Elease's Europe Adventures

When we went to the Reichstag building I noticed that it was one of the most grand new looking buildings in Germany.  Especially the part that we were in.  It seemed to me like the Eiffel Tower of Germany in consideration with the cool view and the way people were coming just for the view and the pictures.  I noticed that they created a centerpiece for what we were walking around that made it beautiful all the way up to the top.  I noticed that at the very top there was a hole in the middle and I wondered if they had a covering for when it was rainy.   I believe this building is important culturally because it is the building that made Parliament is helping to run the country.  Many different laws and policies are created there and have helped create Germany how it is today.  This building is an important building of how well Germany has done to uncover its past and make Germany a place of refugee and happiness.  Germany is now known for bein...

For my woman of choice I am doing Louise Gregor.  This woman was an amazing musician who performed for the Czar of Russia at a very young age.  According to the professors she had three children and although she divorced her husband she supported herself through performing music.  She was a composer as well as a piano player.  However as she got older she could not take care of herself properly.  She decided to stay at an old folks home so that she could get proper care.  It was here that the Nazi's decided to kill her because she was no longer a "functioning member of society."  Just like other people her age the Nazi's decided to kill her because they did not think they were fit to contribute to society.   Her contribution is so important to society because her story shows the horrific abuse that the Nazi's gave to people.  She also contributed so much to the music world.  When her work was found in 2002 by two brothers from BYU t...

One of my favorite free days that I had was when we went to Budapest.  We were able to see many different things all in one day.  Budapest is split into two different sides.  We started on the Buda side and went to the Fisherman's Bastion.  This was a beautiful place to look out and see much of Budapest.  The tower had beautiful architecture that featured colors and geometric patterns.  Then we went to the Parliament building which was one of the most unique buildings I have seen.  It was in a Baroque and Gothic style that showed pointing archways and colorful detailing.  Near the Parliament building there were shoes that represented an instance during the Holocaust were soldiers shot Jews into the river.  We finished with the famous Budapest baths which we learned was basically a public swimming pool!  We also had one of the famous chimney cakes that are a specialty of Budapest which feature a churro like cone with ice cream inside....

For my Monument of choice I am choosing to do the Monument of the Murdered Jews.  This monument showed extensive amount of grey blocks.  These blocks started very small a few inches off the ground.  However as you kept walking toward the center they began to get bigger and bigger.  They became what seemed like 15 feet tall.  These blocks were all the same size width and length just the height would vary.  In the center of these blocks there were stairs leading to the museum exhibit.  Inside the exhibit you could learn more about the Holocaust.  The museum would have many things you could read about and learn about specific stories about Jews in the Holocaust.   This exhibit is very important historically and culturally.  The Holocaust was an important part of the entire worlds history.  However for Germany specifically it is something that is devastating and something that they have to constantly be reminded of.  It contri...

We have learned a lot about Lise Meitner here in Germany.  According to the professors she was born in Austria in 1978.  She graduated in physics at the University of Austria.  She was not allowed a real scientific lab at the university because she was a woman so she worked in a woodshop.  She was very intelligent and was able to explain nuclear fission both mathematically and physically.  Because of her discoveries they wanted her to work on the Manhattan project but ethically she did not want any part in discovering how to create a nuclear bomb.  She was the first female professor in all of Germany.  My reaction to her is that I can tell she is very smart and someone who cares about humanity.  Although she was constantly discovering new things that could hurt or help the world she decided to do everything she could to help the world instead.   Her contribution is so important because she was someone who was the minority in several ways...

During our time in Berlin we got to visit an entire museum dedicated to Käthe Kollwitz work.  Many of her work was done in pencil or charcoal.  There is lots of black and white type images that show sketches of the beautiful works of art she has done.  There were also many sculptures of a woman's body throughout the museum.  According to the museum informational paragraph Käthe was an artist during the 1900's.  She was recognized for her work very early on during her career which was uncommon during the time period for a woman.  She was a very caring and kind person who was an advocate for preventing and fighting different social injustices.   Her contribution was so important because she was fighting different social injustices.  She created a name for herself through her art work and used her popularity to help fight for these different social injustices.  She also was a leader in using her mental health issues as a way to connect with...

For my woman of choice I am choosing Agnatha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.  I chose to do them as a duo because much of what they have done for society is similar.  These woman are in the Band ABBA.  They are world renowned musicians and they have created popular music for people many years ago and now.  I learned a lot of history about them and how they met during a performance and realized how good their voices sounded together.  This contributed to them starting a band both with their two husbands.  They became leaders in fashion and performance.  They are from Sweden.  My reaction to them is that not only do I love their music but also have grown to love how much they contributed to society.   Their contribution to Sweden is so important because they created a band that became famous worldwide.  Many times this does not happen.  It is also a band that although there are men in it the singers are mainly the girls.  T...

