Thanksgiving Dinner 2014

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

On Saturday, the 30th of November, the “Deutsch-Amerikanische Club” invited us again to their Thanksgiving Dinner in Atlantic Grand Hotel Bremen.

We celebrated a great party with them with live music, dance, and a quiz.

Left: President Neil van Siclen Right: Fize-president Hans-Joachim Semig

Left: DAC President Neil van Siclen
Right: DAC Vice President Hans-Joachim Semig

Of course there was also a big turkey and a lot of other delicous and typical american dishes. It was a nice and traditional festival which we enjoyed.

Some of the OSAs visited us there and celebrated with us.

Rachel, Ezra and George (from left to right)

Laura Böhm (former OSA), Verena Mertz (Program Coordinator) and Janine Ludwig (Academic Director) (from left to right)

Santiago, Janine Ludwig, Ezra, three guests, Lara, Rachel, Laura, George, Katie, Cassie (from left to right)

Transatlantic Conference in Berlin

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

The Enigma of Freedom – A Transatlantic Conference on the Significance of Heiner Müller for the 21st Century on the Day of German Unity, October 3-5, 2014

Adrienne, Prof. Ludwig, Ezra, Rachel (front f. l. t. r.), Santiago, George, Cassie, Katie (back row)

front row: Adrienne, J. Ludwig, Ezra, Rachel (from left to right), back row: Santiago, George, Cassie, Katie ©: Uwe Fechner

The Dickinson students currently on their year abroad at the University of Bremen had a unique opportunity to experience German culture and recent history from an exceptional angle. On a five-day excursion to Berlin, they not only explored historical and cultural sites such as the Brandenburg Gate or the Reichstag, but also attended a conference on one of the most influential cultural figures of 20th century Germany: the playwright Heiner Müller. The conference was co-organized by the Academic Director of the Durden Bremen Program, Janine Ludwig, together with Anja Quickert and Florian Becker on behalf of the International Heiner Müller Society.

At the conference, the students had the opportunity to hear and meet many important German (and American) intellectuals – among them:

Gregor Gysi (parliamentary party leader of “The Left”), Jens Reich (molecular biologist, GDR civil rights activist and former candidate for the German Presidency), Thomas Martin (chief dramaturg of Berlin’s celebrated avant-garde theater “Volksbühne”), Wolfgang Engler (rector of Germany’s most prominent acting school „Ernst Busch“), Hermann Beyer (long-time actor at the legendary Brecht theater “Berliner Ensemble”), Ivica Buljan (head of the Zagreb International Theatre Festival), David Levine (US-American performance artist, Bard College Berlin), Jost Hermand (renowned literary scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison), B.K. Tragelehn (director and long-time friend of Müller’s) – and many more.

Find the program flyer attached: IHMG HM-Konferenz Programm-Leporello

Here is what the students said:

I had two favorite parts of the Müller conference. The first was the “Table Talks” during the second afternoon of the conference where the conference goers had the chance to sit and speak with people who were close with Müller both on and off the stage. These “Table Talks” broke the invisible wall between the audience and the presenters and allowed for more questions to be asked and discussions to be had. My other favorite part of the conference was one of the last panels where theater directors from different Eastern European countries compared and contrasted the reception and implementation of Müller’s works in two very different social environments.
— A particular memorable moment for me was when a pair of presenters began to discuss the DEFA and its role in film production in East Germany. This caused me to reflect back on my previous research on the DEFA and actually helped me formulate an idea for my senior thesis in German for next year! Another just generally cool moment was when the group was approached during one of the breaks by a woman who is staging a production of one of Müller’s plays not far from Bremen and invited us as a group to come watch the show and meet the actors. >Rachel Schilling ’16<

Heiner Müller ©: Lothar Deus and Literaturforum im Brecht-Haus Berlin

Before attending this conference I didn’t know who Heiner Müller was. Now I have a more complete understanding of why he is considered the most important German playwright of the second half of the 20th century. During the conference I was able to speak with one of the last living students of Bertolt Brecht and hear personal stories about Müller and Brecht himself. The event was very well organized and I am thankful that I was able to attend not only this conference but explore the city of Berlin itself. >George DeRosa ‘16<

My favorite part of the conference was a panel which included a philosopher, a cultural journalist, and a dramatic advisor, each of whom had a personal connection with the playwright. I saw right from the beginning the wide variety of people Heiner Müller’s work had influenced. It interested me that the work of a single man could carry so much meaning for three people of such differing professions.
— One of the activities at the conference were Tischgespräche or “Table-Talks,” where audience members could sit on comfortable couches around people who had known Heiner Müller personally and hear stories from time they had shared together. The table I went to included Alexander Weigel, a dramaturg who worked with Müller on two of his plays, “Der Lohndrücker” and “Hamlet/Maschine.” I was especially struck by the stories where Weigel explained the tensions in Hamlet/Maschine between trying to create a political commentary in the play and trying to keep the themes in Hamlet alive. Weigel remembered that Müller said to him: “Shakespeare ist wichtiger als die DDR” or “Shakespeare is more important than the German Democratic Republic.”
— One thing I focused on was expanding my German vocabulary and knowledge of German word-genders, a topic which has always plagued my ability to speak German fluently and confidently. Although my focus and interest in learning German places less emphasis on literature and drama, at the conference I was still able to listen for much information of personal interest. For example, because of the wide variety of the fields of presenters, I learned many German words and expressions which I had not heard before. I also listened for different German dialects (another area of personal interest) among the presenters, as some spoke with a “Berliner” accent. >Ezra Sassaman ’16<

I’m not sure that I have ever heard of Müller before this conference, which is frankly quite embarrassing because he is apparently labeled the second most important German dramatist of the 20th century after Bertolt Brecht. I have a relatively limited knowledge of German history, but this conference helped me to understand what it was like to be an artist working in the GDR. For instance many of Müller’s plays were not allowed to premier or were censored after only one screening. Nonetheless he continued to gain popularity in the West and internationally. Many of his plays were staged in Western Germany, and even his controversial “Mauser” was shown for the first time in Austin, Texas. By the 1980s, the GDR welcomed Müller again because of his international fame.

"Bla bla" Panel: Ivica Buljan, Thomas Irmer, Wojtek Klemm (f. l. t. r.)

