Mining the Diaries 84: Germany
Hotel Casa Colonia, Cologne, Germany 1st December 2012
Roused by the eight o’clock church bells telling me I’d overslept by an hour; showered and dressed in a hurry. Down to the light and cheery breakfast room for eggs, meats, cheeses, bread, pastries and good coffee in a friendly atmosphere expectant about the day ahead.
Out at ten o’clock and started exploring with the Cathedral (Dom, from Hohe Domkirche St. Petrus). Construction began in 1248 and was completed in 1880, at that time it was the tallest building in the world. The epitome of the high gothic style, the shimmering stained glass bathed the majestic, soaring interior in mystical light and dissolved the walls. Ancient and venerated features included: the Lady of Grace, or the ‘decorated Madonna’ fronted by a galaxy of candles; and the Gero Cross from the Middle Ages, with crucified Christ in a sunburst of gold against a Provençale blue ground.
From God on to mammon: the nearby Christmas market. It was very professional and well-organised selling quality products – no casual street market this. A huge array of foods, sweet and savoury, and drink – the incense of the cathedral replaced by the spicy notes of mulled wine. ‘Melchior’s Crepes’ played on a bit of Christian mythology: it was claimed that the remains of the Three Wise Men were brought to Cologne from Milan in 1164. While everything was presented in the most enticing way, and had the novelty value of foreign unfamiliarity, it all somehow represented just more ‘stuff’ and we resisted the temptation to buy anything – even, or especially, the chocolate camera at 34 euros.
Lunch was coffee and cake watching barges plying up and down the Rhine against a backdrop of industry.
We spent the afternoon in the Museum Ludwig, a stylish, airy modern gallery opened in 1986. It had an excellent modern collection of works by familiar names – Picasso, Ernst, Braque, Bacon, Modigliani, Warhol, Dine and Matisse. Lesser known artists, like Erich Heckel, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, August Macke, Heinrich Hoerle, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, and Paula Modersohn-Becker were fascinating discoveries. The spacious walls showed David Hockney’s huge Bigger Picture exhibition at its best. We rested from the art in the busy café watching the trains go by.
Dinner was an adventure at the Brauhaus Em Kolsche Boar. It was very social with three rows of long communal tables running down a hall-like room decorated with mirrors and Germanic murals – large, packed, bustling and jolly, with huge plates of hearty food. Not a place for a romantic evening a deux (nor for vegetarians)! How did the hurrying waiters remember who was having what? They kept a check on beer consumption by marking the beer mats (no one was drinking wine).