From Amsterdam, I flew to Berlin for a first-time visit there. Berlin is a huge city with huge buildings. My particular interest was art museums, and Berlin has an abundance of museums collected under the Berlin State Museums.
The Gemäldegalerie has art from the 13th to the 18th centuries, including Netherlandish Art, which I had been studying before my trip to Berlin. It was amazing to see the original Miraflores Altarpiece by Rogier van der Weyden and other works we had been studying.
The Gemäldegalerie also has an extensive collection of art by Rembrandt and other Dutch and Flemish artists, as well as works by artists across Europe. Many of my favorite artists were featured, including Vermeer and Fra Angelico.
If you are going to Berlin, I highly recommend a visit to this museum.
A few steps away from The Gemäldegalerie (literally across the plaza) is the Berlin Philharmonic, which offers free lunchtime concerts; that day’s concert featured sonatas by Schubert and Brahms.
My second museum visit was to the Alte Nationalgalerie on Museum Island, where I was introduced to a new (to me) artist—Max Liebermann (1847-1935).
I loved how Liebermann captured ordinary people doing ordinary things.
The third museum I had hoped to visit, the Pergamonmuseum, was closed for renovation.
Perhaps the most beautiful stop in Berlin was the old tower of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church, built between 1891 and 1906 and mostly destroyed during World War II, as well as the new, “blue” church, built between 1959 and 1963.
The parts of the original church tower that remain showcase the beautiful mosaic tilework on the floor and ceiling.
The (new) Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is made of blue glass which was imported from France and is spectacular.
Madeline Bialecki 