one of world’s dream cities: Palermo

 

A 2023 survey by Travel + Leisure invited readers to vote on the world’s most beautiful cities. Clearly the answer differed for everyone, but see their non-exhaustive list of the world’s 25 most beautiful cities. I chose Palermo

On Sicily's Nth coast the sunny city is a dream for archit­ect­ure fans, right on the Mediterranean's cross roads. Palermo shows a striking mix of architectural styles, after centuries of conquest & differing cultural influences, a rich history of local civilisations. It changed from a Carthaginian stronghold to a Roman province, reaching its cultural peak in Arab rule (831–1072) and then Christian Norman conquerors, creating the unique Arab-Norman architectural style seen now.

Palermo has many fine museums, Sicily's Regional Gallery being housed in a stunning C15th Gothic-Catalan palace and containing iconic works of medieval and Renaissance art. Separately Palermo noted that a Goddess Artemis fragment be­l­ong­­ing to the Parthenon’s east­ern frieze on loan from Sic­ily’s Archaeol­og­ical Museum will remain in Ath­ens. And the Vatican will return Marble fragments from the Vatican Museums, with papal donations

Royal Norman Palace of the Kings of Sicily created in C12th, had the beautiful Palatine Chapel in its 2nd floor. Inside the chapel is decorated with beautiful golden mosaics, and the ceiling is very different from any other Christian church. Carved wood in an Islamic style. Tickets to the Norman Palace include entry to Palatine Chapel, Royal Apartments, Royal Gardens and special exhibitions. 

Palermo Cathedral, built 1185, was built on a Byzantine Church. See the architectural styles that reflect the long history of additions & renovations to the cathedral. In a chapel, right of the altar, lies St Rosalie, patron saint of Palermo. And see the tomb of Blessed Father Puglisi, Mafia-killed. Entry to the cathedral is free except for a visit to the rooftop for great views over the city and to the royal tombs.

The Arab-Norman architectural style features unique blends of Islamic domes & Byzantine mosaics. Palace of the Normans is a striking gold-stone example of the Arab-Norman style and home to Sicily's regional parliament,  a C9th palace representing one of Europe's most ancient royal residences. And the Palatine Chapel, completed in 1142 is one of Europe's great artistic treasures with stunning Byzantine mosaics covering the walls and ceiling.

teatro massimo

Built from 1875-97, Teatro Massimo is the largest Opera House in Italy and the 3rd largest and most celebrated in the world after Paris & Vienna Operas. Tea­t­ro Mass­imo’s copper dome is c250’ over the piazza bel­ow. From the roof­top, see the city’s terracotta skyline in the early evening.

Quattro Canti Square/Piazza Vigliena is the centre of Palermo’s historic quarter, lined with 4 Baroque buildings. Tourists can see some beautiful opera performances in the square, a famous Baroque intersection that beautifully divides the historic city into 4 distinct quarters. It is the architectural marvel of squares, with baroque beauty & intricate details. Each corner is a masterpiece, with the baroque statues representing the Four Seasons. 

C16th nude sculptures at the Piazza Pretoria

 

Near Quattro Canti is Praetorian Fountain, built in Florence in C16th. When the owner lost money, he sold the fountain to the City. The fountain was broken into hundreds of pieces and shipped to Palermo to be reassembled. Because of the totally nude statues, and a convent looking out onto the fountain, it was called the Square of Shame.

Norman Palace

Palatine Chapel

Porta Nuova/New Gate next to the Norman palace was built when Holy Roman Emperor Charles V came to the Kingdom of Sicily in 1536 and crossed the arched entrance to Palermo. To honour the event, New Gate was completed in 1584, later destroyed by fire and then rebuilt more elaborately by the City Senate as the triumphal arched gateway leading to the oldest street, Cassaro.

Porta Nuova 

Like Rome's Church of the Capuchin Monks, where there are bodies & bones arranged into art, the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo opened 1599, to avoid throwing all the dead brothers into a mass grave. Originally only Capuchin friars were entombed in the catacombs, but in C17th & 18ths, it was a way for people to show their wealth and power. There are 2000+ mummified bodies in the catacombs now, dating to C16th-early C20th. Men were embalmed and put on display in their clothes, remarkably well preserved, as are their intact hair and skin. There's NO photography in this eerie historical site. 

