Elderhostel

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Photos of Berlin, Germany

taken during an

ELDERHOSTEL

program on

OPERA and MUSIC

 

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our host
Paul Lobe Institute

 

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our host city, BERLIN

More of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church

 

we walked past Check Point Charlie
into former East Berlin

 

 

to the Deutsche Staatsoper

 

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Director of DEUTSCHE STAATSOPER chatting with
our Instructor (right)

 

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attended performance of PARSIFAL

 

went past Humboldt University

 

returning to the West past the Brandenburg Gate
with a pause to look over the Russian made stacking dolls

 

to the second grand Opera house in Berlin
the Deutsche Oper

 

where we saw The Magic Flute

 

On another day took the boat tour of Berlin

 

seeing the new fountain

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Pergamon Museum

 

and visited the antiquities of the
Pergamon Museum

 

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We met the Costume designer, Komische Oper,
who showed us designs from CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA

 

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we attended several performances

 

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my favorite was the
MARRIAGE of FIGARO

More of the Komische Oper

 

we traveled with the U-Bahn

 

visited the Käthe Kollwitz Museum

 

saw some of the stately buildings of Berlin

 

 

and ended up one evening at Friedrich Strasse

 

at the Metropol Theater
for a performance of Frau Luna

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The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church

 

 

The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche or Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is one of Berlin's most famous landmarks. The damaged tower is a symbol of Berlin's resolve to rebuild the city after the war and a constant reminder of the destruction of war. It is located at the Breitscheidplatz, the center of former West-Berlin. It is still the commercial center of Berlin, with the Ku'damm shopping street and Europa Center near by.



Built between 1891 and 1895 by Kaiser Wilhelm II, it was a symbol of Prussian unity and a mark of honor for his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhem I. The neo-romanesque building was designed by Franz Schwechten.
After allied bombing in November 1943, only the broken west tower of the church was still standing. Local opposition saved the structure from demolition in the 1950s and in 1961 a new, octagonal church designed by Egon Eiermann was built alongside the existing tower. A freestanding hexagonal bell tower was constructed on the site of the former main nave of the destroyed church. A third and small rectangular building is also part of the new complex. The church is a reinforced concrete structure with blue-colored glass bricks.



Below the west tower of the destroyed church is a Gedenkhalle or Memorial Hall. It documents the history of the church and contains several of the original objects in the church as well as photos from before and after the bombing. Some of the mosaic decoration and reliefs that survived the bombing can also be seen.

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Komische Oper

 

the theater

 

wardrobe room

 

 

 

from the prop room

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