The Harlings have installed themselves in a nearby hotel so that we can easily meet. So this morning they of course join us at Oberholz, our 'Ground Zero' cafe, loved it and fit right in like regulars, just like us.
Adjacent to the main structure is a modern attachment designed by Daniel Libeskind. It is very artistic and designed to make you uncomfortable as if you were imprisoned. The exhibits in this part of the museum are so mesmerizing and effective that we spent most of our time in this part. Here are some examples...
There is a pitch dark room which represents the Axis of the Holocaust, sloping gently upward to an empty, 24-meter high space called the Holocaust Tower. It is unheated and lit only by natural light falling through a diagonal opening at the top of the wall. Sounds can be heard from outside. The artist Daniel Libeskind called this room the 'voided void,' possibly representing the absence of Jews from German society. It was later interpreted as a commemorative space for the victims of the Holocaust.
The Axis of Exile leads out to the Garden of Exile, where 49 tilted columns stand on a sloping plot of ground. They are filed with earth and planted with Russian olive trees whose branches form a canopy of leaves in summer. Exile meant rescue and safety, but the escape from Germany and the arrival in a foreign country also caused feelings of disorientation. The refugees often had difficulty gaining a foothold in their new home. The artist here said that when you are in the 'Garden' where everything is slanted, he wanted you to feel a little bit sick and unsteady walking through it simulating how uncomfortable immigrants may have felt in a foreign land, and you definitely do.
In another exhibit called BIOS, referring to the Basic Input/Output System which computers use, there is a robot writing out the Torah at human speed. It refers to the fact that BIOS is fundamental to the development of machine technology just as scripture is fundamental to the cultural history of human beings. It addresses the relationship between mankind and machines.
This exhibition space is called 'Memory Void' or 'Fallen Leaves' dedicating the 10,000 steel faces covering the floor to all innocent victims of the Holocaust. You are invited to walk on the 'screaming' faces causing them to make a loud haunting clicking sound of iron on iron, simulating the screams of Holocaust victims. It is graphic, palpable, and haunting.
The question is asked: "What would you take if you were told you had to leave your home in twenty minutes to be relocated?"
This is a picture of Eric Schwab, survivor of Buchenwald, 1910-1977, just after liberation.
This is a picture of him after being liberated and restored to health. He is almost unrecognizable from the near-death picture taken in the camp.
We were at the Jewish Museum for several hours, and it has an affect on you...it was time to leave. We were hungry and certainly wanted to change the mood.
This was when Frank suggested we go to a infamous brauhaus where famous politicos and notables would congregate and hang out...Standige Vertretung (nickname StaV), meaning Permanent Representation. This refers to the time in 1990 when the German parliament, seat of the government, moved from Bonn to Berlin. It is completely decorated with large posters of famous German politicians, and it's always a scene, on the walls and at the tables. Frank remembered this place from previous visits, and we would of course never have known about it of it weren't for him...DANKE FRANK!
Berlin mayor Willy Brandt and Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia at StaV's.
Wall decorations.
It's a typical simple brewery menu...basic German bar food...good...but not good for the arteries!
Many kinds of home brewed beers....all excellent. Heidi and I had to have the famous classic Berlin dish, Currywurst! I finally got my wurst and it was the best!
If you look closely through the window of the restaurant you can see the large railway station Friedrichstrasse across the street. It is huge, right in the center of Berlin and therefore a main junction for regional traffic. During the Cold War it was located entirely in East Berlin, yet continued to serve U-Bahn trains from West Berlin as well as long distance trains from countries west of the Iron Curtain. The station was also a major border crossing between East and West Berlin. This station played an important role for citizens of Berlin wanting to reach their friends and relatives in other sectors of Berlin. This major intersection was a serious hole in the iron curtain, and became the main route through which many East Germans began their escape to the West. The Friedrichstrasse Station was known as the 'Palace of Tears' because this is where many tearful goodbyes took place in front of the building, where western visitors had to say farewell to East Germans who were not permitted to travel to West Berlin. So much history, everywhere you turn.
Marty and Heidi in a post-lunch hug. This is a very fun place, where you definitely want to visit again.
Now we come to another Harling side trip...going to Neukolln. This is a very popular densely populated inner-city locality located in the south eastern part of Berlin, part of the former American sector under the four-power occupation of the city. It is characterized by having a high percentage of immigrants, especially Turkish, Arab and Russian. In the past few years it has slowly begun to morph and transform itself by experiencing a huge influx of students and artists as the area becomes increasingly more popular and hip. Rents here are cheaper.
