the Grand Tour blog

Old Fritz and the Konzerthaus

The M12 tram (which would have gone all the way) is not running west due to roadworks in Inviladenstraße, so I take an S2 to Friedrichstraße then M1 to the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum), for 'Frederick the Great: Respected. Revered. Reviled', a major temporary exhibition examining Old Fritz's legacy in art, politics and society. I had half an hour for photos of the buildings in the area (including Schinkel's 1830 Altes Museum, below) before going in at the 10:00 opening time. No photos allowed inside unfortunately. 

A well presented exhibition, with a good audio guide, showing how Friedrich was portrayed (and portrayed himself) in his lifetime, came to be idolised as a military commander and tactician, was later considered a warmonger, and was misused by the Nazis as a token of nationalist enthusiasm. Out at 12:10, after checking I could get back in today on the same ticket to see the permanent exhibition. 

Walked across Bebelplatz to Gendarmenmarkt and sat under the trees out of the sun in one of the cafés. Bought a ticket for the 13:00 tour of the Konzerthaus – the ticket office is part of their café underneath the building in the right hand side – which was a bit of a mistake really as although it was interesting to see around the inside, the professor of music leading the tour spoke a lot of fast German and I didn't stand a chance. 

A few photos, although for the tour the lighting in the main concert hall is by bright mercury lights inside the chandeliers so the colour balance is terrible, compounded by some incandescent lighting at ground level – the worst kind of mixed lighting! The tour ended at 14:30. 

Had a break for my main meal of the day at ‘Chipps’ in Jaegerstraße. The design is nice – one of their features – with its dark stone floors, heavy wooden tables, industrial-style lights, a lot of black (especially in the loos) and good jazz playing in the background. A pretty good menu, and prices OK, but much was off today because it's the weekend.

Perahia at the Philharmonie

After relaxing in the sun outside the hotel for 15 minutes with a coffee and a slice of nice Russian cake (hotel Zarenhof is Russian themed), I took the S-bahn back down to Potsdamer Platz and found a quiet and more direct route to walk to the Philharmonie than using the main road. The train had been a bit delayed but I just made it to the pre-concert talk about the works to be played this evening by Murray Perahia. It was in German of course, so I didn't understand much, but the choice of musical extracts gave me a clue, and it was a chance to relax and get into the musical mood. 

I took my seat in the hall fairly early; closer than the last time I was here in 2008 for the Berlin Phil, but still a long way from the Steinway; and on the opposite side. I found this block of seats a little disorientating as the floor slopes slightly towards the centre of the hall, each seat about 2cm lower than its neighbour. The temperature very warm. When we were all in place someone came on the stage and made an announcement about Murray Perahia; it wasn't very clear, but there was applause from the audience at the front of the hall. The lady in the seat in front of me spoke some English and said that Murray Perahia had decided there wasn't enough music in the programme so he would start with some Bach before the official programme.

Perahia came on to huge applause and quickly started playing. The sound was superb despite the size of the hall, though some annoying coughing. It was Bach at his most playful; I guessed one of the French Suites. Then to the official programme: Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata', no. 14 in C sharp minor, opus 27 no. 2, followed by Schumann's sonata 'Faschingsschwank aus Wien' (Carnival Scenes from Vienna), opus 26.

A chance for a breath of fresh air in the interval. The second half opened with Schubert's Sonata no. 13 in A major, D664, and ended with four Chopin works: Polonaise in C sharp minor, opus 26 no. 1; the Prelude no. 8 in F sharp minor, opus 28 no. 8; Mazurka in C major, opus 67 no. 3; and the Scherzo no. 1 in B minor, opus 20. 

The applause at the end was massive, and Murray Perahia was called back several times. He made a point of acknowledging the people in the seats at the back of the stage, which was nice; not all performers do. Eventually a Chopin encore, and more applause. And then, after the bouquet, a Schubert encore. We rewarded him, up in Block L, with a standing ovation. 

