The Past Germans Inherit

A double standard is revealed when examining the Germans’ stance on memorializing history.  There are certain historic events that Germans go to great lengths to remember.  Germans rebuild palaces and civic buildings that are long fallen so they can continue to experience architecture that has been taken away by war and time.  At the same time, there are events and buildings in German history that many Germans are content to let weather, war, and progress wash away.

The era of Nazi rule in Germany is a time that many Germans would prefer never to think about.   The desire to move away from Nazi history has fueled opposition to memorializing that time in German history.  Alfred Kernd’l, head of municipal archeology in Berlin, said, “Germans’ failure to confront their own past can be measured by the continuing destruction of its traces.”  (p. 133).  Many Germans have not only allowed, but actively encouraged the destruction of their past involving Nazi rule.  Few physical remnants exist to remind the German people of this dark time.  So, Germans’ discomfort with their past has in many ways erased the markers of it.  There is a problem when attempting to erase the past, remnants can be erased, but the result can never be erased.  If the past is forgotten, the Germans of the present will be unable to appropriately respond to their own history. 

Germans’ emphasis on architectural restoration and recreation is present throughout the country, but this emphasis is not applied to all buildings of historical significance.  A double standards exists in regards to preserving historical monuments in Germany.  They are quick to preserve buildings erected prior to Nazi rule; however, architecture created during Nazi rule is not afforded the same treatment.  

During WWII, many of the ancient historical buildings in Germany were destroyed.  Strangely enough, many of these destroyed buildings are still present today.  So, Germany has a tremendous number of ancient buildings that are LESS than fifty years old.  Whether destroyed by allied bombers in WWII, demolished by Nazis to make room for their own architecture, or decayed by time, the Germans have rebuilt many of their historic buildings in the same place and to the same specifications.  Often times, recreated buildings are referenced as though they never disappeared.  For example, the Friedrichwerder Kirche (1830 by Karl Friedrich Schinkel) was heavily damaged in WWII and completely reconstructed in 1980 by the GDR.

Germans of today have inherited a mixed past.  They have a tremendous amount of historical baggage.  Germans have a history of which they are both proud and ashamed.  These mixed feelings are accurately represented in the way they memorialize their past.  German streets and cities are a mix of attempts to both celebrate and move away from a past that has shaped who they are today.   

On THE WALL JUMPER

“Where does the state end and a self begin?” (125)

After WWII the German state and geography were effectively, successfully split in two.  With a mechanical precision the communist East was split from the capitalist West, and in a few historical moments tremendous divisions were carved into the formerly unified Germany.   These divisions were terribly effective politically and logistically.

The divisions that were so effective at dividing Germany were much less effective at dividing the Germans.   When mentioning Germany, the narrator of The Wall Jumper refers, “neither to the DDR nor ­­to the BRD but to a country which exists only in my memory or in my imagination.  If I were asked where it (Germany) lies, I could only locate it in its history and in the language I speak.” (127)  The narrator has experienced and still identifies with a unified German people, and this prevents him from embracing the relatively new distinction between East and West.

Contrast between the stark political division of the two Germanys and the continuity of social, relational, and historical ties among Germans is a central theme in The Wall Jumper.  The narrator has conversations and drinks with people on both sides and often times it is unclear which side of the wall he is on.  Out of all of this confusion emerges the understanding that people are a messy, unpredictable, and confusing bunch that can be transformed by a wall but can’t be contained or defined by it. 

Adventures in Osterreich

Our first stop for free weekend trip number two was the town of Salzburg, Austria.  I have found the greatest place in the entire world to take an afternoon nap.  Seriously, the top, number one, best place ever is laying on the bank of the Salzach river in the middle of the town famous for the filming of the Sound of Music and being the home of Mozart.

The highest point in the historic district of Salzburg is a castle overlooking everything.

I didn't take the time to try on the leiderhosen, but they were surprisingly popular.

In Salzburg we met an older British man from Nottingham who told us, "If Hallstatt is not heaven, then I do not want to go." Luckily, Hallstatt was our next stop.

There are two ways to get from the Hallstatt train drop off.  Walking around the lake for 3km, or taking the ferry accross.

Poor little homely town...

