Life is a Cabaret: A Journey to Berlin

In the last week of April, ten hardy Graham School students joined assoc. dean Cary Nathenson for a cultural-historical tour of Berlin. For most, it was their first trip to the new/old German capital. The group took full advantage of Berlin’s walkable streets and complex public transit network, strolling (literally) through Berlin’s history at the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, and exploring how the city’s urban development was tied to its rail system with special guest instructor and author Michael Bienert. Another highlight was touring Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum, where we also dined with museum staff. Other memorable meals were taken in the courtyard of Bertolt Brecht’s apartment house (followed by a performance in his theater, the Berliner Ensemble) and lunch at the top of the Reichstag, the German parliament building. We also experienced Berlin’s postwar culinary traditions at a popular Turkish restaurant in the Kreuzberg district. When we were not eating and walking, the group was discussing 20th century Berlin literature and film in the comfortable seminar room at our hotel. Fortunately, the excellent weather we had most of the week enabled us to have most of our learning on-sight at many locations throughout the city.

Another tour is in the works for spring 2011. For more information, please visit our website or call 773/702-1723.

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April 25-May 1, 2010

Berlin is the most interesting city in Europe today, bearing the traces of its sublime and, at times, traumatic history on its sleeve. Join us for a cultural, literary journey through the many transformations of this great metropolis.

Life is a Cabaret: A Journey to Berlin–click here to access registration form and other links.

In the 1920s, Berlin defined what it meant to be modern: it was the intellectual fulcrum of a liberal republic and a glamorous café society. A decade later, Berlin harbored a criminal government that destroyed this atmosphere of tolerance and many of the great works of art and literature created by its talented freethinkers. After 1945, the bombed out city became a frontline of the Cold War, but with the fall of the Wall in 1989, Berlin began a new era as a center of creativity. We will explore Berlin’s fascinating cultural landscape that has inspired some of Europe’s greatest minds from the Enlightenment to the present. Our focus will be on the culture and history of modern Berlin. We will walk on the “wild side” of Berlin as described by Christopher Isherwood in Goodbye to Berlin (basis for the movie, Cabaret), explore the revolutionary theater of Bertolt Brecht, and stroll the streets of the Weimar Republic through the feuilletons of Joseph Roth and Alfred Döblin’s modernist classic, Berlin Alexanderplatz. We will trace the history of Jewish Berlin, its destruction by the Nazis, and surprising revitalization in this vibrant, multicultural city. Together, we will also discover the cultural legacy of 40 years of division between East and West, a history that still today marks Berlin even 20 years since unification.

The tour consists of a six-day stay in Berlin with daily presentations, guided walking tours, visits to literary and cultural sites, and free time to explore on your own.

Tour Leader

Cary Nathenson is associate dean for Humanities, Arts, and Sciences and Summer Session at the University of Chicago’s Graham School of General Studies. He has taught German literature and culture at Northwestern University, University of Houston, Grinnell College, and Duke University and has published on German film, German-Jewish topics, and contemporary German society. Mr. Nathenson has been a regular visitor to Berlin since 1989. He received a PhD in German from Washington University in St. Louis.

Tuition

$2895 for double-occupancy; single room supplment: $300. Breakfast included.

Excludes transatlantic airfare and some meals.

For additional information, please call 773/702-1723.

Berlin Tour 2010: Highlights

* accommodations in a 4-star hotel in central Berlin

* breakfast each day, a welcome and farewell dinner, and several lunches

* course packet with literary readings and visual materials for discussion on-site, led by an expert on Germany culture

* guided walking tours of historic, cultural, and architectural landmarks, including:

* the Brandenburg Gate and Unter den Linden, central Berlin’s historic parkway

* The Reichstag, Germany’s old and new parliament building

* the Nikolai Quarter, Berlin’s oldest district

* the Museum Island, home to the Pergamon Museum’s collection of antiquities

* the Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin’s most elegant, French-inspired square

* The Kurfürstendamm, the “Magnificent Mile” of West Berlin

* Charlottenburg Palace and gardens

* historical and contemporary sites of Jewish Berlin, including Daniel Libeskind’s acclaimed Jewish Museum

* Berlin of the Cold War: Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall memorial

* the Berliner Ensemble, Bertolt Brecht’s theater

* the trendy Prenzlauer Berg and the multicultural Kreuzberg neighborhoods

* Evening cultural performances

* Optional excursion to nearby Potsdam, the glorious Prussian capital of the 18th century

In order to experience the city “at ground level” and authentically, we will take full advantage of Berlin’s extensive and convenient public transportation network. Please also be prepared for a fair amount of walking and fresh air!