Berlin

I am ready to crawl into my down-quilted bed after a busy day in bustling Berlin—but first the daily report.

I begin the day with the hotel breakfast buffet, the typical European spread of everything from soup to nuts, including fresh-squeezed orange juice and wonderful coffee.  

Bus Route 200 takes me from the hotel door to the center of Unter den Linden (see yesterday’s blog).  As I walk east, away from the Brandenburg Gate and toward Alexanderplatz, I pass a series of Neoclassic buildings from the 19^th century, when Berlin was attempting to become the Rome of the North.  Everything is remarkably improved since unification, although much construction is still on-going.  The Gendarmenmarkt, a few blocks to the south, contains prime examples of the cultural past (the French Cathedral, the German Cathedral, and the old Concert Hall) and the consumer-friendly present (new offices and trendy shops, including a branch of Galleries Lafayette).  Since the German government no longer supports religious organizations, many churches and cathedrals have been converted to museums.  The old Cathedral’s central transept has been replaced with a remarkable wooden circular stairway leading to the top of the interior of the dome.

After re-energizing with lunch (spaghetti Carbonera at a sidewalk restaurant), I am ready to tackle “Museum Island,” Berlin’s collection of history and the arts. Given the German talent for organization, it’s not surprising—as well as very convenient—that a series of magnificent museums are gathered together on a small island in the River Spree that runs through the city.

The Pergamon Museum is the most famous, with reconstructed relics from the ancient world that were exhumed from the dust of Syria, Iraq, and other parts of the Middle East, including the Ishtar Gate from Babylon (6^th century BC), the Market Gate from Miletus (120 AD), and a palace from Assyria (9^th-13^th centuries BC).  Given the destruction going on right now in Aleppo, it’s probably a good thing that the Germans did all that plundering in the 19^th century—although there are many cultural arguments against that view.

Around the corner the Neues Museum contains an extraordinary collection of relics from ancient Egypt, Cyprus and other corners of the Mediterranean.  Besides the quality of the collection (the original Bust of Nefertiti—actually Nefertiri—for example), the arrangement of the displays and the
restoration of the original 19^th-century rooms make museum-trekking more than pleasurable.

But since even Pleasure and Beauty can’t overcome pain and fatigue, I head over to Alexanderplatz for the quick S-Bahn ride back to the hotel.

 

    Neues Wache (War Memorial)

    Gendarmenmarkt:  German Cathedral  

  

    River Spree

 

    Museum Island:  The Old Museum

    Museum Island: The New Museum Egyptian Collection

 

    Museum Island: The Pergamon Museum--Ishtar Gate

    Museum Island: The Pergamon Museum--Ishtar Gate