Posts from the ‘Germany’ Category
Berlin Festival of Lights: 2012 Highlights
Since 2004, the Festival of Lights have lit up various buildings and attractions throughout Berlin. The 2012 version saw 12 consecutive October evenings of another grand lighting display in the German capital city.
Bright colours and patterns illuminated many well-known landmarks including Potsdamer Platz, Brandenburger Tor, Gendarmenmarkt, Humboldt Universität, Berliner Dom, and the Fernsehturm. Many other places throughout the city had their displays, but my favourite occurred on the grounds of the now-vacant airport Flughafen Tempelhof. The large ochre facade of the former terminal building provided a big backdrop for bright colourful images. The crowds here were small, providing a quieter atmosphere, as if we were all part of a well-guarded secret.
2012 also heralded Berlin’s 775th anniversary, celebrated in grand style at the end of October.
I made the photos above on 20 and 21 October 2012. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.
Wo sind Sie jetzt? | Where are you now?
Train stations on Christmas Eve are emptier than usual and an unlikely place to visit. But I’ve always viewed the timing as a unique photographic opportunity.
I was in Berlin on Christmas Eve 2010, and with the city already covered in snow, I set out into the evening under additional heavy snowfall. I wanted to photograph the quiet conditions in the capital city, and I stopped at Potsdamer Platz station, normally a busy transfer station in the Mitte (or central) district.
My spontaneous visit and photographs resulted in something more profound.
In S-Bahn (suburban services) Potsdamer Platz, there on platform 2 was a woman; she was the only person along the entire length of the platform. I guess she was waiting for a train to take her home, or to visit friends for Christmas dinner, a party, or gathering. I hope she arrived safely that night.
The Christmas and New Year’s holiday season can be a rough and tumultuous time, even for people in the best of situations. It’s easy to consider how some might feel lonely and depressed, and it might even lead one to associate the number of suicides peaking around that time of year. However, some studies have shown that springtime is generally the peak period for depression, with extreme cases leading to suicides.
• 2005 article, from The Guardian
• “Seasonal spring peaks of suicide in victims with and without prior history of hospitalization for mood disorders.” Journal of Affective Disorders, 2010 February, 121(1-2): pp. 89-93
As (northern) spring is in full swing with this posting, please take a moment for the people about whom you care, and let them know you’re thinking about them.
I made the photos above on Christmas Eve 2010 at Bahnhof Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.
Shalechet (Fallen Leaves), Jewish Museum Berlin
The Jüdisches Museum (Jewish Museum) in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district is one of the most visited museums in the German capital. Over seven million people from around the world have visited the museum since its opening in late-2001.
Through the unique architectural vision and building design by Daniel Libeskind, the museum does not set aside the history of the Jewish community within Germany as being separate from the history of the country as a whole. Rather, there is conscious effort by Libeskind and the Museum to have visitors consider how the historical, cultural, art, literature, music, intellectual, scientific, and economic contributions from the Jewish community are tied inextricably with the history of Germany over the span of two millennia. These very issues and questions are now also driving discussions about the present state and evolution of the Turkish and other expatriate communities within Germany.
Within one of the vertical empty spaces of the museum resides a sculpture installation called “Shalechet”(Shalekhet) by Menashe Kadishman. The accompanying caption in English reads:
Leerstelle des Gedenkens (Memory Void):
Shalechet or Shalekhet (“Fallen Leaves”), by Menashe Kadishman (born 1932 in Tel Aviv): 1997-2001, sheet steel. Gift of Dieter and Si Rosenkranz.
The architect Daniel Libeskind created empty spaces in several parts of the building. These so-called voids extend vertically through the entire museum and represent the absence of Jews from German society. The Memory Void contains a work by the Israeli artist Menashe Kadishman, who calls his installation “Shalekhet,” or “Fallen Leaves.” He has dedicated the over ten-thousand faces covering the floor to all innocent victims of war and violence.
Visitors are encouraged to interact by walking on the exhibit itself: to see the open-mouths in terror and faces of soundless screams, and to listen to the jarring clanging sounds as thick metal pieces jostle against other sheet metal pieces.
With no other visitors here, it’s an eerie atmosphere. I also feel what is unmistakably guilt, as I walk over the “screaming” faces: am I walking over representations of living breathing people? I think these feelings are in fact necessary, that they’re there to emphasize the feelings of loss. Something important has been taken away. It’s as if the sculpture asks: “Germany is presently incomplete – will the country ever heal and be complete again?”
The following two-and-a-half minute video provides a visual and aural sample.
In Berlin, the Jüdisches Museum can be reached with the S-Bahn (S1, S2, S25) at Anhalter Bahnhof, U-Bahn (U6) at Kochstrasse, or U-Bahn (U1, U6) at Hallesches Tor.