We took the gondola up 1500 meters above Hallstatt, and as you can see, the summer up there means something a little different from summer in Louisiana.

The 5fingers overlook platform juts out from the mountain directly over a 400meter cliff.  

The trip to and from Austria presented a few memorable events as well.  On the way there, we had a 5 hour lay over in the Munich train station, and while I was sleeping on some newspaper two guys came up and started talking.  They slid a pillow over towards me, and said "You want pillow?  It's good pillow.  Just stole from pub.  I was a little wary of holding on to that thing, and it smelled pretty bad, but I did get a picture of the good pub pillow.

On the way back to Berlin we experience another memorable event, but the nature of this event prevents a picture of it.  During a 10 minute hectic layover our group size dropped from 6 to 7 people.  Everyone eventually got to Berlin, but Sunday morning confirmed our suspicion that if you are the slightest bit late for a German train, you are going to get left.

The New Familiar

The vast majority of my knowledge of architecture is based on pictures, written accounts, and diagrams o f buildings.  Understanding through representation is really the norm for me.  

The last few days I have seen several buildings that I have previously studied, and actually experiencing the building first hand is so different from experiencing it through a book.  It is surreal to walk through an entry, or look through a window, or open a door that I have looked at so many times but never seen before.   In a way all of this de-mystifies the building; it makes it more real, and makes really cool architecture more attainable.  At the same time, seeing all of the details and good or bad choices that go into a building is extremely daunting.

Peter Zumthor - Kunsthaus Bregenz 

We weren't able to go inside this building because it was closed on the day we were passing through town, but that wasn't so bad because the really cool part about it (in my opinion) is the outside.  The facade that is directly visible is composed of a series of glass panels that are slightly angled and overlapping.  Instead of using these panels as a barrier to the weather Zumthor causes them to respond the weather.  On the day we visited we had the good fortune to see this building in the rain.  The entire facade was dripping water and completely fogged up (exactly the way Zumthor wanted it to be).

Zaha Hadid - Vitra Fire Station

When ever I am looking for a dynamic architectural precedent Zaha is at the top of the list, and this was her first project to really get across how dynamic her architecture could be. There is no telling how many times I have looked at this building from the same angle I took this picture from.  

Herzog and De Meruron - Vitrahaus

Hohenzollern Castle

The Hohenzollern family ruled Prussia/Germany for ten generations prior to WWI.  

Happy Fathers day

On a happier note than my last post...

I would like to wish my dad a happy fathers day!

Dachau

Walking around Dachau concentration camp I couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of sadness, of loss.So many people were swallowed up by hatred and disregard for life.  As inhumane as it all was, I just don't feel that that the word inhumane really fits.  What keeps popping up in my head is how much the atrocities committed there tells us about the capabilities of the human race.  To walk in the same place, to touch the same walls of so many helpless and terrified pople makes me feel sickeningly connected to that past.  Though sickened, I don't want to let my mind wander from it because it is too somber, too terrible, and our immediate reality seems like a cartoon in comparison to the horrible gravity of that camp.

-A table where prisoners where beaten for things like not having their shoes clean.

Each of these was once a set of barracks holding up to 400

"Shower room"

One room over from the "Shower room"  are the incinerators.

A few mornings ago I had the opportunity to go for a walk in the Tiergarten.  I stopped by Duncan Doughnuts and grabbed some coffee and a food thingie, and out I went.  On my journey, I discovered 2 things...

First off, the Ducks of Berlin are of the opinion that there are 2, and only 2 types of people.  People who feed the ducks, and people who do not feed the ducks.  I discovered this while eating my food thingie.  As I sat and ate the ducks maintained about 15 feet of distance.  With one bite of food left, I decided to share some with the ducks.  As soon as I threw the first crumb I made quite a few new friends, and the 15 feet turned into 15 inches.

Secondly, I have a certain fondness and fascination with the walking surfaces of Germany.  There is so much more variation.  My favorite thing is that they pave the sidewalks with gillions of 2"x2" rough cut stones.  It a nice surface to walk on.  It's not too rough, and not slippery.  It is interesting, and it flows around corners nicely.  This isn't the only type of paving over here that I have grown fond of, but it is certainly the most common that we don't see much of in the U.S.