Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection — Attraction in Berlin

GERMAN & ENGLISH

DEUTSCH Die ältere Dame an der Kasse scheint überfordert zu sein, jedenfalls was Freundlichkeit und ihre Präsenz angeht: Wir müssen längere Zeit auf sie warten, bevor wir Tickets kaufen dürfen. Sie gibt keinen Hinweis auf die Startzeiten des Original-Stummfilms, der im Rahmen der Ausstellung gezeigt wird und zu bestimmten Zeiten beginnt. Nur wer Glück hat, kommt zur richtigen Zeit zufällig in den Vorführraum. Die ältere Dame an der Kasse informiert jedenfalls nicht darüber. Vielleicht hat sie die Zeiten vergessen.

Wofür sie vermutlich nichts kann: Wenn man eine Jahreskarte kauft, wird diese per Schneckenpost zugesendet und ist erst dann gültig. Sprich: Am Kauftag der Jahreskarte muss man trotzdem noch den Tageseintritt zusätzlich zahlen. Das ist für mich in gewisser Weise Nepp.

In den Ausstellungsräumen riecht ein Aufseher in schlampiger Uniform wie ein Müllsack mit alten Zigarettenkippen. Es lässt sich leider nicht freundlicher formulieren. Sein Körpergeruch hält sich penetrant in den Ecken, wo er zuvor rumstand. Eine Zumutung für die Besucher:innen.

Zur Nosferatu-Ausstellung: Hübsch gedacht, aber unglücklich gemacht. Die äußerst schwache Ausleuchtung ist so ungeschickt angebracht, dass man zwangsläufig seinen eigenen Schatten auf das Exponat wirft, das man eigentlich gerade ansehen möchte, und es damit verdeckt. Wenn man näher herangeht, schrillt der Alarm los. Teils befinden sich Exponate auf schwarzem Grund hinter Glas, das nicht entspiegelt aber direkt angeleuchtet ist, dann ausnahmsweise mal nicht zu schwach. Ergo: Man sieht nicht viel außer dem eigenen Spiegelbild (vielleicht als Beruhigung, dass man selbst kein Vampir ist?).

Auf mich wirkte das insgesamt lieblos und teils unprofessionell. Ist es den Eintritt von 12 Euro wert? Ich bin mir nicht sicher.

ENGLISH The older lady at the box office seems to be overwhelmed, at least in terms of friendliness and her presence: we have to wait for her for quite some time before we are allowed to buy tickets. She gives no info about the starting times of the original film, which is shown as part of the exhibition and begins at certain times. Only those who happen to enter the screening room at the right time are lucky enough to be able to watch the movie from start. In any case, the elderly lady at the box office does not inform about it at all. Perhaps she has forgotten the times.

Probably not her fault: When you buy an annual pass, it will be sent to you via snail mail and is only valid from then on. In other words, on the day you buy the annual pass, you still have to pay the daily admission fee on top of it. To me, this is a bit of a rip-off.

In the exhibition rooms, a guard in a sloppy uniform smells like a garbage bag with old cigarette butts. There is no kinder way to put it, I'm afraid. His body odor lingers penetratingly in the corners where he previously hung around. An imposition for the visitors.

Regarding the Nosferatu exhibition: Nicely thought-out, but not too skillfully done. The extremely weak illumination is so clumsily placed that one inevitably casts one's own shadow on the exhibit that one actually wants to look at, thus obscuring it. When you get closer, a shrill alarm sets in. Some exhibits are placed on a black background behind glass that is not anti-reflective but directly illuminated, then for once not too dimly. Ergo: You don't see much except your own reflection (perhaps as reassurance that you are not a vampire?).

To me, the entire setting seemed to be put together without interest and at times unprofessionally. Is it worth the 12-Euro entry?...

One of the most beautiful art gallery museums I've ever visited. It specialises in surrealism, but it's earlier, more psychological development - finding meanings in dreamscapes. The collection is mostly small-scale works: drawings, notebooks, studies, some sculpture. Paul Klee and Max Ernst are very well represented. There is a set of studies that shows how the rear-end of a horse contains shapes that can be transformed to a woman's face! These artists were often pharmacologically inspired as they found new ways of seeing. It's a small museum. Just two floors of a three story aristocratic home. You move from floor to floor on an open central spiral staircase. Great audio guide. The rooms are small, so take a mobile gallery seat, pitch up in a room, set off the audio guide and look at all the works on display. Nice coffee shop. And an oddity, a huge Ancient Egyptian tomb door is in a...

This museum is one of the smallest of dozen of world famous museums in Berlin. But the exhibition is so special and exciting only about the handful of decades of the Surrealism in the 20th century, that this is not common to the mainstream of galleries and museums in the world. But the exhibition rooms itself is amazing architecture and together with the nice shop and restaurant it will make your visit full of fun and happiness. For all the visitors who are not so interested in the special Surrealism there is another very fine and exciting museum, just on the opposite site of the street: the Bergengruen collection ... or the Schloss Charlottenburg which has also a very famous picture gallery of Romanticism, you will enjoy also the beautiful landscape architecture around the castle ... all is to much for one weekend. Enjoy...