Postcards From Berlin

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  4/5
  Listen up! Or as they say here, Achtung! We're in Berlin. We have a charming flat in Kreuzberg with all the usual stuff like a cozy livingroom and fully loaded kitchen. With 6 rooms and 12' ceilings it may have more volume than our Seattle home. Originally the flat was heated by a ceramic stove that's still in one bedroom. We've solved subway, got transit passes, learned the grocery store checkout protocol, and connected all our gear to WiFi. We celebrated with wine on the balcony. Wish you were here. Bring more wine.

  
  
  
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  4/6
  The Brandenburg Gate -- icon of Berlin -- is impressive both coming and going. Built in 1730, the Gate is crowned by Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory, symbolizing peace. (Compare Rome's & Berlin's versions.) Napoleon took her to Paris in 1806. When she was taken back home to Berlin in 1814, the German Eagle and Iron Cross were added. The Gate got dinged up in WW II and years following, but is now nicely primped up. Notice the Gate illustrates parallax: It's not 6 columns, but 6 walls, fronted by columns, which we glimpse. They're even drawn in Berlin's graphic icon.

  
  
  
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  4/7
  Berlin's Musikinstrumenten Museum showcases antique musical instruments like this cembalo, a "virginal harpsichord with built-in octave" from 1594 by Hans Ruckers of Antwerp. The audio guide explains each followed by a musician playing an appropriate piece on the instrument. At right is one of 3 hurdy gurdies (hear one) on display. The collection includes the strange, the curious, the beautiful, the principles, and the space efficient. There's a double-belled euphonium, and various violin scrolls.

  
  
  
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  4/8
  OK. So, we really do wish you were here. But you're not, and as a result you missed this afternoon's visit to the Gemaldegalerie, Berlin's classical art gallery. It is loaded -- we probably saw more Rembrandts today than we've ever seen in one building. But, to the point, you missed both Alessandro Botticelli's Profile Portrait of a Young Woman and Giovanni Bellini's Madonna and Child. Lunch conversation focused on a "which guy's better" comparison, but really ... we could have used your help.

  
  
  
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  4/9
  Near Brandenburg Gate is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Germany's official recognition of the atrocities committed by the National Socialist (Nazi) Regime. Foregoing conventional symbols of violence and remembrance, Peter Eisenmen's design is composed of 2711 concrete blocks (stelae) of varying heights placed on undulating ground. The scale of this somber monument conveys the enormity of the holocaust, and its extremely abstract form compels the visitor to think deeply about the tragedy.

  
  
  
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  4/10
  Ai Weiwei's art installation Evidence is at Martin Gropius Bau. It's not an art exhibit; it's a political/cultural protest with decoration. The Conceptual Art works make complex points that moved us deeply. In one he sanded antique Ming Period [1368-1644] chairs restoring their original luster; in another he sprayed 8 Han Period [206 BC-220 AD] vases with metallic car enamel. They're the same antiques ... but now worthless? He asks "is originality a surface issue or is it intrinsic?" To us, he was also referencing the insanity of the Cultural Revolution.

  
  
  
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  4/11
  Today we wandered (we had a goal, but never reached it) past Marienkirke, St. Mary's Church, which seemed to be designed by six different committees. Inside it is spectacular in various ways, but the pipe organ is the standout. Built in 1722, it's the organ Felix Mendelssohn -- the kid down the street -- learned to play on. Invited to the organ loft, we sat right behind the organist as he played several pieces, including Mendelssohn's Fugue for Organ In C Minor, the Silent Night Fugue. Enjoy.

  
  
  
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  4/12
  It was inevitable that we would be disappointed renting an apartment whose description included "... and across the street is one of Berlin's best bakeries." In one month we can't eat bread fast enough to make it through the whole list! So far, we've tried three: Salt Bread, Standard and Round, all of which have proper German names. The secret ingredient is the wood fired oven that makes all the bread have a wonderfully chewy crust. <<sigh>>
  So many loaves, so little time ...

  
  
  
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  4/13
  Spring has come to Berlin. Tiergarten, its central park, is turning a gorgeous green. What a delight to walk the pathways among the newly leafed trees. Like all urban parks there are many monuments. This one honors Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn under a golden wreath. In the center of the park is the Victory Column, with plenty of its own gold. The Column is what one sees through the Brandenburg Gate. Looking back at the Gate, Tiergarten presses in on June 17th Street.

