Travelling with Caspar David Friedrich. An extraordinary journey from Berlin to Rugen Island

Mountains shrouded in mysterious fog or mountains shrouded in a fog of mystery. Both fits perfectly into the work of one of the most famous European painters and one of our favorite artists, whose trail we will follow in this episode. We start with a sunrise from the Giant Mountains. Exaggerated but beautifully mystical in the artist's paintings, the Karkonosze Mountains after which he traveled and whose magic inspired him. Is the famous Wanderer, one of the most recognizable images were created here, on the top of Sokoliki? Or maybe in Czech Switzerland? Or maybe in the mystical mists of Saxon Switzerland, somewhere in between today Malerweg or the way of painters? Probably so. But that's not it at the moment the most important thing, because it was not the mountains and the rocks that gave birth to and shaped Caspar's talent. It is a much flatter landscape, but with water from rivers and streams The Karkonosze Mountains were flowing down. Welcome to another journey that some may be on inspire one image. This is the world of Caspar David Friedrich and the story of his journey. Here are some amazing highlights of this journey. First we will go to Berlin, and then to Kaspar's hometown, and after that we will get closer to the coast of the Baltic Sea, which he loved as much as the Karkonosze Mountains shown. So we will end here - on Rügen, specifically in this extraordinary scenic place. [Music] [Applause] In a city whose main artery has taken named after the linden trees, this day is dominated by the intense scent of densely blooming linden trees. [Music] The clouds and fog that enveloped the Wanderer create water that feeds the Elbe and the Elbe flows into the North Sea. And this is also the story of the painting - The Wanderer above the Sea of ​​Fog, because today we can see it at the Kunsthalle in Hamburg. However, we are in Berlin. And Caspar's relationship with Berlin was short and not very emotional. Definitely the most important city in his life was Dresden, which we will talk about in a moment. But today, when starting a journey in the painter's footsteps, you cannot miss this building, because he "has" a lot of Caspar in him, and currently probably the most in history. The year 2024, apart from the Euro (European Football Championship), is an important year for Germany but also for the whole of Europe. Because celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Caspar David Friedrich. We'll try to get into his the world by first viewing famous and lesser-known paintings up close, for example Abbey in the oak forest, Greifswald in the moonlight and extremely famous and famous Chalk cliffs on Rügen and then trying to find some places of them or get inspired by their style in the space. The important information, however, is that until August 4, 2024 you can here watch a special exhibition that brings together most of Caspar's works. Then they they go to different places. They mainly return to various places in Germany, of course, but also to Saint Petersburg or Prague, for example. However, you have to I can say that this is where a large part of his work can be found anyway. During our stay in Berlin, we also visited Charlottenburg with my family famous palace and park. It is worth adding that every day here - in the New Pavilion too you can find works by Friedrich. The painter grew up and studied in Copenhagen, where he became fascinated, among other things, with English romanticism firmly rooted in nature and space. You had the opportunity to watch it in our last episode from the Lake District. From then on he decided to work mainly in the field and returned to for a moment to relatives from Greifswald, and then Neubrandenburg. However, he finally settled down closer to the mountains, in Dresden, where he entered the Academy of Fine Arts. In Berlin he had problems with this. However, he preferred to spend time among others rather than at classes landscapes of Saxon Switzerland, where the famous Wanderer above was most probably created Sea of ​​Fog. Friedrich appears most beautiful and complete in his painting it expressed a romantic turn towards nature, a turn towards nature and this what is internal, spiritual and unreal. And his landscapes were no longer just purely aesthetic landscapes, but also about what was emotional, they indicated what was happening inside the artist but also in Friedrich's case they expressed very strong religious thought. The famous painting shows a figure a lonely wanderer with his back turned to the viewer. Standing calmly on a rocky peak above the abyss. Below the Wanderer lies a sea of ​​fog, obscuring the terrestrial one world. The painter showed a transcendence of the earthly sphere and a confrontation with divinity. He clearly separated