Facing up, Perfect Storm

Monday, 24 February

So I opened a Facebook page, then spent well over an hour looking for people I know. It is quickly apparent how much time one can waste on this communication tool.

My friend Nathan gave me a lesson and at least now I’m not exactly frightened by the thing. Though being a private, solitary person, I shy from the public eye (blog does not come naturally either!).

The Barbara Klemm exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau (Martin Gropius was the great uncle of Bauhuas founder Walter Gropius) could have used some trimming—on and on, room after room—but it was a wonderful trip through German post-war history. The building itself is handsome and poignantly situated next to the Topografie des Terrors and a stretch of the Wall.

In fact, the three form a perfect storm of Berlin history: the grandeur of the 19th century; a building dedicated to displaying and recounting in detail the horrors of Nazi Germany, on the actual site of SS and Gestapo headquarters; and a sizeable length of the grey concrete Wall that butted up against the MG Bau. Needless to say, more than one visit is required.