Category: History

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Erik Satie Satisfied

The collection of letters from Erik Satie contains more than 1000 letters amongst them some in exchange with the best artists of his time. The range is largely due to the circle of artists who met at Montmartre in Paris before and during the Great War. We discover letters to Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Pablo Picasso or Henri Matisse. For some artists there are 100+ letters preserved like to Jean Cocteau. In the 1920s he composed music for shows at Montmartre, where the scenario was painted by Pablo Picasso and costumes designed by Coco Chanel. The sculpture by Brancusi must have been familiar to him, just as much as the cubist paintings by Georges Braques, as there are also letters or references to such letters in the impressive 1000+ pages collection. Like Ravel he was rejected by the Conservatoire de Musique de Paris in his early days as student. Montmartre allowed to live and create at the same time while living on a minimal budget. Erik Satie signed his letters with ES. In German this denotes a “neutrum”, maybe, beyond male or female differentiation, but also a tonality in music (E flat). There is no trace that this was a conscious choice. It is just another unresolved puzzle about the self-declared “Gymnopédiste” and composer of the “Parade” and the popular piano music the “Gnossienne”. 100 years after his death on 1925-7-1 he (ES) could be rather satisfied with his impact on the course of music in the 20th century and beyond.

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Musician Historian

Musicians are usually perceived as “part of history” rather than being historians themselves. However, recent research on Bob Dylan has extended that view to portray Dylan in his role as historian as well. The issue here is more with the historical periods and references the musician, composer and song writer builds on and interprets historical events. Thereby, his thoughts and impressions on living through historical events enter into his work as an artist. Dylan is literally “doing history”. He puts events of past and present into perspective of his own making and reached authority through the non-conformist perspective, which connected him to as a performer to his various audiences. His approach to doing history consists in the re-presentation and re-creation of historical narratives. Nina Goss (2024) in her book review highlights the “irruptions of the past into the present unique in popular culture”. The re-arrangement of fact and fiction encourages us “to inhabit, question, and revise historical narratives and tropes” (p.399). Several musicians have specific ways of reflecting, sometimes critically, on history in their artistic work. Bob Dylan certainly is a very prominent example of this an has been honoured for this by the Nobel Prize for literature. It remains an interesting perspective to review composers and their choice of libretti for operas as a way of doing history. The shifts from royal drama to revolutions and popular scenes are in this line of interpreting musicians also as historians.

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Archers destroyed

In the attempt to explain modern warfare to people, the Roman and medieval languages are staging a comeback. The archers have found their way from warfare into art history and back again. George Barros explains recent defensive actions by Ukrainian military forces as the strategy to put the archers out of power rather than the arches.
Destroyed or unfit air planes can no longer launch missiles or bombs. The Russian reserves are, however, fairly numerous, but the air strikes on the modern archers have demonstrated an astonishing military intelligence on the Ukrainian side. The technological advances of the Ukrainian military services may shift the balance or raise the costs of war to Russia, considerably.

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Memories updated

In Berlin and many other German cities it is a regular practice to scrutinize the memory inscribed into street names. In order to correct the honors given to persons with a past as fascist or responsible for mass killings street names were changed at several points in the history of the city. Streets named after battle fields, for example, are a continuous point of discussion. It is important to keep the perspectives of victims in mind. Therefore, changing street names is a little contribution to rethink the role of places and persons. Such changes are sometimes very controversial as people become accustomed to names, some might even not care much at all. Recognition and responsibility, however, have a lot of currency in historical perspective. Overpainting like in the paintings from Gerhard Richter has an important function in society and can be one way of coping with the demons of the past.

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Draft Lottery

For decades the “intergenerational effects of the Vietnam draft on risky behaviors” has been overlooked. Deza and Mezza (2025) identified several changes in parenting styles (PS) due to existence of a draft lottery. PS like uninvolved, permissive, authoritarian become more frequent. Similarly, risky behaviors of their children like smoking, drinking and drug abuse tend to increase. According to this new evidence on an old strategy to recruit military personnel the effects are not only directly on the persons drafted, but have lasting consequences onthe next generation as well. This increased overall the burden of going as well as preparing for war in the societies concerned. In view of the Russian aggression on Ukraine territory the consequences for both countries are considerable and shall be transmitted to future generations as well. Even neighboring countries fear and feel the heat of recruitment for armed conflict.

