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January 31, 2020: Janus in Basel

 

As we bid farewell to January, it seems appropriate to feature the Roman god its name is taken from, Janus, the two-headed god of time, of beginnings and endings, of looking forward and back.

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But this statue of him in Basel is a bit unusual. Janus is usually depicted with two faces on one head, but in Basel, Otto Charles Bänninger chose to put the other face at his feet.

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The statue, erected in 1962, is in a small square called Totentanz, or Dance of Death, just outside Basel's Prediger Church and University Hospital.

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With a tram stop on one side and a bus stop on the other, he gets plenty of youthful companionship; I had to visit more than once to get pictures without kids—perhaps they're attracted to Bänninger's youthful and playful faces

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The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

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