Germany
:
Regions and Cities
[This section is in the earliest
stages of development: 28 December 2006
]
Berlin
I have visited Berlin twice: first in August
2000, and then at Easter 2006. In 2000 Potsdammerplatz appeared to be the largest building
site in the world. The money clearly being invested in commercial building was
breathtaking. Much of the building work is now completed, and in 2006 I stayed at an hotel in Potzdammerplatz when went to experience the brave new Berlin
that has emerged from its cocoon of scaffolding. It was a most rewarding experience. The hotel was built on the line of the Berlin Wall, looking over into what was once East Berlin. This line is also the road to the nearby Brandenburgertor, and beyond that the Reichstag, both potent symbols of Germany as a state and a nation standing proud in a united Europe. By way of extreme contrast, the line is also the road to the nearby memorial to the victims of the Nazi holocaust. and the flattened site of Hilter's bunker.
Due to the intensity of its history, Berlin felt like a complex, multi-layered city. For anyone born and brought up in Europe before November 1989, it is surely impossible to approach Berlin without a profound awareness of its involvement in shaping the history of the twentieth century. The first capital city of a newly unified Germany, in 1871, Berlin was, for a European city, still relatively young, coming into existence only around 1230. Maybe it is no accident that Berlin was chosen to be the capital city, for it already had a parliament building (the Reichstag, now with its Norman Foster glass dome), a cathedral (with a grand view from high up), a triumphal arch/gate (walking beneath the Brandenburger Tor was, for me, a moving experience), and the makings of a classical museums quarter (I found Museuminsel to be a haunting place). Over the ensuing forty years, Berlin was transformed from a provincial capital into the most modern city in the world. Less than a decade later, the humiliation of the First World War must have reduced Berlin to a wretched and depressing place. Attempting to rise again, Berlin was caught up in a whirligig of frantic, notoriously decadent energy of the succeeding Weimar republic. The Bauhaus achieved its greatest architectural influence during this period. However, I feel ashamed to admit that I really did not like the Mies van der Rohe ‘Neue Nationalgalerie’ (I much prefer his work in Manhattan and Chicago). The Bauhaus was forced to disperse into exile as lustful cries of excitement were increasingly drowned out by misanthropic curses barked by Adolf Hitler, and Berlin fell tragically under the evil spell of the Nazis. The demise of Hitler in his Berlin bunker coincided with the raising of the red flag and occupation by Soviet Russian troops. Berlin was hacked into zones administered respectively by the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France, with Checkpoints (Alpha, Bravo and Charlie, the latter of which still exists as a monument) controlling movement between zones. On the east/west division of Germany into federal and democratic republics, and a political iron curtain descending across central Europe, a wall of concrete was thrown up to surround what became west Berlin: the Berlin Wall. Little of the Wall has been preserved. The section of the Wall that I examined in 2000, beside the remains of the Gestapo headquarters, had been converted into an open-air museum/memorial regarding the violation of human rights (cf. the Anne Frank Haus in Amsterdam). In 2006 the exhibition had become an exploration of the terror perpetrated by the Nazi - it was truly harrowing - what must it have been like to live (and die) during that period of histiory? In the centre of Berlin is the Tiergarten, a pleasant tree-filled park made poignant when realising that every tree has been planted since 1945, every previous tree having been felled by Allied bombs. Berlin rose again, phoenix-like, this time from rubble and ashes. Attached to the Tiergarten are the zoological gardens, which I was happy to visit in 2006. Close by is a square that has the toothy remains of a yet-another bombed-out church (irreverently referred to, I believe, as the Lippenstift), and the Europa Centre with the most amazing (I did not say pretty) water feature.
Berlin has an excellent public transport infrastructure that serves the city centre
well, a blessing because distances between places of interest can be more than
a leg stretch. Public transport also runs out into the forests and lakelands
that surround the city. I enjoyed woodland walks, and a very pleasant boat trip
somewhere on the lakes during which I drank Berlinner
weissbier mit grun (actually woodruff syrup, but I suppose more prosaically
the Berlin equivalent of lager
and lime). I did not visit Potsdam.
Maybe next time.
Berlin has a great deal to
offer the tourist, and I am looking forward to my next visit.
Holstein
I visited Hansestadt Lübeck, a UNESCO world heritage site in
northern Germany,
in the summer of 1997. Founded in the 12th century, Lübeck was the capital of
the Hanseatic League, and served as a major trading port for northern Europe.
It suffered considerable damage during the Second World War, perpetrated by
Allied bombers, but the structure of the old city, mainly 15th and 16th century
residences of the great, the good and the wealthy (including the house of the
Mann family, hence Lotte in Lübeck), the famous Holstentor brick gate
and an ancient hospital, remain intact. There are some Barlach sculptures on
the facade of a city centre church. Another church houses an exhibition showing
the aftermath of the Allied bombing, and the restoration process that had
subsequently to take place. The unbombed parts of Lübeck are highly attractive
in an understated way, and the late-medieval architecture is essential viewing
for anyone interested in European architecture. It is peacefully surrounded by
water, and the beer is good.
