The Swiss Charm of Winterthur: Painters, Clocks and Glass

For Richard's birthday trip in the fall of 2017, we took a long weekend to visit Winterthur in Switzerland.

The main reason was to go to the Oskar Reinhart Museum, where there is an important collection of paintings from the Romantic movement in Germany. The painting that we wanted to see most is called Chalk Cliffs on Rügen  by Caspar David Friedrich. The motivation was our trip earlier this year for Kathy's birthday to the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea. It was on this island that Friedrich painted the chalk cliffs. (this photo is an example from our blog for Rügen of the type of ever-changing chalk formations that might have inspired Friedrich)

Another motivation for visiting the museum was Richard's fondness for painters from the Romantic movement in Germany. Such painters often used symbolism to portray a personal religious system, which was often pantheistic through nature. Romantic sentiments can still be found in Germany today in the love of woodland. In this painting by Friedrich, the three figures are often interpreted as the eternal, the worldly, and the abyss. (The standing man is looking out to the horizon and two tiny boats, which can be interpreted as the soul. The kneeling man is looking down to the abyss. And the woman in a red dress (who is usually identified as Friedrich's wife, Caroline) symbolizes love in this life. (The trip to Rügen for Friedrich and his wife was a honeymoon, having just been married earlier that same year.)

Before going to Winterthur, we read up on it and got the impression it was an industrial town with companies like Sulzer, Rieter and SLM having built large industrial plants in the 1800s. It was also described as a city with little tourism. We were pleasantly surprised as soon as we walked into the old town from the train station on the way to our hotel. It was late in the evening, but the streets were full of people strolling and sitting at the sidewalk tables of the cafes and Kneipes. The next day we saw many young families and young couples. We knew we were in an incredibly vibrant college town. One evening we went out for cocktails, and after the first Manhattan I decided some soup for dinner would  be nice. I ordered the Thai soup with green curry, which was a mistake, because it was so spicy. But the waitress took pity on me and brought water and then later, when the fire was still raging, she brought some plain white bread and sugar. That did the trick, and later I was able to enjoy another Manhattan.

Our hotel was really nice, with lots of nice touches in the room and a really good restaurant. It was in the middle of the old town, and just a short walk to the sites. It was surrounded by stores included music shops and a great sewing store.

















Not far from the hotel was the old town church. The inside had been renovated with beautiful blue colors and paintings depicting the saints











But the most memorable of all, next to the Oskar Reinhart Museum, was the Gewerbemuseum, which is the Museum of Applied Arts and Design. It contains the  Kellenberger Collection of clocks and  watches, and there are some beautiful pieces included. I also liked the large, old clockworks with all of the internals exposed.




















We were lucky to be at the Gewerbemuseum during the special exhibit of the German photographer Hans Hansen. The exhibit was called EISWASSERGLAS, which means Ice-water-glass. He also collects some of the glass items that he photographs, and many pieces from his collection were also on display. It was fun to try to identify the pieces on display in the photographs.

Hansen started off his collection with the purchase of a jar by the Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala. There are several of Wirkkala's pieces on display in the permanent collect at the museum. Hansen also photographs pieces by Ritsue Mishima, Hanneke Fokkelman, and Tora Urup. A collection of Tora Urup's work was also on display. I especially liked the layered bowls. This photograph shows a two-layered blue bowl and a three-layered white bowl. What is interesting is that each piece is a single bowl, but each looks like multiple bowls. The clear glass between layers of colored glass make the shape of the layers change, depending on the angle it is observed from. That's more obvious in the orange bowl.

Rügen: Chalk cliffs, old beeches and waterfront

For Kathy's birthday in June 2017, we went to the island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea.

The chalk cliffs are famous. The picture directly above shows the formation known as the "King's Chair". Legend has it that the man who was elected king was required to climb to the top of the cliff and sit at the top in order to claim his throne.

Part of Rügen is a national park that consists of a beech forest. These trees escaped being harvested throughout the previous centuries as well as the exploitation that could have occurred during the GDR days. There is an amazing feeling of peace as you look into the forest. It's as if the trees are wise old beings calmly bearing witness to all that has passed.

Our hotel was as close to the water as you could get. Richard chose it because it included spa facilities. We each enjoyed a sauna and a massage. There was a pool that was partly indoors and partly outdoors. The wind made it hard to sit outside, and the pool water was cool but there was a jacuzzi tub that we sat in for a while as often as we could.

Above is the hotel's waterfront. Look familiar? All it would take is a bridge and it could be somewhere on the St. Lawrence!

Wittenberg: Luther the rebel

We went to Wittenberg over Easter, 2017. We decided to go now because this year is the 500th anniversary of the start of the reformation, when the legend says that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church.

