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VOC for VCs

The research into VOCs (short for “volatile organic compounds”) is a busy research field in biology and environmental sciences. It might be of interest to VCs (short for “venture capitalists”) as well in the near future. VOCs are those organic compounds that orginate in animal manure as well as those emanating from plants have an impact on people working there or who are living nearby. Allergic reactions cause millions of days lost in working every spring or summer season. Long-term effects are yet another critical issue in this respect. Whereas the measurement techniques of VOCs have evolved a lot, the interaction effects of different VOCs are slowly producing interesting results that might eventually become of interest to VCs.
Abonde et al. (2026) show that there is a kind of communication between different plants via VOCs, which has an impact on growth and defence mechanisms of some plants. Amateur botanists have always wondered about the anecdotal evidence that some plants or flowers grow well next to each other, whereas other ones seem to deter each other. For crops, this mechanism has been documented and more experimental research of this kind will corroborate the potential of, for example, “natural fertilizers” in future. Remember to think of VOCs the next time you experience scents from animals, plants or flowers as a wonderful research topic with VC potential.

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Democracy or Democrisis

Measured on a global scale, democracy is in retreat. The report by the “Varieties of Democracy Institute” indicates that there are fewer people on the globe who enjoy the freedom and benefits of democracy overall. This is measured in domains like freedom of expression and the democratic quality of elections. The prevalence of democratic decision-making in opposition to autocratic ruling is closely related to the possibility to freely elect a new government in regular time intervals. The V-Dem Report 2026 indicates that 18 countries are on a favourable democratic development trajectory, whereas democracy is on the retreat in 44 countries. The freedom of expression suffered most (44 countries) and the quality of elections suffered in 22 countries. The positive developments (11 for freedom of expression, 7 for quality of elections) were outnumbered by negative ones. The cases of big countries with negative trends towards or tightening of autocratic ruling deteriorates the overall number of countries and specifically the number of people living in democracies in 2025 on the globe.
For all those living in lively democracies this should be a warning message (South Korea), that democracy is not a given. The enemies of democracy are working continuously from external territories to undermine a country’s democratic structures and decision-making. It is urgent to raise the quotas and limits by which fundamental democratic rules can be abandoned before it is too late. Let’s prepare a “defensive democracy doctrine” in Europe and the EU to signal more forcefully our willingness to stand up for freedom and democracy as fundamental values of humanity rather than an “Animal Farm“.

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Waterfront Paris

Most people enjoy the banks of the river “La Seine” in Paris. Ever since the Olympics in Paris 2024, the temptation to go swimming there or to do some other kind of water related activities, is high. Fewer people are aware of an other splendid location near the Gare de l’Est. The canal Saint Martin and the nearby end of the Canal de l’Ourcq ( image below) have much to offer for stressed people to take some time off and relax. From cinemas, cafés and bars you can choose your favorite to pass time with friends or family, alternatively just keep walking for miles to get your exercise as needed to sustain your body in good health and shape. The health impact of such cool and more humid areas has a high value to the benefit of all without forcing people to travel long distances for recreational activities or normalizing weight or heart rates. 

 

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Set and Match

The organizers of big tennis tournaments like at Roland Garros in Paris have to reach ever bigger audiences to be able to cash out the prize money for the top players and their expenses. Besides the number of spectators on site, the prime income comes from television rights and sponsorships through advertising. Gambling on set and match is also a rising annex market, just like tourism linked to the event. For such purposes Paris offers screenings, similar to the Olympic Games 2024, in the centre of Paris. The park “Les Tuileries” offered to follow the tennis matches on big screens against the background of the Eiffel Tower (image below). Of course, the “rue de Rivoli” nearby offers additional pleasures or take home goodies for spectators, which add to the overall budget spent by an average tourist in Paris. For people interested in a walk in “Les Tuileries” and the plants ( Acanthus), trees (Linden) and flowers (roses) have to choose the other parts of the park. Big cities have the chance to offer a bit to everyone within relatively short walks. 

