Two Aesthetic Aspects of the Reichstag

The Reichstag is a government building in which new and old aesthetics are incorporated into one functioning and aesthetically pleasing building. Two examples of this incorporation are the original writings from Russian soldiers found in the Reichstag, and Fosters Dome. These two pieces emphasize the history of the Reichstag by drawing viewers in visually as well as historically. The piece is aesthetically interesting and therefore draws viewers of any race, age, or gender into the history of the Reichstag.

The graffiti written on the wall of the inside of the Reichstag draws viewers in firstly, because it is graffiti in a government building, which is usually a place where graffiti is not found. The graffiti is written in Cyrillic, and also contains dates on which the graffiti is written. The dates put the graffiti into the context, even to those who are not literate in Cyrillic. The graffiti was written onto original parts of the Reichstag by Red Army Soldiers who had recently conquered Berlin. The graffiti emphasizes victory over the people of Berlin, as well as Germany. This graffiti is also lined with derogatory slurs from the Red Army about Germany women and the sexual acts they would like to do/did to German women following the end of World War II. Most of the salvaged graffiti is located in the Reichstag, but some of it can be found on the roof of the building.
 

 

 

Fosters Dome is an extraordinary piece of architecture found on top of the Reichstag. This dome was started in 1995, which was shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The dome was completed and open to the public in 1999. Fosters Dome is a rendition of the original dome that sat atop the Reichstag prior to the Reichstag Burning of 1933. The original dome was built by Paul Wallot under the discretion of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and was destroyed in the Reichstag Fire of 1933. The original dome was meant to symbolize German national history in addition to emphasizing the parliament. today the glass dome serves unite the public and parliament together in creating a post-war Germany. This is represented by the glass structure of the dome itself. Members of parliament can look up into the dome see the sun representing the dawn of a new era. Viewers can scale the staircase of the dome, or look up, and also get this sense of a bright fresh new start. 

Kopenick, Lutz. "Redeeming History? Foster's Dome and the Political Aesthetic of the Berlin Republic."German Studies Review,24.  No. 2 (2001), : 303-323 accessed May 16, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1433478

Hertha Berlin vs. Eintracht Frankfurt Today

As a huge soccer fan, the moment I knew I was going to Berlin I wanted to go see a game.  I hoped that the home team, Hertha BSC, was playing my team Bayern Munich, but I wasn't lucky enough.  I still wanted to experience a game, and so Kyle and I got tickets for this game for our weekend off.

Come 13:00, Kyle and I met at Alexanderplatz under the World Clock.  We had lunch and then started our trek to the stadium.  From Alexanderplatz, all we need to take is the S7 or the U2.  We elected to take the S-Bahn, and so off we went.  Turns out we took the S5 by mistake, and had to backtrack one station after we realized the error.  Once we got on the right train, it was a simple matter of following the fans to the stadium.

It could have been a better day, for sure.  It was windy and rainy through much of the game.  That didn't make it any less enjoyable though as the atmosphere was amazing.  Two hours later, the whistle blew and the game was over.  Of course it happened to be the only game this week that ended in a scoreless draw.

(Note that fireworks and flares are not allowed in Olympiastadion)

The "First" Traffic Light in Europe

The first traffic light in Europe was supposedly located at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany. However, the there are other speculations that Berlin is not the home of the first traffic light in Europe. This being said, a replica of this traffic light sits in Potsdamer Platz in modern Berlin. Below is 2 pictures of the replicated traffic light which still functions today. 

Field Question - Neues Museum

Field Question #2

Kerstin Barndt identifies many moments in the Neue Museum’s history that illustrate the building’s connections with ruin discourse. Firstly, the rediscovery of Pompeii’s ruins and its excavation was a key moment in the museum’s history. After the rediscovery, the Neues Museum hired Hermann Shievelbein to construct a thematic frieze on the walls of the Greek Courtyard which represented “the destruction of the ancient city” (Barndt, 2011, 298). This obviously illustrates a connection with ruin discourse, as it is a scene of destruction.

     

Barndt identifies World War II as a key moment in the Museum’s history as the Museum was heavily damaged during the bombing raids during the final years of the war. Instead of a complete restoration, the damage on the exterior and interior of the the building was not repaired and now the museum is identified as a frozen ruin. Barndt states that the restoration “followed aesthetic principles that preserve and render visible the traces of ruination throughout” (2011, 299).

The final key moment was the reunification of East and West Berlin. Shortly after reunification, the government revised earlier plans to restore the museum. It was decided that David Chipperfield would be the architect in charge of the project.  According to Barndt, Chipperfield, the project “achieved a delicate balance between respect for the old building and contemporary museum architecture” as demonstrated though his design of the main staircase. (2011, 300).