Statue of Martin Luther on Market Square in Wittenberg

Martin Luther was born in 1483 as the son of a miner. In 1501, he began his studies at the University of Erfurt. Four years later, he completed his Masters degree and then began studying law. In 1505, Luther became an Augustinian monk in Erfurt. Two years later, he became a priest. In 1512, Luther earned his doctorate in theology, and he became a professor at the University of Wittenberg.

Cast-iron door with the 95 theses

Martin Luther did not intend to cause a split in the Catholic Church; he wanted to reform the church. Luther was angry about the sale of indulgences, but he never intended to question the church or the pope. In fact, Luther wrote to  Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz  on October 31, 1517, asking for an academic debate on the issue.  He prepared a collection of 95 arguments and points of criticism as a basis for the debate, his 95 theses. Because Luther wasn't a revolutionary, he is sometimes called the last medieval​ man. 

But Luther is also called the first modern man, because his principles were based on humanist philosophy. His Reformation called on people to take responsibility for their own conscience, and so the function of clergy as a link between the believer and God was unnecessary. The thoughts and actions of every Christian were no longer under the authority of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. This was revolutionary.

Luther questioned how God could be only a a judge who punished every wrong deed. He pondered this until he had a realization that God must be a loving God, not a punishing one. Luther's problem with indulgences was that he saw God also as a father who loves the people he created and who sent his son to pay the price for the sin that was separating them from him.

Through his study of the Bible, Martin Luther developed four key theological pillars. The first is the Holy Scripture. He saw the Bible as the only benchmark of truth, while the Church at the time also relied on additional texts written by the pope and the synod.Secondly, salvation only comes through God's grace and not by good works. This belief made the selling of indulgences obsolete.
Thirdly, Luther concluded that Jesus Christ, through his death on the cross, which paid the penalty for all sin, is the only bridge between humanity and God.
Finally, we are saved by faith alone, believed Luther. Consequentially, the Church lost its power with Luther's teachings and its hierarchies began to crumble. While his work is indeed revolutionary, Luther himself believed he was simply reinstating old, forgotten principles rather than expressing new and unwelcome beliefs.
Luther probably became famous because the theses critical of the church were printed on a leaflet that was in circulation.
Luther was not the first to translate the Bible but he was the first to use the Greek original as the source text instead of the Latin translation. He translated the historical text with great linguistic skill, poeticism and imagery.

Because everyone was responsible for his own conscience, everyone had to be able to read the Bible, and so everyone had to be able to read. This included girls. More information is available at the following link:

http://www.spindleworks.com/library/rfaber/luther_edu.htm

Mathildenhöhe: Artists' colony develops Jugendstil (Art Nouveau)

April-May 2017
We had a long weekend including May 1st, which is a holiday in Germany. So we went with friends to Mainz on Saturday. We watched their daughter perform in a scene from Medea, and she was awesome. On Sunday we went to Darmstadt, where there is an artists' colony called Mathildenhöhe.

Hochzeitsturm

The symbol for the Mathildenhöhe is the Hochzeitsturm (Wedding Tower). It was designed by one of the founders of the colony, Joseph Maria Olbrich. It was built as a memorial to the wedding of the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig to Princess Eleonore zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, which took place on February 2, 1905. Construction was completed in time for the 3rd exhibit of the artists' colony, which took place
There is a sun dial on the side of the tower, and underneath is the poem.







Day passes over my face
Night gently touches it
and day and night a balance
and night and day a unity

and the silhouette circles eternally
you stand life long in the dark game
until the meaning of the game strikes you
it is time – you have arrived at your destination



There are many, many poems around the colony. It starts to explain why Germany is known as the Country of Poets and Thinkers.
Inside the tower are rooms for weddings.

Jugendstil is the name of the type of art applied at the Mathildenhöhe. Jugend was the name of the most important magazine about the style of art at the beginning of the movement. That's why the art is called Jugendstil (stil = style in German). We call it Art Nouveau. It evolved from the Arts and Crafts style developed in Britain after its industrial revolution created a longing for hand-crafted products and a return to nature.

The artists’ colony was founded in 1899 by the Grand Duke. He brought together several artists including Peter Behrens, Paul Bürck, Rudolf Bosselt, Hans Christiansen, Ludwig Habich, Patriz Huber, along with the above-mentioned Joseph Maria Olbrich. The artists had four exhibits from 1901 through 1914. The artists could buy property and construct residential houses that were to feature in the exhibition, and so architecture, interior design, handcraft and painting were all on display.

Peter Behrens’ House

Most of the houses survived the fire bombing of Darmstadt at the end of the second world war.

 Front door of Peter Behrens' House

  

We weren't able to go into any of the houses, but there was an exhibit on the interiors in the museum, which was originally the artists' studio.

 The entrance shows some tiles on the floor. Tiles were very popular, and there was a special exhibit in the museum on tiles.

The radiator of the hot-water heating system is behind the grating.











Everything was included in the design. Here we see the lights, furniture, and carpet.

This dresser was my favorite piece of furniture. From a distance, it looks like it belongs to the more geometric period rather than the floral period.

