Germany Gem IX: Sculpting Wine

On a warm afternoon we walked into an idyllic surrounding of a quaint vineyard in Dresden- Pillnitz run by Klaus Zimmerling and his polish artist wife Malgorzata Chodakowska. Vineyards and wine tasting tours are quite common in this part of the world with most big vineyards having a tour brochure that for a fee takes you around the vineyard, let to have a look at the grape vines, show you the unique process of wine production and let you taste the wine that they eventually hope you will purchase. It is an experience that one can definitely explore at least once in a lifetime, even if you do not drink. There is a certain romance associated with vineyards and wines in this region that is so much an essential part of the culture here.

This vineyard like most other vineyards had a small slanted hillside marked for growing grapes. Depending on what time of the year you visit you can see different stages of the grapes vines. A stone building in the middle stood as the wine celler where the wine is stored and allowed to ferment. What was different in this winery was the fact that it was a boutique winery that makes organic wines only though there is no such certification that they have. It is single handedly managed by the owner and produces about 10,000 litres of white wine every year primarily sold locally but some of it exported to the far east in Hong Kong. Their wines come in fruit & floral flavors like apple, peaches, apricot, passion fruit, yellow roses etc. They even had a wine with the flavor of fresh coriander.

The cellar, the building top, couple’s home and the garden were dotted with wooden sculptures made by Chodakowska and they serve as her studio. Over a cup of coffee and local cheesecake she spoke animatedly about her sculptures that she makes all by herself, and she is proud of the fact that not many women can do these sculptures as they need lot of physical strength. She spoke about how she started sculpting in her childhood with the soaps and graduated to wood, how she is fascinated by the dance moves and the flow in dance movements reflects in lot of her work, and mentioned a sculpture she had made based on Kathak.

Her wooden sculpted pieces were embellished with gold sheet making them a unique combination of rustic wood and shining metal. A lot of her sculptures have been installed as fountains and we saw them working when she took us to the local gallery where her exhibition was on. Some of them carried an illusion while most had a flowing motion quality. Her most famous creation is “Sea of Tears” installed at the Dresden Heide cemetery that commemorates the February 1945 bombing of the city of Dresden.

Klaus uses the Chodakowska’s sculptures as labels to represent the years of the wine, somewhere bringing the work of two of them together.

You can take tour for 25 Euro and it takes about 1-2 hours of time and includes tasting of 6-7 of their wines. You can of course buy the wine – that is affordable, sculptures – that you have to be quite rich to be able to afford and the merchandize made from sculptures – that are good mementos to pick.

Germany Gems VII: Panometer - Recreating Dresden of 1756

The word for Dresden is re-creating. The city has been re-created, as it existed before it was bombed during the Second World War. As if they wanted to go even more back in time, they created a Panometer – a giant painting inside an out of use but giant cylindrical Gasometer. They engaged Austrian artist Yadegar Assisi to re-create the city of Dresden, as it existed in 1756 using a technique that mixes many art forms from pictures to paintings to architectural drawings to technical elements to create drama. Why 1756 – because this was the time of Augustus the Strong, the most famous monarch of Dresden and probably the most prosperous time the city has seen under him.

A 4 storey stand stands in the middle of this giant painting that is spread out on the inside of the cylindrical building – about 30 meters tall and 105 meters in circumference.  From every level the painting looks different but you get the best view from the top storey where you almost see at an eye level as if you are standing on the horizon looking at a living city. The work is almost real life.

In about 6 minutes, the light and sound show takes you through a day in Dresden. It begins with the dawn, with light rays falling on the city to increasing luminosity of the sun. Sounds are subtle but nonetheless an integral part of creating the ambience. In the evening you can hear the prayer sounds as the sun goes down, some windows in the houses light up to show that the city is a living city and people are perhaps having their dinner inside these lit up houses. You can move around the paintings and though as many cycles of the show you can see various parts of the city during various times of the day. There is even a display of fireworks, earthquake, court jesters and horse drawn carriages. The spires and domes of the churches and chapels are so clear that you see them the best in this painting rather than with your naked eye, when there is far bigger distance between your eye and the monument and many more obstructions in between. Music has been specifically created for this ambience and it quite takes you back in time.