 

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Odessa Berlin Odessa

With a sense of partnership, it is possible to travel between Odessa and Berlin in the “Gemäldegalerie” in Berlin 2025. Due to the war of Putin in Ukraine the “Museum of Western and Eastern Art” in Odessa had to relocate its treasures to safe places. The Gemäldegalerie offers a chance to view the splendid collection nevertheless. The curators’ team in a spirit of “art intelligence” propose, in a splendid way, most oeuvres from Odessa next to an example by the same painter from the Berlin collection. The visitor leaves the exhibition enriched by an experience of “jumelage” (engl. sister cities) of partnerships between museums, cities and their people.
In fact, we have shared the same imagery or visual heritage in Europe for centuries . The collections of paintings ranges from the 16th -19th century art  or from Frans Hals to impressionist influences.
We shall cherish the return of the collection to Ukrainian Odessa as soon as possible. The image below shows the places of origin (yellow dots) of the art works of the Odessa collection across centuries (map from the exhibition).

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Robot repairs

Robots have been used mostly in industry for assembling, transport or sorting tasks. There is also a role in disassembling to enhance circularity. To repair electric or mechanic devices there is an enhanced version needed which starts with a diagnosis of the problem. Algorithms can sort out promising from dead end routes of repairs. However, the recognition of objects into things that can be repaired and those without repair potential is a worthwhile assistance. Beyond the economic and ecological rationale for repairs, there is an emotional or nostalgic sense to it as well. Maybe, from a life course perspective any object related to the teenager years of a person qualify for nostalgic value. Even simple robots or AI-assisted objects may qualify for this in future. Artificial friends will be like tamagotchis in need of repairs.

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Maison de santé 1861 Berlin

In the middle of the 19th century Berlin was a small city. The area of Schöneberg (pritty hill) was still perceived as the rural outskirts and featured the first botanical garden next to the town center. A little bit more outside of Berlin the “Maison de santé” was founded as early as 1861 to cure mainly respiratory diseases and what later became the first private clinic proposing a new way to treat psychiatric disorders. Dr. Eduard Levinstein was the founder and the clinic had continued its operations for almost 50 years with his wife and sons taking the lead later on. Prof. Wilhelm Griesinger, known for the scientific approach of psychiatry was a proponent of the non-restrained approach to psychiatric disorders, which allowed persons move more freely while being supervised. The documents and the publication (1877) shown in the exhibition at Museum Schōneberg demonstrate the scientific approach to the treatment of addictions, most notably morphine, which had been widely used during the war of 1870 as tranquilizer and pain relief. The wave of addictions needed hospitals and clinics to treat these addictions. The “Maison de santé” had been established as a retreat and cure for other addictions as well. The memory of the early scientific approaches is an inspiring place and reminder to take care of all forms of addiction. Taking care of body and mind is still the state of the art approach today.

The Exhibition catalog is forthcoming, but the visits and material on display of interest beyond the inhabitants of the „Pritty Hill“. Exhibition catalog is forthcoming

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Margot Friedländer memorial

Berlin has been honored by the return of Margot Friedländer who had survived the Shoa in 2010 at the age of 88. Her whole family was murdered in concentration camps by the Nazis. Ever since her return and especially after her biography had been published she was a restless ambassador in the fight against hate, exclusion and the neo-fascist movements. She has been engaged in interreligious dialogue and even through the ceremony after her death, she tried to bring together different Jewish communities in Berlin.
Irrespective of a person’s background she met everybody on an equal level.
A great example to thousands of people, she managed to meet in her life. Each time she met with pupils or students to speak about her horrific experiences she lived through the same traumatic experiences again and again, but turning this into the strength to “vaccinate” people against the deadly virus of fascism.
The day after she had been buried in her family’s grave in Berlin Weißensee people still had to queue to sign the book in her memory in the Berlin town hall. She will be remembered and missed for her unrivalled humanity and generosity. She became engaged to fight for humanity and remained an activist until her very last day at 103 years of age.

