Germany Blog

Stories, tips, and reflections about life, travel, and culture in Germany.

  • Top 10 Berlin Movies

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    Berlin is a magical city. It has seen its fair share of ups and downs, political intrigue, and was once the capital of the dreaded Third Reich. And I’m pretty sure that not another international city has been the setting for as many movies as this gem of a city.

    No, I’m not talking about movies shown at the annual Berlin International Film Festival, either. I’m talking about movies that center around a country’s capital.

    You’d think that all the movies about Berlin would be about its separation into East and West Berlin during a divided Germany. They weren’t all Cold War spy films, though; and neither were they all about World War II (that’s another blog post, altogether).

    I also decided not to add Berlin Express (1948) to this list, because it already made the Top 10 for the best World War II films, ever.

    So, here’s my pick for the best flicks taking place in Berlin.

    A Foreign Affair

    Directed by Billy Wilder, A Foreign Affair stars German actress Marlene Dietrich in this romantic comedy from 1948.

    Grand Hotel

    There’s still something truly special about this 1932 Academy Award winning film, Grand Hotel, even after 70 years.

    Kuhle Wampe

    Kuhle Wampe is one of the best films taking place in Berlin that doesn’t have to do with World War II, Cold War intrigue, or anything else—it’s about a family struggling to get by during the Great Depression.

    The Big Lift

    Sure, The Big Lift is about the Berlin Airlift, but this 1950 film stars Montgomery Clift. Ain’t that enough for you ladies?

    Octopussy

    James Bond makes his appearance in Berlin during this 1993 flick Octopussy staring Roger Moore as the title character. Sorry, Mr. Sean Connery—Roger was great as the dapper and dashing British spy.

    Rosenstrasse

    Don’t you just love movies that are total flashbacks? I do; and the Rosenstrasse film takes a look at the Rosenstrasse Protest that took place in Berlin from February to March 1943.

    The Bourne Supremacy

    Matt Damon plays Jason Bourne in 2004 trying to escape the U.S. Government. I swear it’s not German politics at play in The Bourne Supremacy, my personal top favorite of all ten here. ;-)

    Dr. M.

    A 1990 whodunit film on a number of deaths that looked like suicides. Yeah, I enjoy a good spy thriller, but I sure like trying to figure out who did it, too.

    Valkyrie

    Yeah, this 2004 Tom Cruise film had some controversy before and during its making; and although I didn’t add it to the World War II list, it does deserve an honorable mention somewhere.

    I bet you were expecting a “Top 10” list, but I’m leaving it at just nine—this way you can add your favorite.

    OK OK, I just thought of another one…

    Gotcha!

    The 1985 Anthony Edwards film titled Gotcha!; it’s a comedic look into a poor college kid who’s suckered into bringing a package over to East Berlin from a girl he met in Czechoslovakia (it wasn’t nowadays’ Czech Republic back then).

    Yeah, make that my 10th pick for the best films of Berlin—you can add number 11, OK?

  • German Art And Architecture Explained

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    I’m sure by now you’ve managed to work your way through many of MyGermanCity.com’s web pages that talk about many different styles of buildings, architecture and art.

    Words like Medieval, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo can easily get thrown around; and without any clear understanding of when these artistic and architectural styles were popular, it can make no sense of what you’re looking at.

    I guess we’d all just be standing around some church or castle saying, “Darn, that’s just old.” ;-)

    Germany is filled with many towns that were created during the Middle Ages, with defense walls (called Stadtmauern in German), churches, and castles. That’s all part of their charm, isn’t it?

    But, did you know that the Middle Ages encompassed a time long before many of the 11th and 12th century churches and castles were built? The period known as medieval started back in the 500s ending around the 16th century.

    That’s just about a thousand years.

    Too bad not many buildings and sites are still standing from the Early Middle Ages. As the Middle Ages progressed into the 10th (right up to the 13th centuries), the popular architectural style became known as Romanesque.