After negotiating the labyrinthine stairs down to the ground floor I spoke to the lady on the information desk to see if she knew the name of the Bach work that had opened the concert. She and her colleague hadn't caught the announcement either, but she suggested emailing the Philharmonie through the website. Which I did when I got back to the hotel. After the weekend I received a very nice reply to confirm that the Bach was French Suite No. 5 in G major, BWV 816; and that the encores were the Chopin Nocturne in F major, opus 15 No. 1, and the Schubert Impromptu in E flat major, opus 90 no.2, D 899.

18th Century in the Kulturforum

At 13:50 from the Kunstbibliotek to the Kulturforum’s outdoor café – still run by the same multi-tasking proprietor that I met in 2008 – for lunch in the shade of a large umbrella, then inside again an hour later to the Engraving Gallery – the Kupferstichkabinett – for several series of prints by outstanding 18th Century artists such as Tiepolo, Canaletto, Piranesi and Fragonard, under the title 'On the Edge of Reason' (Am Rande der Vernunft). 

All of the prints were superb; I was particularly struck by the series 'Imaginary Prisons' by Piranesi – each print 50-60cm wide – which portrayed huge cathedral-sized interiors with arches and flying staircases that wouldn't look out of place in a film like Lord of the Rings. Also by Piranesi some of the 137 etchings of a similar size in a series he called 'Veduti di Roma' (Views of Rome), on which he worked over three decades from 1748; the realistic portrayal modified to be part dramatic, part painterly. 

By contrast, lovely small cartoons – actually 'Singeries', which use a monkey to satirise humans – by Guélard and Huet from around 1743. And a selection of the prints by Francisco de Goya, best known as a painter, in his Los Caprichos album, which combine an incised line with the broad effect of aquatint; the small aquatints were an artistic experiment which he completed in the late 1790s as he recovered from a serious illness, and which he said depict "the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society". The display included the iconic 'The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters', which was also used to promote the exhibition:

© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

I enjoyed fifty minutes in the Kupferstichkabinett before moving nearby to the Musikinstrumenten Museum, next to the Philharmonie (predictably I had to walk all round it to its entrance on the main road). A huge collection of keyboard instruments, and much else, in one big space; lighter and less crowded than the museum in Leipzig that I visited last year. I didn't take the audio guide, which I think plays samples from many of the instruments, due to lack of time; I wanted to get back to the hotel for a quick break and to change before returning to the Philharmonie for my pre-booked concert tonight. So I left the Musikinstrumenten Museum at 16:30, walked back to Potsdamer Platz and took the train up to Nordbahnhof. 

20thC Art in the Kulturforum

Out at 9:45 to Nordbahnhof and by S-bahn down to Potsdamer Platz. My foot was hurting after walking too far in the wrong shoes yesterday, so I took an M85 bus for a couple of stops to the Neue Nationalgalerie. Arrived at 10:15. 

'Divided Heaven: 1945-1968' is the second half of the gallery's collection; I saw the first half last July. As expected there is much I didn't understand, but the gallery has made an excellent job of trying to explain the development of art during the period, and the hanging – as before – is excellent.  Many groupings of artists promoting (or often rejecting) some ideal or other, which mostly only lasted a short time. I hadn't appreciated how much New York contributed to the art scene. A nice side gallery of 20 prints by sculptor Giacometti, a long-time favourite. 

I have almost indecipherable notes (I can't write standing up) recording some of the images and artists that interested or moved me: Wols ('Peinture', the art of painting, 'Composition Jaune'); Hartung (sculpture); Wilhelm Lachnit ('Mannequin'); Ehmsen (was a soldier in WWI and WWII: 'Auschwitz'); Karl Hofer ('Two Girls on a Hill'). 1948-1951 COBRA group: Appel, Zimmer, Sturm; admired Debuffet. 1951 Art Informel: Karl Otto Götz in Germany. Late 1950s the ZERO group: Vasarely, Sykora, Heinz Mack. The 1966 New York exhibition 'Primary Structures' established a distance from classical sculpture and painting, later becomes Minimalism.