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Press in the 1970s

In the 70s there were many so-called underground or alternative papers printed. For people in bigger cities or in cities with universities, the 70s flourished with independent journalism which addressed small audiences. Each access to printing materials and paper allowed to go it alone for groups of society that did not feel they were adequately represented by established media. Some of these “underground” papers published texts that could be considered going against the dominant legal principles. Topics like feminism, birth control, abortion or more left wing political statements against private property had to fight to reach their audiences. The cold war period created another overarching threat to the representation of all opinions. Hence some groups we t underground to function as they wanted and how they interpreted the freedom of expression and being published. (Image: BNF Exhibition Underground 2026-6). 

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Marilyn Monroe TM

The image and probably even the person of Marilyn Monroe has become a trademark of its own. Since the choice to change her name and outlook to become or be created as the objectified trademark of Marilyn Monroe, the financial interests to gain money using every image, sound or video have reached above average returns. The profits mostly accrue to those owning the commercial rights. At the occasion of her 100th birthday, this continued rent seeking keeps spinning.
It has been well documented that the early death at just 36 years of age is linked to her exploitation or “commodification” as a trademark rather than a person able to cope with the overloaded imagery of herself. Bookshops, even in 2026-6, decorate their windows with books with her image on the cover as eye catcher. As with few other persons, Marilyn Monroe stands for an objectified person where the property rights of the image keep being exploited long after her tragic death. (Image: Marilyn Monroe, tramage by Bruno James BdF, left and algorithmic on the right. Transbordeur 2026).

 

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Considerations about Space

As is true for most architects, for example Le Corbusier, they are mostly remembered for their actual realizations (Scharoun, Mies van der Rohe), rather than the grand designs prepared for an architecture competition. Henri Gaudin has not only left concrete implementations of his ideas, but also several books on his perception and ideas about “concepts of space” (“Considérations  sur l’espace”), which comprises architectural ideas about “empty spaces“. Additional sources of inspiration were a relentless pursuit of drawing and designing what he saw, for example while travelling.  The BNF has received the extraordinary donation of the journals of Henri Gaudin, which allow to trace his continuous search for innovative representations of what creates a space, the impression of space and the relationship between spaces.
His travels with the TGV in France filled a complete “carnet” (booklet). Architecture is surely not about concrete. In the best cases there is a lot of research happening “backstage”, sometimes in small spontaneous sketches that can have a very lasting impact on many people’s perception of space later on. His own landscape drawings were an interesting inspiration for his architectural work as well. “Image: Landscape drawings by Henri Gaudin, BNF Paris 2026-6, Galérie des Donateurs).

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Dronification

In a long row from californication, gentrification, desertification and electrification, not to mention quantification, juridification or enshittification,  we have arrived at “dronification” in the 2020s. Spurred by the extremely successful use of drones by the Ukrainian army to o bring to a halt the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s Russia,  conventional weapons like tanks and artillery lost out to the widespread use of drones. Few military observers, even experts of military equipment, thought prior to 2020 this would be possible. The lower costs involved, precision targeting and different skill sets needed for the orchestration of a drone based defense and attack, have made a strong case for the dronification of warfare.
As with many innovations, there are dual-use potentials. In this case the civilian use of drones received a considerable push in technology and acceptance. Rescue robots or delivery of provisions to frontline positions are part of the “everything-drone-thinking” during war. The surveillance of frontiers and territory is applicable to agriculture, properties and urban planning. Droughts and other environmental impacts on a large scale can be monitored in a  timely fashion as well. 4D imaging becomes more feasible as well in many domains. The potential in architecture is vast as well. Public infrastructure and distribution of frequency ranges is a crucial precondition to ensure an  orderly coexistence of military, security and civilian use cases.
(Image: Exhibition: atelier le balto, Die Kunst des Gartens VI: FREI(B)AUM at Kulturforum Berlin 2026-1)