Capuchin catacombs

Ballaro Market is the one of the oldest street-markets in Italy & Palermo’s largest. Fish, meat, fruit & vegetables are available, complete with plenty of street food stalls. Loud and crowded, the stall holders can be very vocal advertising their produce and the atmosphere in the passionate street-life surrounds its historical outdoor markets like Arabic souks. il Capo Market is smaller and quieter than Ballaro, primarily a fish market and also has plenty of street foodstalls. The best time to visit is in the morning since many stalls close after lunch. la Vucciria Market Square in Sicilian means chaos, an apt description for this small square with its fish restaurants and food trucks. 

Gorgeous coffee shops in the small lanes

A train runs from Naples to Sicily then drives onto the ferry, by day or on overnight sleepers. Or fly to Falcone-Borsellino Airport from several European cities or get a connecting flight via Rome. If driving to Sicily by car, vehicle ferries travel from different mainland ports to Messina, Sicily’s primary transit hub.

transport from Southern Italy to Sicily

 Summer is peak season but winter is the best time to visit when the mild weather is great for walking around the city. All the attractions are open, and there are smaller crowds! The only issue might be the fewer daylight hours in winter. Near the Norman Palace, relax in the Gardens of the Villa Bonnano with palms and citrus trees, offering relief from the city’s action. And Mondello Beach is just a short distance from the city centre, an iconic coastline with pure water and stunning Mediterranean views. Although Palermo was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, and since I've only spent one day there, I gratefully thank Nigel and Sue Adventures.

Beautiful Madeira Islands near Portugal

Madeira (under blue spot), Portugal and Morocco

Wiki

Madeira’s written history started in 1418. It was then the navigators led by João Gonçalves Zarco sighted, after days afloat on the high seas, a small island that saved them from tragedy, a safe harbour they named Porto Santo Island. Next year, 1419, they reached Madeira Island.

Navigators Tristão Vaz Teixeira, Bartolomeu Perestrelo & João Gonçalves Zarco became the first settlers. Portuguese King John I (1357–1433) ordered the colonisation process in 1425 with people of modest means, ex-prisoners of Portugal and some lower nobility. Other settlers were peasant farmers and fishermen hoping for better prospects after the bubonic plagues ravaging Europe. To develop agriculture, settlers cleared parts of the dense forest with long lasting fires.

King John I statue in Lisbon

Wiki

Madeira's settlement history showed its clear potential. The islands were in a perfect geographical location, quickly making it an international point of connection, with fertile volcanic soils & subtropical climate all year. During colonis-ation, some crops were introduced that became central to Madeira's history. Sugar cane brought great economic wealth to the region. Madeira began planting sugarcane, a rare spice then, in c1450 and quickly became a large exporter of sugarcane and a popular sugar stop for European traders. From C16th, the islands were established as one of the most famous sugar producers in the world: White Gold. The use of slave labour in sugar cultivation was launched on a small production model in Madeira in 1452, the earliest place to use slave labour for sugar. This was due to its proximity to Africa’s coast, 400 km to the Canary Islands and c520 km to Morocco; but c1000 km from Portugal!

The cultivation of sugarcane continued until most production moved to Brasil. Then fishing & vegetables were the main products for Madeirans. But in order to develop Madeira's agriculture, it was essential to thin out the dense forest and to build many levadas-aqueducts. They brought water from the island’s wet north to the dry parts in the south. Today there are 2,170 km+ of levadas still used for water transport, hydroelectric power & popular walking trails with great views. Already in 17th & C18ths, Madeira's history was marked by a new culture that boosted the economy.

Madeira was marginally involved in both world wars. There were a handful of German attacks in WW1, during which Germany declared war on Portugal on Mar 1916. In WW2, Portugal was neutral but did agree to take in Gibraltarian humanitarian refugees, until the war’s end.