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Leber JA

In Berlin Schoeneberg there is a memorial in preparation for the courageous couple of Julius and Annedore Leber. Julius Leber has been incarcerated several times by the Nazi officials, tortured and finally executed in Berlin. A link to the group of people trying to overthrow the NS regime (1944-7-20) caused his arrest and execution in January 1945. His wife Annedore published several accounts of the resistance movements, which existed during the NS regime. These people were aware of the fact that they were risking their life with such activities, but persisted nevertheless. We owe Julius and Annedore Leber a decent commemoration as we need to remember that such courageous examples existed even until the last few months of the NS dictatorship. The site allows for a building and learning center which could serve as an archive and encouragement to fight for democracy. It is less obvious than we thought it would be.

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Local history

In Berlin and many other big cities in Germany like Munich and Hamburg there are local history projects which tell the stories of specific places or a house linked to liberation day or deportation or courageous acts during the Nazi  grip on Germany and terror across Europe. The initiative « Denkmal am Ort » has become a kind of citizen science project which brings people together to raise awareness again for the cruelties committed under the dictatorship of Hitler and the fascist political movements. Remembrance is not a passive form it can take many active forms as well by simply trying to find an answer to the question what happened during the 30s, 40 and 1950s in the house you are currently living in? Access to archives of cities and small towns can tell very surprising stories about local history. It is a great inter generational experience as well and sometimes the unspoken history turns into a great conversation about history and responsibilities. History is everywhere you just need to keep your eyes and mind open.

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Constitutional Responsibility

The memory of horrors caused by Nazi-led Germany before and during the 2nd World War is our constitutional obligation in the Federal Republic of Germany since its beginnings in 1948. 80 years after the unconditional surrender this has become a state responsibility. Since the shift of tone introduced by Richard von Weizäcker on 8th of May 1985 framing the end of the 2nd WW as liberation day in Europe and Germany. On the same day, 40 years later, the top 5 political instances of democracy in Germany, president, chancellor, presidents of the parliament (1st chanber), the council of the regions (2nd chamber) as well as the constitutional court. The constitutional and moral responsibility of the crimes is not reserved to a presidential address, but all pilars of democracy in Germany committed to the narrative of a liberation of Germans and Europeans at the end of the 2WW. It is a truly European topic to celebrate the end of war jointly in all countries. This is even more the case as the memories of the last survivors of the Shoa in Europe is less transmitted by the rare survivors until today due to very old age. The impressive unity of the top constitutional powers sets a the path for a far reaching renewal of the acknowledgement of a specific constitutional responsibility to counter extremist tendencies. The speeches by Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Julia Klöckner in the Bundestag (Link in German) were remarkable in explaining in plain language, why we are happy about this liberation also in Germany. The emphasis of the end of pervasive and endless oppression and suffering caused by the Nazi-regime are an essential part of this feeling of liberation. With this commemoration Germany today has become even more a European nation which takes its historical responsibility seriously.

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Gedächtniskirche Berlin

The church of commemoration „Gedächtniskirche“ in German has been chosen as the central place of commemoration on Liberation Day in Germany for the ceremony of all religions. All institutions of democracy were represented in addition to the president of the FRG. The church was destroyed, but not completely and the decision to keep the remainders as a permanent warning is visited by thousands of people each year. The public television broadcasts live from the ceremony and some regions of Germany have chosen Liberation Day as a bank holiday following many other European countries. The official end of fighting of the 2nd World War 80 years ago has spurred many events. The need to understand how this could happen and how to guard against extremism to take hold of a country and start a war have preoccupied following generations. The task is not accomplished yet as many people still deny the facts or try to rewrite historical facts with misleading interpretations. The commemoration is well worth a pause to reflect, for example, what were my grandparents doing during these years. Beyond the speeches on this day there are many ways to get involved in carrying the memories to the ones born later.

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Liberation Day

In Germany the celebration of the liberation day 2025-5-8 change years of mixed feelings about what happened during the 2nd world war. In Berlin this day is a bank holiday now and more and more people subscribe to the view that the liberation from Nazi-terror was a blessing for German people. The “Neue Wache” is the room of silence in honor of all victims. We shall always remember. Fighting the early tendencies remains the most effective strategy to avoid extremism of fascist groups. It is the task of Germans born also long after the war to keep the memory of the atrocities alive and to care about prevention of new ones.