    Gothic architecture and art followed the Romanesque period. This is where you’ll find churches with “flying buttresses,” stained glass windows, and gargoyles adorning many buildings. The Gothic period finally ended as the Renaissance swept through Europe.

    Following the enlightenment of the Renaissance, a two hundred year period from the 15th to 17th centuries, the magnificently opulent era of the Baroque and Rococo came to be popular in Germany.

    Technically, the Baroque period started in the year 1600, lasting until around 1830; while Rococo was ushered in around 1650, and not lasting as long—ending right before the start of the 19th century.

    Ha, which is funny, because the 19th century centered around Neo-Romanesque and Gothic Revival architecture.

    I guess it was so popular the first time around, why not do it again?

  • A New Jewish Germany

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    When touring our German History pages, you’ll notice that a few of them have to do with, shall I say, some of the darkest events of the 20th century.

    Throughout the reigning years of the Third Reich, Germany’s Jewish population suffered and many of their buildings were destroyed.

    But, I’m here to tell you that Germany’s Jewish population is again on the rise (just over a hundred-thousand people)—and many of the country’s big cities have enough to see if you’re looking for a Jewish Germany.

    Let’s start at the capital, shall we?

    Berlin

    In what was once part of East Berlin you can see the Old Jewish Quarter and the New Synagogue Museum (the synagogue is thought to be one of the most beautiful in the country). Also in Berlin is the German History Museum with an entire Hitler exhibit—and the city is home to the Berggruen Museum, an art museum filled with works donated by a Jewish art collector.

    Frankfurt

    Frankfurt’s Jewish community lived in a ghetto-like area known as Judengasse from around the mid-15th century. Its West End Synagogue is one of the very few to have survived the anti-Jewish Kristallnacht in November 1938. At the Old Jewish Cemetery you’ll find the names of every Jewish Frankfurter deported; and the Jüdisches Museum highlights the history of the Jewish community from medieval times right up to the 20th century.

    Heidelberg

    Yes, Heidelberg was once a hotbed of Nazi activity. However, the city was home to a Jewish community since medieval times. 13th century scholar, Rabbi Meir came to live here. Today you can see one of the best preserved Jewish Quarters on the European Continent.

    Worms

    Ah, the city of Worms—this is home to Germany’s oldest synagogue (which is also known as Rashi’s Chapel), built in 1034. It did have to be rebuilt a few times over the last millennia—the last being after it was destroyed on November 10, 1938.

    Dresden

    Dresden’s New Synagogue was built using parts of the original 19th century Semper Synagogue—that was left in ruins after the infamous Night of the Broken Glass.

    Augsburg

    The Swabian town of Augsburg has a beautiful Art Nouveau Synagogue and its own Jewish Museum.

    Munich

    There’s a whole lot of Jewish history in the big city chic of Munich, and part of a visit to it means heading towards the city of Dachau, and the infamous Dachau Concentration Camp. Guided tours are available of the camp 9am-5pm, Tuesdays through Sundays.

    Within Munich itself, its synagogue finally reopened sixty-eight years to the day after the original was destroyed by the Nazis. You’ll even find Jewish manuscripts in the State Library—and a place that serves a kosher Weisswurst.

    Hey, after all this touring around a new Jewish Germany—you’ve got to be hungry, right?

  • Top 10 World War II Flicks

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    I don’t know whose brainchild it was to give me the power of the pen (oh, I mean the power of the keyboard) for publishing on the Web. That’s the good thing about blogs—I can write (or let write) whatever I feel like.

    In this case, I’ve decided to give you an all-time list of Best World War II movies. Stay tuned though, I’m pretty sure that I’ll bringing up other movie lists that center around Germany in the future.

    Berlin Express

    Receiving both criticism and cinematic acclaim, Berlin Express is a 1948 film that shows real-life footage of a post World War II Frankfurt and Berlin. The real plot, however, is a sort-of whodunit on a train where a diplomat is “killed;” and you never quite can guess who really is who they say they are.

    Black Book

    Filmed in Dutch with English subtitles, the Black Book movie is raw and graphic (to a point). And unlike most European films, it surprisingly has a sort-of happy ending.

