Sunday 29 January 2012

Bernauer Straße








Bernauer Strasse, a street on the border between the Berlin districts of Wedding and Mitte, was a focal point of the German - German postwar history. The construction of the Wall and its consequences for the residents of the divided city were especially dramatic here.

The history of this street illustrates what impact the Berlin Wall had on Berlin, how it destroyed urban space and human lives, and separated family and friends. It documents those attempting to escape the dictatorship by fleeing to the West and the efforts of many people to deny the state its claim to power by providing assistance to those wanting to flee. Just two days after the first barriers were erected, the border soldier Conrad Schumann fled to the West by leaping over the barbed wire fence.

On Bernauer Strasse the border ran directly in front of the buildings situated on the East Berlin side of the street. After barriers were erected, many residents living in these border buildings spontaneously decided to flee. Some slid down a rope from their apartment or jumped into rescue nets that the West Berlin fire department held ready. Some people were seriously injured while doing so. The first fatalities caused by the border regime also occurred on this street. The buildings were evacuated a few weeks after the Wall was erected. The remaining residents were forced to resettle elsewhere and the windows and doors of the buildings were bricked up.

The population rebelled against the barriers with protests and acts of resistance. The most famous and successful escape tunnels were dug here. The demolition of the Reconciliation Church that had stood inaccessible on the death strip ever since the Wall was built also lent Bernauer Strasse tragic fame.

The site also shows the principle function of the Wall within the SED structure of dominance. It conveys how the Wall regime functioned in everyday life and reveals the clear discrepancy between the population and the East German leadership.

Bernauer Strasse is also a place to learn about how the division was peacefully overcome. On the night of November 10, 1989, the first segments of the Wall were knocked down between Bernauer Strasse and Eberswalder Strasse to create a new crossing between East and West Berlin. The official demolition of the border fortifications began in June 1990 at the corner of Bernauer Strasse and Ackerstrasse. Today the Berlin Wall Memorial is located at this historical site.

Font:
http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/the-historical-site-11.html

Sunday 15 January 2012

Musée du Louvre









Formerly the residence of the Kings of France, the Louvre has, for two centuries, been one of the world’s greatest museums. Its collections are divided into 8 departments: Oriental, Egyptian, Greek, Etrucscan and Roman Antiquities, Paintings, Sculptures, Art items, Islamic Art, and graphic art from the Middle Ages until 1848. 

Open since April 2000, the "Pavillon des Sessions" displays 120 sculptures dedicated to the arts of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, complementing the collections at the Musée du Quai Branly which opened in 2006 (www.quaibranly.fr). 
The Louvre in a few figures: 35,000 works spread over 60,600 m² of rooms dedicated to permanent collections, 2,410 windows, 3,000 locks, and 10,000 steps. 


The rooms in the Islamic Arts department are closed from January 2008. New areas will open into the Cour Visconti around 2010