Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
It is a retirement home for old illuminated letters and advertisement signs: the Buchstabenmuseum (letter museum) at Berlin, Germany. Since already 14 years a club of volunteers collects and exhibits letters and advertisement signs with a history. They had to change their location already five times and are now located under a Stadtbahnbogen near S-Bahn stop Bellevue.
Continue reading “Buchstabenmuseum”
The Hessisches Landesmuseum at Kassel, Germany is a museum about the history of Hesse from the very early days on. It is located in a building dateing back to the year 1913 close to the Brüder-Grimm-Platz and I guess I would have never visited it if I hadn’t received a recommendation. It’s the cumbersome name and the ancient building that didn’t let me expect anything interesting inside – but I was absolutely wrong.
Continue reading “Hessisches Landesmuseum”
South Kensington is the place-to-be at London, United Kingdom for museum enthusiasts. People get here mostly for the Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert. In between these giants and their fantastic architectures it is easy to overlook another pearl: the Science Museum.
Continue reading “Science Museum”
People dislike to think about the end of their lifes. That is one reason why there aren’t many museums about death, even if it is inevitable for everyone. The special burial traditions of the region of the Alps is shown on the Museumsfriedhof Tirol in Kramsach, Austria. If you’re going via Brennero through the Alps it is a good stop. Don’t expect a scientific approach – it is rather an obscure collection of graveyard signs that make you wonder and laugh.
Continue reading “Museumsfriedhof”
I don’t know how many times I passed the entrance of the Stadtmuseum of Kassel without entering it. It is located within the old Karlshospiz at the Ständeplatz but has the entrance in the rear. Maybe it were the windows closed with bricks that kept me from entering the building with the nice portal. At least I didn’t expect too many interesting things inside.
Continue reading “Stadtmuseum”
I can’t go to London, England without visiting the river Thames. Even if I’m just on a short business trip I have to walk through the city to get to the water. Sometimes I just walk along the river from the Millennium Bridge to the Tower Bridge or from Embankment to Westminister. Sometimes I like to have a beer on the water at Tamesis Dock. Another wonderful place with good views is the Greenwich Pier where you can also admire the Cutty Sark.
Continue reading “Cutty Sark”
You shouldn’t expect too much when reading about the king’s palace at Podgorica, Montenegro. It is a nice building within the Kruševac park near river Morača, it was built in 1891 and became the winter palace of king Nikola of Montenegro. Later the building was used as a school, a hospital and today it is a museum.
Continue reading “Dvorac Petrovića”
Kotor, Montenegro is an ancient trade and harbour city. It is therefore no surprise that seafaring plays an important role in the history of the city and that there is a museum dedicated to this at the historic city center: the maritime museum of Montenegro (Pomorski muzej Crne Gore). It is not a very big or modern museum, but it is worth a visit if you’re interested in the topic or want to learn a bit about the history of the city.
Continue reading “Maritime museum”
The regime of Enver Hoxha made sure to create enough bunkers throughout the country. But where would the government flee to in case of an attack on Tirana, Albania? In the eastern suburbs of the capital city you can find the answer: a giant fallout shelter. Close to the Dajti Ekspres you can find a long tunnel through a mountain and when leaving the tunnel and passing some buildings you can find the bunker entrances.
Continue reading “Fascism & Communism”
For a long time nobody really knew what was happening in the house with leaves growing around it – but everybody had a suspicion. First the Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) of the occupying Germans used the building for interrogations, then the Albanian secret service, the Sigurimi, took it over for the same purpose. It became their central office between 1944 and 1991. Since 2017 the Shtëpia e Gjetheve (‘House of Leaves‘) is now open as the Museum of Secret Surveillance.
Continue reading “House of Leaves”