Germany Exhibition in London
25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the British Museum in London and the BBC are taking a closer look at German history.
A grey VW Beetle is parked in the foyer of the British Museum to advertise its latest exhibition, which is about Germany and its history. Entitled “Germany. Memories of a Nation”, the special exhibition opened to a great deal of interest. The man behind it is the museum‘s director Neil MacGregor, who is keen to portray an image of Germany to his fellow countrymen that goes beyond the “krauts” cliché. 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Scottish director also intends to show the British public how the reunified Germany is defined by its history.
“I feel that it is particularly important just now for British people to understand the most influential European country. Of all the major European nations, Germany is the one we know and understand least well, partly because our knowledge of Germany ceased to advance 70 years ago“, explained MacGregor in an interview with German daily newspaper “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. The 68-year-old art historian from Glasgow himself spent time in Hamburg during his youth and speaks German. For the exhibition, he had 200 exhibits transported to the British capital, fragments of memories being used to span a period of six centuries. Goethe’s colour charts are on show alongside objects from the Bauhaus era and a reproduction of the gate at Buchenwald concentration camp. Although the shadow cast by the Hitler period is always present, the exhibition wants to broaden horizons. This has met with a very positive reception, as the image people in the British Isles have of Germany has changed – as museum director MacGregor concurs: “If you ask young Brits under the age of 20 which European city they would most like to visit, you’ll hear only one answer: Berlin.”
Successful radio series about the Germans
At the end of September, a much-praised 30-part radio series began on the BBC: in it, Neil MacGregor explains his subject and thus to some extent Germany. Bach chorales among other things can be heard in the background, as can the anthem of the SED, East Germany’s ruling Socialist Unity Party. The programmes are available to download, and a book based on the radio manuscripts will come out in November, the German translation published by the Beck-Verlag due to follow in 2015. Furthermore, numerous events focusing on Germany and German-British relations are being staged in parallel to the exhibition.
The “Germany. Memories of a Nation” exhibition continues at the British Museum in London until 25 January 2015
www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/germany_memories_of_a_nation.aspx