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Ugly duckling revival

Ever since Hans Christian Andersen created the fairy tale of the “ugly duckling” (1843) the story has been adapted to all forms of theatre. The adaptation of the fairy tale to the stage in 2019 and the revival in 2023 at the “Deutsches Theater” in Berlin keeps inspiring people to surpass their restrictions or inhibitions, whatever they may be. This early 19th century fairy tale is a fine piece of the search of identity of a person. As it deals with the difficulty of individuals to find their own identity, the fairy tale deals already with the fitting of an individual into society. Society exercises pressure on individuals to conform to written and unwritten rules, which tend to hold up rules like “one size fits all”. Differentiation and allowing individuals to be different from an established norm becomes a central theme of modernity and even more so in the post-modern world. It is the essence of democratic societies to practice a tolerance of persons being or just wanting to be different. The performance at the “Deutsches Theater” might be a test of your level of tolerance or acceptance of diversity for some, but at the time of rising intolerance in and beyond the U.S. under Trump, such performances are dearly needed to celebrate the rich cultural heritage and achievements of far reaching tolerance. It becomes more evident what we are about to loose (again), if such performances would no longer be possible in a controlled or financially overly restricted world of theatre.

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Lasting memory

On the 8th of May 2025 we celebrate 80 days of liberation from the Nazi regime in Germany. It is the liberation of all those who survived the horrors of oppression and war. The Nazi terror intensified  after the power grip in 1933 and reached unprecedented levels throughout the ruling of the NSDAP until the Allied Forces managed to chase down the last fighting cells and Hitler hiding in a bunker before he killed himself. Liberation was the experience of survivors all across Europe. On this day and on many other commemorations it is important to remember the 60 millions of people who died due to the Nazi terror before and during the war. The “Stolperstein” initiative commemorates the millions of Jewish people who were deported or had to flee Germany and even neighboring countries to survive. In Berlin there are yearly activities to clean the “Stolpersteine” so that they are visible enough to remain a lasting memory of the horrors. (Image: Cleaning of Stolperstein in Berlin Schöneberg organised by Michael Biel on 2025-5-4). 

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Persistent beauty

The fashion industry is known for its fast turnover of beautiful designs from season to season. Some designs and often just single pieces survive the fast turnaround of the fashion industry. In many cities we find shops that sell so-called vintage cloths and objects. For men and women it is feasible to rediscover pieces of longer lasting beauty or even persistent beauty. The persistence of an image of beauty may follow the classics of designers and specific brands, but it may also have a very personal touch referring more to a person’s own life course (when we were young) or associated with freeing yourself from your family or societal context. The 60s and  70s were such time periods with radically changing images and ideas about beauty. Since then more individualised clothing seems to take hold, although there is an equally strong tendency of social or age groups to identify themselves through specific clothing, showing that you belong to the “in-group”.

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Archi Octagon

The architecture we see around us has lots of interesting mathematical features. Some are the basis for more complicated calculations. The octagon shape is not that common, but with some formulas the calculations become easier and construction in the real world is more feasible. Well worth to dig a bit deeper into this shape. The geometry of angles and circumference follows rules that have been laid out a long time ago. The webpages explaining this are manifold and it is a project of its own kind to compare them and recommend the best ones. My current favorite is: mathmonks. A reasonable choice is in most cases also wikipedia, the long running amazing knowledge project also for the octagon.

Image: Berlin Europa Center 2025.

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Archi Geometry

Architecture has an obvious and visible link with geometry. Clear lines, rectangular or triangular shapes have dominated for centuries since the Greek temples. Geometry was a discipline that has attracted many scholars and particularly architects. Nowadays the shapes are much more diversified and sometimes complex. The calculation of surfaces, curved lines and shapes have become an issue of more complicated mathematics. Volumes of irregular shapes are a challenge for most people to calculate and heating or cooling sich buildings adds considerable complexity. It is, however, rather relaxing and fascinating to look at the marvels of modern shapes in architecture. Technology and material science have allowed us spectacular progress and designs in recent years. Paris offers a splendid perspective on such developments. 