As you get closer, the details of the wood at the top of the dresser become visible.

Only when you get very close do you see the eye of Isis, the chalice and cross in front of vines, and the dove above it all.









Jugendstil was applied to art, of course,

and to gardens as well.




















There is also a church at Mathildenhöhe.

It is called the Russian Church, because it was used as a private chapel by the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, whose wife Alexandra was born in Darmstadt. She was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and was killed along with the Tsar and their family during the Bolshevik revolution in 1918.

Next to the church is a nice pavilion.

And on the other side is a sycamore grove with a café where we had lunch.

Traditional Christmas Toys and Decorations in Seiffen

We were in the town of Seiffen for our trip to a remote Christmas market in 2016. Seiffen is in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains), so we had a nice train ride through the forests to the town of Grünthal. Grünthal is only about 10 miles from Seiffen, and the hotel in Seiffen provides a shuttle. We had to transfer trains 4 times on the way from Bruck (home) to Grünthal, and we never had more than 10 minutes to make each connection, but we made it without a hitch.

Seiffen is the site of a depleted tin mine. The Erzgebirge is full of old mining towns where various minerals were mined. Over the centuries, as the mines became depleted, the miners turned to making wooden toys.

 

 The former miners eked out a meager existence. An example of the living conditions is shown in the Spielzeugmuseum (Toy museum). The one main room of the very small house (the only bedroom was upstairs in the attic) has everything the family owns and uses to make a living. The picture shows an oven/heater in the back-right corner, a wood lathe with an oil lamp above it in the front-right corner, bobbins for making lace in the back-left corner, a desk on the left side, and a butter churn in the front-left corner. The dining table is in the middle. I don't know where the meals were cooked, but the oven has the wash hanging in from the ceiling in front of it. In spite of the poverty, there is a beautiful wooden chandelier above the dining table.

Seiffener Kirche

The symbol of the town is the small round church on the hill overlooking the town. The church is recognizable because it is often depicted in the carvings made in Seiffen. The inside is fairly plain except for a nice little organ and some beautiful chandeliers. There a three large ones made from crystal in a nearby village, and there are smaller wooden ones in the windows. When we were there the sun was low enough for the light to strike the crystals, which made colorful spots on the white walls of the church.

wooden chandelier in the church

Fancy wooden chandelier in the museum

The wood chandeliers can get quite fancy. Their shapes are said to be the inspiration for the Christmas pyramids common throughout town.

The town seems to have only one industry, and that is Christmas toy and decoration making. Wood turning is a popular technique used to make the nutcrackers, for example, and the hundreds of figures in the miniature parade of miners shown in the lower photo. This reproduction of the parade was carved in honor of the wedding of two nobles in the 1700s.

Real Erzgebirge-made nutcrackers

  

Miners' parade

I learned about a woodworking technique I hadn't seen before. It is also done on a wood lathe, and an example is in the photo. It is called Reifendrehen, which is literally translated as hoop-turning. On the lathe in the picture is a disk with a ridges on it. I had no idea what those funny bowls were for the first time I saw one. But then I saw one cut diagonally, like the piece in the front of the table in the picture. If you look closely, you can see the profile of a giraffe. After turning the funny ridges (which are the legs and neck of the animal in most cases), the woodworker can cut many slices from the disk and have a start (the profile) of many identical animals. The inexpensive toys are sold as is, but the more expensive versions have the individual legs cut out, the body rounded over, and ears or horns added. The hand painting is very detailed.

Reifendrehen

On the evening we were there, the town had a parade of lights. The parade was led by two kids with a lantern on top of a pole. Next came Santa Claus, followed by more kids and families also carrying candles, some in lanterns and some of those on top of poles.

After parading through town, they gathered in in the square in front of city hall, where a brass band played and we all sang Christmas songs. Luckily, they passed out little sheets of paper with the lyrics. Santa gave gifts to children whose parents had presumably provided the gifts and given Santa their children's names.

As the children collected their gifts from Santa, they sang a short song or recited a short poem about the Christmas story or about Santa. We have noticed that children in Germany recite a poem or sing a song anytime they are about to receive a gift in public (and, it turns out, in private Christmas celebrations, too). This includes trick-or-treating at Halloween, receiving gifts from Santa in the town square, or collecting charitable donations when going door-to-door dressed as the Three Kings on January 6th. I can imagine it's meant to impress upon them that you don't get something for nothing.

While we were in Seiffen, we visited one of the workshops where the toys are made. Parts of the workshops were enclosed by glass so we could see the craftsmen and -women turning pieces of toys on lathes, or sanding them, or painting them. We were able to choose, assemble and paint our own toys. We each chose an angel; Kathy's is the blue one on the left and Richard painted the white one on the right. The little white angel with glass wings is a treasure we bought from a shop there:

On the far left is Kathy's angel, on the far right is Richard's. In between is a locally made one with glass wings that we bought.