the sacred from the profane zone, thanks to the fact that it is a form of large but staffage. What matters is the outline of the silhouette and our eyes should be drawn to the landscape, not the person. Therefore, it is slightly different from modern Instagram "backs". We leave Brandenburg and enter the new state. The area that we pass and surround us, it is surprisingly hilly and full of forests and lakes it was shaped by the same continent that formed 1/3 of Poland's landscapes. This is the historic Mecklenburg, whose first city is Neustrelitz. For years, it was one of several residences of the Dukes of Mecklenburg. Today it has been preserved here, however, there is only a well-kept palace park, without the palace itself. Definitely more However, it offers another large-sized city, considering the local conditions, located between lakes and moraine hills. Caspar's parents came from a small town between Berlin and Greifswald called Neubrandenburg. Somehow in this the town's defensive walls and gates survived, beautiful gates, although I must say somehow, because as many as 80% of the buildings were destroyed by the Red Army. Of course, Caspar David Friedrich painted this town, even twice. In one of the paintings presenting the city, our hero however, it clearly changed the scale because Neubrandenburg, as we already know, is not located in the mountains. But let's take a look Well, it's a bit difficult to get your bearings in this landscape today. Much is known changed, but thanks to the location of the church, we know that Caspar must have painted the painting somewhere on that side from the northwestern part of the city. Here we have about 50, 55 meters, there less than 100. In the image it looks as if we had mountains behind the city. This is very symptomatic of Romantic painting. To show the power of nature, to exaggerate a little, add a little, a little scale up. Such a painterly hyperbole. It is quite probable that in the times of Caspar David Friedrich, May and June were very popular asparagus dishes on the tables, all kinds of dishes, of course. Because in At that time, asparagus was very popular throughout Pomerania Gdańsk and Słupsk up to Stralsund and Neubrandenburg. What else can you see in this area? The city also seems to be an interesting base exploring this most lake-like corner of Germany. Here's an example the medieval Stargard Castle located a stone's throw away. wall complex, towers, buildings and moat give the impression of a ready-made film location more than one super-production from seven or eight centuries ago. Of course it happened Caspar and appear here, but he didn't paint, he just sketched. This castle was a very important, even strategic point for the rulers of Eastern Mecklenburg. Moreover, it is located on the European Brick Gothic Trail. But there will be a bit more about both in the next episode. Some of you may probably be surprised why we are so fascinated by linden trees in northern Germany. This is because just starting from Berlin so dense downright yellowing in whole in this color and smelling intensely, simply in Poland we didn't have the opportunity to see and feel. If something has changed and the climate has changed changes, let us know where to look. The area to the north is already the border between the historic Mecklenburg and Vorpommern, even though these two regions today form one land, just like Warmia and Mazury or Kujawy and Pomerania. Vorpommern was named so because it was the first from the west. And it stretched from the area around Rügen to Szczecin. We arrived at Inn Stettiner Hof. The name clearly refers to Bristles. The spirit of Pomerania is eternally alive. Besides, the logo has a griffin, a head that it is also in the logo of Szczecin, and Greifswald, where we are now, is in fact there is a "gryfny forest" or I would like to say "gryfny forest". We are also there. Well, we are even greeted in the room by an old map of Pomerania, the entire region. You see like this you can treat the land today. We have Front and Proper. Here is ours today's Poland. Part of it is German. The artist spent the first spring after graduation, again with relatives and friends in Greifswald and Neubrandenburg. During his stay in 1801, he met the Romantic painter Philipp Otto Runge, whose works became a great inspiration for him. Already the first one In the evening of a long day here, it's still light at 9 p.m. We're trying to have some fun finding the mystical atmosphere that accompanied Caspar in this Pomeranian land, where the Baltic Sea is extremely quiet, calm, and the water is sometimes calm like nothing mirror. It was probably not near the beach that Wamper Friedrich painted his A monk by the sea, but it could most likely have been inspired by the activities of the Greifswald monk scholar and preacher Ludwik Cosengarten. Without