September 13, 2024

September 13, 2024

We saw in the news yesterday that one of the downtown bridges in Dresden collapsed the day after we left. Oooh, that was a little too close for comfort! From our downtown Berlin hotel we walked northeast through the city. It is chilly and I am wearing my thick fleece. I had been telling Aimee I over-packed bringing it. Not Now!

We passed through Bebelplatz, a square facing Humboldt University. In the center is a memorial to the book burning the Nazis did here in 1933. We then passed an equestrian statue of the Prussian leader Frederick the Great. It sits at the beginning of the Unter den Linden boulevard that stretches toward Brandenburg Gate. We walked east past the Neue Wache and its modern Pieta dedicated to the victims of war and tyranny. We crossed the River Spree onto Museum Island running into the massive Berlin Cathedral.

We are going to spend the day seeing the many great Berlin museums crowded together on this World Heritage island. It seems the opening time got pushed back an hour with the end of summer. We stay warm having a donut and coffee at a local cafe.

At 10 am we return to the Neues (New) Museum, buy a 3-day pass, and stuff our pack in a locker. We start on the first floor and immediately run into a number of Egyptian Scribe statues in various styles. More than we saw in the Cairo Museum.

I tell Aimee Germany was very active in archeology in the 19th century. The proof becomes clear when we enter a large room with just one artifact. A bust of Nefertiti, probably the finest piece of Egyptian art. It is the Mona Lisa of Berlin. This mother of Tutankhamen is beautiful in so many ways. If this was the only thing we saw today, I would be happy.

We have barely made a dent in this museum so we push on. The next section is Roman, with the greatest number of artifacts coming from an oxbow lake off the Rhine. It is thought these artifacts were looted by barbarian raiders but lost trying to cross this former bend of the river. The artifacts are generally quite ordinary (like pots and pans, iron chains, and cow bells) but fascinating that the Romans had the skill to make these items especially in a far-off colony in Germany. Who could imagine the Romans manufactured padlocks. And their glassware was exquisite.

After this long morning, we needed a break so we had lunch in the small museum cafe. Appropriately we had an Egyptian meal of Falafel and Hummus on Pita bread. It was quite tasty.

After lunch we moved forward in history with the Barbarian invasions, euphemistically called the Migration Period. Not surprisingly there are lots of metal weapons, but also nice jewelry, and humorously big metal buckles.

Moving to another floor we ran into more Egyptian relics, but on a larger scale with sarcophagi, temples, and wall murals. There were also papyrus scrolls, canopic jars, grave offerings, shoes, cosmetics and jewelry. Egyptians had their stuff just like us.

The next wing covered the quasi-amateur German archeologist Heinrich Schliemann, most famous for discovering the city of Troy on the Turkish coast. He snuck these artifacts out of the country for display here.

In the Celtic section was a lot of weapons. Apparently they were mounted warriors as this hall displayed lots of harness bits and other horse tack. There was also an unusual tall golden hat shaped like Merlin's wizard hat. The relics also included the tools used to stamp the decorative design.

In the end, this museum is too overwhelming for one day. We ran through the last half. You really need to focus on one historical era and ignore the rest. I would love to come back and listen to the audio guides.

We still have an hour, so we went next door to the Alte National Gallery. It is a museum on German painting and sculpture. The museum building is like a Greek temple on a hill.

Aimee surprised me when she said she recognized a painting. It turned out to be Alex von Humboldt. We have run into him a lot lately. He was an explorer, who is considered a father of geography and ecology. The Humboldt Current off South America is named after him as is the local Berlin University. He was emphasized in the Amazonia Panorama we visited in Dresden.

It started to rain as we left the museum so we hurried back towards our hotel. Aimee had to stop in a store devoted exclusively to Traffic Light Man gifts. This is the character on Crosswalk signs. We actually found something we needed and was small enough to pack.

We had dinner next door in a traditional German restaurant. We had their Pork and dumplings with sauerkraut. It was tasty.