“BLABLA” Panel: Ivica Buljan, Thomas Irmer, Wojtek Klemm (fr. l. t. r.) © all following pictures: Uwe Fechner

My favorite part of the conference was the “BLABLA” section on Sunday because I finally got to see some of Müller’s work on stage. I did not realize how provocative his postmodernist style was until I had seen it. I was honestly surprised the GDR ever decided to support him, regardless of his fame.
— The table talks were a very interesting and unusual addition to the conference. It allowed me to sit and talk with a close friend of Müller’s, B.K. Tragelehn and his wife, and hear about Müller in his youth. He shared many intriguing stories from their youth and told us about Müller’s personal life from an insider’s view.
— Although it was hard to follow the panel “Was jetzt passiert, ist die totale Besetzung mit Gegenwart,” I found this one quote extremely interesting. I’m not sure if it came from Müller, or one of the presenters, but nonetheless it got me thinking. “Socialism leads to individualism, capitalism leads to collectivism.” I really enjoyed being exposed to so many German and international intellectuals and expanding my German and cultural knowledge. It was also very helpful to hear high level academic German before beginning our schooling at the University. >Katie Mooradian ’16<

The conference consisted of very complex and very dense information given all in German all at once. That being said I look at it similar to sports. You don’t get better playing teams on your level, only by playing teams that are better than you, and even though you are getting beat you are learning and increasing your knowledge for the future. Same goes for this conference, the language used and topic were more complex and difficult than the level I was at, but in the end I do feel like I got something out of being there and focusing on trying to understand what the speakers were saying. My favorite part was the table talk where you could go and speak to some of the speakers and other people connected to Heiner Müller. I listened to B.K. Tragelehn and his wife speak and the stories they told were so interesting, and it gave a more personal outlook into Heiner Mueller’s life. I think that was easier for me to understand because it was a more focused group of people with him just talking to 5 or 6 of us. I really did enjoy the table talk immensely. >Cassie Blyler ‘16<

Academy of the Arts East, Pariser Platz, before the last panel on Sunday.

One of the conference panels which I enjoyed the most was the “Tischgespräche mit Zeitgenossen,” which was held on the second day of the conference. This panel had a very flexible and informal approach. The speakers scattered over small coffee tables so all of us could engage them on a more personal level. I joined a conversation with B. K. Tragelehn, a director, author, translator and former student of Bertolt Brecht and friend of Heiner Müller. During the panel, Mr. Tragelehn shared many of his amazingly rich experiences as a student, coworker and independent author as well as some personal insights about Bertolt Brecht, Heiner Müller and his wife Inge Müller. Although my fields of study are unrelated to either theater or literature, getting such a rare opportunity to meet one of the last people who studied and worked with such important characters of history and culture was indeed an amazing experience.

Gregor Gysi, Jens Reich, Jost Hermand (fr. l. t. r.)

I must say that I was surprised by the wide variety and high caliber of the conference’s guests, which included artists, representatives from literature institutes, widely renowned politicians, academics from all over the world and authors who had the privilege of working side by side with the most important theater personalities of the 20th century and who underwent the whole social and institutional revolution that came with the Fall of the Wall. Unfortunately, I did not get to talk to all of them, but I did get to hear what some of the greatest minds on the theater and literature scene think. The conference also bore unexpected fruits as we got to meet a woman who happened to be involved in the management of a theater in Osnabrück and that offered us (all the members of the Bremen program) to attend one the Heiner Müller’s plays that were being performed there.
— Academically, the conference was a challenging experience. To begin with, most of the panels were in German, so they required lots of concentration and some effort in order to keep up and decipher some of the most complex opinions. Historically and culturally speaking, the conference covered a wide variety of topics. The whole scene of German theater and literature was affected by the geopolitical and socioeconomic changes that happened in Germany throughout and after the Cold War and the Fall of the Wall. Therefore, there was always a very complex background to keep in mind in order to fully understand some of the discussions regarding the importance and the repercussions of Heiner Müller’s work in Germany and nearby countries. I personally felt that every minute of the conference was loaded with information and that it required a lot of thinking to keep up. >Santiago Princ ‘16<

The conference which was supported by Dickinson and Bard College gave me an interesting look into what culture was inside the DDR and in other communist ruled areas of Eastern Europe. Due to the fact that the academic style of German went a little over my head, I gained the most insight from the last session we attended which was held in English. It was comparing the cultural reception of Heiner Müller’s works in Poland and former Yugoslavia. Having gone to another conference this summer about German authors in Poland at the time of its separation from Germany, I enjoyed the extra insights to Polish history and culture. >Adrienne Brown ’16<

Students are jokingly re-enacting a scene which they just saw in a documentary film about Heiner Müller, made by Thomas Heise. In it, Müller and the famous director Fritz Marquardt were telling actors several times precisely and meticulously how to pronounce a single word (king) in a sentence from Müller’s play “Germania Death in Berlin”: „Will er nicht aufstehen vor seinem König?” (Does he not want to stand up before his King?). In the front, from left to right: Janine Ludwig, Adrienne Brown, Rachel Schilling. From left to right in the back row: Santiago Princ, George DeRosa, Ezra Sassaman, Cassandra Blyler, Katherine Mooradian

What colleagues say:

Heiner Müller is perhaps the most significant cultural figure of the GDR. Around him and his work as a playwright and author all of the figures and themes of the cultural landscape of the GDR coalesce. His work and reception bridged East and West and is international in scope. Thus, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Wall (Nov. 9) with a transatlantic conference is both fitting and appropriate. Janine is a leading scholar on Müller and she and her colleagues assembled prominent figures from politics (such as Gregor Gysi) to scholarship (e.g. Jost Hermand). These are big names in Germany and in German literary and cultural studies. How often can students see how culture and politics interact and, at the same time speak with highly influential figures of both to discuss that interaction? This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to do so and to learn more about one of the major aspects of the late 20th century — the divided Germany.

>Prof. Sarah McGaughey, Chair of the German Department at Dickinson College<

—

Statement by co-organizer Ludwig:

I wanted to give our students a chance to get a glimpse of the density and variability of German culture and theater and to listen to prominent figures from this sphere. I was hoping to alert their sensitivity to the vibrant dialog between those figures from such different fields and backgrounds who all are attracted in their own way to the questions raised by this singular artist. Many samples of video material showed them original recordings of Müller himself (25 years ago) as well as of some of his friends and collaborators (who were partly present) or of current productions of his plays.

Look from the Academy of the Arts at the Brandenburg Gate with projected title from the last panel on Sunday

I think the students appreciated the historically rich venues like the Academy of the Arts in East and West Berlin, on both sides of the once-divided city which is not just the

political capital of Germany, but the cultural capital as well. By embedding the conference into a Berlin excursion, I was hoping to enable them to connect their adventures in the historic city and in its current cultural scene with the contents of this conference.

