The Brandenburg Gate symbolizes peace and unity in Germany and Europe
After our museum hopping, we headed to the Brandenburg Gate, the iconic symbol of Germany as well as of unity and peace. On the subway, the carriage windows are covered in the Brandenburg Gate logo. To see it in person is impressive.
The 18th century neoclassical monument was built on the orders of Prussian King Frederick William II. It is built on the site of the former city gate, located on the western part of Berlin's city centre. When King Frederick William II commissioned the gate, it was meant to represent peace.
Designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans, the gate features 12 Doric columns that form five passageways. At the top of the gate is a quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses that were sculpted by Johann Gottfried Schadow.
A detail of the quadriga, a chariot drawn by four horses
The design of the gate was inspired by Propylaea, the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.
When the Nazis ascended power, they appropriated the gate as a party symbol. During World War II the gate was damaged by bullets and nearby explosions. One of the horse's heads survived the war and is kept in a museum.
After Germany surrendered at the end of the war, both governments of West Berlin and East Berlin restored the gate as best they could. However, when the Berlin Wall was built dividing the city, that prevented access to the gate from 1961 until 1989, when the wall finally fell.
As a result of the wall being torn down, the gate again represented freedom and the desire to unite Berlin.
A short walking distance from the Brandenburg Gate is the Bundestag, or the German parliament. The building itself is called Reichstag. It's an impressive, large building that was enhanced with a glass dome designed by Sir Norman Foster that visitors can climb up to. However, you need to book tickets in advance so we couldn't get in. Something to keep in mind for next time...
The Reichstag, the building that housed the Bundestag
The building was opened in 1894, and it was mysteriously set on fire in 1933 -- probably by the Nazis -- who used the incident to suspend people's rights, arrest communists, and increase police action in the country.
By taking advantage of people's fears, Adolf Hitler was able to rise to power, as he portrayed himself as anti-communist.
The Reichstag was not fully repaired after the fire, and then it was further damaged by air raids. When the Cold War began, the building was basically left unused because the Berlin Wall was built right next to it, and the seat of government of West Germany moved to Bonn in 1949.
From 1961 to 1964, architect Paul Baumgarten reconstructed the building, stripping it back to its former glory.
When Germany was finally reunited in 1990, the ceremony was held at the Reichstag building, but it wasn't until two years later that Foster won the architectural contest to reconstruct the building, that was finally completed in 1999. The large dome gives visitors a 360 view of the city.
The German Chancellery that has some funny nicknames
Adjacent to the Reichstag is the German Chancellery where Chancellor Angela Merkel lives and works. Our taxi driver called it "Merkel House". The contemporary building that was opened in 2001 is the largest government headquarters building in the world at 12,000 square metres, which is 10 times the size of the White House.
Because of its massive size, the German Chancellery has some interesting nicknames. Because of its round shaped windows and cubic form, it's been called bundeswaschmaschine or "federal laundry machine" and elefantenklo or "elephant loo".
The Alte National Gallery, or Old National Gallery at Museum Island
Berlin has a place called Museum Island, where several museums are within steps of each other, making it convenient to do all your cultural must-dos in one place.
We also bought a Berlin Welcome Card for 79 euros for two days which offers free public transportation, and free admission to all the museums at Museum Island! Yesterday was Thursday and we were lucky to find out all the museums are open that day until 8pm.
The beautiful bust of Nefertiti
Also when you go in, you can get a sheet that lists all the exhibitions, and highlights the must-see. So if you want to whip through the museums you can do that just by seeing the best of each institution without having to go through all the rooms.
The Altes Museum or Old Museum houses old antiquities and we saw many classical Greek statues, a bust of Athena with her helmut perched on her head. It's very serene, yet powerful too. There is also a circular gallery that shows off many Greek statues in a dome-like room reminiscent of The Pantheon in Rome.
Meanwhile the Neues Museum or New Museum is best known for housing the bust of Nefertiti. No photographs are allowed in the room, and the beautiful sculpture is behind glass. The queen is shown to be very delicate, sphynx-like, elegant and petite. Her eyes are gorgeously lined, showing a serene but wise face.
In the same room is a black copy of the bust, but here the blind are welcome to touch her face, which is fascinating. They are so lucky to touch it, while the rest of us have to guess what it must feel like -- behind glass.