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No mow May

For the sake of biodiversity we have learned how important it is to allow our gardens to grow during the month of May. Lots of insects shall benefit from the larger diversity of our greens. Equally, it is the perfect time to “collect” “pollen” from lots of neighbors’ gardens and fields, which will eventually show up in another garden. It is a bit similar to sharing flowers and plants in your local environment.
We just have to be careful about invasive species that have been quite successful to “surf” on the “No mow May” gardening wave.
In May 2026 the effects of global warming have been particularly felt in France. “Meteo France” has reported the very warm French month of May in 2026. Similarly, for most parts of Germany, particularly in the South West, the average temperatures were well above the 2° target already (Deutscher Wetterdienst).
With quite some rain before, the climate throughout May 2026 has favored rapid growth and advances in the blooming of the whole vegetation. You might have seen gardens in your neighborhood that looked very different from previous years for those who tried a “No mow May” in 2026.

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Dry January

There is a health trend to pass a sober, “dry January” after the X-mas and New Year festivities. It seems to be rather popular, so that the French wineries have started a marketing campaign of a “French January“. We shall see what the battle of marketing campaigns means in the end for the health of our liver (Study Link). It might lead to changes in consumer behavior of the following kind. Take advantage of good price offers for French wine and champagne in January and drink it as of February.
For addicts of the “carneval season” this should not be too difficult, jointly with a couple of friends. Alternatively, you might not be bothered and continue a moderate consumption across seasons. Moderate consumption, however, is the tricky part of alcohol consumption. Medical guidelines (health of liver) have evolved recently to count each drop of alcohol into your total consumption in either fluid litres of pure alcohol or the equivalent measured in grams. 

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Mammalian Aging

Mammals share a lot of similarities with respect to aging. The researchers Alexander Tyshkovskiy and Vadim N. Gladyshev et al. (2026) spearheaded multiple research to identify similarities across humans, macaques, rodents and mice. The outcome of this overarching study of mammalian aging and mortality is a set of biomarkers that can serve to predict time to death.
Why is this interesting? With the rise of the longevity interest in the 21st century, the need increases to use robust biomarkers that can assess any presumably miraculous innovation to smooth human aging or prolong the time to death. Steps towards “universal transcriptomic signatures” including CDKN1A and LGALS3 (compare across species), which proved to be important in mortality predictions based on the large UK Biodata.
It is the accumulation of damage, which drives  processes of aging . However, “inflammation, replicative senescence, metabolic inhibition and γ-irradiation” can be attenuated or occasionally even reversed. The aging of cellular components has been demonstrated using “modular-specific clocks”.
With these biological advances in the field of biomarkers, the BPS nexus (biology-psychology-society links) could receive more attention as well in order to enlarge the society-wide research into the causes of human aging.
(Image: Staatsballett Berlin, Choreographie Crystal Pite, Gods and Dogs, Angels’ Atlas performed 2026-5, final applause)

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Bicycle Garage

The 2020s are the years to explore sharing concepts. Beyond car sharing we have become used to share scooters and bicycles for intermodal transportation. The concepts are subject to continuous evaluation and the choice between free-floating versus fix point stations remains a hotly contested topic. Despite using either one of both sharing concepts, families and friends might practice their own sharing of modes of transportation. Whereas for cars the driving licenses and insurances might limit the sharing, for private bicycles there are no such restrictions.
A little bit of basic understanding and practice of repairs allows to share family-owned bicycles with little effort. Equipped with a GPS-tracker, even free floating might be an option in addition to theft protection. With less space taken up by cars in household garages, bicycles can occupy, at last, sufficient space including a little corner for maintenance and repairs.