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Health Systems

Comparing health systems across the EU can be complex at times. However, there seems to be a consensus that the Irish health system is an oddity within the European health systems. On the one hand Ireland is a rather wealthy country in terms of GDP, but the primary care system excludes a high percentage of people from access to it. The scientific journal “The Lancet Regional Health” published a paper and comment on this rather unique exception to the rule to offer a universal health care system to its citizens. The controversy is about the coverage of costs of a visit to a general practitioner. More and probably earlier visits to a GP reduce the (over)burdening of
hospitals later during the life course. Prevention helps a great deal to lower overall costs of a health system.
The roots of the Irish health system have been built upon “subsidiarity”, which means that the public support system should only step in, if the individuals or families are unable to cover costs by themselves. Poor households had to apply for a card giving them access to medical care free of charge. Building hospitals was the next challenge and local communities managed to raise funds in support of such additional structures. In 2025 it can be very costly to enlarge the coverage to a universal access to primary care and the challenge to attract sufficient numbers of general practitioners is a very European one. In this respect Ireland is just like any other European country again.
The question of how to best achieve a universal health care system remains an important one. Apparently, you can be rather “health poor” in an otherwise “economically rich” country.

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Marx Home

The home of an influential philosopher, economist and political scientist is not easily presented like a home of a musician, a composer or an author. However, the home of Karl Marx in Trier on the Moselle river succeeds to present the biographical links of growing up in a historic city, the bourgeois upbringing of the young Marx and his formation as an independent and even revolutionary thinker of the economy and society. In 2025 the home is a museum supported by the Friedrich Ebert Foudation with a great online guide and access to additional scientific material. For authors like Karl Marx it is always of interest to follow not only the origin and evolution of the thought process, but also the shifts in the reception of his writings by subsequent generations. This part of the exhibition and an audio guide (downloadable as App).

In 2025 with an apparently ruthless capitalism at work in the biggest economy of the globe, the reminder that the economy is best to be understood as a political economy, which focuses on self-interest and profitable business deals, we find in Karl Marx still a worthwhile reminder of economic development even in the 21st century. The note-taking and studies in Exile in London are well documented in the tiny home and museum. Studying the misery of exploitation in supply chains and international commerce remains a topic of continuing interest as well. 

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Liszt home

In Budapest we can visit one of the longer living places of Franz Liszt or Ferenc Liszt as some Hungarians would insist to call him. The Beethoven trained Carl Czerny offered piano and music classes free of charge to the young Franz Liszt in Vienna at the age of 11. In the biography by Klára Hamburger she describes the Paris years of Liszt from 1823 until 1839 as the most important ones for the pianist and particularly for his later compositions. Born in Hungary, the son of 2 Austrian parents he was trained in Paris by amongst others the Czech professor of the Conservatoire de Paris Antonin Reicha just like Chopin, Flotow or Offenbach. Writing an opera was the “must do” for a composer who aimed for the highest possible career at the time. In a letter to George Sand, Liszt (published 1937) complained already about the social status of musicians in society as servants to the higher ranks of society. Similar to Ravel many years later Liszt was rejected as official scholar by the Conservatoire de Musique and his wish to marry a daughter of noble decent was rejected early in his career. Such experiences probably contributed to his leaning towards the romantic form of expressions in music during most of his compositions. Literature, paintings of the French romantic period and the traveling artist “voyages et pèlerinages” became influential in his creative process. The competition between composers must have been fierce at the time and despite ample opportunities to perform in public and private venues making a living from music wasn’t always easy at the beginning. More than 100 years after his death his compositions are still a challenge for all pianists and the Hungarian Rhapsodies probably his greatest homage to his early childhood.

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Tchaikovsky home

During the time before the “Zeitenwende” it was easy to visit the home of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in St. Petersburg. Therefore, we refer to our memory of the visit and the already 10 years ago restrained liking and appreciation of the Russian officials for the aristocratic composer, even accused to not be sufficiently Russian in his music compared other Russian composers. The composer had diverse love affairs, which were also not conform to official doctrines. The world wide success of his compositions, mostly known for his ballet music, remains popular in the 21st century. Similar to Beethoven, the biography by Malte Korff (Tschaikowsky, in German), highlights the final symphony as his masterpiece. The seems to be a reason to study “the last works” of composers specifically. The mature compositions appear to reflect on previous work and build or comment on previous work. The 6. symphony “Pathétique” was completed in his last year of his life, only at age 53. The final IV-th piece of it is entitled “Adagio lamentoso” and ends in very calm tempo and almost silence like a withering away heart beat. To my surprise I found a similarly very quiet ending in one of his early piano composition when he was only 28 years old “Romance Opus 5, Andante cantabile”. This early piece also ended “più lento” and from pp to ppp. (compare extract of image of notes below).

