Berlin originated in the 13th century from two marked towns, Cȍlln and Berlin, on the sandy banks of the river Spree, and even today it is possible to see how four historical periods have left their mark on the town. The first is the age of the Electors of Bradenburg; in 1470 they made the Palace in, Cȍlln their residence. Frederick William of Bradensburg, strengthened the banks of the Spree and made out of Berlin, abandoned by half of its inhabitants in the Thirty Years’ war, a clean and respectable town, and it soon became an important cultural center, which was due in no small measure to the hospitality given to exiled Huguenot scholars and craftsmen.
In its second historical period of Berlin was the town of the Kings of Prussia. We are reminded of this today by Charlottenburg palace, which Frederick I, the first King of Prussia, had built for his wife Sophie-Charlotte. Frederick William I enlarged Berlin and built the new suburb of Friedrichstraβe and the Wilhelmstraβe, which were later to form the government quarters. It was Frederick the Great who laid out Berlin’s most famous street, Unter den Linden, at the end of which the Bradenburg Gate was erected in 1789.
In 1871, when Berlin became the capital of the German Empire, the third great period began for the town. During the industrial age it had flourished tremendously and could soon boast one million inhabitants. All this part of the old Berlin of the kings and kaisers with its neo-classical buildings is today situated in East Berlin. Up to 1860 the present town district called Mitte around the Alexanderplatz was Berlin proper, and the Brandenburg Gate formed the architectural boundary of the town. Only at this time did the town begin to expand westwards, and smart residential areas center around the large new connecting road, the Kurfȕstendamm, extended out towards Grunewald.
The fourth period is the time between the end of the First World War and 1933, when Berlin became a town of international standing. This Greater Berlin came into being in 1920, when the whole growth of town districts, suburbs, villages, and land with its total of four million people was merged together under a uniform administration to form an organic whole. Thus a major city was born, with one-fifth of its total area of 350 square miles consisting of woods, lakes, and rivers, and which, with its fresh climate, could rightly call itself the healthiest city in the world.
This period was Berlin’s great age especially as far as culture is concerned. Since as early as 1700 Berlin possessed Germany’s first Academy of Sciences, as far back as 1696 the first Academy of Arts and the University founded by Humboldt in 1810 had long been Germany’s intellectual center. But now, in addition to all this, Berlin with more than fifty theaters, became a town with world-wide influence on the drama, a world-famous opera and concert town, a town of museums, whose art treasures could well stand comparison with those of London and Paris. But, this heyday was short-lived.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
How well do you know Alexandre Dumas?
The year was 1807. Five-year-old Alexandre Dumas knew that he was different from the other boys in the sall town of Villers-Cotterets. For Alexandre was half black and half white. And nobody ever let him forget that.
Education bored young Alexandre and as he grew, he preferred spending his time hunting and leading an outdoor life. But when Alexandre turned sixteen, his whole life changed. He saw his first play-a performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and from that moment on, his dream was to go to Paris and become a playwright.
Dumas worked for years as a clerk and wrote in his spare time. He had success writing plays and travel books. But, it wasn’t until 1844 that Alexandre Dumas hit upon the one kind of story that was to make him rich and famous. That was the historical novel.
In his many historical novels, Dumas took people who really existed in French history and events that actually happened. He added main characters from his own imagination and created entertaining and amusing adventure stories around them.
The most famous of all Dumas’ historical novels are The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask.
Alexandre Dumas wrote more than six hundred books in his lifetime, more than any other man, living or dead. And he made money from them. But he spent everything he earned building elegant mansions, entertaining great artists and writers of Paris buying theaters and newspaper, and romancing many women.
The man who made the world rich with all his books died in 1870-penniless!
Education bored young Alexandre and as he grew, he preferred spending his time hunting and leading an outdoor life. But when Alexandre turned sixteen, his whole life changed. He saw his first play-a performance of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and from that moment on, his dream was to go to Paris and become a playwright.
Dumas worked for years as a clerk and wrote in his spare time. He had success writing plays and travel books. But, it wasn’t until 1844 that Alexandre Dumas hit upon the one kind of story that was to make him rich and famous. That was the historical novel.
In his many historical novels, Dumas took people who really existed in French history and events that actually happened. He added main characters from his own imagination and created entertaining and amusing adventure stories around them.