A guide can explain the whole of city from this one painting and then you can go to the city looking for those landmarks that you saw on the painting. Of course the painting depicts 1756 and there are many new developments since then that are bound to create the difference. There are paintings around the main tower that showcase the various aspects of the city and its life, including an ivory flee remover that probably has an Indian connection.

This is not just a monument for the tourists to visit, it is also a living space as it hosts exhibitions and can be hired for private events like dinners or corporate events. A small film showcases the creation of this masterpiece and it is interesting to hear Assisi speak about it and see visuals of him going up and down a lift around the city, photographing it, going through the computerized matching of the pictures with architectural drawing and scenes in the paintings. He also talks about his other creations that include a rainforest panorama.

I wish we could create something like this to re-create the glorious past of India too. Hope some higher forces are listening. 

Germany Gems VI – Leipzig, Celebrating Music

  

Leipzig is a small city in the state of Saxony in Germany, less than couple of hours by road from Berlin. It is a city known for its musicians over the ages with museums and music festivals dedicated to them around the year. To me this was a first that the whole city is organized around its musicians and their music – literally. There is a 5 kms trail called the music trail that goes through more than 30 musical spots of the city and is marked with stainless steel markers in the shape of musical notes on the ground along with a board explaining the place in both German and English. You can simply follow the marks and learn about the musical heritage of the city. Spots include churches, opera houses, museum of musical instruments, concert halls, archives, monuments and houses of musicians. Some of the famous names of Leipzig Music heritage include Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Wagner, Mahler and Greig.

My journey of Leipzig city began with a hearty meal at Panorama Restaurant that as its name suggests gives the panoramic view of the city. From its roof top you can admire the green cover of the city, its rail lines, spires of its churches, its black and red slanted roofs and may be identify some of its landmarks if you know its history and geography a bit.

St Nicholas Church at Leipzig is known for the peaceful revolution that began in 1982 and eventually led to the fall of Berlin wall in 1989. Interiors of this church are soothing with pale pink tall pillars with pistachio green treetops and white furniture. A similar pillar in white standing by the side of the church marks the place where the revolution began. A metal plaque in the floor with multiple footmarks and date of October 09, 1989 marked on it commemorates the revolution that began here at this spot.

The business or trade has always patronized Art, and Leipzig is a living example of that. It was a city of traders since the times of Holy Roman Empire and still holds an annual trade fair that is popularly referred to as the mother of trade fairs. Many of the present buildings that are now shopping centers or restaurants were traders or trading houses called passages. They can be identified through an open courtyard in the middle that was supposed to be the place to unload the horse drawn carriages. The gates are just wide enough to let these carriages come in. We visited couple of them and saw some interesting artwork on the walls of these passages. 

Like most European cities, modern art installations can be seen everywhere in the streets of the city, including one that fulfills your wish when you touch its huge metallic shoe. It was summer time when I was there and there was music being played in many places, by local as well as visiting musicians. St Thomas’s church is the place where the musical legacy of the city began and Bach, one of its most famous name was associated with this church. 19^th CE musician Richard Wagner’s monument has a small figure of his with a huge shadow behind him.

We finished our sojourn with sumptuous dinner at story rich Auerbachs Keller, but that is a story for another day.

Germany Gems V: Bastei Rocks of Saxon Switzerland

Saxon Switzerland is a hilly area in the south east of city of Dresden, bordering the neighboring Czech Republic. Here in the highlands, there are tall sandstone rocks in light ash grey color making it a favorite place for the hikers and climbers with thousand odd peaks to be conquered.

Along the river Elbe they stand tall like a small canyon. The bend of Elbe with a railway line line running along side creates a scenic view from atop the rocks. Word Bastei comes from bastion as the rocks look like bastions from a distance. Historically the Slavic tribes inhabited this area, till it came under Saxony rule in medieval times. It became a tourist spot only about 200 years ago. These rocks have inspired many artists since then.

There was an old wooden bridge that has been now replaced by the sandstone bridge linking various parts of the rocks. Narrow stairs take you to top of the viewing points that have a small space to accommodate a few people. The day I was there, there were quite a few visitors there, local and tourists and that meant you could spend only limited time at the viewing points. Different points give different views of the winding river and the rocks by its side. It is totally up to your imagination to make out what the rocks look like.

