Tuesday of week two

Today was spent at the German Historical Museum and its extension. The extension was designed by I. M. Pei. The extension was built in 2003. The extension houses the rare collection. I spent the morning just in this side of the museum. There were three exhibits and they were a Fashion European Dress in Detail, Focus DDR and, Frederick the Great. You were not allowed to take any pictures in this section of the museum. The first exhibit I went into was the Fashion exhibit because it was right off, where we checked our bags. The exhibit showed the change of European dress from 1700—to 1915. You got a book that told you what each number was and a short explanation of what each section was over and showed. I am not into fashion or looking at clothing but the exhibit was still interesting to see the hooped dresses and the men’s suits. The next exhibit was the Frederick the Great, and it was on two floors. This was interesting because I was unaware of how popular his image and how it was used. Frederick the Great was hero worship and not just by the adults. There were books and games made aimed at children to teach them about Frederick. The third and final one was the Focus DDR exhibit. It had objects that allowed you to see what it was like to be part of the German Democratic Republic, which was a socialist government that started on October 7, 1949 in the Soviet Occupation Zone.

It was time to meet up and have a lunch break once I had finished that exhibit. Lauren and I went to an Asian restaurant. We had chosen to stay and spend the rest of the day at the museum since both of us had not even made it over to the other build where they keep their permanent collection. It took you from the start of German history to the 1900’s.  It was interesting to see all the old relicts from Charlemagne and then all the way up to more recent history like the World Wars. I liked how the separated the exhibit into area by years. It allowed you to see how things changed in a linear fashion and showed how vast the history of Germany is. My favorite part was at the very beginning where you could look at old books on a computer and some of them had English translation so you could click on the section and see what it said. They also had a good section on the Protestant Reformation. It had a lot on Martin Luther. They also had a one billion mark, which was used because of the inflation in the 1900’s. I also saw a picture of the burning of the Reichstag and ID cards for different groups and people. Propaganda was also shown not just from the Nazi period but also of others and from other countries. I also found a couple of good books in the gift shop. After a long day of walking around the German Historical Museum and its extension, I went back to the apartments to rest.  Later I went out to dinner with my roommates and had more Asian food but it was good and cheap. I watched Poland vs. Russia match on the television. It ended as a draw but it was fun to watch and to listen to the people’s reaction from the pub and restaurant across the street. It was one great day!