Cologne - The Nazy Documentation Centre - DuMont brunnen - The 21st of June 2019

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We soon found ourselves heading to the Nazi Documentation Centre, having walked via the Cathedral where the morning chalk artists were still finishing their floor paintings, some of which rather impressive.

 

 

 

We ended up not being able to follow the map as accurately as we should have and it took us longer to reach the building where so many were kept by Gestapo for interrogation and torture, with many having been murdered in its courtyard.

 

 

Having been the headquarters of the secret Police from 1935 to 1945 its walls still bear witness of part of what went on inside its premises. Around 1,800 inscriptions and drawings survived in the cellblocks in the cellar, which we strolled on in deep silence. Some of the things we read made us uncomfortable, disgusted and above all sad. The whole visit to the cellar, where the former cells and the courtyard are, disturbed us immensely. There was a particular photo I couldn't take my eyes away from ... a group of young men about to be hanged standing straight as if unafraid of being murdered for the cause they must have fought for. 

 

 

We may not be able to rewrite history but we do have an obligation to remember some of its darkest moments, so they may not be repeated.

We walked out of the Documentation Centre as it was about to close and made our way into the city centre, stopping for a while close to the 1805 DuMont fountain especially designed as a reference to the Publishing house bearing its name. Some of the carved figures were quite impressive.

 

 

 

By the time we got to the hotel we  finally realised we hadn't had a chance to relax since early morning, so we decided it was time to do so and have a quiet dinner at the Hotel restaurant, which turned out to be very good (particularly the desserts).

 

 

Cologne - The Hohenzollern bridge - The 21st of June 2019

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We headed for the other side of the river Rhein, having crossed the Deutzer bridge just to have a different view of the Cathedral. As we walked along the Kennedy Ufer we marvelled at the beautiful green colours of the river and the bright blue scattered cloudy sky.

Stepping onto the Hohenzollern bridge brought up the reality of those who believe in a particular eternal love demonstration ritual which sees them fixing padlocks with their fiancés' names and their own to the bridge railings, throwing the keys to the Rhein river afterwards. We saw thousands, millions maybe, some of them dating back to 1999, if I recall correctly. Experts estimate that the existing padlocks weigh over two tonnes and it will obviously keep on rising.

 

 

Despite what will happen in the future, Hohenzollern bridge has become one of the town's tourist attractions.

 

 

(To be continued)

 

Cologne - The Wallraf Richartz Museum - The Impressionist collection (Part 2) - The 21st of June 2019

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Walking around those rooms was like being in my own element. There is definitely nothing like Art to "feed" my soul and the more I admired some of the Impressionists' paintings the more I felt taken by them and wondering the shocking impact they must have had in the past.

 

 

 

Landscape in the West of Aix-en-Provence (left) and Still life with pears (right) by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906).

 

 

Both paintings seem to represent a condensation of everything that we associate with the great master as the founder of Modernism. The veritable dis-section into geometric shapes, of which we have a hint here, is a phenomenon that points ahead to Cubism.

 

 

 

Springtime near Vétheil by Claude Monet (1840-1926)

 

 

 

 

The Seine near Courbevoie by Paul Signac (1863-1935)

 

 

 

 

 

Orcharch in Pontoise at sunset by Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

 

 

 

 

 

Morning sun in Autumn (left) and Harbour of Saint-Tropez in the sunlight by Francis Picabia (1879-1953)

Upon leaving the Museum we still made it to another room in a lower floor, where we came upon a magnificent paiting by Peter Paul Rubens.

 

 

 

Juno and Argus by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Rubens used a bloodthirsty tale from Ovid's the Metamorphoses to glorify the sight and the sensuous power of painting.

 

 

 

 

I feel that this Museum should be visited more than once given the huge collection, of which we just saw a part. Every moment spent in its rooms was worth it and we vowed to one day come back.