UNESCO World Heritage Site #167: Berlin Modernism Housing Estates

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Published on 12/23/2011

UNESCO World Heritage Site #167: Berlin Modernism Housing Estates

From the World Heritage inscription:

The set of housing estates in the Berlin Modern Style provides outstanding testimony to the implementation of housing policies during the period 1910 – 1933 and especially during the Weimar Republic, when the city of Berlin was characterized by its political, social, cultural and technical progressiveness. The housing estates reflect, with the highest degree of quality, the combination of urbanism, architecture, garden design and aesthetic research typical of early 20th century modernism, as well as the application of new hygienic and social standards. Some of the most prominent leading architects of German modernism were involved in the design and construction of the properties; they developed innovative urban, building and flat typologies, technical solutions and aesthetic achievements.

As I’ve stated before, architectural world heritage sites are often the least interesting to the casual traveler. The buildings usually aren’t famous and often the architects aren’t famous either. To top it off, the buildings often aren’t open to the public because they are still in private hands.

In the case of the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates has all of the above problems. If you are a student of architecture or urban planning, the housing estates might be interesting, but I think most people would walk by without ever noticing they have world heritage stats on a par with the pyramids or the Taj Mahal.

There are six different collections of these estates surrounding Berlin. Many of them are not easy to get to and would require a long bus ride or taxi to get there. The one I visited was the Großsiedlung Siemensstadt which is very easy to get to. Just take the U7 subway line and get off at the Siemensdam station. The moment you walk out of the station you will see some of the buildings. Walk a few blocks into the neighborhood and you can see some historical signs talking about the housing estate.

This was the eleventh stop on my November 2011 Eurail trip to European UNESCO sites.

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UNESCO World Heritage Site #166: Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin

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Published on 12/22/2011

UNESCO World Heritage Site #166: Museum Island, Berlin

From the World Heritage inscription:

The art museum is a social phenomenon that owes its origins to the Age of Enlightenment and its extension to all people to the French Revolution. The Museumsinsel is the most outstanding example of this concept given material form and a symbolic central urban setting, and one that illustrates the evolution of modern museum design over more than a century.

The present importance of the Museumsinsel began when the Altes Museum was built to the designs of Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1824-28. A plan to develop the part of the island behind this museum was drawn up in 1841 by the court architect, Friedrich August Stüler, on the orders of Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The first element of this plan to be built was the Neues Museum (1843-47). The next step did not take place until 1866, when the Nationalgalerie, the work of Johann Heinrich Strack, was built. Another two decades passed before the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (now the Bodemuseum) was built in 1897-1904 to the designs of Ernst von Ihne, and Stüler’s plan was completed in 1909-30 with the construction of Alfred Messel’s Pergamonmuseum.

Museum Island is one of the cultural and tourist highlights of Berlin. The island is in the middle Spree river and is home to five significant museums: the Altes Museum, the Neues Museum, the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Bode Museum and the Pergamon Museum.

It is the only museum(s) that I know of that have UNESCO World Heritage status. The Louvre and other important museums in the world are have not been accorded special World Heritage status.

One unique thing about the museums, and unlike much of the rest of Germany, is that the damage caused during WWII has been kept. You can still see bullet holes on the facade of many of the buildings.

Getting to Museum Island is very easy if you are in Berlin. It is accessible by U-Bahn and bus.

This was the tenth stop on my Eurail trip of UNESCO sites in Europe.

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UNESCO World Heritage Site #165: Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin

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Published on 12/21/2011

UNESCO World Heritage Site #165: Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin

From the World Heritage inscription:

The ensemble of the chateaux and parks of Potsdam is an exceptional artistic achievement whose eclectic and evolutionary features reinforce its uniqueness: from Knobelsdorff to Schinkel and from Eyserbeck to Lenné, a series of architectural and landscaping masterpieces were built within a single space, illustrating opposing and reputedly irreconcilable styles without detracting from the harmony of a general composition, designed progressively over time.

Potsdam, mentioned first in the 10th century, acquired some importance when the Great Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William (1620-88) established his residence there. Potsdam housed a small garrison from 1640 onwards; the site’s military function was strengthened by the young Prussian monarchy.