These three moments in time illustrate the museum’s connection to ruin discourse. The rediscovery of Pompeii’s ruins, World War II and the reunification of East and West Berlin are the reasons that the museum is considered a frozen ruin.

Bibliography:

Barndt, Kerstin. “Working through Ruins: Berlin's Neues Museum,” The

Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory, Vol. 86 No. 4 (2011): 294-307.

may 15th feild question

        The decisions made In the Reichstag’s reconstruction where extremely important because it is a symbol for German democracy.  So certain decisions were made for its architecture and art.  These choices were difficult because of the buildings history and political baggage.  Nineteen artists were chosen to create original artwork for the Reichstag and Foster, the new Reichstag's architect made some very particular decisions over the architecture.

            One peace of artwork in the Basement of the Reichstag has the names of all former German members of parliament written across the walls of the basement.  It is meant to represent the foundations of German democracy.  The names of Nazi members of parliament are included and members  murdered by the Nazis are specially marked.  This way this artwork can be used as memorial, a monument and a warning.

         Foster’s glass dome is also symbolic. German architecture has favoured glass as a material in recent decades.  This is because it is felt by some in the architectural community that glass being used as a building material is in opposition to the Nazi architect Albert Speer’s architectural practices.  Speer preferred concrete based architecture that would look impressive even as ruins.  Glass was felt to be less obstructive and overwhelming and more transitionary to a new age.   Glasses’ transparency could  also be seen as more adequate at representing democracy than concrete which does not let people see inside. 

Bibliography

Kabisch, Wolfgang. "Film." Destucher Bundenstag. Web, http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/artandhistory/art/film_reichstag/film_reichstag/202296.p

Loepnick, Lutz. "Redeeming Hisory? Foster's Dome and the Political Aesthetic of the Berlin Republic ." German Studies Review. 24. no. 2 (2001): 302-323.

may 14th feild question

          Kerstin Brandt refers to three points in the Neues Museum’s history that illustrate the buildings “ruin discourse.”  These three points are the Soviet invasion of Berlin when it was originally damaged, its fifty year vacancy  before beginning of its  fully restoration starting 1997, and the choices made in its restoration. 

        The damages the museum sustained in the war  are merely the start of the story.  This ruined the museum to the point that it needed restoration.  The second and third points are more significant to the discourse part of the conversation.  The time between the Neues Museum’s restoration and its ruination was filled in a  support role.  The more stable sections of the building was used for storage for Museum Island.  It was neglected while other facilities on the island were restored.  When some restoration started in the 1980’s it was interrupted by the fall of the wall and unification. 

         The restoration team that started the project in a unified Germany  choose to work through the ruination rather than cover it up.  This leaves it with the slightly damaged appearance on the outside of the museum.  The inside of the museum only scarcely suffers from any ruination.  The restoration team planned to restore the original purpose and vision of the museum without quite making it a modern building like we see with the Reichstag.  The museum has not been restored to the point of being totally usable and safe but has not sought to move past its past.

           Bibliograpghy

Brandt, Kerstin. "Working Through Ruins: Berlin's Neues Museum." The Germanic Review. no. 4 (2011): 294-307.

Gentrified Areas of Berlin

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, gentrification is defined as "the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer areas".  So in the case of Berlin, this can be seen in quite a few areas.

One particular area where this can be identified is the area around the East Side Gallery; this is where the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall currently stands.  On the eastern side of this structure is an area that has gone through significant change and thus the buildings have been altered as well.  This stretch is located on Holzmarktstrasse.

East of this area there was a neighbourhood next to a Black Market named Rex. This would be a  good example of an area that is just beginning to be gentrified. The black market still exists within the area but the apartments across the street have been through renovations if not still receiving renovations.

Another area that has been impacted by Gentrification is located in Boxhagener Platz.  This is perhaps further along in the process of being gentrified compared to the previous neighbourhood in that some apartments have already been renovated and renewed.  The picture below shows the border between one building that has been impacted by gentrification and another that has not.

Located along Frankfurter Allee is a neighbourhood that would be considered to be gentrified.  After a period of time, the East German government decided to renew this area into a more Upper-Middle class neighbourhood.  Unfortunately, the government could not afford to continue this project and thus resulted in creating three phases of this plan.  This can be seen as you walk through the street and take note how the quality of each building gradually changes.

Neues Museum

Field Question: Neues Museum

Kerstin Barndt’s “Working through Ruins: Berlin’s Neues Museum” discusses three pivotal moments in the history of Neues Museum, from the erection of the Museum in 1855, to its eventual destruction and restoration post World War II, as well as the special exhibition found within the Greek Courtyard. Barndt elaborates on the significance of each stages as it pertains to the history of the Neues Museum and its connection with ruin discourse. This connection can be found within the walls of the Museum given the works on display, and their apparent history, as well as the present form of the Museum as it shows its ruin as its own display of history and artifact.