Claude Monet's View of Vetheuil-sur Seine
The Alte Nationalgalerie or Old National Gallery features lots of artwork, and we chose to focus on the rooms with art by the Impressionists. Much of the art by German artists in that period were particularly dark in colour compared to the French Impressionists, and many are exhibited here.
Claude Monet's View of Vetheuil-sur Seine (1880) is almost like a photograph, where it's midday, and the sun is coming from directly above. When you step back to admire the painting, from far away it almost looks like a photograph.
We also headed to Pergamonmuseum, named after its main acquisition, a massive marble altar from the Hellenistic city of Pergamon, but alas it is currently closed. But we did see other amazing things here, like the gigantic recreation of Ishtar Gate of Babylon.
The awe-inspiring Ishtar Gate of Babylon
When the gates were excavated in 1899, they found the gate literally in ruins, broken pieces, and they shipped them back here in 500 crates where they were painstakingly fitted back together like a massive three-dimensional puzzle. The effect is stunning and gorgeous. The deep blue tiles are a wonderful contrast to the animals, such as lions and goats, and a mythical creature that are in yellow.
There was also an exhibition going on featuring cultural artifacts that were saved from Aleppo in Syria before the civil war broke out in 2011. Many are massive stone carvings, gorgeous artifacts that are so intricately detailed. How did they even take them out? Seeing all these things was a relief to know they were being kept safe and protected -- otherwise who would know the state of them now if they had remained in Syria?
Intricate stone carvings from Aleppo, Syria
Next to Museum Island is the Berliner Dom or Berlin Cathedral. Inside we paid 5 euros each for the privilege to go inside and marvel at the giant circular dome above the congregation that has a dove at the centre.
But visitors can also wander through a model section, perfect for architecture buffs, where you can almost look right into the churches and see the inside.
And if you have enough energy, you can climb up to the top of the Berliner Dom. At first there is no signage to explain how many steps it is until part way through when it warns there are 132 more steps to the top and that it is physically demanding!
The panoramic view of Berlin from the Berliner Dom
I take on the challenge and walk up the narrow staircase that climbs up to the top. Once you get there, you have to walk through a long corridor divided by doors until you can finally get outside and be rewarded with a 360 view of Berlin. It's fantastic and well worth the trek up if you can do it.
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church with Huawei behind it
I have arrived in Berlin for a few days and so far it's been colder than I thought! I have had to put on more layers just to keep warm.
Nevertheless the city is an interesting mix of old and new, though most of the city was bombed out during World War II and some sections of the city had to rebuild from scratch.
The extremely intricate ceiling decorated in mosaics
But there are a few places that are purposely left in its damaged state as a reminder of what happened to the building.
One of them is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The project was initiated by Kaiser Wilhelm II to honour his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm I, and construction started in 1890, and completed in 1894. It was officially consecrated 1906.
However on November 23, 1943, the church was severely damaged by an air raid. Parts of it were salvaged and when you first see the building, there are parts of it that are completely bombed out, others in tact.
A mosaic on the floor shows an angel slaying a dragon
Upon entering, visitors are blown away by the intricate mosaics on the ceiling of the foyer -- most of it is still in tact and glittering in gold. There are mosaics on the floor too, painstakingly put together, including an image of an angel slaying a dragon by the entrance.
Flanking the bombed out church are two parts of the new church designed by architect Egon Eiermann. He preserved the spire, incorporating it into the new tower. However we weren't able to see it, as it is covered by scaffolding sponsored by Huawei -- which is intriguing. Have you seen Huawei sponsor the renovation of a cultural landmark, let alone a religious one?
Or did the company find that tower to irresistible for advertising to care that it's actually the church spire?
The new church has a wonderful glow from the stained glass
In any event, the lower building, the rebuilt church, features a honeycomb design of over 21,000 stained glass inlays. The glass designer, Gabriel Loire, was inspired by the cathedral at Chartres, and at night when the glass is lit up, has a wonderful dark blue glow.
Artist Larry Poons on his way to his studio to paint in The Price of Everything
The art market is a fickle one, and it's just like the stock market -- it's a combination of experts who proclaim who's hot and who's not, fueled by media coverage and those who follow, wanting to get a piece of the action with lots of money involved.
Meanwhile the one who makes the actual art -- the artist -- continues to be the starving artist... well the ones who consider themselves purists.
