3 fascinating consecutive art movements that of late have impressed upon me

New format alert! Chef, what I have prepared for you today is a mild dive into three art movement styles that I had the opportunity to delve into in my travels thus far. I wish you could have accompanied me on my castle museum tours, but instead, you'll have to settle for my written recaps. Life update at the end! 

1. Frederician Rococo

Rococo is a style of decoration, architecture, and art that began in France in the 1730s as a reaction – because art movements apparently must rebel against something – to the classical style defined by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Rococo is known for pastel colors, asymmetry, and naturalistic curved elements. The term arises from the rocaille, a specific design motif of a seashell interlaced with acanthus leaves. Rococo also took inspiration from Chinese and Japanese art, often depicting places, people, plants, and animals from these regions.

While churches and private residences in Spain, Italy, and Southern Germany adopted rococo, one Prussian ruler resonated with the style so much, that his interpretation of it earned its own name: Frederician rococo, after Frederick the Great (1712-1786)

Frederician rococco is on full display at Frederick the Great’s castles in Berlin, most notably Sansoucci (“carefree”) Palace, which was his summer residence, and Charlottenburg palace. Rooms here especially emphasize naturalistic imagery, depicting plants and animals found in his own palace gardens as well as exotic species. The design motifs take on many mediums: from theatrical sculpture-framed ceiling frescoes to gold gilded desks and upholstered, painted, or wood-inlaid walls.

Notice the different examples of the rocaille motif at Sanssouci Palace.

This yellow guest room in Sansoucci Palace features some of Frederick's favorite flowers and exotic animals including cranes, monkeys, and parrots. Walls could also be overwhelming and minimalistic in design. 

Frederick the Great also boasted a notable collection of fete galante paintings, a genre popular in rococo painting that was basically young rich folks relaxing or frolicking about outside. Though Frederick the Great kept himself busy with affairs of state and military, his art demonstrates that he found meaning in his free time. He loved inviting people to his palace to wine, dine, observe his vast art collection, listen to one of his original flute sonatas, and converse in French about the meaning of love and life. 

From Charlottenburg Palace: An example of that soft rococo painting style depicting a mythological scene of adventure; A room for entertaining that features an extravagantly decorated harpsichord-- Sophie Charlotte von Hannover played beautifully-- and a tapestry of people entertaining themselves.

A mystery link to learn who the heck Frederick the Great and Prussia was in less than 10 minutes! Fun fact: Frederick the Great is probably gay by today's standards, which were not the standards of yesteryear.

2. German Romanticism

 Wanderer above the Sea of Fog. Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Sept. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanderer_above_the_Sea_of_Fog. Accessed 19 Sept. 2022.

When I think of German Romanticism in painting, I think of the above Wanderer above the Sea Fog by Caspar David Friedrich (1818), which I also associate with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), a romantic literature classic. In the painting, a man stands on the precipice of a rocky landscape overlooking crashing waves, contemplating the great unknown.

This rumination on the relationship between man, nature, and the supernatural is a great example of German Romanticism. Romanticism was a widespread cultural movement that spanned from the late 18th century through the mid-19th century. Romanticism reacted against revolutions in science and industry and the rationalism of the Age of Enlightenment, in favor of the values of the good ole days, which to some were the medieval times. 

It’s not fair to say that all German Romantics completely rejected classical style or preferred to live in 1450. But they set themselves apart from the classical academic style by striving to evoke unconscious emotions and by emphasizing nature as evidence of the divine. They also projected an idea of shared German folk history, culture, and values.

Many of Caspar David Friedrich's paintings I saw at the Charlottenburg Castle Museum were landscapes with a melancholic protestant flair. Translation: they somehow depict Christian imagery or values with semi-naturalistic mood lighting in a specific German setting.

Caspar David Friedrich, Kreuz an der Ostsee at the New Pavilion at Schloss Charlottenburg.

To experience what the Romantics were going for, I recommend everyone spend some time with art that makes them feel some combination of awe, tranquility, disgust, wistfulness, forlornness, incompleteness, boundlessness, or horror. This is also called the “sublime.”

