Travels with the Benzes

Nikolaus Braun - Berliner Straßenszene 1921 The highlight of our morning was a visit to the final relocation site of the Berlinische Galerie (said to be a former uranium mining site that produced nearly 100 atomic bombs for the USSR).  This gallery is an unique and totally engrossing experience showing how a strong impressionistic movement prior to WWI transformed into bleak expressionism and then, under strict Soviet constraints, had to go underground – with the recently displayed artworks only recently coming to light.  Also, the museums’ rich photographic gallery (from Zeiss and other well established East German companies) showed the city before and during various stages of the war, and documented the amazing contributions of talented East German women in designing and rebuilding East Berlin, despite being totally walled off after 1961 from all the ongoing West Berlin redevelopment.  The four of us went our separate ways in the gallery and we agreed to meet in the lob...

Our day began with an early 3-hour scenic train ride to Dresden with Christine and Richard.  We passed through Saxony, observing expansive fields dotted with windmills under dramatic, dark skies.   We had our usual lively conversations about the news of the day.   Upon arriving in Dresden, we were greeted by Richard’s brother Dietrich. Having his doctorate in history and government studies and working for 25 years as a city (Dresden, Leipzig) and state (Saxony) planner and advisor, he was a wonderful city guide.   As we walked throughout Dresden, Dietrich provided us with hours of fascinating conversations about parallels today between US and the many growing far right political movements across all of Europe.  Dresden, alongside the beautiful Elbe River flowing from Czechoslovakia, was largely flattened by English/American bombers toward the latter part of WWII, so the beautifully rebuilt (cathedrals, churches, government buildings, and city residence...

Today during our early hotel breakfast before taking a train back down to the Potsdam area, I almost choked on my croissant when suddenly standing before me (+ Connie, Richard and Christine) was my old Basel and UCSF buddy Christoph Rochlitz and his wife Sabine, who had driven 9+ hours up from Basel to surprise us (while still limping 5 weeks after his total knee replacement)! The Herrmanns were complicit in this secret ambush, as Christoph and Sabine were going to join us on our planned boat trip later in the day.   Needless to say we spent a couple of hours catching up with each other.   After breakfast it was decided that Chris and I would drive with Christoph and Sabine to Potsdam, while Christine and Richard retraced our train trip from yesterday and we would all meet at the marina in Potsdam. As our boat trip wasn't scheduled until 1:30 PM, at Christoph's suggestion we went to visit the iconic Tempelhof Airfield, one of Berlin's most historically significant and com...