The Keepers of Time and Stories.
Wandering through the bustling Flachsmarkt at Burg Linn, I stopped to watch a stand with some antique clocks, their soft ticking almost lost in the hum of the crowd. That’s where I came accross two friends from the north of the Netherlands — strangers at first, but quickly united with me in conversation by a shared curiosity.
They spoke about clocks the way my eldest brother could — with affection, reverence, and a twinkle in the eye. Their hands traced the shapes of ornate cases, their voices lingered over the details of intricate mechanisms, and every so often, they would pause to listen to the chime of a restored timepiece as if it were a voice from the past.
For them, each clock holds a story: of the craftsperson who built it, the families who lived by its hours, and the quiet persistence of time itself. I left our meeting feeling as though I had been shown not just clocks, but the heartbeat of history.
