München, 2009

One thought on “München, 2009”

Smadar Sheffi says:

June 8, 2018 at 6:33 am

Munich. Munich was an Ideal place to conduct my research in medieval art. The manuscript collection in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek is one of the finest in the world. Thanks to careful, timely evacuation, the collection of manuscripts and incunabula was kept intact protected from the horrors of war. I could use it, savior these treasures of European culture.
It is still impossible to look at this beautiful city, rebuilt after the war as a close replica of its prewar state, with its endless treasures, without remembering what was not kept, not protected. Like a bitter aftertaste or hunting ghost this accompanied me in the library, the Englischer Garten , the Alte and Neue Pinacoteca,the elegant boulevards.
Arielle’s photograph is mundane, capturing that sense of ease the Munich likes to boost. A tree almost obscures the building behind it allowing us to treat it as some generic “Traditional Architecture” as if out of time. The row of bicycles so peaceful, so “green” stand in perfect harmony with this picture of stability. The view, an intoxicating solid promise for continuity is what probably unfolded every day to its Jewish population in the early 1930ies, even after the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch Putsch, perhaps after the 1933 Nazi rise to power.
In the fairy tale beauty of Munich I used to think to myself that I would most probably have stayed when I should have left, that these regel mansions and shady trees ,parks and courtyards would have deceived me. This lingering notion never left me, crept in to moments of joy, of feeling at home, of embracing the illusion of belonging.

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