[My first week in Berlin]
It has been an incredible first week here in the heart of the German capital. I have so much gratitude for our IIP host company, Intrax, for providing us with the wonderful Britta Kallmann, who has been nothing but enthusiastic this entire week. She has truly taken us all over the city; she introduced us to more than I would have thought possible in the span of only a few days, from the endangered art district of RAW (Reichsbahnausbesserungswerk) to the Reichstag Dome, where we overlooked a meeting of the German Parliament, to the public transportation network (I wish we had the U-Bahn in Pittsburgh!). We stopped by museums, libraries, markets, and memorials, all of which I look forward to visiting for longer periods of time throughout my stay in Berlin. It was exciting to see so many landmarks I’d only ever seen through pictures with my own eyes, like the Radio Tower (the lanky lad!), the Brandenburg Gate, and especially the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Before this trip, the only photos I’d seen of the Holocaust memorial did not in any way properly convey its size, nor the labyrinthine nature of its construction. I would like to go back on another day to give it the time and consideration it deserves; to pay respects.
I was lucky enough to be able to meet up with a friend from home on Thursday, who was here to study abroad at the Freie Universitaet. He left on Friday, so the overlap between our two programs just barely worked out, and I’m glad it did. We met up at Schloss Charlottenburg, a baroque palace commissioned by the first Queen of Prussia and adorned with a statue of Fortuna, the Roman goddess of fortune and luck. We did not go inside, but the grounds were gorgeous, full of both man-made and natural beauties. We also visited a museum nearby, the Scharf-Gerstenberg Sammlung (Collection) of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, which consisted of primarily 19th and 20th century surrealist and impressionist art. Besides just appreciating the works, it was interesting to see how the wall labels differed from what I am used to in American art museums. Every label had at least three languages (German, English, and French) and some had four (usually the fourth was Spanish, and would be included if the artist was from Spain). It was also funny to see that often the English was slightly off, or even unintelligible, which made me wonder as to the accuracy of the languages I couldn’t speak (French or Spanish). Was German the only one that was always accurate? Or were there translation issues that my amatuer German did not catch in works whose titles originated in other languages? I wondered why there may not have been translation checks for these labels. Maybe it simply was not in the budget for exhibition presentation. Alternatively, maybe the curatorial team did not place as much importance on the accuracy of English translations. I wondered why that might be, if it was true. It was certainly an educational experience, and one that made me more excited for further museum trips within this city.
This is what intrigues me greatly about working in the museum and archive field in Berlin, at least in comparison to anywhere in the United States. Berlin is becoming quite multicultural, with around 20% of its current population being made up of 190 different countries. While German is the official language in Berlin, many other languages are spoken here, including but not limited to English, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, and Polish. It also has the advantage of being in the middle of Europe, where travel between countries is incredibly easy. For that reason, I think the museum world will be more tailored toward a multilingual and multicultural audience. It will be interesting to see how correct this theory is, and it is something I intend to learn both through working at my internship with Ernst Busch and engaging with the city’s museums while living here. I imagine that any questions I come up with while visiting museum spaces for fun, I will be able to bring to my boss and coworkers for answers. Building a wealth of multicultural knowledge and understanding how to attract and engage with audiences of different backgrounds is a huge advantage in the museum field, and something that I think Berlin in particular has a lot to offer for my professional development.
Another thing I look forward to getting to know better about the museum field here is the difference between American and European work atmospheres. In my email conversations with my boss, Johanna Stapelfeldt, it has become clear that German workplaces value a clear distinction between work and home lives, as well as healthy amounts of time off that will ultimately increase productivity during work hours. It has also become clear that the archive team at Ernst Busch specifically is tightly knit, and that it is important to them to build strong connections within their team as well as within the university network of Berlin and Germany as a whole. I hope to be able to apply the work ethic and team building skills I learn here to my future career, whether that be in the United States or elsewhere.
