Denglisch: Caspar David Friedrich, Monet, Renoir, and Cactus Butt

This post is going to be a lot more writing than pictures, so buckle up!

We went to the Alte Nationalgalerie on Tuesday, and it has been my favorite gallery/museum thus far. There is an entire room filled with Caspar David Friedrich paintings. I pretty much just died right then and there. I had been telling my classmates about how much I detested our textbook because the author glazed over the Romantic period and didn’t even mention Caspar David Friedrich expect to quote him once. And then there were about 20 pages on Impressionism. (I do enjoy impressionism, but I was furious that there was nothing on Friedrich). Walking into the Friedrich room, I could seriously hear everyone’s breath being taken away. Classmates were telling me how right I was about Friedrich. (And now he has some more fans—you’re welcome, Friedrich)! His paintings are just magnificent. There might have been tears.

There was also a room with paintings by Karl Friedrich Schinkel—a famous German/Prussian architect who has designed many gorgeous buildings in Berlin. Who knew he was also a painter?! His paintings were also breathtaking. Some people just have all the talent. Not fair.

There were a lot of paintings by Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Degas. Kristen and I took a picture with a Monet just for that reason—because it was a Monet. (Also, we did like his paintings). Now I can cross “Be in the same room as a Monet” off of my bucket list.

I think my favorite Impressionist artist is Renoir. I found myself drawn to certain paintings where I would just stare and think. Then, I would look at the title and the artist, and it was always a Renoir.

We went back to the Friedrich room before we left, and there was a guard there who saw us looking at a painting and discussing it. He came over and said, “Come closer, come closer!” He then proceeded to tell us about the painting we were looking at—Griefswalder Hafen—and asked us questions about what we thought. All in German, too! At one point, he said, “Did you all understand that?” To which we replied yes, and he said, “Freut mich!” (Basically, that makes me happy/excited/pleased). That was a great moment.

So we learned really cool things about that painting! So normally in Friedrich’s paintings, you only see the back of people (if there are people) because Friedrich wanted you to be able to picture yourself/place yourself in that person’s shoes and feel what that person was feeling. He was teaching us how to observe nature. But in Griefswalder Hafen, there are some Fishermen in the foreground, and you can see their faces—not Friedrich’s style at all. It’s presumed that the foreground was painted on after the painting was finished, and there are two really interesting theories. The first is that when Friedrich put this painting on display, he received a lot of criticism. People said that it was lacking something. So Friedrich, out of frustration, painted the foreground with fishermen and boats and such and then shoved it in the corner of his studio because it became his least favorite painting. The other theory is that Friedrich didn’t even paint it himself. The fishermen in the painting aren’t wearing traditional German fishing hats or jackets—they’re Italian. Plus, the faces of the fishermen are visible. I think the second is pretty feasible. The first one (also feasible I guess) just further proves my thoughts about geniuses. They were always misunderstood. The public never appreciated their works until much later. And in order to be a genius, I think one has to be crazy to an extent. Like actually mentally unstable and socially incompetent (to a degree) and that’s what makes someone a genius. Like Monet, for example. He would paint canvas after canvas of the same scene, but the lighting would be different. He would stand outside in ridiculous conditions in order to capture the impression/feeling he wanted to. One time, he was outside during a storm on the beach, painting, and he was swept away by a wave! Geniuses really have a bit (or a lot) of instability and craziness in them.

In our aforementioned textbook (which I dislike), I read about VanGough’s life. What a poor, poor soul. I think it’s so sad that he only sold one painting in his entire life. Like I said, artists were never appreciated in their own time. It’s always later. I wonder if this still happens today…

On Wednesday, I watched the Lion King in German, courtesy of YouTube (modern technology amazes me). I learned a lot of useful words, like Kaktuspo (cactus butt), Fleischfresser (carnivore; literally “meat eater”), and Spiegelbild (reflection; this one might actually be useful, no)?

One of my favorite parts is after Scar (interjection: I think Scar is just purely evil—one of the worst Disney villians) is king, and his little Hyena minions are complaining about how there’s not enough food or water, and one of them mumbles something about how it was better when Mufassa was king, and Scar says, “What did you say?!” And the hyena replies (in the English version) by saying, “ummm…Que Pasa?” In the German version, he says, “ummm…mit Wasser?” (with water?). I just absolutely love how that still worked out in German, making it sound like “Mufassa!”

Also, I quite enjoy “Be Prepared” (Seid Bereit) in German. It’s scarier and creepier in German, and it pleases me!

My class at the Goethe Institute is going well! I’m trying to participate more often and speak more frequently in class. How else will I improve my German, right? Today, I learned yet another useful (okay, that’s debatable) word: Rausschmeißer. “Raus” means out. And “schmeißen” means to throw or chuck. Put the two together, and you get: a bouncer! I cannot explain how much I love German. There are so many great words! Though this beautiful language does lack two crucial words (that I can think of): creepy and awkward. But it’s a two way street. There are words that we don’t have in English. Like “selbstverständlich.” It means something along the lines of self-explanatory/of course, but there’s no direct/perfect translation. Also, the word “schrecklich.” There’s no good word in English for that, either. Just think of Shrek. :)

Speaking of awesome words, I was talking with Brian on the phone yesterday, and I asked him if he had any requests for things I should bring back from Germany. The conversation proceeded as follows:

Brian: “Yes. I would like a caramel Milka bar.”

Katharina: “Which kind of caramel? More liquidy or hard like toffee?”

Brian: “I would like a non-Newtonian fluid caramel Milka chocolate bar.”

Katharina: “Um…bless you!”

I’m amazed that Brian’s learning Chemistry in the 3^rd grade! I took AP Chemistry, and I didn’t even know what a non-Newtonian fluid was. But now I do. If you’re curious, you should join Brian’s 3^rd grade class. Maybe I should…haha

Today, we visited the Berliner Dom! Endlich! We’ve seen it basically every day, and today we finally went inside and climbed it. We happened to go in when a tour guide was giving a 30-minute history about the Dom (all in German). It was really neat! I understood almost everything. One of the Emperors (Friedrich Wilhelm the II I believe) put in his will that he wanted to be buried in the Dom’s crypt only when Germany was a monarchy. Needless to say, his body is not in that crypt…sorry to break it to you, Kaiser!

Berliners think that the Berliner Dom is (and this is a direct quote from a German) “disgusting eye-sore.” I think that it’s gorgeous! Though I could never go to church service in such an ornate building. It looks more like a Catholic church, but it’s a functioning Protestant church. The tour guide told us that many people mistake it for a Catholic church, but it most certainly is not. We climbed the stairs to the top.