Madeira gained political autonomy in 1976 after the 1974 Carnation Revolution, when a military coup ended Portugal’s endless dictatorship. Today Madeira’s population = c256,000 people, the majority of whom live on Madeira island and 5,000 people living on Porto Santo island. Of those on Madeira, almost half (105,795) live in the capital, Funchal. The population is almost entirely Catholic (96%) and tourism makes up c30% of the Madeiran GDP.

Old Town Funchal

Museum of Wine and Vine, tasting room

 

With 600+ years of history, this Atlantic archipelago protects a vast collection of monuments, churches, museums and other cultural spaces. Madeira's heritage stands out for its undeniable historical relevance. Walking in the streets of Madeira's towns and cities means enjoying direct contact with that heritage. It is a journey into the past through different architectural styles, historic spaces or artworks from the eras. Among Madeira's heritage, see King Manuel I late Gothic relics, military or modern architecture. And valuable paintings, photos, sculptures, jewellery, furniture and porcelain found in the chapels, churches, cathedrals, forts, palaces, old estates, museums or cultural centres.

The capital city, Funchal, is central to Madeira's cultural heritage. Wander down the streets of this European city to enjoy its rich heritage eg art pieces from 7 museums. These artefacts were chosen for their history and their relationship with Madeira. All the museums are ideal for exploring the archipelago's history, identity and traditions but also for discovering the region's natural wealth. 

Madeira Island vineyards

The special wine produced is globally acclaimed still, and although Madeira is mostly made with red grapes, white grapes are also common. Since C17th, Madeira’s main export has been wine, used in many traditional Portuguese dishes. In Santana municipality on Madeira’s north coast, the Museum of Wine and Vine is housed in an old restored cellar, examining wine’s complex production process. Three wine presses have been restored in the cellar, offering visitors the chance to inspect these traditional spaces and utensils used in viticulture. Additionally the Museum also has an explanatory section on the cycles of the vine. Note the Museum includes a shop for buying traditional products!

The Solar do Aposento is a traditional, wealthy house preserved in the Madeiran architectural tradition. Built mid C18th in Ponta Delgada, this agricultural property’s building came with out-buildings; the ground floor was occupied by wine stores, next to a wine press. So visiting Solar do Aposento means witnessing island life in 18th & C19ths.  Recently the site gained a small chapel and extensions near the kitchen. The interior explores various decorative styles. Most of the furniture are of C19th Madeiran origin, with pieces in mahogany and chestnut wood, like contemporary English furniture. And also Portuguese furniture from the late 18th and C19ths. And see important paintings and sculptures eg the C17th oil painting of Our Lady with Child and a polychrome, gilded upholstered wooden sculpture of St Anthony (mid-C17th). Also see a carved and gilded wooden mirror from Queen Donna Maria I (1734–1816).

Funchal family houses and beach rental houses

The Madeira Story Centre explains the archipelago’s rich history. Situated near the cable car station in central Funchal, the Centre teaches via an exhibition of authentic historical objects and interactive multi-media equipment. The Museum’s halls are organised in themes: Volcanic Origins; Legends of Discovery; Discovery of Madeira; Turmoil and Trade; Strategic Island; Madeira Development; After Navigation; and Exploring Madeira. From volcanic genesis to pirate attacks, going through the Centre suits the entire family. See the panoramic terrace, to scan Funchal city and to taste the local cuisine.

Madeira Flower Festival

each year in April-May

Beyond Madeira

The paradisal nature of the two Atlantic islands became famous around the world. Some of the European aristocracy, attracted by the therapeutic properties of this Eden, began to take up temporary residence here. Madeira flourished with tourism, and still does today.

Lutetia Hotel, French culture German WW2

The Lutetia hotel was one of Paris’ landmarks, a monument to the city’s cultural memory where art, history and luxury met. In Dec 1910 Lutetia was opened by Marguerite and Aristide Boucicaut, visionary founders of Le Bon Marché. They created a hotel to welcome the department store’s wealthy clientele and reflect the cosmopolitan Left Bank. The result was unlike any other in Paris: a fusion of Art Nouveau exuberance and nascent Art Deco restraint, its grand façade with sculptural reliefs.

front entrance and facade

 

Lutetia always attracted the elite, wealthy visitors, artists, intellectuals and writers who helped define C20th culture. James Joyce corrected proofs of Ulysses inside, Picasso, Matisse and André Gide were regulars and Josephine Baker gave jazz rhythm to its salons. A unique blend of high society and arty avant-garde!

