Hallo! I just got back from my core course study tour to Berlin, and I already want to go back. My core course really bonded in our museum visits, walks around town, and meals together. Each day we had readings pertaining to Berlin.
I am obsessed with the public transportation in Berlin. Each station has its own look. I took pictures of about 10 different stations. The above-ground trains have stunning views from the windows.
On arrival day we checked into our fancy hotel, and headed out to tour the city. Our teachers, Mette and Karen, took us to different landmarks and monuments. We had our books in hands, stopping to read passages that described the locations we were visiting. For example, we read a passage in Book of Clouds about the TV Tower with the TV Tower in view. Three of my classmates took us to sites in Berlin where Soviet monuments had been taken down, guided by Sophie Calle’s Detachment. We talked about the remembrance of some events and the erasure of others in the public consciousness.
That night, we went to a play called Don’t Be Evil by Kay Voges and Ensemble. I’ve never seen anything like it. There was so much nudity; nothing was off limits. There were lights and sounds that could cause an epileptic seizure. Outside the doors, they were handing out programs and earplugs. Don’t Be Evil was about the constant onslaught of technology such as social media. All of the scenes had an element of voyeurism and or surveillance. There was so much to take in on the stage, so I was trying to glance up at the subtitles and view all the action at the same time.
On Monday, we read The Memoirs and Diaries of Käethe Kollwitz and visited the Käethe Kollwitz museum. I could see how her life was reflected in her artwork. There is a dramatic shift in the style of her art after her son dies. Later that day, we went to the Bauhaus Archive. It was fascinating how students of Bauhaus branched off from the teachings to create new art.
Tuesday was an emotional day. My reading group guided a discussion on Paul Celan’s poems. We went to the Jewish Museum and observed how the architect, Daniel Libeskind, conveyed feelings of disorientation through the structure of the building. We read the Celan poems aloud. Between discussions, we viewed different areas of the museum including the Garden of Exile.
Then we visited a modern art exhibit called the Boros Collection in an old WWII bomb shelter. It is so interesting how Berlin repurposes historical buildings. There are remnants of the past everywhere. You just have to know where to look. From there, we walked to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. I felt like I was walking into a tomb. As you walk into the memorial, the ground slopes downwards and the pillars grow taller.
At the end of this long day, we had a vegan, Russian dinner at Restaurant Pasternak.
This post is getting long, so I’m going to make a Berlin pt. 2 post.
to be continued…
A North Carolinian in Copenhagen 