— Müller famously said about the theatergoers that he wanted to “burden the people with so much that they don’t know what to carry first” – he believed that this concept of “flooding” or overwhelming the audience with images and thoughts would cause productive reactions, be it those of resistance, curiosity, perplexity, or pressure to make decisions about what to focus on. While I am aware that a program as dense and intellectual as presented at this conference was a stretch for our students who had just arrived in Germany, I hope they were affected by it in that sense.

>Dr. Janine Ludwig, Academic Director of the William G. and Elke Durden Dickinson in Bremen Program<

Berlin Excursion – Miscellaneous

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

Berliner Dom

Definitely one of the most beautiful buildings in Berlin (in my opinion), the Dom overlooks a flowing river on one side and the beautiful Lust Garden on the other. The inside of the Dom is ornate and beautiful. The most breathtaking moment, however, is reserved for the view you get when you climb all the stairs, circle the dome, and see Berlin sprawled out before you. >Rachel Schilling ‘16<

“Alternative” Street Art Tour

“Alternative” Street Art Tour was extremely interesting. We walked around the city with a local tour guide who explained street art to us from small stencils to giant images that covered entire buildings. We learned about the progression of street art, from tags (which supposedly began in NYC) to graffiti and eventually street art. Some of the works were commissioned and others were illegal. My favorite was the tag for an artist named Po which took the shape of a bum when she learned what Po meant in German.
>Katie Mooradian ‘16<

It was a three hour walking tour through East and West Berlin looking at the different street art and having its meaning explained to us. We saw both legal and illegal street art, both of which cover the buildings in Berlin. Some of the coolest ones were the art pieces showing a deeper meaning, such as the differences still seen between east and west Germans or the limitations that working a white collar job puts on a person. It was very interesting and a great way to see Berlin by foot. >Cassie Blyler ‘16<

Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery)

© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie / Maximilian Meisse

I really enjoyed this museum even from the exterior, with the large equestrian statue of Fredrick William the IV. The collections inside were spectacular, ranging from Neoclassical style to Romantic, Impressionist, and early Modernist. I especially enjoyed seeing Romantic artwork in person because it’s actually quite beautiful, but in person I find it a bit kitschy. >Katie Mooradian ‘16<

We visited this museum one morning before the conference and it was really interesting. It is different paintings and sculptures organized by the progression of the different eras of art. My favorite was the room dedicated to Caspar David Friedrich, since in German 210 back at Dickinson we all had to choose one of his paintings and analyze it in terms of Romanticism, so seeing a room full of all his works was really exciting. >Cassie Blyler ‘16<

Pergamon-Museum

Ezra and Rachel (©: all pictures taken by Adrienne)

During the course of a weekend focused on the very recent past of East Germany and the city that was once divided in half, it felt like entering a different world when Ezra and I visited the Pergamon Museum on the Muse- um Island. This museum, despite being under renovation, still housed three exceptional exhibits. Each of the three exhibits, Antikensammlung (Museum of Classical Antiques), Vorderasiatisches Museum (Museum of the Ancient Near East), and the Museum für Islamische Kunst (Museum of Islamic Art), contained a gigantic structure of some sort that towered over museum goers. Surrounded by the great temples of ancient history, the “piece” that made the biggest impression on me was the Babylonian Processional Way and Ishtar Gate that was salvaged and reconstructed right in the center of the museum. These walls and their gate were reconstructed in the long entrance hall of the museum and is the first piece that museum-goers have a chance to see. While walking through I tried to imagine the Babylonian people that once walked parallel to these very walls.

The rest of the museum left the same impression on me as I walked down the steps of the Market Gate of Miletus and the Mshatta Façade (walls from an eighth-century “castle” in Jordan). The last exhibit we explored was the Museum of Islamic Art. The art itself was beautiful and also educational (for example I learned about the transition from free flowing designs to most pattern and press oriented ones) but the overall concept of the exhibit and appreciation the museum goers had for the art struck more of a chord with me. I feel that in the US there are so many people with stereotypes, negative feelings, or simple ignorance toward Islamic culture and art. I felt fortunate to not only be able to observe the art in front of me but reflect on my own culture after being removed from it. >Rachel Schilling ‘16<

Alexanderplatz

This was the first place in Berlin where I could feel the energy of the city. Live music, literal carnival rides, Trams begging for the opportunity to turn you into a statistic, Döner kebap and Currywurst stands everywhere, and even people bungee jumping off of skyscrapers; it was surreal. Luckily, Alexanderplatz is a main transit junction and I was able to explore this area multiple times. >George DeRosa ‘16<

Brandenburger Tor

A symbol reminding us of Germany and Europe’s checkered past and also a symbol for peace. It’s very impressive to see at night.
>George DeRosa ‘16<

I went to multiple Flohmärkte (flee markets) and art markets around the city. They were very interesting for what they were, but mostly because of the sheer number of people that were attending them. My favorites were easily the markets on Museum Island. It’s a very good place to buy books if you want to practice your reading in German! >Katie Mooradian ‘16<

The entire trip was filled with poignant moments of history and cultural difference (especially for me, after being raised in a small town). If I had to select a theme, or a feeling, that struck me throughout the weekend, I would choose the very strong difference between Germany’s and America’s history that could be felt throughout the city. It is easy to take for granted over 200 years of consistent and constant govern- ment. Since the creation of the first German empire in 1871 there hasn’t been a regime that has lasted more than about 50 years. The fall of the Wall was only 25 years ago. The reminders of this unrest, as well as the hope for a steadier time, could be found throughout the entire weekend. From the discussions in the conference, to visiting the Berlin Wall and East Side Gallery, to seeing the ancient Babylonian temple in the Pergamon Museum, to celebrating German Re-Unification Day, Berlin serves as a symbol of different pieces being brought together. The old murals on the Berlin Wall are painted with fresh graffiti, old cathedrals look at a giant TV tower built during the time of East Germany and Berlin, and flea markets are filled with used DVDs and old maps from around the world. >Rachel Schilling ‘16<

Berlin is without a doubt one of the “must visit” cities in Europe. It is densely loaded with history, culture, diversity, liveliness and fun. I was particularly attracted to the aesthetic and artistic displays the city, which are like a timeless collage of different styles. Some great examples of this are the graffiti on the streets, the galleries in the open air such as East Side Gallery, the different architectures in the different neighborhoods and especially between the East and the West and the sudden remnants of older periods such as the Berliner Dom. To finish the recipe there are many modern places such as bars, coffee shops, clubs, restaurants and malls all around the city. Berlin is an incredibly mixed city, but it still keeps a bohemian scent to it, for which I think that it really lives up to the “poor, but sexy” slogan that Klaus Wowereit coined in 2004. >Santiago Princ ‘16<

Santiago, Rachel, and Ezra in the subway (from left to right)