Author Jane Rogoyska focused on this fashionable grand hotel from 1933-45 in Hotel Exile. She wrote of the hotel’s war events before, in and after the German occupation of France. She wrote of the destruction of German & Austrian culture, once the Nazis seized power in 1933.

Germans forced into exile in France included many literary stars of Habsburg Vienna & Weimar Republic: Heinrich & Thomas Mann, Berthold Brecht, Walter Benjamin, Alfred Kerr, Hannah Arendt, Joseph Roth, Franz Werfel & Stefan Zweig and James Joyce. They escaped with their lives but mostly lost their livelihoods. In Paris they lived in solitude or in cheap hotels. They also faced the hostility of French bureaucracy against Germans.

In 1935, a millionaire genius of international communism Willi Münzenberg led the Lutetia Committee. Despite his leadership (supported by E.M Forster & Aldous Huxley), no German Popular Front emerged and alliance between communists & social democrats ended in Aug 1939 with the Nazi-Soviet pact. The leader of the French communists, Maurice Thorez welcomed Der Pakt as a stroke of genius on Stalin’s part that would avert another European war.

WW2 broke out later when many of the exiles had already managed to re-escape to U.S, UK or Switzerland and the German army occupied Paris. This hotel was soon controlled by Abwehr-German Military Intelligence Service (in 1940), a German organisation standing on the Nazi regime fringes. Arthur Koestler, a Hungarian Jewish communist, joined the Foreign Legion to escape the bureaucrats who interned him. But eventually some exiles, inspired by Heinrich Mann, risked fighting back by forming Lutetia Committee of Germany’s Popular Front against Fascism. They met in the elegant Lutetia salons.

Colonel Friedrich Rudolph decided to requisition the French staff, as well as the hotel. The concierge, cooks, waiters and chambermaids continued to serve their German “guests” with their normal respect, and Manager Marcel Chappaz ensured everyone’s comfort. Abwehr commanders stayed until the end. They regrouped in Berlin, where Col Rudolph was gaoled re a July plot to assassinate Hitler.

Meanwhile the political deportees were registered in reception, where the hotel staff were assisted by boy scouts. Many of their patients were the true heroes of France’s war, all that remained of that small minority who had found the courage to fight back after the military debacle of 1940. The survivors returned in a terrible state, here described in vivid detail. Some were wasted with lice or contagious with typhus or TB. Some Lutetia’s staff died following contact with the first postwar guests who they said nothing.

cocktails

Rogoyska’s thoroughly researched account, using secondary sources, is a little less convincing when she generalises about events beyond the hotel’s revolving doors. The Abwehr’s effectiveness in Occupied France was not notably hindered by the dominant role given to rival SS-SD. In any case, the hotel became a place of surveillance and control, not murders. In fact fear of being handed over to the Gestapo gave the Abwehr interrogators a very persuasive argument. Nor did the Gestapo’s brutality lead to an increase in volunteering for the French Resistance. All the Abwehr agents sent to England were either executed or used by MI5, and the deception sent to Rudolph’s Berlin mates was important re D-Day.

Rogoyska suggested that the care given to the deportees absolved the Lutetia from guilt over its wartime role. Or not. In 1955 Col. Rudolph paid a return visit to Paris, a place of happy memories, and cautiously entered the hotel where Manager Chappaz was on duty. He greeted the Colonel warmly and offered him lunch as a hotel guest.

After Liberation, it took on a humane role, serving as a reception centre for deportees and prisoners-of-war back in France. Families gathered searching for news about loved ones, and the name Lutetia started to reflect loss, reunion and remembrance. This era cemented its place in the nation’s collective memory, lending it rare gravity.

