Today I secured a car through Hertz and for a little extra, less than a taxi to get to the airport, they are delivering our rental on Thursday! Organized a walking tour with guide tomorrow morning and bikes should be delivered later today, generous offer from the hotel which we happily accepted. So we have a plan for the next couple days and today we chose to tackle indoor museums due to the rain.
We first went to the Bauhaus-Archiv which was one of the Bauhaus school of architecture, design and art,... Thankfully we arrived safely because we had the meanest and most hostile cab driver ever- took a photo of him and sent to Nate just in case he tried to kill us, seriously!
We first went to the Bauhaus-Archiv which was one of the Bauhaus school of architecture, design and art,... Thankfully we arrived safely because we had the meanest and most hostile cab driver ever- took a photo of him and sent to Nate just in case he tried to kill us, seriously!
The Bauhaus movement was the unity of art and technology. Inside the museum they had some of the original Bauhaus items from chairs to lamps to architectural plans and models - all things with simple modern design and mostly which could be massed produced. The focus was on a utopian design, "a contemporary design for life". Bauhaus was synonymous with a new style of Modernism when it arose out of a desire to mix industrial and functional and created simplistic design that was functional and esthetically pleasing. It was interesting to go there since I had studied this building and their designs and architecture in a class I took at BYU, which was probably my favorite class I took in college. Sam really enjoyed the modern designs and had fun playing with these building blocks which you could use to design linear structures.
We caught a cab to the Neues Museum. We had heard about their Egyptian exhibit from our guides in Egypt that were a bit unhappy once again that foreigners had come and taken their national treasures. But we were thankful to have an opportunity to come to Berlin and see what we missed in Egypt. It was a fantastic museum. So beautifully laid out in what looks like an old brick building but with great light and felt very contemporary and there was space enough to see everything without feeling overwhelmed. We began with the coffins and sarcophaguses of many of the phararoahs and their family members and ended with the head of Nefertiti which is spectacular and exceeded expectations. It was so lifelike and was such a break from the tradition of non human like depictions of royalty at the time. I learned that Nefertiti and her husband Akhenaten began this new style of art and capturing the details of those depicted. This new realism was enlightening to see what the royalty really looked like. Nefertiti really was a stunner and the image of beauty for which she clearly represented in her world and time and still stands today as a symbol of. It was really interesting too that they had a bronze sculpture of Nefertiti with brail written underneath right beside the real one. It was meant to be felt so those that were blind could also experience the beauty of her features.
We grabbed lunch by the river Spree which surrounds Museum Island, which is where the Neuses Museum is and several others, looking out onto the Berlin Cathedral which is picture perfect on the outside and even more beautiful on the inside with it's spectacular dome. We then visited the DDR Museum. It is a small private interactive museum which depicts what life was like in East Berlin, or the GDR after the Russian Socialist/ Communist party had taken over. While West Berlin voted to have a Democracy, in the East they were forced to become part of the Socialist/Communist party. The GDR built the Berlin Wall and miles of chain link fence over years and over 1000 people were shot and killed trying to cross this manmade border. In the east the country was run with the socialist mentality that everyone is equal and the same. They had little access to western or foreign foods, clothes, or any luxury items. They all made around the same income and could purchase basics and what was offered, when it was available but the stores would run out of bread at 10 a.m. and any kind of desirable clothing items or food there would never be enough. Lines hours long would arise and on cold days most people and elderly people couldn't endure the wait in freezing conditions. Finally in 1989 the people were fed up, they were years behind their neighboring countries and former countrymen and the socialist way hadn't worked, people weren't happy and they wanted change. The wall finally came down and thousands flooded into west Berlin and reunited with old neighbors and friends and to find and see how different life was on the other side of the wall. What a fascinating social experiment in some ways. So much had been censored and restricted from entering into the east from almost all films, and tv shows and restricted rock and roll and the government even created legal dance steps and music. Books were banned and marked "poison" and only those with a "poison pass" were allowed to look at them. That pass was restricted to those doing some kind of "research".
Following the DDR we went into the Berlin Cathedral. It's spectacularly large and bronze and gilded dome makes it iconic and enough to take your breath away. They had three large paintings which appeared to be painted on glass, since they were illuminated. The depicted Christ's life and really moved me. The one on the left was Christ as a child being held by his mother, and a small circular glass window painting above it of an angel with a palm leaf symbolizing hope. The center painting was of Christ on the cross and his mother at his feet with a small window of an angel holding a challis/cup. This symbolized love and to me the challis seemed to be symbolic of "the bitter cup" of which he partook as he suffered and died for us so that we could rise above death and sin and suffering, which would be the ultimate act of love. Then the far right image was of Christ breaking out from the tomb and stepping over the guards and rising above everything wearing red robes. This was said to symbolize hope which it does give to all because he is risen and so will we, he conquered death and rose above it. There is an angel holding a banner of victory which symbolizes Christ resurrection was victory over death. Loved this series. Loved that the church was all built in light limestone.
There was a beautiful spirit in the Berlin Cathedral and felt very peaceful. It contained also stone sculptures inside the church of the 4 men that were responsible for the Reformation movement: Luther, Calvin and can't remember the name of the two others and then the four leaders. I thought that was interesting to represent the four since they broke into two different Protestant groups, but as I just looked up the answer to this question it is a United Protestant church which represents all the protestant faiths. So lovely. They also had a huge and spectacular organ, the largest and most well intact of it's kind.