Berlin Excursion – STASI Prison in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

Zellentrakt im Neubau der ehem. MfS-Untersuchungshaftanstalt. © http://www.stiftung-hsh.de/

Cells in the newer building of the “MfS-Untersuchungs-haftanstalt.” ©http://www.stiftung-hsh.de/

On the last day of our trip a few of us went and toured the prison in which the GDR police placed citizens that posed a threat to communism. Our guide, who was once a prisoner here himself, reminded us throughout the tour that these buildings aren’t a recreation meant for us to observe and scare us, but instead these cells were used to hold thousands of inmates in horrible conditions. The prison was not only very eerie but extremely eye-opening. >Rachel Schilling ‘16<

We almost didn’t make it here because it’s out of the city and we got lost both trying to find it and trying to get back, but it was absolutely worth the trip. We did the German tour and understood a lot of it, and what we didn’t understand completely was explained well enough in bilingual plaques throughout the prison. This was probably my favorite part of the trip only because I had no idea that anything like this had occurred during the time of the wall, so it was incredibly eye-opening and interesting to hear all the stories of what happened in this prison. It is probably the thing I would most highly recommend next to walking through east side gallery on a trip to Berlin. >Katie Mooradian ‘16<

The German tours of the jail are conducted by old prisoners. My particular guide was arrested for taking a train that traveled too closely to the border of Western Germany and this gave them just cause for saying he was trying to escape. My tour guide was literally arrested for taking the wrong train at the wrong time… The interrogations, torture, and squalor living conditions weren’t able to be muted by my insufficient German. It’s quite shocking when you realize that this ended only 25 years ago and similar events take place daily throughout the rest of the world. >George DeRosa ‘16<

The time in the prison was not pleasant, nor was it meant to be. It began with a 30-minute film outlining the various types of cells used in the prison, the history of the prison, then stories about various prisoners. Our tour began with a soft-spoken man taking us through the Soviet-built older part of the prison. Right at the beginning of the tour, he told us that a State Security guard who would have been around twenty during the time that the newer section was built, if we met him today, would be “ungefähr so alt… wie ich.”//“…about as old… as me.” This intrigued me, and I started thinking about what role this tour guide could have in connection with this prison. When we visited the newer section of the prison, our guide revealed that he had been a prisoner! He had lived in East Berlin and had taken a train which travelled a route within five kilometers (about three miles) of the border to West Berlin. A State Security officer stopped him and convicted him of “a possible intention to attempt to cross into West Germany”, a clearly ridiculous crime. He was 18 at the time, younger than myself and any of the Dickinson students with whom I attended the tour. He had been imprisoned for 10 months on this charge until West Germany bought his freedom. At the end of the tour, he disappeared after saying “Ich würde vorschlagen, ihr macht noch heute etwas heiteres…”//“I suggest you do something cheerful today.” >Ezra Sassaman ’16<

Berlin Excursion – East Side Gallery

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

The East-Side-Gallery is not only the longest remaining piece of the Berlin Wall but also the largest open-air gallery in the world. I was able to visit the East-Side-Gallery on October 3rd, Germany’s Unity Day, a national public holiday that celebrates Germany’s reunification in 1990. This was certainly more surreal than the town’s center and although probably imagined, there was a palpable tension still hanging in the air once you stepped over on to the east side. >George DeRosa ‘16<

My favorite cultural activity was the East Side Gallery. […] Each artwork has a deeper meaning about freedom, reunification, and what it meant for the artist to live through the fall of the Berlin wall. As an art enthusiast I really enjoyed looking at these pieces and I feel a sense of luck that I have had that opportunity now, before they are all completely destroyed. It is rather sad that the works have not been preserved like normal artworks. They are a free museum and out in the open, therefore many people have decided to add their own “master pieces” to this great work of art. I was very annoyed to see many preteen girls writing cliché things on the wall such as “peace and love” or “Allie and Johnny forever!”. Hopefully, the work lives on to inspire many other people like it has inspired me. >Adrienne Brown ‘16<

Santiago, Adrienne, Rachel, George, Ezra (fr. l. t. r.)

Santiago, Adrienne, Rachel, George, Ezra (f. l. t. r.)

While there were beautiful murals painted on the wall, many were covered in fresh graffiti and people’s names. This mix of old artwork and new graffiti made me think about the meaning the wall might hold for those who, like me, were born within a few years after the destruction of the wall. >Rachel Schilling ‘16<

I was disappointed to see that so many more people had written their name on the monument, but was glad that they do clean them every so often. I really love the idea behind the monument, to take this symbol of war and after it’s served its use, hire artists famous at the moment from all over the world and give them free reign to create what they want. Not only does it help the city, but also gives the artists exposure. >Katie Mooradian ‘16<

Katie and I found this on accident trying to find our way to a flea market at the Ostbahnhof. I’m very happy we did because it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I love the different paintings on each section of the wall, however I did not enjoy the graffiti all over the art. I do advocate street art, but a teenager writing their name in the middle of a beautiful painting for no reason other than “to have their name on the Berlin Wall” is ridiculous. Other than that, I could’ve spent hours looking at every piece of that decorated wall. >Cassie Blyler ‘16<

Berlin Excursion – Deutsches Theater

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

Theater Play Die Sorgen und die Macht (The Sorrows and the Power)

A play by Peter Hacks (world premiere: 1959), director: Tom Kühnel, Jürgen Kuttner (premiere: Sep. 4, 2010)

Foto ©: Arno Declair. Michael Schweighöfer, Elias Arens, Christoph Franken, Jürgen Kuttner (from left to right)

The first night we were in Berlin we went to the Deutsches Theater to see “Die Sorgen und die Macht” (The Sorrows and the Power) – a special showing to commemorate the 25-year anniversary of the fall of the wall. It was interesting enough to be in a German theater, but it was especially exciting to see Jürgen Kuttner on stage after having talked to him in my German class last year. The play itself was a bit difficult for us to understand because it was frequently referring to German history which I’ve been learning over and over we aren’t really taught in school. That being said, I definitely learned something and enjoyed the performance.
>Katie Mooradian ‘16<

© Arno Declair. Fr. l. t. r.: Claudia Eisinger, Felix Goeser (with Pittiplatsch mask), Susanne Wolff

It was especially cool because the co-director, Jürgen Kuttner, had previously come to Dickinson and he was also a part of the play. Politics are not the most interesting thing to me so there were some parts of the play that went over my head in that aspect, but there were many comedic parts of the play that I really enjoyed, and it’s always confidence boosting to understand a performance in a different language. >Cassie Blyer ’16<

The show dealt with the conflicted feelings East Germans faced during the start of the new communist regime. The show contained advanced German and references to specific points and things in history that I did not understand, however the show itself was portrayed in such a way as to convey the mixture of readily accepting any non-fascist government and doubts about communism understandable to any audience member. >Rachel Schilling ‘16<

© Arno Declair. Fr. l. to. r.: Susanne Wolff, Jürgen Kuttner, Elias Arens, Felix Goeser, Claudia Eisinger, Christoph Franken, Michael Schweighöfer, Gabriele Heinz. In the back: a picture of Walter Ulbricht and a bust of Karl Marx.

