From Babylon to Berlin: ANES Museum Tour of Europe: Berlin, Day 1

In front of the Reichstag, the past and current legislative center of Germany.

After making our way from the Hauptbahnhof (central train station) to our hotel, we stowed our luggage and had a big, very welcomed breakfast. We were tired from an all-night train ride but could not get into our rooms until midafternoon. So after eating and freshening up as much as possible, I took the group on one of our "orientation tours," wherein I take them to a city's chief landmarks, give them a little history, and help them get their bearings for later free time.

Potsdammer Platz

Standing along the line of the Berlin Wall, which once ran right down the middle of Potsdamer Platz.

First we visited Potsdamer Platz. Built on the site of a former city gate and on the road to the city of Potsdam, this important square was first devastated by bombing during World War II and then left empty and divided by the Berlin Wall. I pointed out that the brick line that traces the former course of that wall and discussed the Cold War a bit.

Image from http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/faculty/sylvester/WALLS/WALLS-Pages/Berlin_Wall.html

Brandenburg Gate

We then went to the famous Brandenburg Gate. As is often the case, this area was being secured for some kind of event or security alert, so we were not able to get the best group short. Still, it was exciting to be there.

Unter den Linden

By Adam Carr - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Unter_den_Linden,_Berlin.gif, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26756786

Unter den Linden as seen from the old East German television tower. The light green dome (center left) is the old Berliner Stadtschloss, which is currently being rebuilt as a city building, and the larger, more ornate dome (lower center), is the Berliner Dom, or city cathedral (despite its name, it is Lutheran). The boulevard is the strip of green extending diagonally to the Brandenburg Gate at the upper right. The image by Nath el Biya/Niels and is a 31 August 2005 cropped version of Image:Unter_den_Linden_von_oben.jpg and is used according to the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

After showing the students the Reichstag (see the title picture of today's blog entry at the top of this page), I next took our group to the Unter den Linden, or "Under the Linden (Lime) Trees," is the main boulevard of Berlin, stretching from the Brandenberg Gate to the Berliner Schloss (or city palace).

Years ago, my maternal grandparents spent the first year of their marriage here studying music and German. Nana used to remember fondly Sunday evening walks with Gramps under the trees. I always wanted to bring her back here. I never had the chance, but today I got to stand and walk here with her great granddaughter.

The Museum Island, Day 1

The main reason that our "From Babylon to Berlin" program came to the capital of Germany is because of a complex of museums in central Berlin called Der Museumsinsel. Located on the northern half of an island in the Spree River next to the Berlin Cathedral and soon-to-be-rebuilt Berlin Schloss (or "Palace"), this complex houses the city's extensive holdings of Near Eastern, Egyptian, and Classical collections. The National Gallery of painting is also part of this complex.

We started today with the Neues Museum, which, despite its name ("New Museum"), contains some of Berlin's oldest artifacts, especially its impressive Egyptian collection.

I do not have my own picture of the Neues Museum's most famous piece, the bust of Nefertiti, because photographs of her are not allowed by the museum. The following is public domain image with an official attribution.


By Philip Pikart - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8433730

While the Neues Museum primarily focuses on Egyptian antiquities, it also has galleries dedicated to artifacts from Bronze Age Troy, ancient Cyprus, Roman Germany, and some Christian and other manuscripts. No photographs are permitted of that latter and I did not take many of the others.

We then went to perhaps the most important of the 5 museums on the island, the Pergamon Museum. Unfortunately its signature exhibition, the reconstructed Altar of Zeus from Pergamum in what is now Turkey was closed for renovation. Here are some pictures from an earlier visit:

Not only was the central exhibit closed, so was the entire north wing as the museum is in the process of being expanded. Fortunately these artifacts, mostly classical statuary, have been moved to the Altes Museum, and we will see them tomorrow.

Still, what was open was worth the trip all by itself.

First, we saw the magnificent Ishtar Gate, which was built by Nebuchadnezzar as a ceremonial entrance to Babylon. In fact, this is what gave our program its name "From Babylon to Berlin."

Panorama shot of the Ishtar Gate courtesy of Jake Inman

On the either side of the Ishtar Gate has been reconstructed the Roman-era Market Gate of Miletus, which was a prosperous Greek city in Asia Minor (now Turkey).

Panorama shot of the Ishtar Gate courtest of Jake Inman.

The south wing of the Pergamum Museum also contains an extensive Assyrian collection and some Sumerian and Syrian material.

Free Time

After at last checking in to our hotel midafternoon, I finally got a shower and took a nap. While the students prowled around Berlin, I went for a long evening run in the Tiergarten, Berlin's version of Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London. I then had a pleasant meal in a streetside cafe.

Tomorrow's another day in Berlin!

ANES Museum Tour of Europe

Monday, June 12, 2017

Berlin, Day 1

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