Mystery link to a sublime artwork.

3. German Modernism Architecture - Hufensiedlung

A fancy schmancy aerial view of Hufensiedlung or "horseshoe" estate. Sebastian Trommer/Wikimedia Commons

The rumblings of modern architecture began in the late twentieth century thanks to the manufacturing possibilities opened up by the industrial revolution: “Form follows function,” whispered Louis Henry Sullivan from Chicago in 1890. “Cube shapes,” insisted some more modernists in the following decades. “A colorful urban estate of single- and multi-family homes with village energy,” whispered city planner and architect Bruno Taut in 1925, after the Berlin city officials asked him to build one.

In 1920, Berlin faced a seemingly insurmountable overcrowding challenge, until the government expanded the city limits to what it is today– an area increase of 13 times. With unprecedented space to develop housing, the town of Britz, just east of Berlin, became home to a groundbreaking modern architecture experiment that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008.

Taut envisioned Hufensiedlung as community-oriented with ample green space. The main horseshoe shape consists of 25 housing units with front gardens and terraces facing a green oasis and pond. Then, rows of streets branch from this shape like rays. The estate contains 1285 apartments and 679 homes with terraces. Though the estate has been privately owned since the 90s, most residences have been resold and are currently occupied.

Pictures of the main entrance and opposite side of the horseshoe-shaped oasis, which I took on a lovely 2-hour tour.

Taut’s homes are rectangular with flat roofs – which was downright radical for the time — with horizontal and vertical rows of windows. Conservative officials were so offended by the flat roofs that they ordered tall trees be planted in front of Taut's row of red houses at the entrance, so the people across the street with slant-roofed homes (these were still part of the housing area but by a different architect) would not have to see it.

Reliance on bold colors set Taut’s modernism style apart from his contemporaries. The homes are usually painted red, white, or blue, with additional color-blocking elements. Below you can see how painting on the doors allows for individualization of homes outside of the mass-produced features.

A sliver of the aforementioned red flat-roofed houses and a large tree in front; Details of different doors in the neighborhood, BenBuschfeld / Wikimedia Commons.

So long, fare-Wellness Check

FOOD: 

+I have been cooking to save money! The pots at the hotel clean very easily and I have only cut myself with a knife twice! 

+ McDonald's in Germany has chicken wings that are dabomb.com. I actively avoid fast food in the U.S. because I strive to be a conscious consumer, but McD's in Germany have been exceeded my expectations, and I will be return unless another chicken wing place comes through. And I hope one does because there was no buffalo, ranch, or honey mustard sauce at the McDonald's! Inconceivable! 

+ Germany has many organic grocery stores and I enjoy the locally grown plum things.

- WHERE ARE THE SPICY CHIPS? I bet flaming hots and most American snacks are literally illegal/different in this country but that doesn't make me not want it! Paprika chips? Disappointing! Nothing that has been labeled spicy here has been spicy except the Indian food. Must. Find. Hot. Sauce. 

ELBOWS: I boinked the left one on the floor yesterday (I moved too hastily in my socks). But I'm not experiencing pain, rather moderate discomfort if try to completely straighten or completely flex it. My plan is to ice + compress + rest but go to the doctor if my pain increases or my mobility does not improve. IF YOU ARE A DOCTOR OR HAVE INJURED YOURSELF BEFORE AND THINK THIS IS A BAD PLAN LET ME KNOW THOUGH.

VOLUNTEER: So I am now also a volunteer for the World Travelers Program, through which I will write weekly journal updates and video conference with an American classroom of children!

JOB: LMAO today (September 19) was my first day of work but I showed up at the wrong school because I was given the wrong information. I will actually be working at a high school and not an elementary school. 

PHONE: I now have a German Sim card. That means I technically have a new number, but all the folks should still be able to reach me on iMessage, WhatsApp, or GroupMe. If not, you can definitely email me or message me on Instagram or Facebook.