Posts

The Reichstag

-
Image
The Reichstag is such a unique building, I thought it was so cool to be able to go all the way to the top of the building and look out on the city. The building looks like most of the other old buildings we’ve seen, but it also has a giant dome on the top that has a walkway to the top that swirls around the dome. Once you reach the top the ceiling is open to the sky, and if you look below you can see all the way down to the windows that are above where the parliament meets.  This building is important historically because it was very important to the people of Berlin during the 1890’s and World War II. The building played a big role in Hitlers rise to power when it burned down and the Nazis used that to claim that communists were planning an uprising, it allowed Nazis to become the main party. During WWII it was damaged a lot and one of the very last battles took place there and the Soviet soldiers raised the soviet flag there to symbolize their victory. There is so much history that t
7 comments
Read more

Berlin Monument

-
Image
  For my monument I am choosing to write about the Brandenburg Gate. I had seen pictures of it before coming to Berlin, but it was even cooler to see it in person. It is clearly a very popular site because it was extremely crowded there. I liked learning about the gate and I thought it was really interesting that the middle of the gate was reserved for only the king and queen to ride through and everyone else had to pass through the other two sides of the gate. The gate is very tall and on top of it is a statue of a goddess figure being pulled on a chariot by lots of horses, the statue was meant to symbolize peace.  This monument is important historically because it has been around since the eighteenth century and has been the site of many different historical events. It was there when Berlin was divided between west and east Berlin, and can symbolize the division but also the peace and unity that happened once the wall was torn down. The gate was also reconstructed many times and it i
2 comments
Read more

Kathe Kollwitz

-
Image
Kathe Kollwitz is probably one of my favorite artists now! I remember when we saw a few of her pieces at the art museum at BYU and I honestly wasn’t that impressed or interested in them, but after learning about her more in depth and the meanings behind her art work I was able to appreciate them so much more. Her etchings have so much emotion in them and it was evoking so many emotions in me as I was walking around the museum. I am not a mother, but I still feel like I can understand what each of the mothers in her pieces were feeling as they are holding on to their children, or children who have passed away. She is extremely gifted and I understand why her parents were worried about her career ending when she got married, I am so glad that it didn’t! Her contribution is important because she was a pioneer in a lot of ways. She was the first woman to be admitted as a full member to the Prussian Academy of Arts, and she was also made a professor even though it was pretty unheard of at t
4 comments
Read more

Berlin Choice Woman

-
Image
From a young age, Luise Greger has been extremely gifted. She started taking piano lessons at six years old and by the age of ten she was already giving performances to very important audiences. She played in front of the tzar of Russia when she was only ten years old, I would have been so nervous at ten years old! Later in life she got a divorce from her husband and had to support herself through her music. She was composing, teaching, and performing in order to survive. Once she was too old to travel anymore she moved into an old folks home and then was euthanized by the Nazis.  I think that her contribution is important because she was a woman and a jew and yet she still was able to write such beautiful music that was able to support her throughout her life. I feel like there was a stigma around women musicians in that they are less gifted and can’t compose complicated or impressive pieces, but she proved lots of people wrong. Also being able to live and have your only source of mon
2 comments
Read more

Lise Meitner

-
Image
I think that Lise Meitner is such an interesting woman. She was born in Austria and became the second woman ever to graduate from the college of Austria in physics, but because she was a woman she wasn’t allowed to work in labs there. She moved then to Berlin and she worked in a lab, except it wasn’t even a real lab it was a wood shop. During World War I she became not just a scientist but also an x-ray technician. While in Berlin she and Otto Hahn and Otto Frisch discovered nuclear fission and that's a big deal! She was nominated 49 times for a Nobel prize but never won (Otto Hahn won though…). Because she was a Jew she lost all her titles and positions but then after the war, she was still recognized as a great scientist and traveled all over the world giving presentations and speeches.  Her contributions are so important not only for the world of science but for women in the work place and for new discoveries. The discovery of nuclear fission is so important because it has helpe
3 comments
Read more

Free Day Post (Demel Cafe)

-
Image
One of my favorite things I did on one of my free days was going to the Demel cafe in Vienna! The cafe was so cute inside and had so many little statues of men and women made of pastries and chocolate. There was a giant chocolate egg and just so many beautifully designed treats! I got the Demel Sachertorte and their famous apple strudel, they were both so delicious I loved the apple strudel the most though! It tasted like my mom's homemade apple pie, and the vanilla sauce that came with it was amazing! It was so fun to sit in such a fancy cafe with the chandeliers and beautiful wallpapers.  Cafe Demel is important historically because it was the designated purveyor of the Imperial and Royal Courts in Vienna. That means that they were the people supplying the imperial and royal courts with their goods and pastries. The location is right next to the Hofburg Palac e and they would deliver a lot of their treats and cakes to them there, the location made it the perfect place to get good
5 comments
Read more

Stockholm Choice Woman

-
Image
Kristina Gyllenstierna is one tough lady! She was a Swedish noblewoman and led the Swedish resistance against Denmark after her husband died. During the siege, Kristina would go up and down the lines supporting the troops and rallying them. That would take a lot of bravery to be out while battles are happening. People said that her force of will was what held together the Swedish resistance and allowed them to keep going even when times were hard. She became a prisoner of war in Denmark because the king felt threatened by her. There was a lot more support for her than for the king. I think she is a very cool woman and I’m glad I got to learn about her!  Her contribution is important because not a lot of noblewomen would do something like that, to lead an entire resistance and go with the troops to rally them. It shows how women can be tough and brave just like men and they don’t need to be left behind and sheltered. I also like how she had more support than the king did. It is interest
5 comments
Read more