World Cup 2014

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

Want to relive Germany winning the World Cup? Then read the following statements by this year’s Dickinson-in-Bremen students as well as by Dr. Ludwig and Prof. McGaughey, who was in Germany as well, and also recaps our excursion to Hamburg and Lübeck. (Visit our Facebook page for additional video footage: Dickinson-in-Bremen on FB!)

Joan:
I’m so happy I got to be in Germany for the World Cup — and feel so lucky to have seen them win too! The atmosphere in the city after each game was incredible, and only built as Germany advanced further. My favorite part would probably be after the games, when people would gather at one of the intersections in Viertel and just celebrate in the streets. Most of the time people would completely block the intersection with celebrating, chanting, and dancing. I had so much fun during the weeks of the World Cup and will never forget this experience.

Devon:
I knew throughout my trip to Germany that I was experiencing something unique and very much special; to be able to have watched my host country win the World Cup while here was simply the icing on the cake. While I was separated from the rest of the group, being in a crowded bar as the cheers erupted was truly sobering.

Shuwei:
We are certainly the lucky ones. After twenty-four years Germany became the World-Cup Champion again and we are here to experience all the stress, excitement and ecstasy. We celebrated on streets, danced and sang loud, and had high fives with people passing by. What a memorable experience! Cheers Germany!

Sean:
The World Cup excitement in Bremen was absolutely incredible once the Finale rolled around. I went to one of the larger public viewings in Bremen, despite the forecast of rain. By the time Mario Götze made the defining goal, we were all standing in a complete downpour. Not even rain could kill the mood after Germany won the World Cup. Hundreds of people quickly took to the streets and celebrated in the main intersection of Das Viertel and remained there until the early hours of the morning. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my year abroad. Deutschland ist Weltmeister!

Anna:
Even when the WM games were on weekday nights — whether at 6pm or midnight — the bars were packed and we would show up hours early (literally, three hours early to save seats for the final). The energy was just amazing and somehow got more intense every game, everyone on the edges of their seats (or standing) the whole time and alternatively gasping, leaning forward, cheering and jumping up and down in unison. And then when Germany won in the Finals, we were in Viertel, singing and dancing in the streets all night. It’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget!

Margaret:
I’m still in disbelief over how lucky I was to be in Germany during the World Cup this year. Experiencing Germany’s victory was something I’ll never forget. I watched the final game with a group of other Dickinson students at a public viewing at a bar, where together we suffered through the seemingly-eternal nailbiter 0-0 score (and overtime! It really got rough…) before finally seeing Germany sink the winning goal shortly before overtime ran out, and jump to our feet cheering and hugging along with the rest of the crowd. When the game ended, we already knew the streets would be filled with people and the city basically shut down, but outside was even more insanity (and fun) than we could have expected. In the heart of the younger Viertel section of the city, the streets and sidewalks were filled so much we could barely walk, our ears rang from the fireworks being set off directly over our heads (or sometimes on sidewalks), and we got used to random people hugging, high-fiving us, or just yelling “DEUTSCHLAND!” or “WELTMEISTER!” in our faces. By 3 AM, we had joined the section of the crowd dancing to music being blasted from one of the overlooking apartments. There were block-long conga lines, instances of everyone putting their arms over each other’s shoulders and just happily swaying to the slower songs, and of course at least three separate heartfelt renditions of Queen’s We Are The Champions. I had a sore throat from yelling, sore feet from dancing in the street, and ringing ears from the fireworks, but I wouldn’t have traded that once-in-a-lifetime experience for anything.

Danette:
I had the good fortune of being able to watch the World Cup with several of my close German friends. They invited Janie and I over for the game to drink and watch. We were all decked out in fan gear with our faces painted with German flags and a German flag around our shoulders. As a huge football fan myself, this was the ultimate game for me. I watched breathlessly as the game ended in regular time at 0-0, and I think I was praying to every religious figure I could think of that Germany would win this game. Sadly our screen was delayed by about 2 minutes but I could hear cheers erupting around the neighborhood we were in, so I knew something good had happened. Then I watched Mario Götze receive the ball and volley it into the back of the net, I believe I almost cried because of how happy I was. There was still time left to play and never have I been so tense watching a game, I think I almost broke the chair handles because I was clenching them so hard. But then the whistle sounded and the game was over, GERMANY HAD WON. Janie and I knew that we needed to get into the city and quickly to have a great celebration with our friends; we boarded the next tram into the city and we hopped off at the Hauptbahnof. What a party it was. Trams and buses had stopped moving because they couldn’t get through the throngs of people, there were fireworks going off, people everywhere were yelling, chanting, dancing and cheering at the top of their lungs. It was insane. We made our way from Hauptbahnof to the Viertel and the party was even bigger. People were dancing in the streets, throwing beer around, and waving flags. It was an amazing experience to be a part of and something I will never forget.

Janie:
The night of the World Cup was, for me, absolutely unforgettable, and was one of my favorite memories of being in Germany. Danette and I watched the game at a close friend of ours, along with some other German friends. Naturally, we were all decked out in black, red, and gold to support the German national team. For some reason, probably because so many others were streaming the game online, there were delays, and we soon were a few minutes behind. We heard cheers outside, but still were not sure – and then Götze scored, and we all just yelled at the top of our lungs in pure joy. Then, the night got even better because Germany won, and it just truly felt like such a once-in-a-lifetime experience – being in Germany for the once-every-four-years cup, and then Germany won! Danette and I decided to continue the celebration outside, and went to the central train station. Absolute madness was ensuing there, with fireworks, and endless chants. From there, we walked to the “alternative quarter,” where it seemed like the entire population of Bremen had congregated. Everyone was out of their minds cheering, dancing, singing, and drinking, and there was a really awesome sense of friendly camaraderie. Even though we had to walk all the way home (about an hour and forty-five minutes), it was all so worth it, and it is definitely an experience I will never forget.