  
  
  
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  4/14
  As we learn details of Berlin's past, we become aware of how its political history impacts its physical form. Four photos illustrate: 1943, 1953, 1989 and 2012. Notice that Tiergarten's trees are gone in 1953, felled for fuel post-WWII. The Berlin Wall is visible in 1989. The Reichstag (capital building) burned and bombed is a ruin in 1943 and 1953, but is restored by 1989. The gray area S of Brandenburg Gate in 2012 is the Murdered Jews of Europe memorial. The area near B Gate changes in each photo; today it's embassies with lawns.

  
  
  
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  4/15
  Germany's gift to the United States was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. His gift to Berlin was the Neue Nationalgalerie housing its modern art collection. This building is spectacular! Most of the art is displayed away from the sun on the lower level, though partitions create space on the main floor for special exhibits. We saw excellent work by Barnett Newman and Gerhard Richter, but the building itself may be the finest work of art in the collection.
  
  P.S. One of us thinks it IS the finest work in the collection.

  
  
  
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  4/16
  Even without the family earth scientists along, we had to go to the Museum für Naturkunde. First, it has the "world's most famous fossil," Archaeopteryx siemensii, the most complete of the 11 known specimens. It's from the Jura Mountains, as in Jurassic. Fun fact: The guy who found it sold it to buy a cow. Second, the museum has the largest mounted dinosaur skeleton, Brachio- saurus brancai. It's scary big! Third, the back room contains 276,000 jars of pickled animals! It's a glass menagerie. Who could skip it?

  
  
  
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  4/17
  Berliners have preserved a segment of the Wall to remind us that it arbitrarily separated one population into two groups -- those with freedom and those with none. And, to remind us it wasn't just a wall, but two walls enclosing a no man's land, mines, tank barriers, barbed wire alarm fences, guard towers, lights, shoot-to-kill rules and 12,000 guards. (Walled In) And to remind us, any government that must wall in its citizens is outrageous.

  
  
  
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  4/18
  Sure. You think we're hanging out in Berlin guzzling beer and scarfing down bratwurst. But we've spent days deep in research: Cross-cultural Connections In Berlin's Easter Markets. There's a market in every platz, which keeps us busy. The exacting work must be done at various Biergartens, bratwurst stalls, British chips and Turkish sandwich stands, where we study the marketing carefully. It's difficult work. Data is preliminary. So far we've established that Americans love Berlin's Easter Markets.

  
  
  
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  4/19
  What says Easter more than belly dancing? (And why is it in Kinderfest?)
  
  Are kids in bubbles like chicks in Easter eggs? (Why do some kids squeal with delight and others just bawl in misery?)
  
  Does jumping off a skyscraper reveal your faith? (Once in the harness, do your spirits soar as you fall?)
  
  Some of the 'wonders' of Easter in Berlin.

  
  
  
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  4/20
  "Loafing" in Berlin to us means waiting for the bakery to open. We've done our share. Bread has become a much more delightful and interesting part of our diet. This week's loaf report is: oatmeal with flecks of carrot (?), white and large flat. (As before, we can't remember the German names.) The range of our choices was clearly visible Saturday when the bakers headed to the corner for the neighborhood street market pushing a trolley loaded with loaves.

  
  
  
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  4/21
  Meet Schnute, one of two European Brown Bears (Ursus arctos arctos), Berlin's mascots. Bears were first used as the symbol for Berlin in 1307, but no one knows why. An obvious guess is bear in German (bär) sounds a lot like the first syllable of Berlin, the name the place got from Slavic tribes. But the name doesn't mean "bear den;" it means "swampy place," so making a bear connection is a definite upgrade. Over the years -- 1658, 1841, 1948 -- the bear has changed form and gotten sassy!

  
  
  
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  4/22
  Berlin buildings can be deceptive. The DZ Bank building is a drab concrete facade with an uninspired fountain; but inside the atrium is a crazy Richard Gehry! Why? The building is next to the Brandenburg Gate. Berlin told the bank they didn't care who the architect was, the outside must be restrained. So Gehry turned his building inside out. Another exterior - interior mismatch is the Museum für Gegenwart (contemp- orary art), a former train station. And here's the exterior - interior mismatch of Quartier 206.

