Berlin Images

by Florian Profitlich

Contributions by Eran Tiefenbrunn, Barbara Wahlster.

Genres: History

168 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2000

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting. As far as I know, this is the only book in my local public library system to have full text in German, French, and English. It may be the only tri-lingual book they have. So of course I had to read it, but I will be the first to admit that it was the writing, not the content, that drew me in. I started with German, which is by far my weakest of the three languages, and I wasn't understanding the introduction very well: just bits and pieces. So I switched to French, but I found that it still wasn't making sense, which troubled me greatly, as I've studied French for years. So I switched to English, which I think I speak fairly well all things considered, and I was relieved to find that switching to my mother tongue did pretty much nothing to improve my comprehension. (This gives me hope for my French!) The introduction is bizarre, to say the least. It makes passing references to things for which I have no context, and the whole section is bogged down by a philosophical (or perhaps pseudo-philosophical) meditation on time: on what it is and how it works, on time's connection to Yahweh (but in a kind of secular context), on eternal time, on non-eternal time, on time as it's understood in Jerusalem, and so on. It is entirely possible that this author was trying to make an intelligent and sophisticated point that was above my comprehension. It is also possible that the author didn't explain enough or give in enough context to be understood, and if so, then that's just sad. It's one thing not to be understood once, but this writer had three chances in three different languages and wasn't clear in any of them. In reading this, I had the impression that the author was just trying too hard to sound enlightened. Once the book gets going, though, it gets much better. The images themselves are quite lovely. The decision to use only black and white images made for a striking effect, and the pictures show different elements of the city in all their glory. One improvement I would suggest would be to have captions for the pictures. There are no captions, only end notes, which means that readers unfamiliar with the city must choose between a smooth reading experience and knowing what it is that is being seen. But those end notes are meaningful, interesting, and definitely worth the time of seeking them out.

[Mayda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This large and extraordinary book is a collection of astounding photographs. With texts in German, French, and English, an introduction gives much background information about Berlin, its history, architecture, and statuary. The black-and-white photographs are stunning and quite varied. A listing in the back of the describes each photo in detail, giving the history of the buildings or statues as well as which were damaged in the wars and restored or rebuilt. It’s a fascinating and interesting in-depth loook at the beautiful city of Berlin.