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History as Science

There are persons entering history and there is the science of history. Whereas the former persons may sometimes enter for very dubious reasons into history, responsible for killing people, the science of history draws on a whole lot of evidence, social, economic or demographic, to evaluate a person’s legacy or the merits of an epochal change. In the development of this scientific approach towards history, rather than a purely chronological, family structure or narrative-oriented approach, Marc Bloch has been a central figure. His research and exemplary own biography as student of history at the ENS in Paris, teacher and later Member of “La Résistance” is honored by an exhibition on his life and time at this formidable French institution of teacher training. In an exhibition in the ENS library you can even inspect a list of the books taken out by Marc Bloch as a student as well as his experiences as a student in London or Berlin before the 1st World War. A strictly science-based approach to history made him an influential historian and social scientist beyond his lifetime. (Image: Salle Marc Bloch at ENS Library Paris 2026-5) 

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Nature as a concept

We all hold implicit or explicit concepts of nature in our minds. There are few countries that have “battled” over the course of history with changing and often “politicised” concepts of nature. The exhibition in the DHM “Deutsches Historisches Museum” on “Nature and German History, Faith – Biology – Power” is convincing with this cross-disciplinary approach to the subject. The chronological structure of the exhibition starts with Hildegard von Bingen’s vision of nature embedded into the huge diversity of plants with almost spiritual power. Admiration of plants and the animal world, however, became an economic resource just like gold and slavery during colonization, being followed by industrialization as the epitome of man’s power over nature. Counter movements have been on the rise in the 2nd half of the 20th century. Another power struggle over how and who defines the dominant concept of nature in the 21st century. As nuclear energy, bombs and waste redefined the long-term consequences of “treating” nature, the battles about the prevailing concept of nature intensify. The exhibition in Berlin 2026 is a fine example of a historical perspective on the relationship between society, nature and technology, where the concept of nature becomes a malleable concept between the other two players or systems. (Image: Metamorphosis of the silk moth, DHM 2026-5)

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Security and Popularity

With webpages it is a bit like in the world of glamour. The more popular a webpage becomes, the more you have to invest in security features.
In a parallel webpage project, the choice has been to go for a popular name for the webpage and blog activities. After a year of sporadic blogging the site has become a regular target for hacking attempts by means of login attempts. This has led the administrator to previously allow only one single login attempt before banning login attempts from the same IP-address for several days. This does no longer allow a misspelling of the tricky password on your own behalf or the password-manager, if you happen to use one.
Security becomes a “sine qua non” condition for web-users as well as web-developers. We usually take only sufficiently care of this point, when it is “almost” to late. With 16.000+ login attempts over the time of about 1 year and 6 running locked-out IP-addresses, I almost gave up already on another domain with a more popular name. External backups become another necessity to prepare for the eventual failure to access own content and data bases.
Actually, I feel rather safe going out at night as a man in Europe, but the dangers of the global access to a web-page feels much less safe most of the time.

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Magnifica humanitas

With the “Encyclical Letter” entitled “Magnifica humanitas”, Pope LeoXIV puts himself expressively into a long historical tradition of the catholic belief to be not only a religious leader, but also an institution that puts humanitarian values on the top of its agenda. As the catholic church is a globally active institution, which covers the whole life-course of individuals based on defined doctrines, the massive changes that are under way in the field of artificial intelligence asked for some guidelines to frame the church’s understanding of this relatively new “Deus ex machina” of the 21st century. In the Encyclical, there are several mentions with respect to comparable socio-economic developments of the past. In choosing the name of “Leo”, the Pope referred, from the earliest days of his Pontificat, to Leo XIII as a particularly important predecessor for himself. The latter has made his reputation in the Christian Church with the Encyclical “Rerum novarum”, which raised awareness to the risks to humanity with an industrialization and capitalism being pursued at all costs. “Res novae” of our time, which is AI and all its fields of applications have a potential to affect the course of humanity for decades to come. Leo XIV doesn’t condemn it as the devil in machine form, but puts emphasis on the potential of AI to assist us to enhance the “Common good”. This is the task of many, not of only a few, as he refers to in his Encyclical of 2026-5-15.
(Image: Extrait: Saint Augustin, Les Confessions, book 13, chapter 28).