Dr. Ludwig:

Winning the World Cup is first and foremost: huge fun. The biggest party of the year. When Germans, often considered rather stiff, are dancing in the streets. But there is so much more to it: Soccer, or, Fußball/Football, as any European calls it, is not only the favorite German type of sport and a huge money-making machinery or a social glue that helps keeping the society together when young and old, men and women, people of all colors, backgrounds, and societal strata sit together in bars on weekends watching the Bundesliga or in public viewings of international tournaments… What is more, Fußball has often carried a national and historic dimension: When the Federal Republic of Germany won the first World Cup in 1954, it was called the “Miracle of Bern,” a symbol of the recovery of West Germany after WW II. Some linked it to the ambiguous phrase “Wir sind wieder wer” (We are somebody again.) When the GDR beat the FRG in the first round of the Cup in 1974, it was a symbol of the Cold War and an embarassment for West Germany which made up for it by winning the World Cup eventually. In 1990, when the rapidly uniting Germany won the Cup for the second time, with players from East and West, it was a symbol of reunification and its truest celebration. When the World Cup was held in Germany in 2006, the country took the chance to present itself as a pacified, liberal, open, and friendly society to the world and celebrated a 3rd place as if it was victory (something not really typical for Germans ;-). This was also the first time one could see national flags everywhere and hear the national anthem being sung in public – something that had been considered nationalist and dangerous for decades and was therefore seen with mixed emotions by many of the older generations. Winning the Cup for the 3rd time in 2014 does not have the same dimension anymore, but it rather seems like being world champions has healthily regressed into just something it would be for any nation: huge fun. The biggest party of the year. People dancing in the streets. Maybe that marks the true importance and experience of this victory.

Prof. McGaughey:
Distraction.

In the midst of a World Cup summer all activity that was not associated with soccer could be categorized under distraction. Distraction is what happened between games. In that time when you were waiting until the moment when you could reload the soccer site again and again with the hope of learning the lineup of the next game. Distraction was hard to come by, however. So much of the summer in Germany was about the World Cup. There were reports of the overpriced, island retreat of the German team in Brasil, the expensive stadiums, the corruption within FIFA, and the corruption and violence FIFA and soccer initiated in Brasil and throughout the world. And then there were the constant updates of the health of the team – could Schweinsteiger play? Was Hummels sick? The news was saturated with soccer scores and analyses and towns were full of public viewing sites, pulsing with conversations about the teams and the tournament. For games, the Germans sat or stood and watched ARD or ZDF – the two public channels – and heard passionate commentaries from former soccer stars Mehmet Scholl and Olli Kahn. Even during the advertising breaks, Pep Guardiola assured us that German engineering (or soccer?) was about innovation and “Vorsprung.” As the tournament went on and Germany continued to win (OMG, that historic game against Brazil!), the continuous presence of soccer in daily life became more difficult to take. Thus, my move from Tübingen to Bremen came at just the right time. Time to say “Moin” instead of “Grüß Gott” and time to see all of the Dickinsonians in Bremen. Even better, Verena had organized a short trip of two days and one night in the Hansestädte of Lübeck and Hamburg. We learned how to model mice and hearts out of marzipan and read about the tragedies and literary successes of the Mann family. We had a delicious dinner (fish, of course!) on the Inner Alster Lake on a boat (On a boat!) and wandered through the Fischmarkt on Sunday morning. We spent hours watching amazing moving miniature replicas of Switzerland, Austria, and Middle Germany and studied the miniature representations of party platforms from the last two elections. We drank excellent coffee. We spent an hour and a half moving blindly through daily spaces at Dialog im Dunkeln (Dialogue in the Dark). It was a fabulous trip. As the weekend trip came to a close and the second major soccer game of my lifetime approached, this all became distraction. Despite attempts to not discuss the game or soccer (there was a pact involved; it was agreed upon), the real focus was the game. Where were we going to watch it? Should we bring our backpacks home or just go straight to the Lagerhaus and take our seats? Arriving in Bremen only an hour and a half before the game began was taking a risk. We were late. Where do we find seats? Luckily, Joan had saved seats. Under a roof. At first, seemingly unnecessary, but after a huge storm hit mid-game, the (relatively) dry Dickinsonians were all the more thankful for Joan’s efforts. For all the focus on keeping ourselves distracted, I can’t tell you much about the game. It was fascinating and compelling, nerve-wracking and horrific (I mean, why wasn’t there a goal in the first half?!). But it all became a blur, when The Roar happened. Most people don’t call it “The Roar”. Most people refer to it as the goal made by Mario Götze in the 113^th minute (yes, that’s overtime, if you don’t know soccer). But the lived experience I now call “The Roar.” I couldn’t even hear myself screaming as I jumped up from my seat. And the roar was not just a moment; it repeated itself as the goal was replayed and everyone hugged one another. Only after the third or fourth replay did the roar become a rather large cheer. And then the cheering happened. The crowd, thousands of miles away from the game, wanted the German team to hold their ground. And so they cheered. The last minutes of the game became a resounding repetition of “Deutschland, Deutschland.” And then we won. The game was over. And we sang “Oh, wie schön” perhaps best translated as “Oh, how wonderful.” “Such a beautiful thing,” we all sang, “we had not seen in a long time.” A long time. And it was beautiful. Manuel Neuer told us we were world champions. And to celebrate we watched the ceremony and headed out onto the streets to celebrate more.

Independence Day 2014

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

Janie, Tui, Lara, Verena Mertz (Program Coordinator), Christine (former OSA), Laura (former OSA), Margaret (from left to right)

The “Carl Schurz Deutsch-Amerikanische Club” (DAC) invited us, as every year, to their Independence Day festival in a fancy location in Bremen with an outside terrace to enjoy the beautiful weather.

It was celebration with a great mix of young and old people. Nice performances, like a hip hop dance group, ensured lot of fun.

Although it was an important day for the Americans, this year, it was an important day for the Germans as well: They were playing France in the quarter final of the World Cup (Fußball!). Of course, everybody watched the game on the side.

Bremer Nachtlauf

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

On May 23, nine of the ten current Dickinson-in-Bremen students decided to form a team together with Verena and former Dickinsonian Julie King (Class of 2012) to run a 5K through Bremen’s city center. Read here, what some of the students had to say about the run.

Margaret:
The Bremer Nachtlauf was the first time I’ve ever run a 5K, and I simply couldn’t have imagined a better experience! The start/finish line was located right in the magnificent city center, directly before the Town Hall and St. Petri Dom Cathedral, and the route of the run took us through the city center streets and directly along the banks of the Weser river. It was a wonderful experience I won’t soon forget to run that great route with people lining the streets and cheering us on. Definitely a highlight from this semester abroad in Bremen!