a doubt, however, the harsh Baltic sky It had a very painterly character that evening. Shapes, colors, contrasts very Caspar. Something we couldn't miss with our lenses [Music] [Music] [Music] Well, the Baltic weather is very changeable, luckily it's windy and the fact that it's raining now means it's coming soon it will stop. We observe swallows flying low around us. You have to too admit that you will almost never find him in Caspar Friedrich's paintings clear blue sky. It's always bustling there, it's always rainy there, stormy, there are fronts, there are several shades blue, gray. Well, as it really was here. But one point on 100% corresponds to one of Caspar's paintings, as he appeared quite recently after simply on the city map. We'll go there soon. The image of the Meadow or Common near Greifswald was located right here. Here the artist had to paint. We know this because of the setting again three most important church towers in the city, including the so-called Fat Maryśka and Mały Jakub or Długi Mikołaj, The city lives, breathes and promotes itself as a painter. It is obvious, because next to the footballer Toni Kross, he is probably still the most famous the world's citizen of this university and wealthy Hanseatic city. The university in this city, which educated, among others, ours the famous surgeon Ludwik Rydgier is one of the oldest, still operating, filling a historic city with a youthful, relaxed atmosphere. Caspar David Friedrich was associated with Greifswald throughout his life. He was born here and spent his life here childhood and early youth. After his studies in 1801 he returned here for spring. This longing for the hometown and this melancholy, something like that connection with this city was also reflected in his work. Between others in the beautiful painting of Meadows near Greifswald. In St. Nicholas Church, another person had the opportunity to restore the local stained glass windows a contemporary artist the opportunity to pay tribute to the painter through a reference to his painting, although it was most likely created in the ruins of the Abbey Oybin in the Lusatian Mountains, not here. Characteristic sideburns, very long "pekaes" boots, a wanderer's stick and a coat perfect for the local weather. Caspar dressed very practically. We continue to follow in his footsteps. The Pomeranian Museum has one of the richest collections in the world collection of museum objects related to Caspar's life and work. Part of the images oil paintings, over 60 drawings and graphics and numerous archival materials, including his letters. If for some reason you don't want to walk for kilometers or it's raining like crazy, you can follow the treadmill here with the help of a multimedia recording of the walk Caspar at the Life Lines exhibition. These collections are shown in a much broader scope context, also supplemented with further valuable artifacts, original documents such as acts baptism, all in order to learn more about the path the artist has followed since first attempts at drawing to mature, conscious creativity. There is also the original a painting with Neubrandenburg in the main role shown earlier in the film The exhibition lasts until August 4, but of course this is not the end of events related to the painter in this city. If you come to this place, be sure to visit not only the museum for a painter, it is probably the largest institution connecting the history of the entire Pomerania and looking for bridges between Vorpommern, Western, Central and Eastern Pomerania You cannot miss Croy's Tapestries, a monumental work textile, measuring 30 square meters, which depicts, among others, the Princes' family Pomeranian who ruled for 500 years in Pomerania. The exhibition shows our common history of Pomerania, which is a cross-border region. When it comes to our common history of the Pomerania region, we have a number material memorabilia left behind by the Gryfice family. We also cooperate with museums from the Polish part of the region, including: National Museum in Szczecin but also with the Museum of Central Pomerania in Słupsk and, of course, we also have cooperation exhibitions, but I work as a cultural consultant and I am... responsible for activities that go beyond strictly museum activities. I organize various types of meetings, workshops, cultural events. Not only here in Greifswald but also here cooperation with various partners throughout the region and beyond. The Caspar David Friedrich Center was opened in 2004 and is run by the company of his name. This is his family home located in the city itself middle of the historic center of the city and until the second half of the 20th century it was owned by Friedrich's family. His father worked like that in those days a very necessary profession like the candle maker and his workshop today it