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Gone paddling

Similar to windsurfing, paddling has not only a physiological, but also an ecological impact. Rather than using external power the equipment requires a good sense of balance on the board and propulsion originates in your own muscles. The benefits are great for mind and body and sharing a board is the standard way of getting your regular exercise.
There are more and more stations near the sea or on lakes available in 2026-5, so that it has become a much more accessible form of exercise. Paddling is also an age-inclusive practice, since the “probability to fail“, with the pleasure of spontaneous diving, is spread relatively equal across ages. Learning curves, however, may differ substantially across generations depending on prior balancing experiences. The ecological bottleneck consists in the access to sufficiently clean water resources so that the healthy and fun exercise shall have positive long-term health effects. 

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Gone reading

From time to time we should reflect on our scope of reading experiences. Over time, a certain bias for probably predominantly Western European or western parts of the world is likely. Therefore, it is an interesting experience to consciously choose authors from a broader geographical background.  The reading, which originates or takes its motivation from an exhibition, is a good start to broaden reading, particularly if images enliven the reading experience. The art work by Yinka Shonibare CBE on display in Berlin at the Palais Populaire manages to make this point in a colorful, compelling fashion.
It is difficult to assess what we have missed so far without having embarked on a longer reading journey. (Image: extract from Yinka Shonibare CBE, 2022, “The African Library Collection (Poets)”

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Gone walking

During busy weeks or travel times it can be difficult to keep your average healthy walking distance up to standards. Rather than traveling even longer distances to far away destinations, nearby areas might have to offer lots of options to get more exercise of any kind and particularly walking. The environment for walking plays an important role as well as for example walking on the beach distracts easily from the efforts involved. You don’t have to go fishing, but lots of activities will encourage you to further to explore soft forms of exercise. 

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Hybrid art

Bringing together 2 kinds of art makes hybrid art. Just as other fields of art have combined for example music with text to create the art form of songs as of the medieval ages, for example, the emancipation of another form of hybrid art is gaining prominence, text incorporated into or in cooperation with painting. The incorporation of text into paintings, sculptures or installations represents a drive to ise multiple channels of communication with an audience. Each might be sensitive to a specific word or sound, which creates an entry to gain attention or enlarge awareness for some cause. The “Palais Populaire” in Berlin displays the combination of the collection of the Deutsche Bank Art collection and the “Written Art Collection” to make this point with some forceful pieces of hybrid art focusing on text in art. (Image: Extract from “Map of utopia” by Qiu Zhijie, shown at “Seeing words, reading imagesSeeing words, reading images” at the Palais Populaire” in Berlin 2026-5). 

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Latent social structure

In empirical approaches to sociology we occasionally apply “latent variables analyses”. The aim is to uncover links between data that are not obvious in standard analyses of data. We are pretty convinced by evidence that age correlates with the probability of death. However, most tragedies are created around exceptional counter examples to this “rational expectation”. We also somehow have an intuition about the positive effect of social networks or the social fabric in a more general sense on living and survival. In some of those latent variable models we find evidence for an underlying factor without being able to properly name or frame it. Hence, as social scientists we continue to be interested in ways to make latent social structures more visible. With such an approach in mind I visited the exhibition by author and photographer “John Kolya Reichart” in the “Schöneberg Museum” entitled “Die Kette” (The Chain, 2026-5). The start of the chain is a familiar person in your neighborhood who leads you to the next person and so on. It is explicitly a non-random procedure, which complements proceedings of strictly random sample selection of survey methodologies. The sources for bias outcomes are multiple, however, an underlying or latent social fabric of a friendship and support mechanisms can be shown. Besides the b/w portraits and audios, giving a justification for the choice, the documentation of the process of production gives more insights into the risks and potentials of this form of insights into latent social structures.
(Image: Schoeneberg Museum, “Die Kette” by John Kolya Reichart)

