On Saturday we arrived at one of Berlin's most interesting museums, the Musikinstrumenten-Museum, in time for the weekly demonstration of the Mighty Wurlitzer. The museum has a beautiful collection of instruments, including an endless array of keyboards that can easily be imagined in some parlor 200 years ago, with a woman in layers of dress playing away. There's also some very interesting contemporary pieces and of course the Wurlitzer which is a huge instrument. Even if you have no inclination toward music, the museum is worth the hour or so it would take to fly through it.
Sugimoto
From there we headed over to the Neue Nationalgalerie. I had been interested in seeing the permanent collection, which was closed for two special exhibits. My disappointment quickly dissipated. First, the Mies van der Rohe building is spectacular in its simplicity and welcome. The first exhibit, featured German artist Rupprecht Geiger to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, it was fun and whimsical and was perfect for the building space. Downstairs was all Hiroshi Sugimoto. While I suspect I'd seen work by him before, the scope of the exhibit made a lasting impression/introduction to the artist. Reflecting the simplicity of the building's architecture it also served to challenge your perceptions, your senses. Joe and I were particularly struck by a series exploring lightning. Before we read the description, we discussed whether it was tributaries and the delta of a river system from outer space or the human circulatory system. I will be seeking out more of his work.
Almost finally we were off to Kurfürstendamm to see Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche. The Ku'damm was insane with people, the first time we had that Times Square/Covent Garden feeling since arriving in Berlin. It was actually a sharp contrast to the Mitte region of the city where we had been spending most of our time, which while busy never have you that crushed feeling.
The church of course is perhaps Berlin's - and one of the world's - most moving monument to the destructive power of war. There's not much more to say beyond that.The Fat Lady Sings
For our finale in Berlin we went to the Deutsche Oper Berlin to see South Africa's Cape Town Opera perform Porgy and Bess. I had always wanted to see this opera because I love the music. It just seemed incredibly exotic to see it in Berlin (with German super titles) by an opera company visiting from another continent.
We grabbed dinner before the show at the restaurant right at the opera house. An awesome meal, with incredibly friendly service at, what we felt, was a great price compared to what we might have expected in London or Washington for a similar meal at a similar venue.
On Sunday before we flew out, we wandered around a region off Alexanderplatz that Jennie and I had visited. Our goal was to find the Moskau Cafe. Jennie and I had lunch there in October 1989 and Felix told me he had gone there as a school achievement related celebration with his parents when he was young. A great visual exploration of the height of socialist architecture.I only have one regret about this trip, we weren't there longer. We did so much, but missed so much, I am really looking forward to going back, seeing much of what we missed and having more time to just hang in the city, watch the people go by and meet more of the always friendly Berliners.
