Today is a bit somber - for several reasons, not the least of which is that it is raining, and that today is our last day in Berlin. The mood and the weather all make the choice of seeing the Memorial to the 6 Million Murdered Jews of Europe not only appropriate, but necessary. The entrance is obvious, but not when you're approaching the memorial from Ehrman Straße, having just come from Unter dem Linden (now called Brandenburg Gate) SBahn Station. It's interesting, Pariser Platz is all cleaned up from the celebrations of last weekend. The anchor is gone, and all signs of celebration - clean - swept - leer. So we have to wait in the rain to enter the museum, a large group waiting in front of us. The line takes so long due to security below - sad. We learn nothing, as evidenced by the dolt who serves as the president of Iran.
It takes time for these things, and if we are to learn from the middle east - it takes centuries, millenia, and still we don't get it. We descend down through the cenotaphs on the surface to see them as indentations in the ceiling above our heads. This place, along with the program at Judisches Museum, have chosen to educate us one by one. The Jewish Museum by giving the whole context of the diaspora (although it doesn't explore that completely enough to speak about the whys of the diaspora) and Christian persecution of Jews; and this museum by looking at individuals, their stories, their context, and their fates. It is engaging and it is sobering. As I leave the exhibition, I encounter a young German girl, collapsed in the arms of a friend, sobbing. How much I wanted to sob at that point - I wanted to do something - to react in some kind of public way. The sorrows of the heart are not all that convincing, the deeds of a life are a little more so.
We emerge from the Museum into a day that has gotten a bit of sun. We walk over toward Friedrich Straße, exploring some places for lunch (Galeries Lafayette, 260, and Refugium) and finally decide on a place at the Concert Hall in Gendarmenmarkt. There we talk about our experience at the museum, and the role the Church has played, and the predicament that Christians are in, given this experience. It is clear that Germany shares this guilt with others France, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, and others, and it shares its guilt with our own country, that turned its head at times. A shame on all of us...
After lunch we walk toward St. Hedwig's, walking by the Nolde Museum, the Mendelsohn Haus, and other sights, and suddenly realize that we are at Schinkle's Friderichswerderkirche (Michaelkirche), now a museum to the architect. It is a wonderful room, completely restored, with wonderful light oak woodwork, and a collection of statuary related to the architect. I like the altar, a black marble slab with a golden cross - stunning. I buy a couple of medals, and Arthur a book, and we walk on, past the Bibliotek, and then over the remains of the Palast der Republic. now a green lawn. Next door they are conducting archaeological studies on the zerstört Schloß. We walk up to Mariakirche, which is having extensive restorations done, and then over to the Nikolaivierteil which is not very convincing. The church is closed, undergoing extensive renovations as well.
It's time for coffee and something else, so we walk over to Hackesshermarkt and into the Successonist courts. We find an interesting company, Golem, who deals in tiles, and talk with them about Bauakademie tiles. Not to be had apparently - but now something for us to solve. Finally we have hot chocolate at the Amperman Restaurant, and then go on to look at the Neue Synagogue, somewhat reminiscent of the one in Budapest.
We wander now - getting purposefully lost, and see courtyards and façades that charm us so, until we realize we are in the neighborhood of Friday night's incredible dinner. We opt for a small Italian restaurant, and then take the SBahn home. It has been a wonderful vacation, with Arthur.
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