We regrouped back at the hotel and then went to meet up with Grace Hendricks, my cousin Maren Hardy's daughter. This morning I shot her an email thinking it might be her PDay and it was and she responded right away, the only day that they can use their email and I didn't have a phone number for her so we got so lucky. She gave me her number and we talked and I organized a place for dinner that was just 2 blocks from where she lived. It worked out great. They had a little trouble finding the spot but we waited and when they arrived it was such a treat to see her. I know that having a couple friends that ran into Kendall when she was on her mission in Poland and sent me photos, it just felt like heaven as a mother. I did get to send Maren some pictures and a little video. I also sent one of Sister Hendrick's companion to her mom. It was a treat to hear about their mission and to get a chance to visit. Grace looks like she could be German and her German language is sounding really great and probably helps that she has a German companion who was adorable and from a family of 10 children who grew up outside Stuttgart. Told her if we are in that area and at her ward I will look for her family on Sunday.
Once again we got home late and then doing blogs we have been going to bed at midnight every night. But, loved today and there was so much I wanted to record. Tomorrow will be great with our walking tour and more history of this area and the wars. Hope to ride on the ebikes to a couple other areas of the wall, we will see.
We grabbed lunch by the river Spree which surrounds Museum Island, which is where the Neuses Museum is and several others, looking out onto the Berlin Cathedral which is picture perfect on the outside and even more beautiful on the inside with it's spectacular dome. We then visited the DDR Museum. It is a small private interactive museum which depicts what life was like in East Berlin, or the GDR after the Russian Socialist/ Communist party had taken over. While West Berlin voted to have a Democracy, in the East they were forced to become part of the Socialist/Communist party. The GDR built the Berlin Wall and miles of chain link fence over years and over 1000 people were shot and killed trying to cross this manmade border. In the east the country was run with the socialist mentality that everyone is equal and the same. They had little access to western or foreign foods, clothes, or any luxury items. They all made around the same income and could purchase basics and what was offered, when it was available but the stores would run out of bread at 10 a.m. and any kind of desirable clothing items or food there would never be enough. Lines hours long would arise and on cold days most people and elderly people couldn't endure the wait in freezing conditions. Finally in 1989 the people were fed up, they were years behind their neighboring countries and former countrymen and the socialist way hadn't worked, people weren't happy and they wanted change. The wall finally came down and thousands flooded into west Berlin and reunited with old neighbors and friends and to find and see how different life was on the other side of the wall. What a fascinating social experiment in some ways. So much had been censored and restricted from entering into the east from almost all films, and tv shows and restricted rock and roll and the government even created legal dance steps and music. Books were banned and marked "poison" and only those with a "poison pass" were allowed to look at them. That pass was restricted to those doing some kind of "research".
Following the DDR we went into the Berlin Cathedral. It's spectacularly large and bronze and gilded dome makes it iconic and enough to take your breath away. They had three large paintings which appeared to be painted on glass, since they were illuminated. The depicted Christ's life and really moved me. The one on the left was Christ as a child being held by his mother, and a small circular glass window painting above it of an angel with a palm leaf symbolizing hope. The center painting was of Christ on the cross and his mother at his feet with a small window of an angel holding a challis/cup. This symbolized love and to me the challis seemed to be symbolic of "the bitter cup" of which he partook as he suffered and died for us so that we could rise above death and sin and suffering, which would be the ultimate act of love. Then the far right image was of Christ breaking out from the tomb and stepping over the guards and rising above everything wearing red robes. This was said to symbolize hope which it does give to all because he is risen and so will we, he conquered death and rose above it. There is an angel holding a banner of victory which symbolizes Christ resurrection was victory over death. Loved this series. Loved that the church was all built in light limestone.
There was a beautiful spirit in the Berlin Cathedral and felt very peaceful. It contained also stone sculptures inside the church of the 4 men that were responsible for the Reformation movement: Luther, Calvin and can't remember the name of the two others and then the four leaders. I thought that was interesting to represent the four since they broke into two different Protestant groups, but as I just looked up the answer to this question it is a United Protestant church which represents all the protestant faiths. So lovely. They also had a huge and spectacular organ, the largest and most well intact of it's kind.
We regrouped back at the hotel and then went to meet up with Grace Hendricks, my cousin Maren Hardy's daughter. This morning I shot her an email thinking it might be her PDay and it was and she responded right away, the only day that they can use their email and I didn't have a phone number for her so we got so lucky. She gave me her number and we talked and I organized a place for dinner that was just 2 blocks from where she lived. It worked out great. They had a little trouble finding the spot but we waited and when they arrived it was such a treat to see her. I know that having a couple friends that ran into Kendall when she was on her mission in Poland and sent me photos, it just felt like heaven as a mother. I did get to send Maren some pictures and a little video. I also sent one of Sister Hendrick's companion to her mom. It was a treat to hear about their mission and to get a chance to visit. Grace looks like she could be German and her German language is sounding really great and probably helps that she has a German companion who was adorable and from a family of 10 children who grew up outside Stuttgart. Told her if we are in that area and at her ward I will look for her family on Sunday.
Once again we got home late and then doing blogs we have been going to bed at midnight every night. But, loved today and there was so much I wanted to record. Tomorrow will be great with our walking tour and more history of this area and the wars. Hope to ride on the ebikes to a couple other areas of the wall, we will see.
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