    Das Boot

    Released in 1981 by West Germany and the Bavarian Film Studio, the Das Boot movie centers around the U-96 with an embittered crew and a war correspondent onboard. You can feel the crew’s low morale, high hopes, and fear as they try to get to a safe haven for Christmas. Movie creators used real-life U-boat officers as consultants to give the movie true brilliance.

    Inglourious Basterds

    Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 tale of an alternate universe to assassinate Adolf Hitler is sheer genius. Actually, I think it was Christoph Waltz’s character as a Nazi SS Officer that did it for me—and the acclaim of his peers with an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

    Notorious

    Alfred Hitchcock does it again and again, this time in a partial love and espionage tale with Claude Rains, Ingrid Bergman, and Cary Grant in Notorious. I think the war is secondary to the kissing scene (quite scandalous in 1946) between two of the three characters in this love triangle.

    Saving Private Ryan

    This film’s first 25 minutes opening sequence of the chaos of the Normandy landing alone could earn this film a spot on this list. Add in the heartfelt journey to return home a mom’s only surviving son in this war drama; and you’ve got one of the best World War II movies ever made.

    Schindler’s List

    Filmed in black & white, Steven Spielberg brought the nitty-gritty of the war to center stage when he filmed this 1993 flick, Schindler’s List. Ralph Fiennes’s portrayal of Amon Göth is both chilling and cinematic genius. And you got to hand it to Liam Neeson who couldn’t play the lead character of war-profiteer and womanizer Oskar Schindler any better than he did.

    Sink the Bismarck

    The 1960 Sink the Bismarck film centers around the search for the infamous Nazi Battleship named for the esteemed statesman Otto von Bismarck; and shows how the Germans started an era of sea superiority—that is, until the Bismarck is sunk by British destroyers.

    Sophie’s Choice

    Meryl Streep won an Academy Award for her 1982 Sophie’s Choice character as a Polish mother forced to make the ultimate sacrifice, one of her children at the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Sad. Poignant. Brilliant.

    The Colditz Story

    Based on the 1955 book by British Officer, P.R. Ried, the The Colditz Story movie deals with the escape of British, French, Dutch, and Polish POWs at the infamous Colditz Castle in Saxony. Fantastic.

    While some of these films might be controversial, they’re certainly a conversation starter.

    Care to add some of your favorites?

  • Greet Uta In The Naumburg Cathedral

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    This isn’t so much about Naumburg Cathedral inasmuch as it is about its most famous patron, Uta von Naumburg. Or, Uta von Ballenstedt as she was known before marrying Eckhard II, the Margrave of Meissen.

    I first learned about the elegant Duchess and her story touched my heart.

    Who would have guessed that a lady born over a thousand years ago (in what’s now the Harz Region) would have been considered “the most beautiful woman of the German Middle Ages”? There must have been something about her; and if she looks familiar, it’s because Disney used her as a “model” for the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

    Only her likeness, Uta wasn’t considered to be an evil duchess. She is, however, thought to be the epitome of the Teutonic Woman. ;-)

    Don’t take my word for it, you go scour the globe looking at all the medieval art you can find (huge exhibits can be found in major cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and London); and let me know if you find a more marvelous medieval matron than the life-size limestone sculpture of her that sits in what is now Naumburg Cathedral.

    It wasn’t always a cathedral, it started as a little chapel with funds bequeathed to the church after Uta’s death (Eckhard died only months earlier) and dying childless in 1046.

    To be fair, Uta wasn’t the only patron—sculptures of 11 others (including Uta’s husband) were also done at the chapel.

    Naumburg (Saale) has rightfully earned its place on the Romanesque Route, receiving more than a hundred-thousand visitors a year to the Romanesque Cathedral that was built in the 13th century. You’re welcome anytime since the cathedral is open year round (less hours from November to March).

    If you want more information on Uta’s life, I would suggest taking a guided tour—although it’ll cost you more than just the 4 Euro entrance fee, I think for an audience with Uta that’s money well spent. Don’t you?