The most famous of all Dumas’ historical novels are The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask.
Alexandre Dumas wrote more than six hundred books in his lifetime, more than any other man, living or dead. And he made money from them. But he spent everything he earned building elegant mansions, entertaining great artists and writers of Paris buying theaters and newspaper, and romancing many women.
The man who made the world rich with all his books died in 1870-penniless!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Wine: The Making & The Storage
Wine is made from two ingredients: yeast and grape juice. Though, any fruit can be used, like pineapple for tequila, but still grape dominated. Traditionally, the wine making process is to crush the grapes. Today, the wine maker used crusher machine to break the grape skin to release the juice.
Yeast turns grape juice into wine. Wild yeast spores in the air and all that is really needed to make wine is time and an open container of grape juice.
During fermentation, yeast spores will reproduce exponentially until all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed. During this fermentation process, the sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
The making process of wine is not simple and either the storage. Avoid bottles that have wine residue near the foil covering the cork. Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this those bottles were laid down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.
The wine may have been damaged by heat. Wine must be stored in a cool place and away from direct sunlight, with bottles on their sides to keep the cork moistened. Wine stays fine for several days if recorked and refrigerated.
Sparkling and white wines should be opened just prior to serving. Red wines can be opened well before serving to allow them for “breathing”, mix with air to develop their full aroma and flavor.
The screw cap on wine bottle seems to have a divisive effect on wine drinkers. It puts some in mind of lower quality wines. But to others, it is the savior of wine by protecting its quality. The screw cap wine has been used since the mid-1970s. In the last 10 years that it has become an acceptable alternatively to corks.
The alternatives are not cheaper than corks. The price that wine makers pay for them is similar to that of high grade corks. Lower grade corks have more grains in them and, depending on the way they are handled, have a great risk of mould infection.
Wines that are meant to be consumed within five years should be put under screw caps. The technology has improved and wine producers have become more aware of the downsides. The major one being that the seal is so good that the wine is not exposed to enough air. This can cause odd smells from trapped sulphur. If you encounter this, just let the wine breathe or better still, decant it.
Winemakers now take every effort to ensure their product is free of faults and they deserve a reliable closure. The issue is when it comes to store wine is that it needs to be maintained at a cool temperature of between 12 and 16 degrees Celcius. Several modern wines do not need to be aged over a great period of storage time.
Yeast turns grape juice into wine. Wild yeast spores in the air and all that is really needed to make wine is time and an open container of grape juice.
During fermentation, yeast spores will reproduce exponentially until all of the fermentable sugars have been consumed. During this fermentation process, the sugars are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
The making process of wine is not simple and either the storage. Avoid bottles that have wine residue near the foil covering the cork. Cork was developed as a bottle closure in the late 17th century. It was only after this those bottles were laid down for aging, and the bottle shapes slowly changed from short and bulbous to tall and slender.
The wine may have been damaged by heat. Wine must be stored in a cool place and away from direct sunlight, with bottles on their sides to keep the cork moistened. Wine stays fine for several days if recorked and refrigerated.
Sparkling and white wines should be opened just prior to serving. Red wines can be opened well before serving to allow them for “breathing”, mix with air to develop their full aroma and flavor.
The screw cap on wine bottle seems to have a divisive effect on wine drinkers. It puts some in mind of lower quality wines. But to others, it is the savior of wine by protecting its quality. The screw cap wine has been used since the mid-1970s. In the last 10 years that it has become an acceptable alternatively to corks.
The alternatives are not cheaper than corks. The price that wine makers pay for them is similar to that of high grade corks. Lower grade corks have more grains in them and, depending on the way they are handled, have a great risk of mould infection.
Wines that are meant to be consumed within five years should be put under screw caps. The technology has improved and wine producers have become more aware of the downsides. The major one being that the seal is so good that the wine is not exposed to enough air. This can cause odd smells from trapped sulphur. If you encounter this, just let the wine breathe or better still, decant it.
Winemakers now take every effort to ensure their product is free of faults and they deserve a reliable closure. The issue is when it comes to store wine is that it needs to be maintained at a cool temperature of between 12 and 16 degrees Celcius. Several modern wines do not need to be aged over a great period of storage time.
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