Potsdam, Capital of Brandenburg, Germany

In 1998, I lived then in Warsaw, I took to train to Berlin and visited the Capital then in full reconstruction after re-unification. I then decided to visit Postdam, nowadays a suburb of Berlin which can be reached easily in 20 minutes by public transport. What I found was a city that look a little abandoned and sad, here and there constructions by the GDR government, ugly, out of place had taken place in the late 1960's, the old baroque buildings having been bombed in late April 1945 by the Allies had been bulldozed. Lots of empty lots, the city centre made no urban sense. This was Potsdam, the fame garrison city of the Kings of Prussia, their Royal Capital.

The Royal Palace of Potsdam in 1944, prior to its destruction.

You could guess that prior to the Second World War something beautiful existed there, it is a small city, easy to walk. On empty lots, once existed baroque buildings, full of that extravagance in architecture the style is known for. Lots of beautiful parks and Italianate villas, romantic ruins in the style of antique temples of Rome or Athens. I went to Sans Souci, the small villa palace of Frederic II, where Voltaire had visited and had many conversations with Frederic on Enlightenment, it was in good shape though the park needed some weeding. There by the Palace in front of his bedroom was buried the King with his dogs, as he wished. The German Chancellor in 1990 had the remains of Frederic re-buried on the spot he had chosen. He loved his whippets and each has a little tomb stone with their name engraved, I always found this simplicity touching.

I then returned to Potsdam, two years later, much had changed. Charles, the Prince of Wales had gotten involved with his foundation in a grand building plan for the old historical city centre. No small feat, this meant re-aligning streets on the old grid, un-doing much of the city centre plan put forward by the previous Communist administration, re-creating city and streetscapes to fit harmoniously.

The Royal Palace in Potsdam in May 1945.

There was also the question of re-building the old Royal City Palace and other palaces and the Garrison Church which became infamous because of a visit Hitler had paid to it in a political gesture to tie his ideas to those of 18th Century Prussia, thus seeking justification for what was about to happen.

The future of the central old market place in Potsdam, to the right the Royal Palace rebuilt, next to it the Barberini Palace and next to it the old City Hall renovated, a vision of 2015.

Much has been done to clean and revitalize Potsdam since 2002, the city is pleasant, quiet and offers beautiful vistas. Since most of Potsdam was developed between 1750 and 1765 by famous German architects of the period, you have a city on a human scale, you can walk to the different points in the city in a few minutes. This year marks the 300 anniversary of the birth of Frederic the Great and Potsdam is in full reconstruction mode. The little clip from YouTube shows the on-going re-building of the Potsdam City Palace which once completed will be the new seat of the Parliament of Brandenburg. The old ornate baroque interior will not be reproduced because of cost, but a paired down version will give an idea of what it was like. This is only one of the many buildings being re-built in the coming years. Cost of reconstruction of this one building is estimated at 120 million Euros.  

Remembering a great song from 1952

I was listening to France Musique on the radio this morning I am growing tired of the preachings of the CBC lately, to the point where I simply switch the dial to another station. I found an interview with an ex-pat American who lives in Paris and who organized an exhibit on the neighbourhood of Montmartre then and now. The exhibit is not about what Montmartre is suppose to be in the tourist lore but what it is really as a city neighbourhood not seen by the tourists.
I learned that prior to 1875 it was just one of many neighbourhoods of Paris, not very popular but by 1900 it had become the hot spot of Paris by night with its famous cafés and cabarets. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec having made it popular with his numerous posters and drawings.

The host of the radio program played the song hit of 1952 from the original movie Moulin Rouge.
The original version has famous names, José Ferrer, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Colette Marchand, the producer John Huston and the musical hit of 1952 ,Where is your heart, music by George Auric and words by William Engrick. Such beautiful music and so different from the modern remake.

The LCBO

In Ontario we have the LCBO, the liquor control board of Ontario. All liquor, beer and wine sales come under the Government of Ontario strict control, demon liquor must be regulated. That tells you we got Protestants in charge here. This State monopoly like the one across the river in Quebec at La Régie des alcools brings in mega bucks for the government. The profits go into financing our socialize medical system and other services. Prior to 1990 the LCBO stores had a system where the hours of operations were not convenient and buying any liquor made you feel as if you were a sinner. Liquor was sold in plain brown paper bags, if someone saw you with a paper bag, you know like your neighbour who was big in your church group well, people would talk. The stores themselves were out of the way and when you went in there was a long counter behind it the store clerk and a metal cage where all the liquor was kept. You filled out a paper form with a pencil not a pen, a pencil. You indicated how many bottles you were buying and what you wanted, you signed the form and brought it up to the cash register to pay in cash only. The store clerk would go into the cage to get those items of demon liquor you had bought. A strict control was kept and you knew the government was keeping a eye on you and your sinful ways. Unless you drank for medicinal purposes, a doctors paper would vouch for your health condition.

