mercredi 9 avril 2008

Memories of Berlin

It is always exciting to come back to Berlin where I have so many memories. I used to spend some summer holidays when I was a child, my cousin was in charge of the food in the french army. One of his sons was my age. I remember going by train from Paris, going through East Germany. We were not allowed to look through the windows, the curtains were shut. We used to go to east Berlin through the metrop and it was for us the ultimate dangerous adventure. We were playing spy games, James Bond games.
Then I came back later on for doing some music, especially to play in the Waldbuhne, a huge outdoor amphitheater, close to the old olympic stadium and built by Hitler. I remember the very strange vibes of the tunnel backstage going directly to the stadium used a lot by Hitler and Goebels to visit the athletes in 1936.
I remember the wall and its amazing grafitti, the sadness of families being cut of for years. I remember that my mom, a great resistant, stayed in Berlin after she had been in a concentration camp. She travelled back from Berlin to Paris on the roof of a train risking her life at each tunnel.
Berlin, its soul, its architecture, its museums, galleries.., is more than ever impressive today. It is one of the most important cities in the world, a city of culture- official and underground. A great city of art and music, classical and modern. One of the centers of electronic music in the world. It has been an honor to be welcomed by such an enthusiastic audience, to get a standing ovation from the Berliners who know so much about music. We could have played all night...
The Berlin concert will remain for me and the band as one of the highlights of the tour.


The Reichtag, a good venue for a concert..


Victoria Platz, I remember the Wim Wenders' movie "les ailes du désir".


Schlotz Platz, where the nazis burnt thousands of books, may 10, 1933.

(posted on a mobile phone)

8 commentaires:

Carado a dit…

Hello..
Nice photos, thanks for sharing.

All the best from Carina

Johanfrc a dit…

A great entry. Some very emotinal memories. And a great history too.

Anonyme a dit…

Lovely pictures, and such interesting reminiscences - I'm really enjoying following your tour around Europe through this blog, Jean Michel

equinoxe a dit…

Great, thanks a lot for sharing, Jean-Michel.

I wonder... have you ever met Edgar Froese or any other german musician from Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk?

Best regards.

Anonyme a dit…

It's always a great feeling when you come back toa city in which you have so many memories floating in the air, they are like magical sparkles that explode with scenes and pictures inside your head. It makes me always feel shivers. I'm living this year in Germany, but I'm from Barcelona. Always when I come back I recall so many things...
Btw, I'll be back in Barcelona for your concert. I'll be there giving all my support, 'coz you deserve it!

Thank you, Jean Michel!

Christian

Anonyme a dit…

Thank you Jean Michel for sharing your memories of Berlin with us. And thank you very much for this fantastic evening in Berlin - it was an excellent show at the Friedrichstadtpalast. One Jarre - four musicians - and lots of "old ladies synthesizers"... :-)

Best regards,
Ludger (aka "LaDefense")

MOTITA2002 a dit…

Hola :
Que bien se ve en la foto . Parece que Berlin lo puso más guapo de los que estaba .
Me alegra leer los comentarios , da gusto que lo apoyen como se merece. Siga adelante es un gran artista . ¿cuando viene a Chile?
Un abrazo
Ruth

JMich a dit…

Hello Jean-Michel.
These train memories, are they linked to the train sounds in Magnetic Fields ?
I understand your memories, when I travel across Europe it is by train.