The following blogs appear in a site I help administer, Coventry Association for International Friendship. I have collected four blogs I have written from that site, in case they will interest anyone reading my education blog.
The Power of Silence
13 February is the date on which Dresdners commemorate the destruction of their city in air raids carried out in 1945 at the tail end of the second world war. [1]
The day is marked publicly in several events : the ringing of church bells, special concerts and no doubt through private reflection too.
An important mark of remembrance is the Menschenkette or human chain formed in the evening. This is a coming together for a reflection on what happened, why it happened and a reminder that only though our combined efforts will it not happen again. In fact, this year remembrance events have taken place against an upsurge in support for extremist parties in Germany and this had led to a push back by concerned citizens to say no to hate and intolerance. One consequence was that the Menschenkette was particularly well-observed.
After the Menschenkette we were invited to the commemoration concert in the philharmonic hall. This year they chose Dvořák’s Stabat Mater (no I didn’t know it either). The English conductor Thomas Beacham was once reported as saying that ‘The English may not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes’. Well I liked this one – there were vocal soloists, a large choir, all the expected insturments plus organ at one point – the whole works. I had not checked the text so I had no idea what they were singing about but it did not matter voices soared and music whirled.
And here is a thing. Many people have observed that post-Covid audiences at least in England are giving ovations at the slightest opportunity. Some worry that this may be lowering the bar – how can you tell a from a hearfelt appriecation of the performance from a ‘let’s pretend we have all had a good time?’ However, I just see it as evidence that we as a nation are not as buttoned up we once were. Whatever the case, the Stabat Mater deserved a standing ovation, it was magnificent. But what it got was silence. The whole audience had been asked to stand in silent remembrance. You could hear a pin drop. The performers then walked off. The silence was as stunning as the concert and I was not ready for it to end. As Bob Marley once put it ‘one good thing about music is when it hits you feel OK’.
Notes
[1] You can read about the raids carried out in Dresden from a number of sources including the Wikipedia entry here. Controversy surrounds the bombing just how many were killed? What was the rationale for blanket bombing Dresden a city not known for being an industrial centre? Was this all an act of revenge? Sadly the numbers killed in the raids is a further matter of controversy, it is generally accepted that the accepted estimate from professional historians is around 25,000 people but right-wing groups have put the number much higher.
Parkrun in Dresden and Coventry
Parkrun is a free 5 kilometre timed event to encourage us to do a bit of running. In UK it has become a bit of a phenomenon and there are over 1,000 events around the country every Saturday. It is estimated that that over 3 million people have done a park run at some time or another, and this has come about by encouraging people who do not naturally see themselves as runners to give it a go. So you will see both club runners and novice runner (or indeed walkers) at Coventry park run. We enjoy the buzz of running with other people, and I know people who search out park run as running in company seems to help them with their physical and / or mental health. I should add here that I quite get it if running is not for you, but why not take up a sport, go for a walk or go clubbing?
In Germany park run is newer though quickly growing. The first event was in 2017 and over 200,000 have taken part since (though on any given week the number will be much lower than this).
I have been asking myself as to why parkrun was slower to take off in Germany and my theory – there to be knocked down – is that running was already better established here. In Dresden I have seen people in various states of fitness running quite happily alongside the river Elbe. Perhaps in England running is not so well established as a leisure activity. Many people in Coventry only do parkrun as it does not make them feel self-conscious as the way running in on their own or even in a small group does.
So what about Dresden parkrun? Compared to Cov it feels a bit cross countryish as you are running along a path by the side of a river. When I ran it the path was a bit muddy but not slippy, and the river was in full flow. In summer the ground gets hard and the river might well dry-up.
Today and Tomorrow
From 9-18 February 2024 a consortium of Dresden cultural institutions (Weltoffenes Dresden or WOD) have put on a joint ‘banner art project’ – these are public displays of art dotted around the city centre.
The initiative is in remembrance of the destruction of Dresden (13-15 February 1945) in the second world war, and falls under the general idea that what we do today shapes democratic and humanitarian values in the future. Most of the work on show were originally produced as photos, but there is also at least one photo of an artefact – a particular striking tapestry – and a ‘peep hole’ installion.
Rather than reproduce the images here go to the Facebook page or better the web site if you want to know more. On the site just click on the image itself to get the detail (this at least for me was not obvious!). I was drawn to the photograph ‘Thrown in to cold waters’ by Alegra Nicka and Ina Weise which was taken in Brazzaville in Congo – one of Dresden’s 13 twinned cities.
Schiffsherberge Pöpelmann: A niche place to stay
One of the more unusual places to stay in Dresden is on the boat hotel Poppelmann.
The boat took to the water in October 1963 and was used for day trips from Dresden, sailing, well chugging, up and down the River Elbe. The boat was first named the Karl Marx and was one of four boats, the others were: the Ernst Thalmann, Wilheim Pieck and Friedrich Engels.
After the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of Germany the Karl Marx was repurposed as a training and support centre for young unemployed people. It was later shut down and opened again in 2013 as a floating hotel, under the name ‘Schiffsherberge Pöpelmann’ (Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann (1662–1736) was a well known German architect who helped to rebuild Dresden after a great fire). Following a slow start the boat hotel became a niche place for those wanting a different place to stay. It is a little more basic than most hotels in the city centre but the cabins are a good size and there is a communal common room. The boat is anchored and is quite stationary!
One attraction of the boat is that you are a little out of the city centre – though some may see that as a disadvantage. But being on the river means you can see the local wildlife. A grey heron will often perch on top of the boat and you may see a kingfisher too. At the right time of year you might see beavers and racoons.
I’d like to say it was a hilly but that is an exaggeration, but it felt just a bit more up and down than the memorial park. The run takes you along the river and back again, so just one lap. Thankfully, going out tended to be more up and coming back more down. There are fewer people running in Dresden which makes it easier to get to know your fellow runners if that is what you want to do (most I met spoke English) and it turned out that Laura who was managing the run had studied at Warwick uni and used to do the memorial park run as a student. In fact this experience had made her want to set up a parkrun when she settled in Dresden.
Michael Hammond 