Looking around the Skansen Open Air Museum I noticed many things to do.  There were cute little old fashioned houses with many different businesses inside.  There were barber shops, restaurants, cafes, clothing stores and more.  It was a natural looking environment with lots of trees and nature was abundant.  The roads were dirt roads and there were many people walking around.  There was also a zoo, concert performances, and different fun festival type things.  It was like a small town all integrated in the museum.  I noticed a lot of children and young families, and I noticed that many of the workers were dressed as part of the museum.   I believe this open air museum is important culturally because it gives something fun for people to do in Stockholm area that is different than normal life.  It is fun because it is a good environment for children and families and especially on a holiday like yesterday it is a good way to celebrate a ho...

For my work of art I actually wanted to do an exhibit.  (Hopefully thats okay :) ) This exhibit depicts several different paintings that show bright colors, different abstract art, and Jazz music playing in the back ground.  There is canvases with an entire painting with white paint covering the whole thing.  There is paintings with more subdued colors and more geometric lines, and paintings with more swirly circular lines.  There are paintings with what you could guess are faces, as well as some that are just colors.  The best part of this exhibit was the jazz music playing in the background.  It gave the exhibit a sense of playfulness and smoothness that helped me to understand the art better.   The different artists and musicians who created this exhibit includes Louis Armstrong (the musician, Ernest Mancoba (one of the artists) and Rachid Johnson the last artist. According to the plaque at the museum each one of these people were renowned and ...

  I have learned a lot about Greta Thunberg here on my trip.  We have talked about her in Stockholm as well as Amsterdam about the contributions she has made.  She is a politically minded person who is working toward making reforms specifically climate change policies.  She is consistently holding presentations to help reform climate change policies by protesting and sometimes being arrested for it.  I think this woman is very brave and is someone who fights for what she believes in.  She is willing to put things at risk for things she cares about which is very difficult and is a testament to how strong she is.   Her contribution is so important because she is fighting for something that matters.  She is fighting for things that can be changed.  The things she is fighting for also are things that can extremely help the people of Sweden and the whole country as a whole.  It can also help how the things throughout the rest of the worl...

For my extra blog post instead of "The Magic Flute" I decided to write about Charlotte Bühler who is a German Child Psychologist.  We visited a building that is a safe haven for children who are not able to have their needs met.  She was the founder of humanistic psychology during her studies and finding.  According to the professors she was studying these children who came to the house and was curious what was helping children to be able to function with good mental health.  She brought positive psychology which is studying what makes someone happy as well as what develops a good life.  She studied the power of making decisions and pushed the importance of caring for a child and that each child deserves love and care.  She is so important to Austria culturally because she helped to create this safe haven for children who needed extra help.  She also helped to fight for these children to get the care they deserved and make it become a standard for Aust...

For my woman of choice I am doing Alma Mahler. This woman was known as very “scandalous” for her time. She was judged harshly for her actions and was never taken seriously because of it. She was married to a man named Gustav Mahler who was a composer. She studied composition as well and was known for her music with vocals and piano. She was not recognized for her work until after her death. Learning about this woman and how harshly they judged her connects with the way woman are held at a higher standard than men now. It is unacceptable that a woman cannot achieve the same amount of recognition because of her actions even though man gets recognized with similar actions.  Her contribution is very important because it helped to bring a woman composer to Austria. Although she was not recognized in her time she was able to eventually get her music back to Austria through someone else fighting for it to be played. Because of it being so well loved and a big success in Austria it has cha...

As a group we went and visited the National Treasury. Inside it was very similar to a museum with dark lighting, objects (in a museum case paintings as well) placed around the room, and quiet hushed voices. However in the treasury everything was Artifacts and old objects or clothing items that meant something to Austria. Most of these items included lots of Gold and thick soft fabric. Most of them were also objects that were owned or important to the royal family. There were crowns, capes, narwhals horn and a baby carriage that could be seen in this treasury. These all had some kind of meaning or importance to Austria.  These objects have importance to Austria because it shows the rich history that Austria has. Not only does it show how Austria is a country that has been a world power for a very long time. It also shows that Austria has so much money that they can show it through their clothes and their objects. Continuing to have them displayed in the treasury helps us to show tha...