Under Frederick II the Great (1712-86) Potsdam was radically changed. The new king wished to establish next to the garrison town and settlement colony of the ‘Sergeant King’ a ‘Prussian Versailles’, which was to be his main residence. In 1744 Frederick II ordered a vineyard to be planted on six terraces on the southern side of a hill, Bald Mountain. Sanssouci, a name which reflects the king’s desire for intimacy and simplicity, translates the theme of a rustic villa into the marble, mirrors and gold of a Rococo-style palace.

One of the things which surprised me about Berlin was the number and quality of the palaces in the area, especially in Potsdam. Many of the palaces in the area surrounding Berlin did not receive heavy damage during the war.

The highlight of the world heritage site, in my opinion, was Sanssouci, the palace of Frederick The Great. One of his final request was that he be laid to rest on the grounds of Sanssouci with his favorite greyhounds. In 1991, 205 years after his death and after the reunification of Germany, his request was finally granted.

Sanssouci is about a 15-20 minute walk from the Potsdam train station. I’d recommend visiting in the summer as in the winter, all of the statues in the garden were covered and the fountains were drained when I visited in the winter.

This was the tenth stop on my November 2011 Eurail trip to European UNESCO sites.

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Christmas Store in Basel, Switzerland

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Published on 12/25/2011

Christmas Store in Basel, Switzerland

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The Science of Spirituality by Lee Bladon The Science of Spirituality integrates the individual systems of science, psychology, philosophy, spirituality and religion into a unified system that describes the multi-dimensional nature of man and the universe. It provides a more comprehensive description of reality than science can offer and explains the mechanisms behind an array of paranormal phenomena that science chooses to ignore. It explains the science behind religious, spiritual and new-age beliefs, and sheds light on some common misconceptions.

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Science, Psychology, Philosophy, Spirituality and Religion

With science and religion we have two seemingly opposed views of how life, the universe and everything began:

• Scientists generally believe that a perfectly balanced universe spontaneously appeared out of nothingness, and that life, consciousness and intelligence randomly evolved from inert matter.

• Christians generally believe that an all-powerful and all-knowing God created  the world and its myriad of life-forms (in just six days).

Not only do they both seem pretty unbelievable, they appear to share no common ground. However, recent scientific discoveries have unknowingly provided evidence that supports the multi-dimensional nature of reality that Hindus, Buddhists and Kabbalists have known about for thousands of years:

• The latest scientific models state that the universe is multi-dimensional, with six or more hidden spatial dimensions, and is primarily composed of non-physical matter (dark matter and dark energy).

• Respected doctors and medical practitioners are now openly investigating near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences and past-life regression, and are beginning to discover the multi-dimensional nature of human beings.

By combining modern scientific facts with ancient spiritual knowledge we begin to uncover the whole truth and bring unity out of the existing duality. There can be only one true reality, but we will never discover the whole truth if we hold on to   our preconceived ideas and only look from one perspective. Einstein said: "Religion without science is blind, science without religion is lame", because they are two sides of the same coin.

Science and spirituality both agree that we live in a multi-dimensional universe,  and paranormal phenomena suggest that life exists in these other dimensions. Human beings may be at the top of the evolutionary ladder in our 3-dimensional physical world but a hierarchy of increasingly advanced beings live in dimensions  that exist just beyond our normal range of perception. These higher-dimensional beings are omniscient and omnipotent in our physical world, which is how our concept of god originated.

A handful of these highly advanced beings periodically incarnate to teach the most advanced members of humanity about the true nature of reality. The great masters such as Krishna, Buddha and Christ (and many others who kept lower profiles) are the originators of esoteric knowledge – the one true science and the one true religion. The information was shrouded in mystery and symbolism to prevent the uninitiated from fully understanding it in the event that it became public knowledge.

Most of the world’s major religions were built around carefully selected pieces of this esoteric information that were taught to the general public at various times throughout history. As time passed and the religions grew, bureaucracy, dogma  and superstition developed, which further distorted the original teachings. Science developed in response to the woefully poor explanations of reality offered by western religion. The early scientists were persecuted and deemed heretics for questioning the Church and delving into the mind of God, when all they sought to  do was to understand the world in which they lived. Scientific scepticism of all things mystical is still very much apparent today.

A significant amount of esoteric information was released into the public domain  at the end of the 19th century but it (theosophy) failed to make much of an impact because religion was dominant, science was in its infancy and the people of the time were too reserved. The popularity of metaphysics, spirituality and new science in the 21st century indicates that the world is now ready for a modern presentation of esoteric knowledge.