Postwar Lutetia re-earned its role as an ideal of Parisian life, remaining a favourite of visiting notables, artists and designers, and its brasserie became a fixture of St-Germain. But the faded interiors, once fresh and modern, had faded. In 2014, its owners closed the property.

What followed were ambitious restorations. Trusted to architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the 4-year project sought to restore Lutetia’s historic features while reinventing it for a new era of luxury. Frescoes hidden beneath layers of paint were uncovered and meticulously restored, marble floors were relaid, and spaces allowed more light. The number of rooms was reduced, creating larger, more comfortable suites with St-Germain views. Eucalyptus wood, Murano glass and Carrara marble glamourised the interiors.

view over Paris

When the hotel reopened in 2018, it became a legend reborn. The restored Bar Joséphine, with its shimmering frescoes and live jazz, once again became a magnet for Parisians and travellers alike. The brasserie reestablished the Lutetia as a culinary destination, balancing tradition with innovation. In keeping with contemporary hospitality trends, the creation of the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre, with a long pool, hammam, sauna, spas & treatment rooms, brought serenity and modernity.

In Ap 2025, Lutetia joined the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. Now Mandarin Oriental Lutetia Paris retained its status as the Left Bank’s only officially designated Palace hotel, a recognition of its heritage and standards. And it gained from Mandarin’s global reach.

Lutetia is now a living history, a Parisian institution that witnessed C20th triumphs and traumas, and still embodying the Left Bank spirit. The hotel offers an immersion into Paris itself, so discover the city through its artistic and intellectual heritage: literary cafés, art galleries, Left Bank boutiques and museums. Thanks to Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War by Jane Rogoyska, 2026

music area

Heritage architecture: Robin Boyd Aus

Kitchen with built-in cupboards and timber benchtops 

architectureau

Joseph Eichler’s (1900-74) name became synonymous with the single-family, modern homes that helped define suburban Los Angeles and San Fran­cisco from 1949 on. Hiring progressive archit­ects, his designs fo­cused both on modern Californian taste and on pleasant Calif­ornian climates. So his designs grab­bed attent­ion: 

streamlined kitchen built-ins, 

multi-purpose room adjoining the kitchen, 

radiant-heated floors, 

wood panelling, 

gabled ceilings, 

floor-to-ceiling glass walls and 

classic atrium that melded indoor-outdoor living.  The post-&-beam construction, and open floor plans were de­signed around the cen­tral atrium. The California Modern style was indebted to Frank Lloyd Wright & Mies van der Rohe.

After Eichler in the USA, Robin Boyd (1919-71) started to de­sign his version of Californian Modern in Australia, mainly from the early 1950s on. One home over 2 lots in Tannock St in Bal­wyn, in Mel­b­ourne’s leafy east, was an early example of Boyd's influent­ial work: 1949. The house was originally de­signed for pharmacist Don Wood and was called Wood House. The home is one of the few sur­viving examples of Boyd’s early work as a sole practit­ioner, prior to his famous partner­ship with Roy Grounds and Frederick Romberg .

 As published in Australian Home Beautiful in Oct 1950, Boyd’s Wood House became famous for its split level planning and its small foot­print that maximised the space and out­look. The Wood family com­missioned Boyd to sympathetically ex­tend the house in 1959 with two more bed­rooms, a re­creation room and a flat-roofed garage. The second sympathetic extension occurred in 1971 when Boyd added across the street frontage.

Some years ago, this innovative Melbourne house by Boyd was at risk of demol­it­ion, after the property was listed for sale and described as an opp­ortunity to buy vacant land by the estate agent. Note that no images, no architectural details and no historic information about the house were included in the listing.

A detailed report was written by Research by Built Heritage in 2015 for Boroondara City councillors. This heritage study noted the house was an early, innovative & in­t­act example of Boyd’s work from the austere early post-war period. They urged that Wood House was an architecturally significant heritage site that needed protection. Yet an ap­plic­ation to subdivide the land was soon made, on hold because there was no demolition app­lic­ation.

So why did the councillors reject the advice to protect the home? They rejected the Heritage Study’s recommendations re protecting prop­erties, citing "the financial impact of the proposed herit­age cont­rols". So although the house was one of the first projects Boyd undertook after opening his own solo practice, and was among relatively few surv­iving examples from his special work, the Council would not give Wood House heritage protection.