Sean:

Anna and Sean

The Bremen Nachtlauf was a great treat, especially considering I hadn’t run a proper race in nearly 5 years. Despite my long hiatus, I was quite pleased with my overall performance – at roughly 24:30, the time was not my best but also far from my worst. I was also shocked at how stereotypically German the event was: At the finish line we were given not only the usual fresh fruit and water, but also beer and Apfelschorle, two immensely German staples. Overall it was an amazingly rewarding and fun experience.

Devon:

Devon finishing strong

The Bremer Nachtlauf was my first 5k or any sort of running event of any sort, but it certainly proved to be a lot of fun. I saw parts of the city I never had and a very certain ethos from those around me. I felt very together with the other racers, and while we weren’t running for any cause other than fun, it certainly made me feel like I belonged.

Anna:
Running together in the Nachtlauf was really fun. Even though I’ve been here for 7 months, I still discovered a few new parts of Bremen on the run!

Anna exhausted, but happy

Joan: I’m so happy to have taken part in the Nachtlauf. It was great running through Bremen with everyone and having people cheer us on!

Danette with green pants

Danette:
I was a bit apprehensive when I decided to sign up for this 5K as I hate running, but I wasn’t going to cave on the motto of my year abroad: “Do not say no to anything within reason”. Certainly, a 5K was within reason and so I had to say yes. I really do hate running, I get bored quickly and my thoughts tend to wander, but I talked with Joan and since we were in about the same physical condition we decided to run the race together. It was great having someone to run with since we were able to chat and keep each other company. I will admit, I complained a bit (well a lot) before the race and probably during, I’m not sure you’d have to ask Joan. But I am so glad I ran it. It was a great sense of accomplishment and I can finally check running a 5K off my bucket list.

Shuwei:

Shuwei at the finish

“Stadtlauf” in Bremen is really about people, males and females, young and old, all getting together and enjoy sport. The running itself is therefore very enjoyable, the music, the atmosphere, and the beautiful scenery over Weser river along the way. It’s definitely one of the most unforgettable experiences I’ve had here in Bremen.

Janie:
On May 23, the Dickinson in Bremen students completed the “City Run” through the streets of Bremen. Although I really enjoy running and used to run cross country, I was actually a bit nervous: this 5K run was my first “official” 5K run and I had only trained very minimally for it. Despite that, before the run began, the atmosphere in the city was really exciting and the weather was perfect. During the run, I almost had to stop twice due to my asthma. But I did not give up and instead ran the entire time! My time of completion was around 32 minutes – I was really proud of myself. After the run there were apples, bananas, juice, and beer for all participants, for which I was very grateful. It was really fun to run with the other Dickinsonians as a “team” and I would definitely recommend this event to the future Dickinsonians who will study in Bremen.

Vienna Excursion 2014

Posted on March 25, 2014 by Dickinson-in-Bremen

Here are excerpts of what some of the Dickinson-in-Bremen students said about our recent trip to Vienna.

Margaret:

A Fabergé egg as exhibited at the Kunsthistorisches Museum - only this one is one is entirely edible

A Fabergé egg as exhibited at the Kunsthistorisches Museum – only this one is entirely edible

What I enjoyed the most of the activities on my own was visiting the Kunsthistorisches Museum, or the Museum of Art History. By virtue of studying abroad for a full year, I’ve been to almost more museums than I can count throughout the past months. Yet the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna was one that definitely stood out in its singularity. My plans to only spend half the day there were quickly forgotten when I spent the entire morning in the single Kunstkammer wing, a twenty gallery-exhibition similar to a treasury, holding hundreds of years worth of Hapsburg possessions and collections where the unique diversity of the artifacts matches the depth of decades from which they span. I saw busts, paintings, porcelain figures, shimmering gems and jewelry, tapestries, clocks, carved ivory chests, oddities the likes of which I’ve never seen before (such as a giant drinking goblet made of an ostrich egg and carved jade), and countless more treasures I’ll likely never see an equal to. In addition, the museum houses the art collections of the House of Habsburg, filling almost

the entire second floor. As someone who likes to take their time through art museums and give attention to each piece, imagine my struggle upon walking into spacious galleries where almost every inch of the tall walls were covered with paintings. Despite the near impossibility of laying eyes on every single piece, the stunning collections still imparted a lasting impression of the country’s vast cultural heritage.

Devon:

One of the most surprising moments for me was the realization that one of my favorite parts of the trip was the opera. I am very uneducated in opera and have only ever been to one in my life. But our evening at the opera was by far the best experience I had in Vienna. The fact that the script was posted on screens that flanked the stage was extremely helpful, considering I know very little (read as: absolutely zero) Italian. Furthermore, the text did not seem extremely difficult, I certainly understood more than 75% of the words and I knew what was happening throughout. It was certainly a point of pride for me and I felt much more confident in my speaking and understanding of German following the opera.

At the National Library

My time in Austria was well-spent. I saw many sights, many museums, and many animals. But more than anything else, I think Austria strongly benefitted my German. I spoke more in those 4 and a half days than I had since my language-intensive course ended. By the end of the trip, I felt extremely confident in my language and some of my trepidation to speak in public was relieved. It certainly gave credit to the oft-given advice that the best way to improve your language speaking skills is to dive right in; try your best to ignore the voice in your head telling you how wrong you may be or how afraid you are and just speak. More often than not, you’ll do better than you expected of yourself and that is the easiest way to improve your confidence and furthermore, improve your speaking skills. Austria did a wonderful job and that, and the impression it left upon me, won’t soon be forgotten.

Lucia:

In my free time in Vienna I chose to visit two art museums: Hundertwasser Museum and the Belvedere. After taking interest in Hundertwasser’s style and life philosophy in a German course a few years ago, I was eager to see his architecture in person. The Hundertwasserhaus is a perfect example of the architect’s style– colorful and organic in design while maintaining functionality. Moving on to the Hundertwasser Museum just around the corner, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of his works on display. The museum features Hundertwasser’s paintings coupled with architectural plans/models all scattered throughout quotes and information about the artist’s life. The building itself is also one of Hundertwasser’s own design. The floors are uneven and small nooks allow plants to grow up the sides of the walls. I was truly intrigued by the progression of his artistic style and different ideas for functional structures. In contrast, the Belvedere is a lavish museum/palace housing a great variety of art. I had chosen to visit the Belvedere with hopes of seeing some of the Viennese artist Gustav Klimt’s works. Stepping onto the grounds, I was first amazed by the size and grandeur of the museum. Seeing a few of Klimt’s pieces in person (and in such a grand setting) was certainly a memorable experience. Overall I quite enjoyed the differences between the museums and would have loved the chance to spend more time in both.

