Berlin

The experience of Berlin was much more powerful than I thought it would be.

The Fulbright program was good, and the connection to other Fulbrighters was great…But just being in this monumental city is the real power. The head of the Berlin Senate Chancellery, Barbara Kisseler, addressed our group and described as Berlin as having the “…constant presence of a very real history.” Her statement seemed so apt; the omnipresent path of history jumps out and grabs one in Berlin.

(Photo from the Jewish Museum.)

I was expecting to be impressed by this city, but I was actually amazed by the architecture. I am not a student of architecture, but living with one has helped me to appreciate design structure in deeper ways.

All I could think of while viewing one amazing building after another was how much Kerry would enjoy this city, and how much I could learn about Berlin if he were here to remind me of details of the Bauhaus, Mies van der Rohe, etc.

My favorite structure was the office complex of the German Parliament. I was really stunned and inspired by the boldness, the shapes, the interaction with the river and the city in general...

This last picture is of the Chancellor's office and residence (currently, Angela Merkel).

These buildings, like so much of Berlin, seem to be a celebration of the creative spirit; there does not seem to be an effort to mesh styles…I guess any possibility of a uniform style to this city was lost in wars, walls and rebuilding. The city celebrates a creative mix of style.

(Bauhaus, right Kerry?)

Landscape architecture is ever present in this city as well. One of the more notable designs is the Jewish Holocaust memorial…a series of blocks in an undulating basin create a labyrinth like setting. While beautiful and very capable of evoking the solemnity of consideration of the deaths of millions in the holocaust, the sculpture fails on one level—it invites play. I watched a game of tag, watched the police chasing kids, and observed other general signs of active engagement with the structure, thus I found the ability of the place to pull people in to be outstanding. The reason for this particular structure, however, makes the playful urge seem inappropriate. I have not yet reconciled my feeling on this disconnect yet.

(Corey and Jimmy--two fellow Swedish Fulbrighters at the Holocaust Memorial.)

A very prideful American moment for me came during this week in Berlin. At the welcoming ceremony, the US Ambassador Phillip D. Murphy addressed the Fulbright crowd. His obvious pride over the passing of Health care legislation in Washington poured out and swept me up. Being in Sweden, I can admit to losing track of the details and compromises…but my gut feeling was that all we needed was a starting point. Finally, we now have that start toward more equitable health care. It is a little odd that while some of us Americans over here feel the pride in our country’s progress, our Swedish, German, etc. counterparts simply wonder why it has taken so long, and how social access to health care can be so divisive.

Here’s a great idea presented this week and attributed to Senator Fulbright—the idea of criticism as an act of patriotism. The view from Sweden makes me highly critical of the US at times, and this idea reminds me the power in that critique.

I continue to really enjoy ‘Team Sweden,’ i.e. the Swedish Fulbright contingent. They are a smart, fun and creative crew…from research into harvesting hydrogen from algae...to urban mass transit efficiency...to the filming of utopian ideals, etc. this crew is engaged in pretty amazing work. My only problem with the crew is age; they are all so damn young! They make me feel like an old man. This crew will largely have their PhDs by age 30-35…I’m shooting to be done by 49...it often feels very feels late to be entering the world of scholarly research but I guess as long as I have passion for what I am doing, I’ll make it work.

A comment about food in Berlin: Beer and Currywurst. Beer, fairly obvious (good beer available everywhere and anytime) Ryan reminded us the other night that the 4 GOOD beers that 4 of us were drinking all together cost about the same as one beer in Sweden. Currywurst? May not be so familiar as beer…it is a bratwurst like sausage seasoned with curry—it’s a mild curry, quite good, slathered in a ketchup like sauce …and I need to add the salty pretzel-like bread as yet another culinary highlight of my time here in Berlin...no photos unfortunately!

From the swanky high rise hotel in this picture, I made my way back to my old town student room in Göteborg, inspired and exhausted by the all too short experience (it may actually have been the late night dancing; luckily, no pictures).

(Not a current photo--more litter, ice and gravel needed to update it...)