is still recreated in the basement of this small museum. And after visiting this place and before visiting the museum, it is best to go to the trail with one combined ticket which was created as already mentioned and ends closer to the sea, because the city is not actually by the sea. Just like Szczecin. In the place where the Ryck River meets the Greifswald Bay there is a charming fishing village, today part of the city but still with a summer resort character, where you can observe in addition to traditional thatched houses, also one of the oldest, still operating drawbridges and security flood protection protecting the city against Baltic backwaters. [Music] Friedrich especially liked dark, subdued colors in his works. He loved painting sunsets and nocturnes. And he often shrouded his landscapes in fog. If he showed a person in such an atmospheric setting, he always did it backwards, which further emphasized the atmosphere of mystery but also indicated the power of nature and how small and defenseless man was in front of this nature. After another front and evening rain, we manage to get out of the day the last 30, 40 minutes of sun and it's very good that it happened to us here i.e. in Elden - today also a district of Greifswald, and formerly the oldest and the most important part of this area. Thanks to the influence of the monastery whose monks brought by the Pomeranian Dukes from the Griffin family, they also governed part of Rügen. [Music] When Caspar was contemplating the ruins of the monastery, did he also think that she was buried here (most likely she was then) princess Jagiellon, daughter of Casimir IV Jagiellon and wife of the prince Bogusława, here called nomen nomen Anna Polka. I think not necessarily. Though Our hero had a lot of historical knowledge, but he certainly contemplated the evocative architecture of the abandoned building once an extremely influential monastery. In fact, the monastery was founded earlier than the city of Greifswald was founded. I think he also contemplated the power of oak trees. But why? Because so contemplating and contemplating, he decided that these two symbols: the ruins of the monastery in Elden and the silhouettes he will most often include old oaks in his paintings, and this happened This may be a slightly strange situation - he was already "playing" with Photoshop by painting ruins or buildings inspired by these ruins and embedding them in various other places that he depicted in his paintings. Including on example in the Karkonosze Mountains. "I must surrender myself completely to the nature around me, unite with my clouds and rocks, so that I can remain who I am." "I need nature to communicate with God through it," he is said to have said Friedrich, for whom contact with landscape and nature was a religious experience. What seems to us today the most positive element of romanticism. We didn't manage to catch the moonlight but also the such an accumulation of sailing ships in the port of Greifswald as these 200 a dozen or so years ago. Today, the port is dominated by sailboats and yachts, and along it there is a quiet apartment complex. Ladies and gentlemen, I said that this is not a city seaside, then the inhabitants of Rostock will now cry out, inhabitants of Hamburg - famous port cities that also have no seaside they find them, and yet they came from the sea and are connected to the sea, so absolutely here we can eat a lot of delicious sea dishes. Ania today she ordered freshly caught flounder. Previously a red fish soup with Spanish influences. And I have, by the way, a Pannfisch that comes from the ports of northern Germany, which is served with something I dreamed of, i.e. Bratkartoffeln and mustard sauce. This connection screams: "Greifswald is a seaside town, and it is certainly a Hanseatic city." [Music] Before we arrive on Rügen, we go to Stralsund for half a day. This is our second visit to this extremely interesting city. Beautifully combining several Scandinavian, German, and cultural threads Pomeranian, Baltic and even Slavic. Arrow - strela, is the Slavic origin of the name Stralsund, which is paradoxically closely related with an even more "northern north" than the north of Germany, i.e. with Scandinavia. Not without reason, because for about two centuries Stralsund belonged to Sweden. That's why the saying "When? When the Swedes come" doesn't really fit here. It is an extremely beautiful city, one of the largest in Pomerania, which is also the gateway to Rügen or the gateway to the mainland from Rügen St. Mary's Temple - St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche) it was built as a copy of a similar one in Lübeck but was taller. Higher is an understatement because in the 16th and 17th centuries this building was the tallest building in the world. And it is connected with Caspar in a