Some of the rocks coming out of the greenery looked too symmetrical to be natural but then when does nature stop surprising us. There are a section of the rocks open to public for free and a part is ticketed that visitors usually used as a place for picnics to spend a day amidst nature.

The impeccable maintenance of this natural heritage while keeping it accessible to public is something that I can only wish was there for heritage in my country as well.

When I applied for my German Visa, the girl at the desk was confused for a long time since the itinerary mentioned Switzerland and I was telling her I am not going there. I wanted to Google it and show her the place, but there was no way to do that in that high security area. 

Germany Gems III: Walk around Dresden Old Town

City of Dredsen likes to call itself the city of Augustus the Strong – its most famous king who ruled in early 18^th CE. His stories are scattered all around the city even today, on its walls as murals, in its squares as statues, in its gardens and monuments that he had built then. It was during his time that the city saw its peak, as he was the elector of Germany and king of Poland. A walk around the old town by the river Elbe takes the visitors through old buildings and monuments, most of which have been re-built recently but unless explicitly explained you will never be able to make this fact out.

Dresden’s most vivid memory comes from Feb 13^th 1945 when it was bombed and almost all the city was destroyed in bombing. As you hear personal stories of that night from the citizens as they have heard it from their parents or grand parents, you almost feel as if the psyche of the city is divided between before this date and after this date. As part of East Germany, the ruins of buildings along the river were left just like that and rest of the city was cleaned to make way for the more socialist buildings that to me looked like boxes - straight and tasteless. After the 1970s a lot of the old structures have been revived to their old glory using the old paintings, drawings and photographs.

Our walk began from the riverside where a piece of original wall still stands. We walk around the old buildings, look at the narrow streets filled with eateries and through the tram tracks reach the opera house that has been completely re-built and was re-opened with the same performance that was playing in 1945 when the bombing happened. From here we entered a building called Zwinger – as in to swing. It was built as a party place and a place to showcase the collections of Augustus the Strong who was obessesed with collecting oriental pocelain. I found this building very fascinating, as it has no allegiance to any religion; it shows drunken men and nymphs with water as a key element. There are fountains in the middle of the huge garden and there is a bath much like ancient roman baths with sculpted walls all around. Porcelain collection is still housed in a part of this structure along with a museum of mathematical and physical instruments and a gallery of old masters – a collection of original paintings.

Move a little ahead and a gorgeous church with a huge stone copula captures your eyes. This Church of Our Lady has a story parallel to that of Dresden.It was built by Augustus the Strong when he became the king of Poland and turned catholic. One can safely assume that this would have been the center of attraction in the city. In the 1945 bombing the church survived on 13^th Feb and many people took shelter inside the church only to be burnt on 14^th as the copula fell due to intense heat. The ruins of the church stood as it is till 1989 and after the German re-union there was an open letter issued for support to re-build this church as a gesture of friendship. 80 % of the money to re-build the church came from individuals. Cross on top of the church was built entirely by the British money and installed by the son of the pilot Allan Smith who had bombed the city, in an act of re-conciliation. Re-building itself is an example of engineering precision as each stone was numbered and placed exactly where it would have been in original church while the new ones replaced the lost stones. As you stand there you can see old stones in burnt black color and as you see them in pictures of the ruins, you can see the part that was not damanged standing as such.

From here we came back towards the riverside to admire a 102 meters long wall mural in yellow, known as the procession of the princes, on the outer wall of the royal stable. It shows the 826 years of the rule of house Wettins depicting the 35 kings along with a symbol depicting what each of them stood for. It was originally painted towards the end of 19^th CE to commemorate the 800 years of Wettins but was replaced by porcelain pieces to make it waterproof soon after. With 23000 Meissen porcelain pieces, this may be the larget porcelain artwork in the world. I thought this was a brilliant way to put history literally on the walls, in the open for everyone to see and remember where we came from. On a lighter note history lessons will become easier to remember.

I am always a bit overwhelmed after a walk in and around around old parts of the cities, but this one was a bit different, as it is the only old town that I have seen that was completely destroyed and has been re-constructured as it is. A bright example of respect for the history and the legacy that forefathers of the city intended to leave behind.