A Week in Germany: Sunday

22. 01. 1012


A day of mixed results. . .
Grey and blustery with a bit of rain thrown in . . .

Newt Gingrich, the new Saviour, or at least this week’s version of a Saviour desperately sought in all the wrong places . . . is all over the news with his resounding victory over the eminently unlikeable Mitt Romney in South Carolina of all places, but maybe not too surprising since the tendency to follow the heart and embrace free love has a recent history in the state.

And through a stupid trip down a single step, I managed to crunch my knee on a very hard marble floor.  So far just a bit bruised and swollen, but not conducive to the start of a week traveling through Germany.

The better side of the day’s spectrum was enough to compensate for the gloomy weather, politics, and knee. To begin at the day’s beginning, in Germany you can always eat liverwurst at breakfast, and the yogurt is thick and sour, and heavenly when sweetened with a little honey and some dried fruit. I just read an article in today’s New York Times saying that Americans are finally tiring of the sweet, chalky ooze available in supermarkets as yogurt and sold with specious health claims that are contravened by one look at the ingredients list on the container. Instead they are turning to thick Greek/Turkish-style yogurt creating an employment boom in upstate New York in both dairy farming and yogurt manufacture.  Win-Win all around.

Next we grabbed our Frankfurt MuseumTicket, 2-days of free entry into 34 museums in the city. The best bargain pass I have ever seen, especially since the helpful young man in the tourist bureau suggested we buy the 23 euro family pass instead of the two single adult passes that would add up to 30 euros. I rather think they might want to work on their pricing structure if they wish to make an equitable donation to the member museums. The 23 euros didn’t even cover our two admissions to the Städel, Frankfurt’s art museum.

Our hotel was conveniently located near the Main where there is a pleasant walkway that passes through the city along the banks of the river.

The Main as in Frankfurt-am-Main

The Pedestrian Bridge leading to the Museum Quarter
 on the South Bank of the river. The Kaiserdom Tower
in the background

And the Städel was our first stop today, and the scene of where my knee hit the marble. The museum has just reopened after a refurb and a rehang of their Old Masters and their Modern Collections. The Contemporary Collection reopens next month. The museum overall does not have a top tier collection, but some of its treasures are top tier, especially in the early Flemish collection that fills the first room. A bit from everyone important: van Eyck, Campin, van der Weyden, Bosch, Memling, van der Goes. A truly astounding room to begin the walk around.

And there is a Vermeer which I have never seen, and appropriately it is The Geographer.

The real reason for this trip to Frankfurt is because the last time I was here, many years ago, I was on a mission to see all the Vermeers, and Frankfurt’s Vermeer was one of the last on the short list of Vermeers. But it was a Monday, and the Städel is closed on Mondays. Ever since, I have been saying, “I have to go back to Frankfurt to see that Vermeer.” And now I have. I hadn’t even remembered that it was The Geographer. There have been so many Vermeer shows in recent years with paintings borrowed from all over, I think my mission has been completed. I will have to check the very thin volume that contains all of Vermeer’s output when I get home.

Next we came upon a surprise treat at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Museum. I have long been a fan of medieval German wood sculpture, notably the work of Veit Stoss and Tilman Riemenschneider. But it turns out there is an even more legendary sculptor, Niclaus Gerhaert who taught the others their craft.

St George slaying the dragon.

The exhibition was amazing with dozens of pieces collected from all over the world. There are only a handful of fully documented attributions to Gerhaert, and some are site specific such as a tomb cover in Strasbourg, but his workshop was highly prolific, so most of the works were ones he at the least had a hand in carving. The Liebieghaus website contains some of the pieces from the exhibition if you click on the photos in their link.

After a full day of art, the sun was setting and the rain was spattering, so we headed back to the hotel for another dinner, and a busy evening with the weekly video chat with the grandchildren. Lavinia is a full day Montessori student, doing the Kindergarten curriculum; Eloise is walking; and poor Christian has been sick with a tummy bug, but he could still smile for the camera.

And finally the Patriots game was televised on ESPN North America, so Bob could see them barely pull out a victory. Another all-nighter for the Super Bowl in a few weeks, I guess.