In addition to the famous Rathaus, and its impressive river port area,
Hansestadt Hamburg has its Kunsthalle with some wonderful twentieth
century art, including Joseph Beuys and contemporary work. The work of a number
of German Romantics is also featured, including paintings by Caspar David
Friedrich. There are some very attractive botanical gardens, and a nearby park
with feral rabbits. The area around the Hauptbahnhof is somewhat insalubrious
(as in many cities) and frequented by people scoring recreational drugs.
The Rhinelands
My first holiday on my own away from Britain, many years ago, in my
mid-teens, was walking and youth hostelling along part of the wine-growing
region of the river Rhine, around Boppard, Bacharach and St Goar. Travelling
up-river by boat from Rudesheim via the Lorelei Rock to Koblenz,
I visited Köln, including its famous cathedral (a UNESCO world heritage site).
Begun in 1248, this Gothic masterpiece was not completed until 1880, although
the original plans were followed throughout. However, little more that 60 years
later, the cathedral was damaged during the Second World War, subsequent to
which it had to undergo restoration. I have a 1973 photograph of the cathedral
all tangled up with overhead power lines for the adjacent railway.
Baden-Württemberg
Although fearing that the centre of Stuttgart would be bland and
soulless, for it is a city newly built after Allied bombing during the Second
World War, I found it pleasant enough. There are pedestrian shopping streets
and squares, and wide boulevards for the traffic to move around out of conflict
with pedestrians. There is some interesting modern architecture, modern
sculpture, and a modern transport infrastructure (much of which is accessible
for people in wheelchairs). There are trees and parks, fountains and cafes.
Schwabian beer tastes somewhat insipid on my palate. Stuttgart Zoo ranks in my
experience as one of the best (range of animals, welfare of animals, overall
environment, access/visibility for children and wheelchair users) in Europe.
The Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart
is housed in a wonderful new building designed by James Stirling, and includes
a significant collection of twentieth century work that should not be missed.
Day trip distance from Stuttgart
are Calw, Tübingen and Maulbronn Monastery: places formative in the early life
of Herman Hesse from whom I learned much.
Calw appears to be a well-preserved, quiet, conservative, small town
in the Black Forest to the west of Stuttgart. It has little to commend it
specifically, apart from its association with its most famous son. The house in
the Market Place in which the young Hesse lived with his
parents is identified with a brass plaque. At the other end of the Market Place
is the building that houses the town art gallery and the Hermann Hesse Museum.
The museum is worth a visit by enthusiasts, and by people who are interested
and can read German passably well - there is no translation into English, which
is sad considering Hesse has such a strong anglophone following.
Maulbronn Monastery, a UNESCO
world heritage site, with many of its associated buildings still in tact
and in use, is considered to be the most complete and best-preserved medieval
monastery complex north of the Alps. Founded in 1147,
the Cistercian monastery was built over the ensuing two centuries. The water
management system, including a reservoir which is not wheelchair accessible, is
considered to be exceptional. Whilst Maulbronn ceased to serve as a monastery
centuries ago, it was subsequently used as a school, attended, and written
about, by the young Herman Hesse. Knowing well Durham Cathedral, York Minster,
Chester Cathedral and Mount Grace Priory, I was less impressed with Maulbronn than
had I approached it with less experience. The waiter at the cafe/bar was
gratuitously unpleasant, and the village beyond the complex is best ignored.
Tübingen is a medieval university city, twinned with Durham, UK. Like
Durham and Chester, the medieval city centre is a bit theme-parkish, but is
very pleasant. The bookshop where Herman Hesse learned his early trade as a
bookseller is marked with a brass plaque. It is not hard to imagine him in his
late teens and early twenties drinking robust wines with friends late into the
night. Compared to Calw and Maulbronn, Tübingen is positively cosmopolitan.
Some of the shops are obviously for the tourists, whereas others exist because
of the student population. There is a castle, from the entrance of which are some
fine views over the Neckar valley. There is a
river-island park walk which is pleasant.
Mannheim is an industrial city off the tourist trail. It has at least
two commendable features: a spectacular fountain with innumerable jets,
different numbers of which appear to be active at different times of day; an
art gallery with some wonderful twentieth century art, including figurative
expressionist, and abstract expressionist. There is also an impressive
collection of figurative sculpture. For people for whom early- to mid-twentieth
century art is important, this gallery is well worth travelling for and
spending a lot of time in. I intend to revisit.
Bayern
I have twice visited München, the capital of Bayern (Bavaria).
It is now many years since I saw the wonderful work of Wassily Kandinsky in the
Neue Pinakotek. I have few other memories of the city, and find myself
increasingly confusing the place with Wien (Vienna).
Elsewhere in Germany
I have aspirations to visit Dresden, Hannover and Frankfurt.
p.g.h@btinternet.com