small thread. Well, our painter, the draftsman undertook a lucrative commission to design the side and main altars here. The contract was very close to being signed, but ultimately it did not happen. But we have all kinds of projects and sketches in the archives. It would be interesting true, if we could see a work other than a drawing or a painting during our journey. Such a curiosity Follow Bismarck or follow à la Bismarck, actually, the recipe for this herring was created here in this city in 1871. Johann Wiechmann invented the method of preparing herring in... this specific sour way. And to this day you can still prepare herring you can taste this old recipe here in this shop, and also in this small factory. Of course, there is a lot of tradition of herring fishing in Stralsund longer, because it dates back to the Middle Ages. When the Rügen book granted the city the right to catch these fish. In this red, Gothic tenement house, by the way also on Karl Wilhelm Scheele was born on the Brick Gothic Trail. Attention! Discoverer of chlorine, manganese, tungsten and oxygen. Yes, it all had to be discovered! Not everyone appreciated and understood Friedrich's painting. His famous Cross in the Mountains was received as a very controversial painting because it painted a work of art thoroughly religious, he rejected the iconographic standards that everyone knew and they appreciated. And it also seems that over time Friedrich was becoming more and more more obsessed with death, he continually returned to this topic for what made his very dark, difficult painting seem too heavy and didn't work anymore with the times. Additionally, his disease is getting worse over the years his mental health made him an even more introverted person. Incomprehensible and lonely. [Music] There are three ways to get to Ruga: via a modern car bridge, a railway line, as well as a ferry going to the homely-sounding town of Glewitz. To diversify the journey, we choose this option. Starting an interesting discussion on the ferry. "Every year we see more and more of you Poles here on our Baltic Sea and elsewhere Rügen", we hear from an extremely nice lady. We share the news that Caspar Friedrich he is a very popular painter in Poland. Theme of the moon, moonlight, a sunset, or a figure staring at who knows what, seemingly boring, the not very diversified coast of the Baltic Sea or the North Sea, it is very popular the theme of the painter's paintings from the middle part of his work. How different from the Karkonosze and Saxon regions views of the mountains, but to this day we do not know which landscape he was more devoted to and which he valued more. It was during his stays on Rügen inspired by the landscape of the island, he developed his own style but gained appreciation again not in the flat north, but in Dresden, where he gained patrons and became famous. So let's take a look at one place on this beautiful Baltic island, which by the way has a Slavic history. We have a separate episode about this. The place mentioned is one of the most unique among all the artist's plein-air works. We are in Lauterbach near Putbus - the city of roses and this is where Caspar liked to stay during his stay in Rügen and from there it was about 30 km to his favorite one places in Jasmund National Park. 30 km! But as we found out, no this was no problem, because as it turns out, he was also more than just outstanding a painter but also an experienced wanderer. Not only did he paint wanderers, but he was himself a wanderer and for him covering such a distance was no problem at all. Regardless of whether here among the Rügen hills or in the Karkonosze Mountains, where it was probably a little more difficult. An impressive distance for someone who lives in the open air, feeds on the open air, breathes in the open air and lives from it. He didn't spend hours and days with his easel on the trails, he wandered and drew amazing sketches frames, marked sketches with colors and painted in the comfort of his home studio. Sometimes it was so that the Rügen open-air workshops were created in Dresden. At the moment of his greatest fame, when The ruler of this country himself - Frederick William IV - helped in it. The stone commemorating the visit of Queen Victoria and King William is extremely important to our history because the visit of the royal couple greatly popularized visits tourist in these areas. King William, on the other hand, was a big fan the work of Caspar Friedrich, and after purchasing his paintings, in fact our painter became widely known and famous. Jasmund National Park is one of three which we can find in the Mecklenburg Vorpommern region. It is part of the UNESCO entry. Why part? Because on the same entry there are beech forests, for example, in the Bieszczady Mountains or in central Italy. These are the most