Tuesday, May 9, 2017

To the Alps!

When I lived in Germany in 1993-1994, I studied an der Uni in Freiburg.  I ventured all over Europe that year (to Italy, Greece, France, Austria, and Ireland), but I never visited Munich or the Alps, and I only spent a day or two in Berlin. Now I'm back in 2017 (Let's not count the years between.) and I'm finally doing all of the above. Today, we got up rather early, packed our bags then our bellies, and hopped on the train.  We stopped in Murnau am Staffelsee and visited the Schlossmuseum where we saw famous paintings by Gabriele Muenter (the owner of the house), Wassily Kandinsky, and this super-cool artist named Heinrich Campendonk.  As Wikipedia confirmed, She was a student of Kandinsky's and also a founding member of the expressionist group, "Der Blaue Reiter."  Expressionism was all about stressing the emotional experience and the “feeling of being alive."  In the world of modern dance, Mary Wigman would have been a member of this artistic movement.  I bought a few postcards for my collection before we headed off for lunch and then stopped in the Muenter Haus, which was owned by Gabrielle Muenter herself.  Not only was she a student of Kandinsky, the famous Russian painter, but she also became his lover. Said Muenter: "He has taught me to work fast enough, and with enough self-assurance, to be able to achieve this kind of rapid and spontaneous recording of moments of life."  Finally, we took the train to Mittenwald, which is at the foot of the German Alps. We had a delicious dinner (Kaessspaetzle for me- yum) and exhausted, shuttled off to bed.

No comments:

Post a Comment