It was also and still is prohibited from drinking on the street. If you drank at home you had to make sure the curtains of your house front window were firmly and tightly shut in case your neighbours would see you drinking or worse their children and be scarred for life by your sin. Neighbours did call the police on such people who ignored the law. There were also days in the year the sale of liquor was prohibited, Sunday (The Lord's Day Act), Election day, major holidays and it was and still is forbidden to sell any alcohol before 11 am or after 1am, it use to be 11pm until very recently.

In Quebec things were a lot more relaxed, ah those Quebecois always rocking our Canadian boat. You can drink at any time, Sunday, Election day, or any day as early as 6 am. The breakfast of champions in Quebec is a good beer and corn flakes in the morning. Bars never close before 3am. You can buy wine and beer in grocery stores, Quebec is Roman Catholic and French, that explains it I suppose, loose morals and all that.

Living in Ottawa, the Capital of the great and first Dominion of the British Empire, if you wanted a drink, a bit of fun and a good meal you went across the bridge to Gatineau-Hull. In Quebec we invented the institution of the Businessmen's Lunch which meant a hearty meal, a good drink and a stripper. No such thing to this day in prudish, tight lipped and frowning Ontario.
All that started to change slowly in Ontario around the turn  of the millennium. Ottawa is becoming a little more hip and with it and so is the rest of Ontario, this includes Toronto the good, well not so much anymore now that it has the title of the Detroit of the North.

But I digress, the LCBO has changed from the pre-historic time, the stores now have a modern friendly look and offer a wide range of products, they also have very good wine appreciation courses, cooking courses and wine pairing courses. The depot on South Bank street has a wide selection of excellent wines and liquor, our local liquor store just a few doors down from our place is smaller but has a good choice of liquor and wines. The beer store offers Canadian and international choices of beers.

The LCBO also has a very slick glossy magazine in both French and English on food and wines, beautiful photography and great recipes that are easy to follow and easy to make. Not to mention the other magazine VINTAGES which offers a lot of useful information on cocktail mix and wines. This month Vintages has an excellent article on Sake from Japan and how to pair it with food.
Another article on Rhone Valley wines and on Washington State and Oregon wines. All complimented with great photography. Who would have thought that in Calvinist, Orange Lodge Ontario such humanistic pursuits would ever see the light of day.

Look for www.vintages.com  or www.lcbo.com

In the fall edition of Vintages you can find such items on how to create ambiance for  a dinner, new products at the LCBO store, they recommend Hendrick's gin, recipes on preserves since Canadian Thanksgiving is just around the corner, they propose a butter of pumpkin and maple syrup. They also have recommendations on Ontario wines, we do have excellent wines in Ontario, I can vouch for it.
They also have recipes for late summer cocktails like a Martini of peaches and apricots, two fruits from the Niagara Peninsula, or cocktails made from bubbly Rosé or a Kir Impérial of Niagara with raspberries. There are also recipes for hot cocktail mixing White Jasmin tea with a single malt scotch and a bit of honey.
In the food section Baked apple cardamon or Lamb Tajine or a Veal cutlet with Madeira and dried raisins.  They also have a whole section on Bourbon. There is so much more on fish and desserts.
This beautiful magazine is free at the LCBO.

A funny little story, when I came to Ottawa over a year ago to look for lodgings for the family, one selling point the Real Estate agent used was that we were not far from the Liquor store. I thought that comment funny, I asked what he meant, he answered well most clients want to know how close is the school for the kids and where is the nearest Liquor store, two of the most commonly asked questions in real estate. Children drive you to drink, that explains a lot of things.

The Gazebo at Niagara-on-the-Lake, on lake Ontario and the Niagara river.