primeval, true beech forests that once existed the most normal and natural communities for Central Europe. By the way, our word "Bug" comes from the German or Old Germanic "buch". Buchenwald is a beech forest and a forest by the sea - this is the distinguishing feature of this park national, but of course white cliffs, which is the main theme of Caspar's painting is number one. Unless botanists decide that beeches are number one and cliffs are number one number will give. These two things prove the power of this park. Places where Caspar painted his famous painting can't be found easily, though with help National park employees manage to determine that it is here. But in between in others, the praised beeches blocked our perspective. However, the artist added a second non-existent cliff in the painting to give it a new look the drama of this composition and its unique location. We are also trying together together with Agata and Bartek, who are visiting us on Rügen, to create a composition similar to that in the famous painting. In a relatively real version and a slightly tweaked version - we also have two chalk cliffs. [Music] This is a very unusual image, extremely intriguing. Three people observe the unusual landscape. Each of them expresses a completely different attitude towards the observed reality, towards nature. The woman on the left is very interested but also a little concerned belays, the man in the middle seems to be the most scared and frightened, while the figure on the right, the figure of a young man, is already pointing at the greatest peace. He's very confident and that really opens up the field a very extensive and interesting interpretation. The boats sailing across the Baltic Sea towards the unknown are an allegory of the journey to eternity from life on earth to life in heaven. Our Caspar was deeply religious [Music] We have already been here, we have already walked the trail from the information center to Sassnitz. It's about 2 and a half for fast and 3 and a half for regular. Hours, of course. There is a waterfall in the central part there you can go down to the beach. But this is not recommended. Descent is recommended at Pirate Bay, closer to the town and the last 15, 20 minutes along the white ones cliffs with a safe fragment, such as rocky and gravel. But let's remember so as not to get too close to the cliffs and not to stray from the trail or beaten paths... But there is a lot of information that warns about this. In the Jasmund National Park Center there is a temporary exhibition "The Chalk Coast of Rügen, Special places of inspiration with romanticism." And this is where Caspar's spirit came with us. At the information center where you can participate in a multimedia show about the origins and nature of the Jasmund National Park, which has recently been operating nearby a new viewing point in the form of a hanging, rope walkway. All because beautiful chalk cliffs constantly falling and being washed away by the Baltic Sea, they go back. Erosion and a large number of tourists did not spare the famous place The King's Throne. But it's one of those places in Europe where it's worth going long even for a short moment among such views, reaching atmospheric Sassnitz, where ferries depart to the north, but also an elegant resort for years and a good base for exploring Rügen. You are slowly thinking about what awaits you on the quay and in the port. And they are extremely delicious and still cost about the same as 6 or 7 years ago famous fish rolls from the cutter. That is, Fischbrötchen - to choose the color. It is very difficult to choose one favorite painting by this artist. Still until recently I would say that it is The Wanderer in the Sea of ​​Fog, but I think that today I am closer to the Cemetery Gate from 1825. And contrary to appearances and contrary to what it presents, it is very beautiful, gentle calm which represents the entrance to a cemetery that is open to interpretation as a very natural next step with which each of us has to face it. And the gentleness of this image makes it so the process doesn't seem that painful. [Music] And that's all for this episode. We hope you liked this topic. We are waiting for your thumbs up, we are waiting for positive comments with suggestions for other trips you would see thematic ones on our channel, among our videos. But we don't finish traveling around the northern part of Germany, because in the next episode we will see you from Mecklenburg. Welcome to this episode. See you! "An image cannot be invented, but felt. Observe the form carefully, both the smallest and the large one, do not separate the small form from the large one neither trivial nor important. Pure and sincere feelings that we cultivate in in our hearts are the only true sources of art. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]