On 19 November 2012, I made the photos above with a Canon EOS450D camera and the video above with a 4th-generation iPod Touch. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.
Of angles and angels, at Berlin Friedrichstrasse
I always found a crisp cool bite in the air on clear fall days whenever I was in Germany. At dusk on a late-October afternoon, I wandered to Friedrichstrasse Station in the German capital city of Berlin. There is the usual hustle and bustle of people entering and exiting a busy train station and important transfer junction.
I looked up and saw how the cumulus clouds were angled with respect to the top-line of the station building and how the clouds were illuminated. A plane’s contrail at the edge of the frame only added to the mystery.
It goes to show how the convergence of seemingly independent factors can produce a little piece of magic.
I had my camera with me wherever I went.
I was at the right place at the right time.
I remained observant.
Fading fall-light.
Shape & silhouette.
Lines & angles.
I wrote previously about the station: Up and down, night and day on Friedrichstrasse.
I made this photo from the northern side of Friedrichstrasse station in Berlin, Germany on 21 October 2012. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.
German Rail Pass, late-2012 RTW
In 2012, I spent the year traveling around the world. By October, I was making my way from the southern to the northern hemisphere, and a return to Europe. Spending a few weeks in Berlin, Germany in the fall meant that I had a number of friends to visit throughout Germany. Thus began the start of my “Germany tour”:
- Berlin to Heidelberg
- Heidelberg to Freiburg im Breisgau
- Freiburg im Breisgau to Köln
- Köln to Berlin
- Berlin to Frankfurt am Main: for a wedding!
- Frankfurt am Main to München
- München to Passau (daytrip)
- München to Berlin
- Berlin to Dresden (daytrip)
From the German Rail Passes website, I found the 10-day (within 1-month) rail-pass in 2nd-class for $428 USD in mid-November. I purchased the rail-pass with a valid start-date of 22 November 2012. While I was already present in Germany, my transaction was successful, the ticket printed in Dublin, and sent by DHL-courier to where I was staying in Berlin.
I checked fares on the Deutsche Bahn website in early-2013 after fare prices were raised on average by 2.8 percent in early-December 2012. I searched fares for trains on an assumed time and date of “10am, 15 March 2013″, and took note of the highest and lowest 2nd-class fares in the “Sparpreis” category, which are the cheapest available fares. The “Normalpreis” fares were more expensive than “Sparpreis” fares by at least 10 to 20%; some “Normalpreis” fares were two times more expensive. The distances shown are approximate and estimated from “Strecke” values returned by the Luftlinie distance calculator (in German).
| Route (Nov-Dec 2012) | Distance | 2nd class, Sparpreis |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin Hbf – Heidelberg Hbf | 620 km | € 69—129 |
| Heidelberg Hbf – Freiburg (Breisgau) Hbf | 180 km | € 35—84 |
| Freiburg (Breisgau) Hbf – Köln Hbf | 430 km | € 35—99 |
| Köln Hbf – Berlin Hbf | 560 km | € 79—99 |
| Berlin Hbf – Frankfurt am Main Hbf | 540 km | € 35—99 |
| Frankfurt Hbf – München Hbf | 400 km | € 35—79 |
| München Hbf – Passau Hbf, return | 400 km | € 38—44 |
| München Hbf – Berlin Hbf | 580 km | € 69—109 |
| Berlin Hbf – Dresden Hbf, return | 400 km | € 19—55 |
| Total | 4110 km | € 414—797 |
| Total in USD (1 € = $1.3 USD) | … | $ 538—1036 |
| Ten-day German Rail Pass, in USD | … | $ 428 |
| Minimum savings, in USD | … | $ 100+ |
The Rail Pass does not bind the passholder to a specific train on a given date and time; so, I gained the flexibility of choosing any Deutsche Bahn scheduled-train whenever I needed to travel. Even though I only used nine of the ten days in the Rail Pass, I still saved at least $100 USD. The savings increase with longer distances between destinations.
If a traveler knows they’ll be staying and traveling within a European country for some time, a European Rail Pass can be a good way to save money on intranational travel. Staying in Germany for up to 3 months meant that Rail Pass(es) represented good value for the money.
My previous posts about German Rail Passes:
• Yet another trip with German Rail (2011)
• Across the country with German Rail
• Saving money with a German Rail Pass
• Flexibility with a German Rail Pass
I made the two photos above with a Canon EOS450D (XSI) camera. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com.
Disclosure: No Connection, Unpaid, My Own Opinions. I have not received any compensation for writing this content and I have no material connection to the brands, topics and/or products that are mentioned herein (cmp.ly/0).
