Postings from Germany

Date Day

I thought we needed a Date day and so Tuesday will be our Date Day this winter; Werner's taking just one class at the university and I have nothing scheduled on Tuesdays. 

So for our inaugural Date Day yesterday, we met at the main station and then headed to the Städtische Galerie Bremen (The Municipal Gallery).  It was 
c l e a r -  is that a blue sky or what ? - but a cold wind was blowing; we stayed away from the river and walked the sunny side of the street.  The Galerie building is a former brewery and the interior is interesting, too, in addition to the art.  

The title of the current exhibit is "entartet" (loosely interpreted as Degenerate Art) and displays works from Bremen artists who happened to be Jewish or whose creations didn't meet the standards of the government and/or were  NOT approved by the National Socialists (Nazis) because they were avant garde or ugly or modern or whatever reason they decided..  Some landed in private hands, some works were burned by the Berlin fire department and some simply disappeared.  Here's the entry from MoMA about the whole Nazi program which confiscated thousands of works and then put them on a traveling display - it was wildly successful and people stood in lines for hours to see the art - before removing them from view.  If you don't tell people what to hate, how will they know?

Here  is an example from Emil Nolde called "Wildly Dancing."  Isn't it wonderful?  Such bright colors and the brush work is just as wild as the dancers.  I'd put this in my living room in an instant!  Those Nazis didn't know from anything, much less art.

Then we went back into town to do some necessary shopping but of course stumbled upon signs of the Freimarkt there on the main square.  Our Roland is wearing a decorated gingerbread heart that announces the fair. 

And on the square there's an antique carousel with lovely carved horses and elephants and camels and carriages and garlands.  Makes you want to be a kid again.