I came out of the gallery after two and a quarter hours at 12:30 and went straight into the very civilised café for a glass of one of their huge selection of speciality teas, then walked across to the Kunstbibliotek (Art Library) for the exhibition of graphics by Dodo. 

Born 1907 in Berlin as Dörte Clara Wolff, Dodo started as a freelance fashion illustrator in 1926 and went on to a short but sharply observed period working for the satirical magazine ULK. Very Art Deco in the early days, with lovely clean lines, and always stylish; her later personal work less defined. But a troubled life. An excellent retrospective of around 120 works.

Potsdam: Around Park Sanssouci

The park was very busy when I came out of Schloss Sanssouci after 45 minutes – there's a popular entrance nearby – so I moved quickly on towards the Neue Kammern (New Chambers). It was built as an orangery in 1747 by Knobelsdorff, but converted to a highly decorated guest palace by Frederick the Great.

I didn't take the audio guide (perhaps I should have done) as I had only just finished listening to one for 45 minutes. A linear series of huge and highly decorated rooms, now unfurnished, the original guests having access to them from the gardens. 

To the Orangerie and some pix outside, but thought I should find some food before going in. I think the only food in the park is in the Drachenhaus, which turned out to be a fairly expensive restaurant, and I chickened out of ordering just a beer and cake. So I made it my main meal of the day: "Gratin of beelitz asparagus, with rocket, a famous type of local potatoes, garlic cream sauce, grated with Gouda". Baked in a dish and rather nice. Followed by an apple tart thingy with almonds on top. 

A quick look at the Belvedere (inside open only at weekends) – a big building close up, designed to impress from a distance – then back to the Orangerie to go up the tower for superb views over the park, followed by a guided tour of the inside, in German with some printed English notes. The gallery of about 50 of Frederick's Raphael copies is stunning. I took as many photos as I could inside. 

Then along to the big Neues Palais, built later in Frederick’s life as a tribute to himself after his success in the Seven Years War. I didn't go inside as I felt I couldn't do it justice with the time and energy available. There's a special temporary exhibition there at the moment called Friederisiko, in celebration of his 300th birthday this year, which includes much important material gathered from elsewhere and which I would love to go to. But I talked to the girl selling the audio guides who reckoned it needs 2+ hours, and I flicked through a catalogue of exhibits which is huge. It would have cost me €7.00 extra on my Premium Tageskarte, or will be €14.00 if I go back another day, which I might do next week (I have to work it in with my Potsdam train ticket, etc.).  

I worked my way round to Schloss Charlottenhof (designed Schinkel) towards the south of the park, which I found was closed for works, then had a pleasant walk out of the park – via the Römische Bäder (Roman Baths), below – and into town, and eventually to the station for the return to Berlin.

Potsdam: Schloss Sanssouci

Up early, skipped breakfast and to the S-bahn at Nordbahnhof by 07:00. Bought a cappuccino and a Schokocroissant (mmmm!) in the DB shop and joined the commuters on the S1. Changed to the S7 at Friedrichstraße and was on my way to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof by 07:12. Arrived at 08:00 after a very quiet and pleasant journey, with plenty of seats to go round in the wide carriage, a few bicycles, and many people catching up on sleep. Once out of Berlin there is a long stretch with no stops, then a flurry of stations near Wannsee and Potsdam. 

I crossed the Lange Brücke and walked along the busy main road until I could turn off towards the old town. Brandenburger Straße, the main street, was almost deserted now, with just one or two people crossing the cobbles. The umbrellas outside the cafés were still furled as they waited for customers later in the day. I took photos of Potsdam's 1733 Brandenburg Gate in the strong morning sunshine, smaller and less severe than its Berlin namesake. 

