Tour Log 6: Münster
Monday 21 April 2008
Our student hotel in Berlin was very conveniently located in Grunewald on the M29 bus route which takes you right into central Berlin in a few minutes, via Kurfürstendamm to Wittenbergplatz. From there it was possible to walk to places of interest or catch the metro (known as the ‘U-bahn’). Even though that meant access to the sights and sounds of Berlin was straightforward, we definitely still did not have long enough to do this great city justice.
As I foreshadowed in the last report, some of us adults, and two groups of the students went to the Musical Instrument Museum, just off Potsdamerplatz, which was fantastic. There were masses of harpsichords (including one that belonged to WF Bach, son of JS Bach), a fortepiano belonging to Weber, violins, horns, pianos, hurdy-gurdys, a glass harmonica, and a massive Wurlitzer organ.
Then several of us (mostly adults, it must be said) walked round Tiergartenstraβe to the Gemäldegalerie, with its collection of great masters.
Others fanned out across Berlin to a range of places, including the Berlin Wall Museum, the German History Museum, the Jewish Museum and elsewhere. Of course, in the time we had, it was not possible to do more than get a taste of everything Berlin has to offer, so that just means we have to come back!
We all grabbed the bus back to the hotel in dribs and drabs and after a short break to get ready, it was back in the coach for the short journey down to Zehlendorf in southwest Berlin, where we were due to rehearse in the Pauluskirche for our evening concert. The Pauluskirche is a smart-looking red brick church dating from about 1905. Our concert also had a philanthropic purpose to assist an organisation founded to help unemployed people in Berlin.
Before the concert we walked round the corner to a Greek/Mediterranean restaurant called the ‘Symposion’, where the buffet was particularly tasty. Then it was back for final preparations and the start of the concert. It was the birthday of one of the German organisers of the concert, so naturally there was a big choral rendition of Happy Birthday, Dear Frank before we even got to our music. Once it started, this concert fired on all cylinders. The acoustics of the church were sharp and clear, and the large audience filled every seat and was very appreciative. The highlight was Mrs Belshaw getting Sue Peter (our British/German Berlin liaison) up on the rostrum with her, so they could whip the audience into shape to participate in Sing. They did a real Abbott and Costello act and the audience loved it. In fact, as you would expect, they get better with each performance.
The next day was our visit to Potsdam, the capital of Brandenburg State, just outside Berlin, where the former Kings of Prussia had their principal residence. We drove round to the massive Nikolaikirche, dropped off the gear and had a sound check and some morning tea, and then piled back in the coach for a visit to two places which I thought would be of interest to everyone. The first was Sans Souci - not the Sydney suburb - the beautiful castle built by King Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia to the west of Potsdam. Sans Souci means ‘without cares’ in French, and as I noted in the Tour Diary, if I could get the taxpayers to set me up in a place that size, I would be saying ‘no worries’ too!
Our second stop was a must for students of modern history – the Cecilienhof to the north of Potsdam. It was only built just prior to World War I and was the home of Crown Prince Wilhelm, who never got to be Kaiser, but was allowed to stay in the chateau for the rest of his life. In July/August 1945, it was the scene of the Potsdam Conference between Truman, Churchill (plus Atlee) and Stalin. The place is like a large English country house, built in almost a Tudor style, and the hall where the plenary meetings took place has been preserved, set up as it was during the conference.
After a stroll round the grounds and interior of the Cecilienhof, we returned to the centre of Potsdam and unloaded ourselves near the Peter and Paul Church for some free time. As it happened, there was a Tulip Festival happening in the so-called Dutch Quarter (where Dutch workers imported to build the castles had built two streets of Amsterdam-cloned houses for themselves). So, a lot of us went for wander through the street stalls, stocked with masses of delicacies, and watched the Dutch dancing and handicrafts being made. I went for a long walk down the main pedestrian street, Gutenbergstraβe, to Potsdam’s own Brandenburg Gate (smaller, but apparently older than the one in Berlin), which was great – masses of shops, cafés, street stalls, and all the Potsdamers out enjoying the sunshine (even if it was still cold!).
