming village on the Mosel, is one of them. The village has grown in modern times, with a lot of structures added in the 20th century, and more being added currently. But a street or two are essentially unchanged from the early modern age. I noticed the plaque whose photo you see above in a half-timbered building which is anywhere between four and five hundred years old. It has been preserved well, but the wood is clearly old. All I could recognize is the double-headed eagle symbol of the Habsburg dynasty. I wish I knew enough about heraldry to read what the other shields mean, and what the connection with the Habsburgs is. In any case, it was easy to recognize this as the pre-modern equivalent of a nameplate.
When I think of art on the street, it is usually public art: paid for by or donated to a municipal body. Another category is street art, often painted against the wishes of local bodies or owners, but also, more often now, solicited without being paid for. But when you get to an older place like Cochem, you find a third category: external building decorations commissioned by owners. They can be votive niches, corbels or street signs. I saw beautiful examples in Cochem, as you can see in the gallery above.
In the arch of the door of the town hall (village hall?) I saw embedded Cochem’s heraldic device. It was in the middle of a date, presumably of when the hall was built, almost four centuries ago. The other important structure here was the church. It is older, but like all churches, has pieces from many eras. The latest was the door handle that you see above, in the shape of a fish. On this rainy day it was impossible to go up to castle above the village, so I spent my time chasing these little decorations and ducking into cafes to avoid rain.
Don't hold your breath 
