Some scenes from four full days in Berlin. The Schaubühne am Lehninerplatz, where I saw a new production of Friedrich Hebbel's 1861 "Nibelungen." A nearly rusticated philosopher at the State Library. "Die Stelen," as the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is known. A horse chestnut. Religion section
at Dussman - somehow Atheismus has come between Glaube and Benedikt XVI. Witty trash receptacle in a nation of trash-separators. Manhole cover of the Berlin skyline. Reflection of our tour boat in one of the grand new government buildings on the Spree. (Those joggers kept pace with us for a long time.)
The Four Evangelists carved by the astonishing Tilman Riemenschneider in the recently reopened Bodemuseum. Advertisement for a leftist party, protesting the privatization which led to the collapse of the S-Bahn system. The silent monument to the book burnings at the Bebelplatz - an empty library beneath the square; look carefully and you'll see the bare white shelves. The squat hulk of the Berliner Dom, with the DDR-era TV tower behind it (left), and the spires of the brick gothic church of St. Nikolai (right). And finally: garden gnomes, Berlin style. They're saying, "Come back soon" in their way, I'm sure!
