Berlin: a memorable experience of history and art
Vera Nonaka visited the German capital over New Year. Here are her impressions of this fascinating, historical city
Artwork by Leonardo da Vinci and Rogier van der Weyden in Berlin
Snow, cold, tiring driving car trip, unkind personal treatment, all seemed not very auspicious in our arrival in Berlin.
To make things worse, we had booked a spacious apart-hotel, near the Check-Point Charlie – a former point of passage to cross from the East onto the West Berlin. Our first surprise: it was impossible to find the address even using a GPS or asking in the stores. In the end, we found a little office, where twelve young Chinese people were being sent to a rather far apart-hotel, by taxi. Then the pregnant attendant guided us through slippery dirty corridors and stairs smelling of cigarettes, so she showed us apartments in bad conditions of maintenance, with mold on the walls. She herself admitted: - All are awful! First tip of Berlin: do not try to stay in an apart-hotel there.
Afterwards, we lifted our spirits by moving to a decent hotel, the snow had stopped, the sun was shining and we opened our eyes for the real and bold Berlin.
I would say it is not easy to like this strong city at the first sight. The survivor or reconstructed historic buildings and monuments are fantastic. But it is all in reconstruction, there are a lot of closed streets and scaffoldings in the centre, besides alleyways and improvised passages. The personal treatment is not so kind or polite. Most restaurants, theatres or souvenirs stores do not accept payments by debit or credit cards – I could not understand why. Second tip of Berlin: carry money in your wallet to eat and buy something.
It is essential to understand the city of Berlin like a person, not just any person, but a person marked by two Great World Wars, how a bombed and attacked battlefield, suffering their consequences - death, famine and defeat – and having to pay heavy material and moral debts to the humanity. After the wars, Berlin was divided in two territories with contrary ideologies, living the Cold War in its heart, body and mind, being torn apart by violent terrorist attacks. I have heard that, after going through the recent history, the whole nation had to lay on the psychoanalyst’s couch.
Berlin is like a very interesting person, marked by deep scars, strong personality, outstanding beauty, plenty of relevant stories to tell. It is simply impossible not to fall in love madly with this city. Third tip: do not try to resist, let free your heart and thrill up with the sores of war not yet healed that the city has to show you and dive into the expressions of art and history of this all-encompassing civilization.
To make things worse, we had booked a spacious apart-hotel, near the Check-Point Charlie – a former point of passage to cross from the East onto the West Berlin. Our first surprise: it was impossible to find the address even using a GPS or asking in the stores. In the end, we found a little office, where twelve young Chinese people were being sent to a rather far apart-hotel, by taxi. Then the pregnant attendant guided us through slippery dirty corridors and stairs smelling of cigarettes, so she showed us apartments in bad conditions of maintenance, with mold on the walls. She herself admitted: - All are awful! First tip of Berlin: do not try to stay in an apart-hotel there.
Afterwards, we lifted our spirits by moving to a decent hotel, the snow had stopped, the sun was shining and we opened our eyes for the real and bold Berlin.
I would say it is not easy to like this strong city at the first sight. The survivor or reconstructed historic buildings and monuments are fantastic. But it is all in reconstruction, there are a lot of closed streets and scaffoldings in the centre, besides alleyways and improvised passages. The personal treatment is not so kind or polite. Most restaurants, theatres or souvenirs stores do not accept payments by debit or credit cards – I could not understand why. Second tip of Berlin: carry money in your wallet to eat and buy something.
It is essential to understand the city of Berlin like a person, not just any person, but a person marked by two Great World Wars, how a bombed and attacked battlefield, suffering their consequences - death, famine and defeat – and having to pay heavy material and moral debts to the humanity. After the wars, Berlin was divided in two territories with contrary ideologies, living the Cold War in its heart, body and mind, being torn apart by violent terrorist attacks. I have heard that, after going through the recent history, the whole nation had to lay on the psychoanalyst’s couch.
Berlin is like a very interesting person, marked by deep scars, strong personality, outstanding beauty, plenty of relevant stories to tell. It is simply impossible not to fall in love madly with this city. Third tip: do not try to resist, let free your heart and thrill up with the sores of war not yet healed that the city has to show you and dive into the expressions of art and history of this all-encompassing civilization.
Museums: amazing collections in the best exhibition structure.
The unique price of admission for all museums of Berlin is 19 euros for three days of use. To see Nefertiti’s bust in the Neues Museum, you need to pay an extra 4 euros and schedule your visit. Each euro you spend is worth much more: the collections are incredible and the museum’s conditions reflect the prosperity and dynamism of the Germany of today. I did not feel so comfortable with the watchdogs following me every time, but it is a due safeguard to the heritage. Here are some quick comments about Berlin’s museums: Neues: it was really exciting to find Nefertiti, in her majesty and history. Pergamon: its concept is the same as the Victoria & Albert Museum of London, it is absolutely fantastic. You feel you are in the real temple of Pergamon or have entered in the great empire of Babylonia. The audio-guides until bring thematic music to introduce each exhibition. Bode: it gives you a complete panel of European art, produced in the last 20 centuries. Gemäldegalerie: it shows a striking and precious collection of European art from 400 – 600 A.D., which I have never seen in other museums. It may seem silly, but for me the people’s expressions represented in the pictures transmit me unreleased thoughts about the world and their epochs. There are also gold pictures, with diverse scenes in each one, telling various aspect of the same story. I watched the works by Hieronymus Bosch and Lucas Cranach, in their religious pictures in contrast with their surrealist interpretations. The only museum which was not interesting from my point-of-view was the Bauhaus museum, with a very poor presentation about the Walter Gropious and group of this important movement for the architecture and arts. |
However, there are two other essential visits to do in Berlin: Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and Berlin Wall Memorial. I felt devastatingly sad, but totally conscious about the reality of the recent transformations in the world. Amenities: food, drink & people. Beer is the national drink in Germany. It is better with a schnaps. I can recommend an excellent traditional restaurant: Marjellchen, whose owner – a very nice lady – speaks a lot of languages - www.marjellchen-berlin.de. The German people have a particular beauty, mainly the women, very classically elegant and with firm personality. It is a pleasure to look at them. Classic music: great presentations and perfect acoustic. Finally, my last tip is: include at least one concert in your plans to Berlin. You can choose from a wide range of events and the tickets are cheap. I watched a concert in the Grosser Saal of Philarmonie of Berlin, with an orchestra conducted by Stanley Dodds, a superb maestro. The venue is modern and has perfect acoustics. We watched the presentation facing to the maestro, it was terrific. Firstly, a violinist conducted the orchestra, when the maestro took the baton, the orchestra grew and came to life. I also had the privilege of watching the Beethoven’s 9th Symphony played by the Hamburg Philharmonic and choir, on 31st of December. Someone said he wanted to see Paris and then die, I would say after this concert I could die joyfully. I am posting a video, which has not a good view - because I bought the last tickets in the last minute before the concert. By Vera Nonaka |