Today we visited the Brücke Museum, which had come highly recommended by one of Matt’s colleagues. It is devoted to the German Expressionist group Die Brücke. Nestled in a wooded area near Grunewald, the museum is pleasant enough, light-filled and modern. But the visit was disappointing. The current exhibition is about the handcrafts of this art movement, including metal, wood, … Read More

I first saw the Reichstag Building shortly after the Wall came down. At the time it stood scarred and grimy, its stone walls pocked with bullet holes from the Battle of Berlin in 1945. It felt less like a government building than a wounded monument. At the time, the government was operating in Bonn. Later I returned after its dramatic … Read More

After many visits to Berlin over the decades, beginning about a year after the wall came down, I have returned to this fascinating city. I thought I’d seen a lot of Berlin, but I’m staying in a neighborhood entirely new to me, the Grunewald district. It’s a very green area, dotted with artificial lakes and very expensive mansions. My nephew … Read More