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Sovereignty of People

In France the judiciary has made an influential decision to ban a politician from the possibility to be elected after conviction of fraud. This is just what is to be expected from the 3rd power in the organization of a democratic state. It is surprising that there was a political debate about a person convicted for a crime to be eligible for public office. Several eminent scholars published columns in major newspapers to support the judicial decision. Pierre Rosanvallon focused both on the justification of the verdict and the constitutional role attributed to the judiciary to operate as a kind of memory of the “general will of the people”, the ultimate sovereign. In the struggle of power within a state the judiciary defends individual rights as well as moderates between the executive and the legislative branch. In the theory of democracy this creates a double bind situation in which the individual has a right to be defended against the state and individuals who ask for judgment of cases one against another one. Eric Halphen has also argued in favor of the often neglected role of the judiciary to stand up for the “general interest”, a notion which is not easy to define without historical references in each country and its historical trajectory of democracy. The short debate about the role of the judiciary has strengthened the defensive capacity of the French democracy. Other, even mature democracies may turn their eyes on the decision of the judges involved not to shun away from unpopular decisions. The independence of the judiciary is part of the sovereignty of the people and non-negotiable part of it.

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Housing renovation

The huge amount of buildings that need renovation is a task for each generation. New constructions are relatively easy to realize even to the best available standards. Particularly energy standards asking nowadays for serious isolation of buildings are easy starting from scratch. Energetic renovations of existing buildings are much more challenging and have to take into account the various stages or predilections of previous generations. Repurposing of buildings raise additional questions like transforming a family home into a representative office building. New technologies like fiberglass instead of copper cables or copper or plastic tubes instead of other hazardous materials cause additional costs and worries. The use of asbestos for interiors of previous generations has created the greatest liability for existing buildings. Technological choices of the past and also of the present (heat pump or not) have lasting consequences and sometimes even health effects. To cherish old buildings and styles is a mixed blessing as the renovation of housing confronts home renovators with more tricky challenges than building a new home. Incremental repairs might do the trick rather than all in one go renovation, however, you might enter into a situation when renovations are always on your mind. Not only the times are a changing, but homes are a changing, too.

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Private Intimacy

Intimacy has been reserved for private affairs for centuries. Although in the medieval ages formally the right of so-called noble men could be very far-reaching into intimacy of families when the permission to marry was quite restrictive. The private intimacy is the central theme of the Paris exhibition at MAD (Link) « Private Lives ». The organization into 14 almost private rooms around a larger center piece on design leads us through the major topics of intimacy. Maybe as a surprise to some, the exhibition starts with the major actors of change related to privacy and intimacy, i. e. women. Opening up enclosures gave women more room for intimacy and at the same time it made intimacy a conscious choice and decision. “A room of one’s own” is an important step in personal development of children particularly with respect to one’s intimate life. Restrooms are another issue of intimacy, just consider recent adaptations tor m/f/d people. A whole set of accessories are on display which previously were intimate products or even secrets prepared for public viewing. Of course odors are part of the experience with a test space of noble perfumes. The various manifestations of sexuality has brought about a growing number of pleasure objects, which might also be criticized as a growing commodification of intimacy as well. The connected bedroom and the risk of surveillance are raised to warn on overexposure on social networks. Intimacy in prisons or community shelters closes the exhibition before the final highlight the room on “conversations with oneself”. A whole literary form of keeping an intimate journal has arisen from the conversations not intended to be shared with others, at least not during one’s lifetime. After a person’s death for some persons of public interest even their private intimate journals will be published shifting the balance between the private and public parts of intimacy. (Image below from exhibition, photo bottom left, Matisse painting on wall while in bed in old age). 

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Intimate change

Society changes and with it so does intimacy. The major changes pass through the behavioral changes of persons and sooner or later the whole society adopts such changes as the new normal. Trends of individualization have moved over centuries as the exhibition in the Museum of decorative art (MAD) in Paris demonstrates. At the same time the changed individual approaches to intimacy have become more widely spread quickly over time. Social media have accelerated such new trends again. Social class is yet another intervening variable in this context which created different speeds of adjustment as well as sustaining differences in kind. 