   

Glière

When we visited St-Petersburg in June, we went one day to Peterhof the palace on the Baltic sea built by Peter the Great as a summer retreat. We heard this music play at the great cascade of fountains,  symbol of the victory of Tsar Peter at Poltava over the Swedish army of Charles XII. This victory was very important, it gave the new city the vital access to the Baltic sea which had been controlled by the Swedes for a very long time.  I asked our guide about the music, what was it I wondered, I remember hearing it before but had no idea who the composer was, our guide said, it is a Soviet piece, not exactly a clear answer, so I kept on looking further. It turns out the composer was Rheingold Morisovitch Gliere, of Polish-Ukrainian origin, who lived from 1875 to 1956. Working for the Tsarist regime and then for the Soviet, many times decorated for his compositions. His works are based on folkloric music of the various people living in the Russian Empire, he never travelled abroad and often toured the regions of Russia. The conductor Leopold Stokowski considered his works a monument to Slavic culture. He thought for 20 years at the Moscow conservatory, some of his students became great names in music, like Aram Khatchatourian, Sergei Prokoviev, Nikolai Miaskovski. His most famous works the ballet, the Red Poppy, the Third Symphony and Taras Boulba. He admired greatly Glazounov and Glinka amongst other Russian composers. He was highly decorated by the Soviet Regime. It appears that his secret to survive the horrors of the Stalinist period and the purges was to stay clear of any ideological debate and to concentrate on music composition, in other words, he kept his mouth shut.

Rheingold Gliere

Berlin reborn

Berlin the capital of Germany and the Capital of the province of Brandenburg in Northern Germany is over 800 years old, with a population of 3.5 million people, Berlin is a transport hub in Europe, a world city of culture, science and media, one third of its territory is composed of rivers, lakes, parks, gardens and forests. In 1539 the city became Lutheran splitting with the Roman Catholic church. Berlin has a long established reputation for tolerance, in 1685 an edict by Frederick William Hohenzollern known as the Great Prince Elector, welcomed all religions and ten of thousands of French Huguenots came to settle in Berlin. In 1700 on the eve of the creation of the Kingdom of Prussia, 20% of the population was French speaking. Today Berlin is the capital of the new Germany, modern, artistic hub, high technology and research, the seat of world renowned universities. Since 1990 the Federal Government of Germany has taken as a mission to give back to Berlin the shine of a city of knowledge and enlightenment, focusing on the great philosophers like Kant, Goethe, Hegel, and Humboldt who made Germany famous.  The twelve year dictatorship of the Nazi regime is acknowledged but is also given the proper historical perspective, as a horrible aberration brought on by historical circumstances which cannot dominate the entire historical past of the city or the country.

I have been going to Berlin since 1998 and have seen much improvement and changes in the reconstruction and beautification of this great capital city. One project I have been following for years now is the reconstruction of the Eastern sector of the city where most historical buildings of old Berlin were located under the division of the city during the cold war years (1946-1989).  The East German Communist Authorities under the strict supervision of Soviet Russia had allowed the city to remain in a state of total ruin since 1945 and had done next to nothing to rebuild the part of the city they controlled, except to build ugly concrete buildings all identical row upon row. At re-unification the Federal Government started to clean, restore and rebuild all the historical buildings to give Berlin the architectural character it had prior to 1918. In areas where the devastation had been total, to allow for international architectural contests to build new spectacular buildings based on elements of light and openness.  We find this concept in all the new Federal Government buildings like the New Office and Residence of the German Chancellor or the old Reichstag building. Nothing of the old Nazi architecture has been retained with the exception of two buildings which escaped destruction, the old Air Force HQ under Goering, despite the fact that the Nazi eagles and symbols have been removed it looks sinister, that building is now housing the Ministry of Financial Planning. The other one is the old Propaganda Ministry of Goebbels which now houses the Ministry of Welfare and Social Assistance. For those seeking the old Nazi past or even elements of the old Cold War days little remains, the one exception would be the old Gestapo HQ, the building itself was destroyed but the basement remains and is now a museum on State Terror , an object lesson in what can go wrong when fanaticism and intolerance take over a national government and extremist ideology is the new god.

I remember in 1998 the centre of Berlin and the area around the Brandenburg Gate and the old Reichstag was largely vast empty fields, Postdamer Platz was one large open space with weeds and not much more. The Berlin prior to 1945 had clearly been swept away. Today it is reborn in modern eclectic buildings, the Embassies of countries are re-occupying their old sites, competing to rebuild in a style which will remain faithful to the idea that the page is turned on the past and Berlin is now looking to a prosperous and bright future.