Background: The Harlings have dear friends Che and Bettina from Sao Paolo, Brazil (were Frank is from, and he and Che were childhood friends), and where he and Heidi lived for many years before coming to the States and settling in Scarsdale). Those friends from Sao Paolo, whom we have met several times over the years, have a son Roberto who married in Brazil, and then moved with his wife and son to Berlin, as his wife got a journalist assignment here about a year ago. They have since split but both remaining in Berlin, and now share joint custody of six year old son Noah.
So Frank arranged for us to meet Roberto who invited all of us to come and see his apartment and his son, Noah. Roberto then walked us around his neighborhood and we got a coffee together. It was an opportunity to see another district that we wouldn't normally have visited and do it with someone 'on the ground.'
Here are some locals hanging out...
Approaching Roberto's apartment building.,
Roberto and Noah live in a 5-story walk-up! We made it, huffing and puffing a little.
Their new apartment is sparse but Noah seems to be a happy, well adjusted child.
Noah is very friendly, and is bilingual...Portuguese and German.
Always the grandpa, Noah takes quickly to Marty.
Roberto was tall, dark, handsome, and charming!
Heidi shows them some pictures of her kids and grandkids, whom they know, as well as some vacation pictures of them at Che and Bettina's farm in Brazil that, of course, brings back familiar memories of home for them.
Then we take a walk in the 'hood, taking in the local sights, sounds, and smells...
Heidi encounters a local.
They celebrate Halloween too and we saw several shops filled with costumes.
The local betting parlor...
We stopped for a Coffee break at a lovely cafe owned by a Turkish journalist working freelance for BBC International and Al Jazeera but the cafe is steady income.
Then it was time to say goodbye to cute Noah.
We taxied back to the center of Berlin and our Mitte district, freshened up, and then met the Harlings for dinner at The Grand.
It was an impressive, quietly elegant restaurant.
The people watching was fun.....
Our waiter, Stephen, was quite the gay blade. We told him we admired his rings and asked if we could take a picture of them...he proudly obliged.
The food was simply elegant and delicious.
Marty's turbot.
My fillet au poivre.
Desserts.
We enjoyed this superb evening. But the night is FAR FROM OVER!
Frank and Heidi's hotel was on Auguststrasse, about a half kilometer from ours. Each time they walked to meet us they passed this strange building set back from the street with lots of tables in the court yard and lights strung on wires which lit up at night. Curiosity got them one day and they looked a little closer and read the marquee and announcements out front of what was happening there each night.
It turned out to be the famous-infamous Clarchens Ballhaus, an iconic institution! In 1913 Fritz Buhler and his wife Clarchen opened this dance hall for Latin, Salsa, Tango, Merengue, and Swing. It just turned 100 years old! It now has a restaurant as well as a bar in the center of Berlin.
It's a melting pot for all Berliners of all walks of life. Here at Berlin's oldest dance hall, you leave your irony and inhibitions at the coat check and just have a good time.
Behind its gray, nondescript facade, Clarchens hosts some of the most fun and down-to-earth parties in the city.
Opened on the brink of the First World War, the ballroom has been through a lot in its 100 years. Nazis shut it down, and when it reopened after WWII, widows consoled one another by dancing together. During the Communist era, it developed an unsavory reputation.
But today Clarchens is one of the favorite meeting spots for all Berliners.
It features music from waltz to Gaga. DJ music is upstairs...
And bands of every kind play downstairs.
It's amazing the roof doesn't cave in in this old building, with all that thumping!
You feel like you're in the middle of an old film...it's an amazing atmosphere at every turn.
Look closely...Its oldest regular guest is over 80 years old, although scene-sters come here as well. It's a place for EVERYONE...and they come!
Everyone seems to know all the words to all the songs...they're all regulars!
If the Harlings' hotel hadn't have been on the same strasse as the Ballhaus, this evening would have ended at dinner at The Grand, although that wasn't bad either.
We didn't want to leave, but tomorrow is another day.
What a day, and what a night! SERENDIPITY ALL OVER THE PLACE!
If we can work it in to our hectic schedule, we would love to go back to the Ballhaus another night... TBD.
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