Religious beliefs and practices have made claims about how individuals should handle intimate relationships and affairs. Legal issues are defined by each society to guide moral practices as well. Hence, the sociology of intimacy is a huge topic and comparing societies an interesting topic. The development of intimacy over a person’s life course, however, is given little attention due to a lack of adequate longitudinal data. From the exhibition we are encouraged to think about the relationship of hygiene and intimacy. Bathrooms accompany us throughout our lives and privacy was originally a bourgeois concept. Over the life course we move from dependency to independence and maybe dependency again in very old age. The images (below) from the MAD exhibition range from basics of bath tubs to a painting of Edgar Degas in the background. Instagramer or YouTuber share lots of images and stylized arrangements of bathrooms on social media. It seems that intimacy is moving further into the public domain. 

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Aufklärung Enlightenment

The period of the enlightenment is a historically defined time period of the late 17th and the whole 18th century. Although often associated only with Europe as its origin, the American contributions and influences have been far-reaching as well, just thinking of the “Declaration of Independence“. This historical period is, however, most interesting through the unrivalled contribution and pivotal point to the history of ideas. The exhibition and catalogue on the “Aufklärung – Enlightenment” by the German Historical Museum in Berlin exposes many of the historical editions of books that “made the enlightenment”. Philosophical writings and readings (Immanuel Kant: Kritik der …) of the period (especially in German) are tough even for native speakers of German, unlike reading of French (e.g. Jean-Jacques Rousseau) or English (e.g. John Locke) contributions to the enlightenment. Maybe this is already one of the reasons why in France the revolutionary ideas were put into practice through population-wide political movements.
The historical period of the enlightenment came to a close in the early 19th century (1806 another pivotal year). The English or French terms of enlightenment or lumière maybe be interpreted in a way that other historical periods like the medieval ages were periods of darkness, even later periods again did not live up to the idealist prerogatives of the evolution of humanity. The German term “Aufkärung” has its etymological roots more in the action associated with “to enlighten”. This hints at the continuing process of the ideas of the enlightenment in modern terms the process of individualisation, tolerance and autonomy.
There many valuable short interviews shown in the exhibition and Jürgen Habermas contributed a short closing statement to the catalogue of the exhibition on the unfinished project of the “Aufklärung” inviting us to continue also with the “Kritik der Aufklärung”. After all the enlightenment did not save us from repeated events like “Apokalyses“.
(Image: Émilie du Châtelet, below book on Newton Physics in DHM Enlightenment exhibition 2025).

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Apocalypse Depicted

At the beginning of the 21st century we have a renewed interest in depictions of the Apocalypse. “L’Apocalisse di Giovanni” has been illustrated in various Christian monasteries and some traveled quite a bit. The version of the Apocalypse (Link) which was attributed to Cambrai is a copy of the older original version found in the City library of Trèves, which dates back to the year of about 825. A flemish version of the 16th century is to be found at the BNF in Paris. Throughout the centuries the “Apocalypsis”has been reworked. The version of Trèves has the “carolingish” depiction characteristized by a presentation of image on one page and text on another page. Nowadays we are used to futuristic images and have known even worse experiences of apocalyptic events (Nazi terror). Earth quakes or man-made climate change with heating of the planet, storms, draughts and floods testify for the renewed interest in the Apocalypse. Other man-made technological innovations like rockets. atomic bombs, chemical and biological weapons overshadow even the “natural” ones. The potential of AI to cause destruction is not fully assessed until today. Swarms of drones guided by AI might reach apocalyptic levels as well. We just remind ourselves of the bombing of walls of a water reservoir by Russia in Ukraine. The Apocalypse will remain the original example of a horror story and our strange fascination for such texts, images or movies is likely to stay. (Image: extract of anonymous 1st quarter of 9th century. Trier Stadtbibliothek, Schatzkammer. Wikipedia public domain).

Apocalypse
Screenshot
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Law and Witches

Medical and chemical authorities have been questioned for many centuries. As far back as Friedrich Spee (1591-1635) in the early 17th century there were even among the clergy men with enlightened views on what might be helpful ways to assist people on their journey to better health or simply pain relief. This did include many unhelpful or detrimental methods as well. Scientific rigor was not well established at that time, which opened up many doors for alternative diagnosis and treatment. From a historical and sociological perspective the closing procedures of professional organizations are interesting as well as opposition to them. Early moderators between hardliner positions are rare at the times of forceful and fierce competition between opinions and doctrines that characterized medieval history. In the absence of an independent judiciary earlier moderation could be influential in specific instances. A testimony for can be found in a documentation of the biography of Friedrich Spee and the society that promotes the memory of such exemplary behavior.