The one project I really liked is the re-building of the Frederick the Great inspired centre of Berlin just along Unter den Linden avenue (under the Linden trees). This beautiful avenue was conceived by the grand father of Frederick the Great, as the ceremonial entrance to the Official Royal Berlin, Ambassadors would arrive at the Brandenburg Gate which was a Custom House at the time and be met  by a carriage sent from the Royal City Palace at the other end of the avenue, there they would be escorted along the avenue, passing in front of every official building and Embassies, the Opera House and Crown Prince Palace, the Palace Commander's Residence, the Armoury and the Church of St-Hedwige,  until finally arriving at the island where all the famous museums of the city are located with the Lutheran Cathedral and the great City Palace. Today most of those buildings have been rebuilt and restored. The last one not restored yet is the great Imperial City Palace of the Hohenzollern dynasty which served as their Berlin Residence for 800 years. In the 1950's the Communist decided to blow up the palace, it took several days to do so and it was severely criticized around the world as unnecessary.
But then the Communists like their allies the Nazis (until 1941), were never one to take into consideration the views of others. Luckily for us they ended up in the garbage bin of history.

This project has now been approved by the Senate of Berlin, the Parliament of Brandenburg and the Bundestag of Germany, the project should be completed by 2017. The idea is not to recreate the City Palace as it was but to recreate the outside walls and great courtyards. The building itself will be modern, devoted to art, culture and learning. This project will complete the historical reconstruction of the city centre making it whole again for the first time since 1939.
The reconstruction will be financed by private donors and by the Federal Government of Germany. Private donors can buy brinks, their name will be inscribed on the brick and in a ledger. Already many famous families in Germany like the heirs of Bismarck and others have joined this effort. The members of the Imperial family, the Hohenzollern are also interested in this project.

Here are some photos of Berlin today and of the Palace reconstruction project.

A view from the roof top of the Armoury, what the reconstructed City Palace of the Kings and German Emperors will look like in 2017.

Currently the view at the end of Unter den Linden is vacant, in 2017 the City Palace will appear completing the view.

The facade on the Berlin Cathedral side, to recreate the baroque facade hundreds of stone masons and artists are trained to do the work.

The Brandenburg gate built in 1788 was the ceremonial entrance to the avenue leading to the City Palace. Built as a gate to Peace it is modelled on the Propylaea or sacred gate of the Acropolis of Athens.

Pariser Platz (Paris Place) is now close to traffic and open only to pedestrians as it was in the old days.
On the platz on the right of the photo the rebuilt French Embassy and on the left the USA Embassy, re-occupying their old location prior to 1939.

The new Residence and Office of the German Chancellor on the Spree River next to the Reichstag. This is a new location for the Chancellery and it is a marvel of light and space. Open to the world. Historically the chancellery was located closer to Potsdamer Platz, today the Embassy of Canada occupies that spot.

Charlottenburg Palace and garden built in 1699 was the residence of the Royal family for many decades, the wife of Frederick II the Great, Queen Marie Christine lived here. He preferred to live in Potsdam at Sans Souci. His wife was never invited to live at Sans Souci Palace.

The Tiergarten this magnificient park in the centre of Berlin was once part of a great royal forest starting at the Brandenburg Gate.

Another gem of central Berlin, the Gendarmarkt 1773, named after the Cuirassier regiment, Gens d'armes who were billeted in the square with the symphony hall (Konzerthaus) and the French and German Cathedrals. This beautiful square had been left in ruins by the Communist until 1984 when West Germany paid to have the site restored.

Today Potsdamer Platz which borders Leipziger Plats in the right hand corner. Modern it replaces the old buildings all destroyed during the Second World War. This area has always been an entertainment area in Berlin.


  

  

Au Clair de la Lune, fantasy on a theme by Muzio Clementi

Every child learns this song, Au Clair de la Lune, so easy and so amusing, the author of this 18th century song is unknown. This fantasy on the theme of Au Clair de la Lune is played here by Annarita Santagada.

Au clair de la lune

Mon ami Pierrot

Prête-moi ta plume

Pour écrire un mot

Ma chandelle est morte

Je n'ai plus de feu

Ouvre-moi ta porte

Pour l'amour de Dieu

Au clair de la lune,

Pierrot répondit :

« Je n'ai pas de plume,

Je suis dans mon lit.

Va chez la voisine,

Je crois qu'elle y est,

Car dans sa cuisine

On bat le briquet. »

Au clair de la lune,

L'aimable Lubin;

Frappe chez la brune,

Elle répond soudain :

-Qui frappe de la sorte ?

Il dit à son tour :

-Ouvrez votre porte,

Pour le Dieu d'Amour.

Au clair de la lune,

On n'y voit qu'un peu.

On chercha la plume,

On chercha le feu.

En cherchant d'la sorte,

Je n'sais c'qu'on trouva ;

Mais je sais qu'la porte

Sur eux se ferma.

Memories on this end of summer

I often listen to radio stations around the world through the magic of Airport Express, since yesterday I have been listening to the RAI Filodiffusione 5 from Rome. This was the radio station we listened to everyday. You can easily find it on the internet.