Then to the Green Gate (Grünes Gitter) entrance to Park Sanssouci and along the long avenue of trees beside the Marlygarten (originally the kitchen garden of Frederick I) before turning right-angle right for the long straight view towards Schloss Sanssouci – Frederick the Great’s summer palace and one of my main photographic targets. Someone obligingly turned on the fountain as I approached. The Schloss, fronted by its many terraces of vines, faces due south; the strong sun was over my right shoulder – textbook stuff for landscape photography. There were only a few people around, enjoying the sun and taking photos of the Schloss like me, and many of these photos are quite deserted. 

The ticket office opened 10 mins early at 09:50 and I had no problem getting on the first (audio) 'tour' of the relatively small but very important Schloss Sanssouci, with a Premium Tageskarte giving me access to all the buildings in the park. A €3.80 discount with my Berlin Welcome card, and an extra €3.00 for a photo pass, making a grand total of €18.20. Fantastic rooms, and a good audio guide not overloaded with too much information. I can't remember any details of course, but I hope I have absorbed some of it and have come away with some reasonable photos. 

Architecture and Arkaden

After 'Pacific Standard Time' I went up to the top floor of Martin-Gropius-Bau at 16:00 for 'Building the Revolution', which looks at the relationship between the intense activity in Russian architecture after the revolution in 1917, and Russia's subsequent architectural contribution to the Modernist Movement. Much of the exhibition was based on some very good modern photos by the architectural photographer Richard Pare, showing iconic Russian buildings of the period which are now in decay or poorly restored. I found it interesting though hardly inspiring.

I'd seen enough by 16:50, and anyway needed to do some domestic stuff, for which I ventured into the huge Arkaden shopping mall near Potsdamer Platz – not my most comfortable environment – in search of AA batteries to replace the rechargeables (from 7dayshop.com) in my travel razor, which have failed on Day 1. I'd already tried a couple of small supermarkets, but they don't seem to sell that sort of thing as they do in England. 

On the point of giving up, at the far end of the mall on the second floor (but I suppose it would be at the beginning if you were coming in at that end) I found a Saturn store, a huge emporium of computers and cameras and everything to go with them. And batteries. And in one of the supermarkets I'd found a tiny pack of sun screen, which inexplicably I'd forgotten to pack but which might be essential if the weather continues sunny; tomorrow I will be outside a lot when I head for Sanssouci.

Art in Los Angeles

From the Technikmuseum I walked up Möckernstraße and Stresemannstraße to the Martin-Gropius-Bau, to see 'Pacific Standard Time: Art in Los Angeles 1950-1980', and 'Building the Revolution: Soviet Art and Architecture 1915-1935'. I bought a combi-ticket for €12.00 (€2.00 off for oldies) and went in at 14:20. 

This is the only European venue for just part of the huge Pacific Standard Time project, which traces the development of the versatile Los Angeles art scene in the post war period, where artists "approached their viewing public as consumers to be courted, constituencies to be rallied and communities to call home", as one caption eloquently put it. The exhibition opened with a display of documentation showing how private shows and art schools provided a closed, tame audience for the LA artists in the early years, plus Public Censure and the Art of Protest in the early 1960s. The Berlin version of the show has added a large collection of the photographs of Julius Shulman (1938-2008) whose strong architectural compositions helped to define LA's image as an alluring and dynamic city of the future. 

The large-scale illustrative paintings of David Hockney and Ed Ruscha (think filling stations) were there, and large abstracts of Sam Francis, with the works of Lee Mullican and John Altoon stylistically somewhere in the middle. A section focused on Hard Edge Paintings and Ceramic Sculpture from the 1940s, with unified compositions, rhythmic patterns, balanced shapes and complementary colours: artists included Helen Lundeberg, Frederick Hammersley and Karl Benjamin. 

The huge abstract painting 'Berlin Red' (which was on display) by Sam Francis was commissioned in 1969 by Werner Haftmann, Director of the National Gallery in Berlin at the time, for the upper hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie; its references to Japanese Zen gardens came to symbolise freedom. 

I find it impossible to document such an exhibition; all I can do is note down some of the artists and images that appeal to me.