Joan:

We began Tuesday with a visit to Schönbrunn Palace, the former imperial palace in Vienna. It was a beautiful palace and quite interesting to wander around and learn about the different Kaisers who lived there, especially Kaiserin Maria Theresia. After the audio tour we went behind the palace, through the gardens, to the stunning gloriette where we ate at the café there and enjoyed the beautiful day. After that, Anna, Lucia, Paul, Sean, Shuwei, and I headed to the Hundertwasserhaus, an apartment building designed by Friedensreich Hundertwasser. I remembered learning about Hundertwasser in my 201 class, but I forgot that some of his buildings were in Vienna, so when I learned they were

Touring the State Hall of the National Library

nearby, I made sure to go see them. We then walked a few blocks to the KunstHausWien, another building designed by Hundertwasser that houses a lot of his artwork. Going through the museum, I never realized what an environmentalist Hundertwasser was. He reminded me of a 20^th century artist version of John Muir. The great thing about KunstHausWien is that the building was designed by the same artist whose artwork is on display, so there is a real continuity between the art and the building. The only thing that threw me off was on the top two floors were an exhibition of large, mostly black and white photographs. It was a nice exhibition, just the stark contrast with the rest of the building made it hard for me to get out of the Hundertwasser mindset while looking at very different art. On the first floor of the museum was a vegetarian restaurant (also designed by Hundertwasser) where we had dinner. Afterwards we went to the Wien Konzerthaus and were able to get student tickets to see Bach’s “Johannespassion.” Our seats were right in the front middle of the balcony, so we could see and hear really well. There was an orchestra, four main singers, and a boy’s chorus. All in all, the concert was great!

Paul:

Guided tour of Vienna

One thing that was immediately apparent to me during my visit to Vienna was how intentionally the city itself was structured. This intentionality was manifest in the regularity of the buildings, their almost overwhelming whiteness, and in the way they were honeycombed around the Habsburg edifices. The place really looked like the seat of an empire.
I think that these observations helped me to appreciate my favorite Vienna experience – my visit to Kunst Haus Wien, the Friedensreich Hundertwasser museum – even more. Don’t misunderstand me, the dominant rococo and baroque architecture was beautiful and impressive; but Kunst Haus Wien, which Hundertwasser himself designed, exhibited the same level of intentionality while preserving the organic beauty unique to Hundertwasser’s artistic and philosophical outlook. I had heard of Hundertwasser in classes at Dickinson, and I had also seen a number of his prints, all of which I thought were really beautiful and unique. It turned out that some of the other Dickinsonians had as well, so we decided to visit the museum. The building’s face is divided into irregularly shaped, colored blocks. Its pillars and entranceway are littered with varying mosaics. When one walks through the door, he is struck by the fact that the floor itself is not flat. Instead, its clay exhibits undulations and repeats the mosaic motif. A sign on the wall indicates that Hundertwasser made this choice because the earth’s unadorned crust actually presents us with the same sorts of rises and divvies, and further because they can serve as a source of excitement for the feet. So, even on the first step through the door, one sees (and feels) Hundertwasser’s back-to-nature, organic vision. Kunst Haus Wien often presents the organic world even more directly: the place is a veritable forest. And then there are all of Hundertwasser’s incredible paintings, woodcut prints, and architectural models. The models represent more ambitious imaginings of the themes expressed in the museum’s architecture. Hundertwasser had planned whole communities with his ideals in mind. In these communities, the line between artifice and nature is constantly blurred. Streams and roads take similarly meandering routes around homes constructed in hills. Trees abound. The windows and walls that one does see have the color and irregularity of all of Hundertwasser’s work. This might sounds like chaos, but I was really struck by how functional and logical these communities looked. Utopian ideals are often accused of impracticality, but I’d have a hard time lodging this complaint against Hundertwasser. His work didn’t look contrived or forced, but rather exhibited the same kind of beautiful regularity we find in the natural world, in tree rings or spider webs or even frog spawn. And I appreciate this kind of regularity and beauty much more than the silk, gold and marble of Schönbrunn.

Sean:

Two places I chose to visit in the allotted free time were the Kunst Haus Wien and Belvedere Palace. Both were important destinations for me because of my love for Friedensreich Hundertwasser und Gustav Klimt, whose works were displayed in the two locations respectively. Kunst Haus Wien had an incredible amount of work by Hundertwasser and a unique layout and floor plan that made the experience even more interesting. Most notably was the unevenness of the floor. Hundertwasser wrote that:

“An uneven and animated floor is the recovery of man’s mental equilibrium, of the dignity of man which has been violated in our levelling [sic], unnatural and hostile urban grid system. The uneven floor becomes a symphony, a melody for the feet and brings back natural vibrations to man. Architecture should elevate and not subdue man. It is good to walk on uneven floors and regain our human balance.” Hundertwasser, April, 1991

The second place I visited was Belvedere Palace. Belvedere Palace was a great experience for two reasons: the location was incredibly interesting and rich with history and the palace also housed several of my favorite paintings. After spending a considerable amount of time wandering the palace admiring the works of art from different eras, I ended in the Gustav Klimt room. I have been a fan of Klimt’s for some time, especially of his most famous work The Kiss (Lovers). Never before was I unable to look away from a painting for so long. Klimt managed to capture an amazing moment of intimacy in the painting, which elicited a response in me I haven’t experienced with a painting before. Overall, it was an extremely rewarding experience.

Shuwei:

Touring Stephansdom

Our trip to Vienna was amazing! We’ve been to many great places, including Stephansdom, Schönbrunn, Mozarthaus, National Bibliothek, etc. What interested me most is the music culture and history in Vienna. Before going, my impressions about Vienna were all about music. It is the city where many masters of classic music had worked – Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn… We visited Mozarthaus in which Mozart lived for three years, and two of his most famous musical operas, “Don Giovanni” and “The Marriage of Figaro” were written during this time. The museum displayed many original musical scores, documents and also furnitures about Mozart, trying to show Mozart’s personal life and musical compositions in Vienna. Although some details are vague today, I can still imagine how Mozart was enjoying his time in this house. There’s also many documents showing Mozart’s close friendships with other musical masters in Vienna. Reading through these documents, it’s not hard to imagine the prosperity of music in Vienna during that time. After visiting Mozarthaus, we went to the Theater an der Wien for his opera “Don Giovanni”. This is probably the best live opera I’ve ever seen. The music, the singers, the setting of the theater and even the audiences were gorgeous. No seats were empty, and thinking of the other two nights when we had concert and drama, the houses were also full. It surprised me how Vienna people enjoy going to concerts and theaters. Through these music activities and experiences, I felt really close to this city and learned more about its culture and history.