  
  
  
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  4/23
  We visited Wittenberg, Ground Zero for the Reformation. We found the famous church (+ other buildings on the 'tour') wrapped for renovation, prepping for its 500th anniversary. No worries. Wittenberg is a charming market town of 3-4 story buildings, a town square, a university where Martin Luther taught, and beautifully restored sites like his faculty housing and original furnishings. We agree with Christoph Scheurl's 1507 advice, "Come to Wittenberg, whose citizens are well educated and men are devoted to the sciences."

  
  
  
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  4/24
  For us, the Martin Luther Museum was Reformation 101. Part 1: Luther became a monk; read Bible carefully; thought Church was off track; "indul-gences" (fill out form & pay) were one problem. Part 2: Wrote up 95 points to discuss; nailed to church door (didn't really); locals read, discussed, agreed; Part 3: Sent Pope Leo a copy; by return mail, Pope sent Bull (like this) recant or be "ex'ed out"; Luther burned Bull, courageously said "No"; explained. Part 4: hid; translated bible to German; returned; preached. The rest is history.

  
  
  
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  4/25
  We love Museum der Dinge (Things). It focuses on German design, its history and good & bad examples. This enter- tainment center with record player, TV and radio is 1960s vintage, designed as a trade show joke, but customers (with taste?) actually bought them! The chair, from the first company to commercially bend dowels, sold fabulously. Our other favorites: insulators; carafes; a ceramic pitcher with pre-positioned ants; and furniture made from escalator risers. Great stuff!

  
  
  
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  4/26
  Reichenberger Strasse illustrates a clever way Berlin marks its history. Today, it's the main street in a gritty residential neighborhood, but it was once lined with businesses and had a horse-drawn tram. That history has been preserved by tools, representative of those businesses, embedded in the pavement. Walking the street we found 16 of these pavers. Many of them had tools we couldn't guess a use for. We know the businesses are gone. Maybe even the trades are.

  
  
  
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  4/27
  Currywurst is an icon of Berlin's pop culture. It is a boiled bockwurst pork sausage with a piquant sauce of tomato paste, chili and curry; fries with paprika are a must. Berliners eat 70 million per year. Invented 4 Sept 1949 by Herta Heuwer, who never revealed her patented recipe, this fast food is NOT uniform; everyplace has its own taste. We tracked down the site of Herta's original sausage stand, and tried the top two contenders Curry 36 (No. 1) and Konnopke's Imbiss (No. 2).
  They're delicious!

  
  
  
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  4/28
  Berlin is a canvas. That's a metaphor, of course, but we mean it literally. They paint buildings here, and some of it is amazing. Tagging is rampant, as usual, but mostly the paint is there to com- municate: The formal wear store on the corner shows its gowns, the currywurst shop brags about tradition, the city-funded artists riff on the Wall on the wall, any mews can spark creativity, and a 1950 socialism ad is preserved. Best of all, you can chat with Otto von Bismark on a sunny afternoon.

  
  
  
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  4/29
  Behold an Aspendos Flaming Cake. (The name is a mystery.) It looks like a pizza; it is not. It is 3 sheets of filo cov- ered with sour cream + just a bit of mild cheese, 3-4 intensely flavorful toppings and, often, arugula. Check out these: orient, anchovy, milano, carmina. We're kind of addicted to Flaming Cakes, but also, they sort of illustrate our take on this city. Berlin is not what you think. It has been reinvented in fundamental ways, while keeping traditional elements from its history and German culture. Also, Berlin is kind of addictive.

  
  
  
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  4/30
  Topics Previously Skipped
  Berliners tote instruments more than anywhere in the world; in some cases in cases, in others in red rags. There's also: the museum's scarlet-headed blackbird, Amblyramphus holosericeus; GDR's ampelmann in red and green; mobile brauts; the Dr's mask from plague days; 17th C Antonin Scalia; Potsdamer Platz; our selfie; the Hungarian peeper; the Merkel's place, Angela and Prof. M.; people we've met; and the angel among us.

  
  
  
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  5/1
  International Workers Day. For us, it was theater in 2 acts. Act I: A morning march near Brandenburg Gate. Among the marchers were socialists from our Kreuzberg 'hood, and many unions; advocates for a 10€ ($13.80) minimum wage für alle came, as did others ready to overthrow capitalism. Even confetti had a constituency. Act II: In the even- ing in front of our house 1000s of marchers (communists, we think) and 100s of police swarmed past; it was huge, raucous and peaceful despite the occasional explosion.

  
  
  
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  5/2
  Auf Wiedersehen, Berlin. Halten Sie den Backofen warm, wir kommen wieder.

  
  
  

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