The Science of Spirituality systematically describes the mechanisms behind a diverse range of subject matter including: consciousness, sleep and dreams, reincarnation, religion, creation, evolution, space and time, seven planes, higher dimensions, heaven and hell, ghosts, angels and demons, out of body experiences, near death experiences, clairvoyance, psychic abilities, personal development, meditation, enlightenment and the meaning of life.

I hope the website and book spark your interest and inspire your own quest.

Lee Bladon

Science of Pyramids

The ancient pyramids are among the most astonishing structures in the world. Built in ancient times by workers who didn't have the benefit of modern tools and machinery, they are a constant source of fascination. Most of us think of ancient Egypt when pyramids come to mind, but they exist in many parts of the world. Why did the ancients build pyramids? What was their purpose? Is there any special meaning behind the pyramid shape? How were they built without earth-moving or heavy-lift machinery? In this article, we'll examine pyramids around the world, how they were constructed and who used them.
What is a pyramid?
A pyramid is a geometrical solid with a square base and four equilateral triangular sides, the most structurally stable shape for projects involving large amounts of stone or masonry. Pyramids of various types, sizes and complexities were built in many parts of the ancient world (like Central America, Greece, China and Egypt). In the history of Egypt and China, they were primarily tombs and monuments to kings and leaders. The pyramids of the Mayans and Aztecs of Central America were mainly religious temples, though some of them housed burial chambers.

Did you know? Laborers used 2.3 million blocks of limestone and granite to build the Great Pyramid of Khufu, which stands 146 meters high, has a 230-meter-square base and weighs about 6.5 million tons.

The Central American pyramids were smaller and sometimes wider than their Egyptian counterparts. These pyramids also took longer to finish -- they were often built and modified over hundreds of years, while Egyptian pyramids took a couple of decades to construct. Pyramids in Central America were integrated into Aztec and Mayan cities, whereas Egyptian pyramids were located away from the major cities.

The ancestors of these great structures are the burial tombs found throughout North America and Europe -- simple mounds of earth that covered burial chambers. The first tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs were flat, box-shaped buildings called mastabas (Arabic for "bench"). Pharaohs later built grander tombs by adding levels on top of the box to form stepped pyramids. Stepped pyramids are prevalent in Central America. In Mesopotamia, they were called ziggurats.

Science behind Lightning

Lightning is caused by the build up of electrostatic charge in clouds. One region within the cloud builds up a positive charge and the other a negative charge. The process is not completely understood as to why, but the bottom of the cloud usually ends up being negatively charged and the top positively charged. If the build up (separation) of charge becomes great enough, the negative charges may leap to the positive side of another cloud, this is called sheet lightning or it may leap to the ground.
* As the negative charges collect at the bottom of the cloud it forces the negative charges in the ground to be forced away from the surface. This leaves the ground positive.
* A streamer of negative charges is repelled by the bottom of the cloud and attracted by the ground.
* As this streamer of negative charges approaches the ground, a streamer of positive charges is repelled by the ground and attracted to the negative streamer.
* When the two streamers connect, they have created a fairly conductive path which allows a sudden down surge of electrons to jump to the ground. This is the lightning.
* The rapidly moving electrons excite the air along the path so much that it emits light. It also heats the air so intensely that it rapidly expands creating thunder.
* One thing to notice is that the positive charges that make up both the cloud and the ground do not move. Even the positive streamer launched by the ground is really only made up of positively charged air particles because the electron(s) left the particle.
Three basic types:
1. Cloud to ground Lightning
2. Ground to cloud Lightning
3. Cloud to cloud Lightning
Other classifications of Lightning:
1. Positive lightning or High voltage Lightning popularly known as “bolt from the blue” 2. Dry lightning: This type of lightning is the most common natural cause of wild land fires. Dry lightning may also be referred to as heat lightning. lightning near the horizon that is reflected by high clouds 3. Sheet lightning - Normal lightning that is reflected in the clouds
4. Ball lightning - A phenomenon where lightning forms a slow, moving ball that can burn objects in its path before exploding or burning out
5. Red sprite - A red burst reported to occur above storm clouds and reaching a few miles in length (toward the stratosphere) 6. Blue jet - A blue, cone-shaped burst that occurs above the center of a storm cloud and moves upward (toward the stratosphere) at a high rate of speed
7. Bead lightning
8. Ribbon lightning
9. Staccato lightning