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Nothing changed

It reads like an entry into a personal diary. The poem “Darmstadt, 4. Januar” by Renate Schmidgall (2025, p. 24) reflects on the obsession with change. The sky shows traces of airplanes, which have passed some time ago. Trees age slowly, a pigeon sets off. “Nichts ist anders als gestern,” (Nothing is different from yesterday, then suddenly a poem finds again its space in me, …). Nothing changed, and yet, suddenly, all is different again. Motivation sets in and time appears rather short.
In “Donnerstag” (Thursday) Schmidgall (2026, p.30) notes a daily routine and the planning of today, even the day after tomorrow. Emptying her paper basket, she finds a quotation from Bruno Schulz she noted previously. “An allem schuld ist der schnelle Zerfall der Zeit.” (The fault of everything is the rapid dissolution of time).
Time is portrait in these two poems as both a moment-specific personal experience as well as the short-cut description of a society-wide trend. Just, as if time was the driving force of change on both levels, even if we know it is not time in itself, but other forces are at work. “O tempora, o mores” as Cicero stated, appears to be still valid summary claim. (Image: Neue Nationalgalerie Front – WZB (Stirling architecture) in background, Fog installation in sculpture garden 2026-5).

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Time in poetry

Some might argue poetry is all about time. It is a perfect way to “decelerate”. Reading pace, in most instances, slows down considerably. At least the first time reading is frequently a stop and go process. A few examples of poetry may hit personal trigger points. The random collection of poems I consulted in the “Lese lounge” in 2026-5 contained each the topic of time in one or the other form. Renate Schmidgall (2025) carries time indirectly in her title “Kein Verlass auf Uhren und Gestirne” (Don’t depend on clocks and stars, own translation). She creates new metaphors like “Am Kirchturm rostet die Zeit” (p. 12 On the church tower time rusts). This sentence precedes the sentence which became the book title. Time is also envisioned a bit like an onion in another metaphor “die Uhr schält rückwärts die Stunden“ (the clock peels backwards the hours). So much to gain with so little time spent with poetry.  (Image: Bronse in Jardin des Plantes, Paris, homage to Saint-John Perse 2026). 

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Taking a break

The time a researcher spends reading is still above average, I suppose. Even in times of AI doing astonishing summaries of documents and texts in general, we still need to check the output by reading as well. Taking a break from data compilation and writing, it’s time to do other reading. The Staatsbibliothek tries to lure people studying and researching there into their „Reading Lounge“. In 2026-5 the proposed reading is poetry. Based on the recommendations by an expert group 10 titles of German and 10 translations of poetry are available with direct access for onsite reading. The shift from on screen reading to paper based reading gives your eyesight a break. Your mind wonders off to something else. Much better concentration and new synapses afterwards. Why is still so difficult to take a break this way? We are working on it. 

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Litfaß Advertisement Column

Berlin has renovated some of its early say notice boards and advertising columns. The original „Litfaßsäule“ has already the round column shape where you clued a poster on the sirface so that it was visible to several persons interested to look and read. After more than 150 years after its invention, Berlin has digital advertising columns which resemble the original Litfaß design. Rather than the spectator walking around the column, the column now turns around in a steady manner so that nearby you can see the whole advertising content from all points in the neighborhood. Simple change, but a remarkable improvement in the reach of the advertisement. Retro-lighting increases the duration of the effects as well. Mass communication and commercial innovation can sometimes just improve on an existing marketing channel, and still reach a specifically targeted audience.  

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Renovated sacred architecture

The 18th century catholic St-Hedwig Cathedral in Berlin has been renovated in the 2020s. The sacred building benefits from its central location in Berlin near “Unter den Linden”, Staatsoper, Staatsbibliothek and Humboldt University. The remarkable round shape of the church and its dome appear small from the outside between the high buildings in the surroundings. The size becomes more visible from the inside. The renovation made the choice to clearly define the center of activities again with the “altar” in the middle surrounded 360 degrees by the audience. Every visitor will be fascinated by the sound design of this renovated sacred architecture. The organ, orchestras and choirs have to handle this with care. Speech is transmitted with astonishing clarity. The sober interior focuses on essentials and might give the impression to be in a protestant church rather than a catholic one.
Silence or rain on the roof become an experience in itself, believing or not.

