Category: General

ceiling fixture in entrance porch of office wing


detail of ceiling in great hall

We had about an hour to kill before the Lachenman/Nono/Stockhausen concert in the gorgeous Konzerthaus this evening, so Barry and I took the U-Bahn to fabled Tempelhof Flughafen. It was dark when we arrived, so I thought it would be best to try only for some pretty abstract images.

construction scaffolding below the rails


the trains roll through while the station rises around them

They’re building a great railway station in Berlin today, while in the U.S. they’re working to dismantle what little remains of what was once a great passenger rail system

seen on the edge of the pavement across from our Wohnung this morning

We’re staying on Rosa Luxemburg-Platz, only steps from the national headquarters of the PDS, or rather of its successor, Die Linke. I’ve worn my very red button every time I’ve gone out, and it seems it escapes the attention of almost no one here. [in the U.S. I sometimes think it’s invisible]
Anyway, a few days ago an open-faced youth stopped us a hundred meters from our door to ask if we knew where the PDS office was. I was silly-proud to point him in the right direction, and it was near their building that I spotted this poster this morning.
This is a very political people and they will not be deceived this time. It’s my own country that I’m very worried about.

FOLLOWUP: It happened. Everybody marched. No one was hurt. There were eggs thrown (by the anti-antis). The counter-demonstrators outnumbered the neo-nazis three to one. The police outnumbered both. There were ten arrests however, none of them of partisans from the extremist right.

pushing up green


“DER BEVÖLKERUNG”, Hans Haacke’s conceptual and somewhat controversial contribution to the Reichstag, installed in the interior court to the north, is very visible from the roof of this amazing building, at least to those with a bit of curiosity.
Outside, the dedication has remained unchanged since 1916, when it was added to the west front:


on a clear day you can see them all

above the inclined plane

We spent hours this afternoon at Berlin’s Jewish Museum. I don’t think the impact of architecture has ever brought me almost to tears so easily. Yes, the city and the nature of the collection has set the visitor up for it, but I had not yet gotten beyond the ramps inside Daniel Libeskind’s masterpiece when I had to stop and catch my breath.
I had expected much, but I was given more.

groom and groom seated inside the Neuer Salon of the Berlin Mitte Standesamt this afternoon.


Dan and Adrian confront the Beamte



Laurence was invited by the presiding official to go with his camera anywhere he wished. He did.

It was the funniest wedding I’ve ever been to.
Dan said it certainly must be the most documented. Everyone had a camera and half of those were in video mode. One hour later, at the lunch following the ceremony, Laurence presented each of the grooms with a CD including hundreds of his raw stills alone. I think the presentation itself was documented.
We enjoyed the day in the company of wonderful people in a wondrous mood in a wonder of a city. Tonight we wish them all good fortune.

walls of our borrowed apartment, in a 1929 Hans Poelzig building, disappear near the ceiling