That's the crux of The Price of Everything, a fascinating documentary by award-winning director Nathaniel Kahn.
We don't actually get to see Kahn, but we hear him periodically asking people questions -- how much is art worth? Is it really worth that much? Who's to say its value? And why did you buy it?
He talks to all kinds of people, including Amy Cappellazzo at Sotheby's who has masterminded an upcoming auction and she is so pleased with herself as she shows off the final proofs of the catalogue that will go to print.
Cappellazzo admits she is most excited about the chase; getting those pieces together. Now she's coasting and expect the sale will surpass US$100 million.
George Condo painting with an oil stick on canvas
Kahn talks to some of the artists whose works are featured in the upcoming sale, like George Condo, Gerhard Richter, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, and Marilyn Minter.
We watch Condo create a painting from start to finish, building a base of thick colours all over the large canvas before drawing faces with a thick oil stick. Part way through working on the painting, he paints over half the canvas to repaint it over again, showing that artists are constantly working through their paintings -- it's not perfect the first time they put paint to canvas.
Meanwhile Minter's work is so intricate that it looks like a photograph of a woman behind a shower stall, insinuating sexual undertones. She laughs when people realize one of her paintings is actually someone's vagina and then have second thoughts of buying it. Nevertheless, she says money-wise she manages to get by without compromising herself.
Nigerian-born artist Crosby says she produces 12 works a year, but when the film was shot, she had a newborn baby, which cut down her production to about six to eight pieces. While she would like to make more art work, she feels she can't just churn them out -- they wouldn't have the same depth in terms of technique or meaning.
Jeff Koons explains how he works on all his pieces
However these artists contrast with Jeff Koons, who has a number of people working for him in a massive studio, at least two people working on each painting -- painstakingly copying masterpieces -- but the twist is adding half a shiny sphere to the work so that the viewer gets to be a part of the painting.
When Kahn asks Koons if he really is working on each piece, the American artist claims he is, having set up an intricate system of paints that he instructs his artists on how to apply them... he also says there is no way he could finish so much work unless he had help.
Others also suggest Koons knows how to play the game, able to sweet talk people into buying his work, from paintings to sculptures to his collaborated Louis Vuitton bags. He even manages to sell art futures -- how about buying a piece of art he's working on now that will be available in three years? Some collectors snap that up.
His star continues to rise, and he is the complete opposite of Larry Poons, a relatively reclusive artist who seemed to drop off the art world's radar several years ago so some people thought he wasn't even alive. But all he wants to do is just focus on his work -- he doesn't want to get involved in the dirty business of money. He lives a very simple life in the country, holed up in his studio painting very long canvases.
Wealthy art collector Stefan Edlis in his New York apartment
Many years ago he had a specific style of doing dots and gets annoyed that people only like this style and don't think artists can evolve to do other things. Poons keeps saying how he wants to be like Mozart and Beethoven.
Meanwhile Kahn also visits art collector Stefan Edlis and viewers can see his stunning collection of art all over the walls of his New York apartment. Kahn asks him how much some works were when he bought them. The usual refrain is around US$10 million. And how much are they worth now? Oh around US$100 million. Uh huh.
It's hard to tell if Edlis really is an art lover or he strictly looks at his art collection as good investments that happen to look pretty on his walls. He keeps track of them on an Excel spreadsheet.
A Jew originally from Germany, Edlis even has a statue called Him that is a mini version of Adolf Hitler in a brown tweed jacket kneeling, his eyes looking up to the right. Kahn asks Edlis about acquiring the statue, but he doesn't seem to care about the meaning behind it. Or is he trying to make Kahn feel silly for asking that question?
And then there's the art historians who are mortified by the business of art, and these works should really be in museums which are more democratic. Jerry Saltz, an art critic agrees, and says that each time he goes to an art auction he feels it will be the last time he will ever see the work in person because they will be sold and then never see the light of day, either because they are hung on someone's wall or worse kept in storage for no one to admire.
And after an exhilarating evening at Sotheby's seeing art works go for tens of millions of dollars, they really do end up in a non-descript suburb that has a giant storage facility -- for artwork.
Poons finally gets another showing, an art dealer who perhaps thinks the artist is undervalued and wants to make some money off of him. The paintings themselves are a gorgeous play of colour, mostly pastels, but again, what are these works really worth?
The Price of Everything
Director by Nathaniel Kahn
1 hour, 38 minutes