Looking Back at Technology

Up at 06:30, some technical issues with the WiFi, a little bit more diary and into breakfast 07:35 – these buffet style breakfasts always seem to take so long as one goes backwards and forwards to organise the plate and the coffee and the forgotten utensils – then on the U6 (five minutes away) to Hallisches Tor. Walked along the main road by the canal rather than change to the U1 for one stop, though it wasn't quite as pleasant and isolated as I thought it might be, to arrive at the Deutsches Technikmuseum (German Museum of Technology) at 09:30.

Berlin's answer to London's Science Museum, the Technikmuseum started life as a transport museum but has since expanded into other areas. And it shows: the two original engine sheds are crammed with huge steam locomotives and reconstructions of the way the different classes used to travel, in a variety of rolling stock, spanning a large chunk of the history of the railways. The large New Building has well-presented displays over several open floors covering German aviation and shipping.

But the Computing section was quite restricted (reflecting the relatively small German computing industry perhaps), though it claims the world's first programmable computer, Konrad Zuse's Z1 from 1938, a floating-point binary mechanical calculator which read instructions from a perforated 35mm film; a late 1980s reconstruction, built by Zuse himself with a small team, is on display. Apparently the original never worked well due to a lack of mechanical precision.

There is a small section on print – not a patch on the specialist Museum of Printing in Liepzig of course – and on papermaking, and I was particularly interested in the collection of sometimes weird and wonderful typewriters. The large Photography section is excellent, but I felt the dimly-lit film and cinema display on the top floor was rather dry. Whatever any shortcomings, it's a huge museum and it was difficult to do it justice in a few hours. I came out feeling somewhat overloaded with information and images at 13:45, after four and a quarter hours, and I hadn't even tried to look at Road Transport in its nearby but separate building.

To Berlin and Back

Oh dear, I seem to have been to Berlin and returned without blogging once! For what was supposed to be a more relaxed trip it turned out to be quite busy, and maintaining my main diary was hard enough work in itself. So I plan to do some retrospective blogging, on the correct dates, just to keep the record straight. Starting now, 14 June.

I caught the first of my three buses to Luton airport at 09:43. It arrived on time at the first connection, but the #101 at the stop over the road eventually arrives 18 minutes late, just as I thought it might have been cancelled. Much discussion with some local people about how best to get to the airport. But a local man says that he's noticed that our driver changes the number of this bus from 101 to 100 after arriving in Luton town centre, and then goes on to the airport – in other words it will become the bus that I thought I was going to miss.

And so it did. So I arrived at the airport at 11:30, only a few minutes later than planned, and made a beeline to Starbucks for a well-earned cappuccino. Quite quickly through security, where the staff were unchacteristically cheerful and friendly. Then to the departure lounge, where I find the flight is estimated to be 40 minutes late! I sat and ate my sarnies and made a start on the diary.

The gate opened at the scheduled departure time and we formed a long queue. When we finally moved we were marshalled into a holding pattern in an airless four-storey stairwell for 10 minutes. Eventually onto the plane, which pushed back exactly an hour late at 14:40, for the 90 minute flight to Berlin Schönefeld. I passed quickly through passport control. Everything is very quiet and the airport is almost deserted – it felt positively provincial.

Located the Tourist Information desk and bought two Berlin Welcome cards, giving me free and convenient travel on trains, buses and trams, and discounts at certain attractions: 3-days for zones ABC (zone C includes the airport and Potsdam), and 3-days (to follow on) for zones AB plus Museumsinsel (Museum Island). All part of a cunning plan! The station is a five minute walk from the terminal, and I managed to arrive only seconds after an Airport Express had departed for Berlin, so had to wait another 30 minutes. The weather is sunny and feels very hot.

I got off the train at Friedrichstraße and took the S-bahn two stops further north to Nordbahnhof, just a two minute walk from my hotel, the Zarenhof, where I stayed at the end of my Grand Tour in 2008 and which is close to excellent connections to anywhere in the city. Ten long hours of travel today.