So of course this makes me nostalgic for the Città. Sigmund Freud use to say that Rome was not a city inhabited by humans but more a psychic state of mind. Rome has been described as an idea, a representation of a fantasy. Emperor Augustus gave it the title of Eternal City, though Rome was only about 400 years old at the time, it was the largest city in the known world at 1 million people, a fantastic number given that London and Lutece (Paris) were mud villages of a few thousand inhabitants.

I also subscribe to an internet site called Roma Sparita (Rome disappeared) which has photos of the city between 1860 and 1980. You see how the city has changed or not changed at all, much of what we see in the centre of Rome today has been there for the last 500 years, while what you see outside the Aurelian walls is lest than 100 years old, with some exceptions like the Villa Borghese and other Papal summer palaces. Meaning that if you look at the old photos you realize quickly that Rome was largely rebuilt and expanded at various periods marked by political change. The first one was the return of the Popes from Avignon in France after many decades away from the city. Rome had been largely abandoned and by 1400 it was a small village of a few thousand people living mostly in and around the great basilicas and old Roman Imperial Palaces.  Then came the period of the Risorgimento (resurrection) with the creation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 and the final defeat of the Papal armies with the liberation of the Italian people by Garibaldi. Then the Fascist period 1923-1943 and the large building programs under Mussolini, finally the period of the 1960's economic boom.

This painting of Giovanni Paolo Pannini shows the Prati area (the fields) in 1749.This area is across the Tiber from the City. On the far right is the dome of St-Peter's basilica with the Apostolic Palace, in the middle large fields, today this is a bustling neighbourhood called the Borgo and Prati. The round building in the middle is Castel San Angelo, the old mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian. You can barely see the Tiber marking the end of the fields and Rome on the other side.

Rome 2012, looking from the Gianicolo Hill in Trastevere. Here on the right are the two white marble towers of the Altar to the Italian Nation. In the back the brick belfry of Santa Maria Maggiore. The trees at the front of the photo indicate where the Tiber river is passing.

 
Edicola Sacra ( sacred kiosk) on Via Nomentana a few steps away from the Russian Consulate. I walked in front of this little shrine every day. There are about 730 such shrines in the City of Rome. This one is dedicated to Divine Love represented by the infant Jesus and his mother Mary. Christian shrines have been in existence since around 1500 and people to this day leave fresh flowers, maybe deposit a few coins in the box and say a little prayer. This one on Via Nomentana a very busy street with 4 lanes of traffic, people coming and going. But the shrines are left undisturbed, no one would dare damage it or steal the flowers. It is like an unwritten rule, shrines in Rome are nothing new even during Imperial antiquity, shrines existed to different deities who protected the neighbourhood, the Christian shrine serves exactly the same purpose. Romans are superstitious so everyone, young and old respects them.

 Fontana delle Tartarughe, (Turtle Fountain) built in 1581 on the order of Pople Gregorio XIII, by Taddeo Landini and Giacomo della Porta. One of the more beautiful fountains of the Renaissance in the City. You can see it in the old Jewish quarter of Rome on Piazza Mattei.

The Rose garden of Rome note the paths are in the shape of branches of a Jewish Menorah. The garden in facing the Palatine hill and the Circus Maximus. It was created in 1934 when the old Jewish cemetery of Rome was moved from the site. It is a beautiful garden with the most incredible array of roses.

Before is was moved in 1934 a photo of the old Jewish cemetery of Rome now the Rose garden of the city.

Another view of the Rose garden today in Rome. Well worth a visit.

The fountain of Piazza Repubblica not very far from our home in Rome on Via dei Villini.
This fountain was built around 1890 and sits at the top of Via Nazionale near the Termini Train Station. When it was inaugurated in the presence of the Pope, the four naked ladies who appear to be having sex with all kinds of sea monsters or swans had not been installed yet to avoid offending the Pope. It is a spectacular fountain.

Behind St-Peter's basilica the Vatican Mint. Until 1860 the Papal State issued its own currency so it could barter and trade with different countries and pay its employees. This area of the Vatican is not open to the public.

From Piazza Venezia, the centre of Rome, the traffic at night passing in front of the Vittoriano also known as the Altar to the Nation, the largest white marble monument in the world, symbol of Italian Unity.

This fall picture of the Imperial Summer Villa of Emperor Hadrian near Tivoli about 30 minutes outside Rome. This pond faces the dining room of the villa. A beautiful site only half of the grounds can be visited, the rest is still under private ownership.