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Post-sacred architecture

As with our human bodies, and in many instances already, sacred architecture follows a life course pattern. The thriving religious communities build and expand their faith to larger audiences. In these expansionary phases of the faith many monumental buildings, known as sacred architecture, as well as splendid interiors or artefacts enter the “built faith”. After the peak of membership and in periods of contraction, the question of how to scale down the splendors starts to arise.
Eventually, the ceding of the sacred architecture to the non-believing communities comes into consideration. The sacred architecture needs to find its place in the evolution of societies as well as urban and rural local space. Depending on the intentions and resources of communities, post-sacred architecture has to redefine its purpose for its own survival.
An interesting example of post-sacred architecture constitutes the “Friedrichswerdersche Kirche” in Berlin. The use as a historic exhibition space for sculptures of the 19th century works particularly well in combination with an active program on art, architecture and history. The statue by Ludwig Winckelmann (image below) depicts the reflection on and about a miniature sculpture in space. The post-sacred use of this fine and luminous architecture continues to reach an enlightened audience.

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Valuable Donations

The of a donation to a national gallery is often a curse but may reveal only much later as a blessing. More galleries across the world give due credit to their generous donors. The collection of impressionist paintings by Caillebotte figures today very promising in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The fine collection by Chistoph Müller endowed to today‘s “Kupferstichkabinett” exposed in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin has been on display in a small room. The „Kräuterblätter” (herbes on paper) by Kolbe 1815/1824 are fine pieces of etching with a focus on what might get lost in our biodiversity in coming years. Old trees were surely on his list (Oak trees 500+ years old). A collection of depictions of herbs and flowers a part of an ecological treasure which the generations after the painter and eventually the collector Christoph Müller began to value a lot. Some collectors are far ahead of their time by treasuring the past. (Image: Extract of „Kräuterblatt mit Schnitterin“ Kolbe 1815/24 Donation Christoph Müller shown in Gemäldegalerie Berlin 2026-5)

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Portrait of or about

In some galleries or for curators of an exhibition, the crucial question is not only the overall message, but the best positioning of artworks in the available space. In many national galleries what hangs next to another piece is rarely seen as an opportunity for exploration and experimentation. A recent visit to the “Gemäldegalerie“ in Berlin allowed to explore the vicinity of 2 paintings, which are very different in appearance. The one (by Pierre Subleyras 1740) is just entitled “Portrait of a woman”, the other one next to it, “Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Angels and Two Saints, Domenico Mondo 1773). The former portrait has almost a modern touch to it as the beauty consists in the simplicity of the person depicted, whereas the latter painting portrays a rather empty message of splendor and power. The conscious confrontation of portraits or paintings with each other is the high art of curatorship. It is even more pointed than a guided tour of a gallery as the simultaneous rather than the sequential confrontation is the issue. 

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Woman artist scandal

The painter Hermine Schmidt-von Preuschen, little known today, had to face strong forces in the established art community of her time. The skills and audacity she displayed at an early stage of her career as painter is epitomized in her work “Imperator Mors”. This painting dates back to 1887 and was rejected by the art academy in Berlin for their official exhibition. The woman artist was already at that time confident enough that her painting was of sufficient quality to deserve to be not only considered in the exhibition, but also to be seen by larger audiences. Similar to the refused painters of the impressionist movement, she decided to mount her own exhibition. The turnout to this proved to be quite a success according to the press cuttings presented as part of the exhibition in Berlin at the “Alte Nationalgalerie” 2026-5. Maybe it was the intended philosophical topic or message that killed the chances to be part of the art academy exhibition. “Imperator Mors” shows death or a skeleton to be the ultimate ruler of our fate. For all those who believe in some sort of life after death, this can be viewed as a “Scandal” in itself. The scandal created with such a depiction probably overshadowed the fact that the provocation came from a woman artist. Still very avantgarde for the end of the 19th century. (Image: Hermine Schmidt-von Preuschen and her painting Imperator Mors 1887)