Berlin, Feb.2008: Bundestags-Dome

Berlin, Feb.2008: Bundestags-Dome

Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 8:01 AM

Berlin, February 2008

Our tiny Bachelor�s pad on the 15th floor in central Berlin is flooded by bright sunlight for the first time in a week: We should get ready to ride subway U6 into �down town� before the weather decides to turn clammy cold again. When we venture outside on our daily exploratory trips we wear several layers of woolens: over my regular underwear a woolen undershirt and long-handle woolen underpants, then my woolen pullover covered by a woolen sweater before putting on the two layers of coats: my thermotac (right word?) jacket from Lands End and then the watertight large outer jacket. Not to forget the woolen shawl, hat and gloves. Wow, now we are ready to face the grim penetrating damp air of central Europe: Berlin!

Well, maybe that�s a bit of an exaggeration, we did have some warmer days before, but today we have bright sunshine and we�d better not miss this opportunity to stroll leisurely down Berlin�s main drag: the Potsdamer Platz area with its thousand-and-one� movie houses (excuse this second bit of exaggeration) over to the Bundestag, past the uncomfortable Holocaust memorial just opposite the site of the unfinished American Embassy ... Finally the Bundestag building (congress) comes into view with its very long line of people waiting for admission; most appear to be boisterous young folks from all over the world, and German school classes on their excursion day. Of course, sprinkled in between are a few regular tourists, all waiting their turn patiently.

We are tired from the walk and certainly do not feel like joining this long line of patient visitors. What to do? I recalled the semi- glassed-in restaurant on the rooftop, right beside the glorious glass dome which we and the hundreds of other tourists are here to experience.�

It was 2 p.m. It occurred to me that at this time we might have a chance to get seats in the roof-top restaurant and bypass the long ticket lines. We headed for the outside restaurant reservation desk, and sure enough, 15 minutes later we got a table, a window table at that, decked with white linens and fancy white China, a small vase of fresh flowers, and best of all: a panoramic view of central Berlin. �

We were happy and hungry, and soon ate a hearty typical Berlin lunch: Berliner Kindl (local beer), a boulette (kind of thick hamburger/country-style steak) with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and salad. Not only was it the cheapest item on the menu, but it was also a kind of soul-food for us. My Texan �partner� also enjoys that kind of food. So we were happy.�

The glass dome of the Reichstag (Congressional building) is an extraordinary futuristic experiment:� The British architect Norman Foster designed it with three points in mind: architecture, functionality, ecology. He created a dome from all steel and glass, breathtakingly imaginative. It cannot be described, it must be experienced. It left us in awe, joy, amazement; inspired and energized. We were very glad to have lived long enough to witness Foster�s path into the future...

We did not visit the Reichstag Building proper, only its roof top and famous dome which are open to the public. The huge slat-type glass structure consists of two parts, a half-dome outer shell with an inner tornado - shaped (slat-type) glass funnel (its � trunk�). This trunk reaches all the way down into the plenary hall� (Plenarsaal) and transports light down into it, while also circulating fresh air into it. Both outer and inner parts consist of many vertically and horizontally interconnected segments of long steel ribs and narrow (slat-shaped) glass and mirror panes. These seem to be independently adjustable and are an important part of the climate and air control system of the entire large building.�

The glass panels of the dome have a special fascination for me in and by themselves: their glass seems to be �mirrored� on one side; thus their reflection and refraction change constantly according to the location, their angle of setting, the direction of light falling in, and of course the visitor�s position. I was fascinated by this.

Most visitors take a comfortable walk (almost) up to its top on the gently spiraling walkway inside the dome, wishing to enjoy that spectacular bird�s eye view of the reborn and rebuilt inner city of Berlin. Many visitors come here precisely for that purpose, and so did we.�

Furthermore, the dome platform features an interesting photographic display not only of the history of the Reichstag� building,� but also of important political and historic events of the hundred plus years of� Berlin as capital of Germany.

Did we have any guilt feelings because of our ruse? Nope, non at all: as octogenarians we feel we have earned the privilege to use our heads. Of course I conveniently forgot that only Richey is eighty....

Greetings and much love from Ziggy and Richey and Ziggy (a.k.Sigrid a.k.Sigi)

Richey in roof-top restaurant

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Cocky? Sigrid in Roof-top Restaurant

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�Which way is up or down with this "Trunk"?

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