Neues Museum’s first connection with ruin discourse begins with its opening, as during this time the museum housed works from a large variety of civilizations and time periods. This can be seen as a parallel as these civilizations at one point laid in ruin, and the museum is a means of displaying said history. The destruction of the museum during the second world war offers its own value to the discussion of ruin as the museum laid in ruin for approximately 60 years until its reopening in 2009. Even after its reopening in 2009 it bears the many of the wounds in received during the Second World War further connecting it to ruin discourse. The last moment discussed by Barndt regards the exhibition opened in 2010 that featured 12 Greek statues that were found amongst the rubble of the Neues Museum.

Neues Museum

There are three key moments within history that help to illustrate the Neues Museums connections with ruin discourse. First comes the origin of the museum. The Neues Museum originated in mid-nineteenth century Prussia becoming quite significant to those of the western world. The museum became home to artifacts that had survived a form of destruction within the past, thus tying into ruin discourse. Wilhelm Kaulbach, a man whose paintings filled the walls of the museum, focused on painting scenes of destruction such as Titus’s siege of Jerusalem. While Herman Schievelbein fixated on the destruction of Pompeii by creating a “thematic frieze” amongst the walls in the courtyard.

            The next key moment, is that of the restoration process in 1997. During World War Two, the museum took a large blow not only because the Nazi’s confiscated multiple artifacts, but also because Berlin was a warzone. The museum fell victim to the battle scars of war, thus making it a ruin itself. Through restoration, the museum was rebuilt differently. For example, a different design had taken place.  Bullet holes were left in walls and the building was left to the “erosive forces of nature”. Through this moment of restoration, the museum becomes not only symbolic for containing items of destruction illustrating ruin discourse, but also being a ruin of destruction itself.

            The last key moment is the on-going exhibition within the museum’s Greek courtyard that displays different artifacts confiscated by the Nazi’s during their reign. This exhibition can be seen as housing artifacts and cultures that are victim to destruction. All of the artifacts were found by accident underneath the rubble of World War Two.

Sources

Barndt, Kerstin. “Working Through The Ruins: Berlins Neues Museum.” The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory. December 8, 2011. Accessed May 16, 2015.

Potsdamer Platz

There are quite a few things in Potsdam Platz that make reference to the past. These are just a few of them:

1) Marlene Dietrich Platz – Marlene Dietrich was a German actress born in Berlin. She is said to have been the first German actress to really make it Hollywood. Born in 1901, she started her German film career in 1921 with the film So sind die Männer. Eventually in 1930 she moved to the US on contract with Paramount Studios. Before the war, Marlene was asked by the Nazis to return to Germany, she however had always been strongly opposed to Nazi ideology so declined. In 1939 she became a US citizen and used her talents to raise money for the war. In fact, she was rewarded an American Medal of Freedom for her war work. Although she never returned to Berlin to live, she did visit and was buried there in 1992. She was made an honorary citizen of Berlin on May 16, 2002.

2) Two S-Bahn Towers – Designed by Schinkel, originally it was there as a gate into the city of Postdam,. However, it was severely damaged during WWII and was completely torn down in 1961 when the Berlin Wall was built.  As a means of honoring Schinkel’s original gate, two identical S-Bahn tower-like entrances were built where the gate stood.

3) Weinhaus Huth - The only surviving original pre World War II building left in Potsdamer Platz. It was built in 1912 originally housing the capital's best wine merchant on the lowest level, and a luxury restaurant above. Since 1998 it has been home again to a restaurant expect this time on the main floor, with the Daimler Contemporary gallery now above it. The outside of the building has clearly been restored and maintained over the years, as it doesn’t look run down. However, the buildings surrounding it give away its age.

4) Berlin Wall – Pieces of the wall are visible in two places in Potsdamer Platz, running along the cobblestone line there to show where the city was divided 28 years ago. These are clearly there to make reference to the divided city that Berlin used to be and maybe even to the division that remains in some people’s minds. Strangely enough, on the one section, people have decided to cover the wall with gum… and it looks as gross as it sounds.

 

5) Old Traffic Light – This is a monument/replica of the first street light (although some debate this) in Europe. Although I am not entirely sure that it is still used, it is fully operational and pays homage to the busy downtown area that Potsdamer Platz once was and is on it was to being again.

Hauser, Evelyn. "Dietrich, Marlene." Contemporary Musicians. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (May 15, 2015). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3494300022.html

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/germany/berlin/sights/architecture/weinhaus-huth#ixzz3aJnztou7