After that, it was back to the Nikolaikirche for final preparations for the concert, and then dinner across the square in the Mercure Hotel.
After having been spoiled with audiences of 200 to 300 on previous nights, we had a rather more modest audience of about 100 for this concert, which, given the massive size of the church interior, made the place look a bit empty. Given that the audience was also comprised of rather more dour Brandenburgers (or Prussians, as the formidable lady pastor, Anya, described them with pride) rather than the more avant-garde Berliners, the kids had to work hard to get them warmed up. Nonetheless, the performance went well and the audience was definitely appreciative, if not whistling and wildly stamping their feet.
We coached it back to the student hotel in Grunewald for a well-deserved sleep, before rising yesterday for the long journey up here to Lübeck. The first part of the journey was relatively straightforward on the Autobahn, to a place I had picked out as a good spot for a lunch stop. It is a small chateau just off the Autobahn at a small town called Ludwigslust (‘Ludwig’s Joy’). It is known as the ‘Little Versailles of Mecklenburg’ and was built in the 18th century by the Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, yet another of the myriad swarm of minor German noble houses. At Schloβ Ludwigslust, there was the chance to look around the rooms decorated in Baroque style, enjoy a hot chocolate in the café, or throw a ball around in the castle park, as some of the students did.
Of course, Schloβ Ludwigslust was the simple country shed of the Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, so we drove up to Schwerin, about 40km to the north, to see their real home, the fairytale Schwerin Castle sitting on its own little island in one of the numerous lakes surrounding the city. Schwerin was the capital of the former Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and is now the capital of the Federal State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. There was no time to get out and look inside, so we had a quick glimpse from the coach and then went around in circles for a while trying to work out how to get the coach out of the middle of Schwerin, which obviously had not been built to accommodate large double-decker tourist coaches.
Finally we made it out of the city, and set off for Lübeck, just across the State border of Schleswig-Holstein, and almost on the Baltic Sea. We got there with 15 minutes to spare before our guided walking tour, so dumped our overnight bags in the Youth Hostel (having left our main bags stashed in the coach for one night) and then explored the town on foot for 90 minutes. Lübeck is a gorgeous old Hanseatic city, with narrow cobblestone streets, and rows of terrace houses fronting onto tiny laneways. It suffered one terrible air raid by the British in March 1942 that destroyed a large part of the old city, but fortunately much of the area was restored after the war.
After the tour, there was time to rest for a bit, before walking a couple of streets away, past the impressive Marienkirche, to the main square and our dinner in the Rathauskeller. Like all our dinners in Germany, this one provided sumptuous lashings of fine German food.
This morning, we had a couple of hours of free time in Lübeck, before we hit the road again to visit the Steinway and Sons piano factory in Hamburg. That turned out to be a great visit. The factory actually does not have an institutionalised system of factory tours and we got in as a result of a specific invitation. In fact, when we got to the factory, the Australian flag was flying at the front gate alongside the Steinway flag, and a sign had been posted inside the entrance bidding us welcome. We saw all stages of the production of the pianos made there (more than in New York apparently), and noted that one big grand packed up in its box had a consignment note indicating it was going to Allan’s Music Store in Pitt Street, Sydney.
We concluded the visit with some light refreshments in the Steinway canteen, and a short impromptu concert for two guides.
Then it was time to roll on down the Autobahn to Münster in western Germany, where we will perform in concert tomorrow before heading on to Belgium. Münster was one of the places where the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648, so on the way down the Autobahn, I plan to bore – I mean, educate – the students about the 30 Years’ War, which devastated Germany between 1618 and 1648, and was ended (mostly) by the Treaty signed in Münster.
I hope to send one more report from Belgium, probably after our Anzac Day performances. See you then!
