We sent the students off with two fun activities: first, a trip to the opera to see Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”

Then, we wrapped everything up with dinner and dancing at Clärchens Ballhaus, a Berlin institution that’s been around since the 1920s. Niguel and Anna tore up the dance floor with some swing moves!

It’s hard to believe that the program is already over! Ten weeks is not nearly enough time to explore a city as rich and layered as Berlin … but I think we did a pretty good job! The students will be moved out and on their way to new destinations by this weekend – some home to Seattle, and some off to explore more of the world! We hope this experience stays with them …

On Tuesday we held our exhibition of student work at the Adalbertsrasse apartments. Each student installed his or her work in one of the apartment spaces, along with an artist statement explaining the piece. Then we all wandered around and enjoyed their creations, just like at a real art opening.

Everyone helped out with setup, including a lovely spread …

… and the student projects were inspiring! Each one revealed a unique and interesting response to Berlin. (Shown here: Annie’s audio project and Robert’s flip book.) Several guests joined us for an evening of wandering through the building, listening to a spoken-word and music performance, and enjoying being together!

This Tuesday we took a walk through cold, foggy Mitte with Ulf Heinsohn, who helped us unpack some of the layers of meaning in the architecture around us. One of our first stops was the Neue Synagoge, or New Synagogue. Built in the 1860s, the building referred to both the history of Judaism and to its connections with Berlin: the style reflects one of the high points of Jewish culture (the Moorish architecture of the medieval period in Spain, where synagogues took on a look borrowed from Islamic architecture), but it uses a local traditional material (brick).

We also stopped at the Rosenstrasse memorial, which honors the wives of Jewish forced laborers who successfully protested their husbands’ deportation. The memorial was designed by the daughter of one of these couples.

At the Marienkirche, one of the oldest churches in Berlin, we learned how the architecture reflects the changes in the church community. The windowless front of the church was built that way in order to function as a fortress in case of invasion during the late medieval period. The cross in front of the church functioned in “trials by ordeal” — if the accused could fit their fingers in all five holes, they were considered innocent!

Our walk in the cold weather definitely earned us a delicious meal. Our group enjoyed a wonderful dinner together that night at Matzbach, one of our favorite German restaurants!

The students explored several of the historic sites in the city, including the Frauenkirche. Once a famous ruin symbolizing the firebombing of Dresden, the church has been recently reconstructed.

Since the students were all responsible for seeing the sights on their own, we don’t have images of their explorations, but you can see Annie’s, Mariah’s, Melissa’s or Robert’s blogs for their own photos.

We also learned about an interesting German holiday in Dresden: St. Martin’s Day. Families walk together around the city holding lanterns. All of the cute little kids and their homemade lanterns were quite a sight!

On Friday night, we enjoyed a delicious group dinner at a local Indian restaurant!

… and Chance and I enjoyed Dresden, too!

Our students Robert, Dan and Niguel took us on a great tour of the Ku’Damm/Zoostation area of Berlin this Tuesday. We began just off the Ku’Damm at the Gedächtniskirche – the ruin of a church built by Kaiser Wilhelm II and bombed in 1943. The ruin has become one of the symbols of Berlin, but you can’t see it at the moment – it’s under that ugly white scaffolding you can see in the picture above. Surrounding the ruin are a chapel and belltower designed by the German modernist Egon Eiermann in the 1950s.

We headed into the ground floor of the ruin first. The ceiling still displays some beautiful Byzantine-style mosaics, duly appreciated by our class …

We then headed next door to the Eiermann-designed chapel. Though the newer buildings aren’t much to look at from the exterior (Berliners have nicknamed them the “lipstick and powder box”), the chapel is pretty stunning on the interior. We caught the organist practicing, which added to the atmosphere.

Our next stop was the zoo, where our guides not only acquainted us with the incredible diversity of its inhabitants – the most in the world! – but related the heartbreaking story of Knut, the baby polar bear born in the zoo in 2006. Knut was a media favorite (with good reason – he really was incredibly adorable!), but unfortunately he died earlier this year.

The mood picked back up as we moved to our last stop, the famous Kaufhaus des Westens, or KaDeWe. It’s the biggest department store in continental Europe, with a history that spans over 100 years.

The top floor of the store is known for its incredible selection of foods, both local and imported. And what should we find as we come up the escalators but a little taste of home – Columbia Crest, on sale. It seems we’re not the only Washington imports to Berlin!

After riding the S-Bahn to Wannsee, we got to ride on a classic double-decker bus that took us through the woods to the entrance to the island.

Our first stop on the island was Schloss Pfaueninsel, erected for King Friedrich Wilhelm II and his mistress Wilhelmine Enke in the 1790s. Built from wood, it’s supposed to look like a white ruin on the island of Capri!

Of course, the first thing everyone looked for on the island were the eponymous peacocks – and the students found, and were chased aggressively by – a whole flock of them!

The island contains no end of sublime vistas and interesting architectural follies. It was formerly one of the many pleasure grounds of the Prussian royalty, replete with ridiculous attempts at the picturesque. For instance:

A “dairy” in the form of ruined Gothic church, where the king and his mistress could first play at milking the cows before going upstairs to drink milkshakes in an ornately decorated salon!

The island has some quirky modern works, too …

… and there are allusions to buildings that are no longer there, as well. A palm house designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel once stood on this site, but it burned down in the late 19th century. A pleasant little palm garden pays homage to the absent building.

Though it was sunny, the weather was quite cold and windy. By lunchtime, we were thankful to sit down in the cozy Wirtshaus zur Pfaueninsel and enjoy some delicious home-style German food. Schnitzel, wild boar, Klopse (meatballs), Flammkuchen and pumpkin soup were all on the menu, accompanied, of course, by generous helpings of potatoes!

As we headed home, I couldn’t help thinking about the royals who had once frequented the island. What were their lives like? How would they have experienced the space? We’ll be finding out more about how they lived this coming week, when we visit Park Sanssouci, home to several royal Prussian palaces.

photo courtesy of Ryna Chin

Our evening began with an amazing potluck, courtesy of the students, including curry, crepes and other delicacies prepared in the kitchens of their Arwobau apartments. We then continued with a cozy screening in the living room of Rachel, Annie and Melissa’s apartment. (We have a teeny tiny projector and speakers provided by CHID — they work wonderfully!)

All agreed that the movie was pertinent, moving and beautiful, even if we did think that the couple fell in love a little too fast for our modern sensibilities … a highly recommended film about post-war Germany.

We started out with a walk through the park along the Engelbecken and Luisenstadt Canal.

Like the rest of Berlin, the architecture in this neighborhood is full of contrasts. We admired the Max-Taut-Haus on Oranienplatz, which fits so well into Berlin’s current aesthetic that you might never guess it was built between 1931-33. Max Taut, the architect, was Bruno Taut’s brother. The stately St. Thomas Kirche was constructed in the mid-1860s.

We finished up the evening at Hasir, a delicious Turkish restaurant on the corner of Orianienstrasse and Adalbertstrasse.

The students arrive on Monday, and we’re looking forward to commencing our explorations of this fantastic neighborhood – and the rest of the city – together!

What’s the first thing you’ll do when you get to Berlin? I know exactly what I’m doing: it’ll be Döner time the moment I step off the plane! Happy travels, all!