TV room with a glass wall and glass doors to the patio

The Age

In Aug 2020 an online pet­it­ion called for the home to be pro­tect­ed, started by senior lecturer at Monash Architecture Dr Jacqui Alexander. It said: it was one of three outstanding early and sub­st­antially intact houses by Robin Boyd in the study area which coll­ectively provided rare and valuable evid­ence of the in­novation and bold design approach­es of a young architect starting an illus­trious career. Archit­ect­ur­ally the house was a signif­icant achieve­ment in modern home-building at a time when materials and labour were still due to war-time restrict­ions. The house showed many ideas eg open-planning, split-levels and window walls that were very inn­ov­ative in 1949. Later adopted by others, these elements recurred throughout Boyd's own career.

Dr Al­exander called on Boor­an­dara Council to heritage protect the home and prevent it from demolition. “It is a tragedy that this important exam­ple of post-war Australian modernism looks likely to succumb to the same fate as many other significant homes in Bor­oon­dara. From the social and cultural perspective, it documents the kind of upward mobility of families in the post-war period".

The petition encouraged the Council to officially recog­nise this home and prot­ect it from potential demolition, hoping to raise awareness of this house’s existence, att­racting a buyer who saw its architectural value. She described the house as ‘an important ex­am­ple of mid-century modernism in Melbourne, and in spite of material shortages at the time it was built, the de­s­ign was innovative and ambitious.’ The house incorporated fine ideas that revolutionised Aust­ral­ian domestic design, promoting a new, optim­is­tic image of the suburbs of Melb­ourne. It offered the prom­ise of affordable and dignified design for working Australian families.

Looking into the open-planned family room from the tv room

Wood House by Robin Boyd, 1949

architectureau

Protected homes in Boroondara had been demolished under a controv­ersial 2018 state planning amendment that allowed property owners with an existing council building permit to demolish buildings, de­spite interim heritage orders. Happily the govern­ment has since reversed the amendment; hopefully the new heritage will stop hist­orically significant properties being demolished. Bor­oondara coun­cillors un­anim­ously agreed to write to Planning Min­ist­er Richard Wynne to ask that inter­im and permanent protect­ions be extended to the home. I think Joseph Eichler would have been proud.

rebuilding Goethehaus Frankfurt post-WW2

Model of the Goethe House before the renovation in 1775

Frankfurt was hit by a very large air raids of WW2 in March 1944. Av­oid­ing German anti-aircraft defences, 816 British planes dr­op­ped thousands of heavy bombs and 1.2 million incendiary dev­ices. Al­tst­adt-Old Town particularly suffered when the entire quarter was dest­roy­ed down to rubble.

bombed out Al­tst­adt Frankfurt, 1944

Creating the most pain was an elegant 5-storey building that had been the cradle of German culture, home of Jo­hann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). Goethe had recalled it was to Goethehaus that he owed his lit­er­ary passion, where he’d learn­ed to love Italy, antiq­uity and nat­ure; where he wrote some of his most famous works including Faust.

This house had been bombed in 1943 by the British but the blaze was contained. Luckily prisoners of war ensured a temporary roof protecting the house. The next British bomb in 1944 was much wor­­se when nothing was left ex­cept the cellar, foundations and one fra­g­ile wall. The German press expl­od­ed with anger, describing the bomb­ing as terr­orism. Rhein-Mainishe Zei­t­ung claimed that in dest­roy­ing this part of the civilised world, the Allies comm­itted an outrag­eous assault on the German soul that demanded revenge.
                                       

Ernst Beutler and colleague

sitting in the rubble of Goethehaus

Ernst Beutler (1885-1960), historian, Goe­t­he resear­ch­er and Goethehaus Direc­t­or, had already fore­seen the danger, and began safe­guarding the house in 1939 by moving paintings to safety. By 1943 the entire lib­rary had been crated & shipped. Beutler was as careful with the building, having detailed architectural draw­ings prep­ared and photo­graphs taken.

Once the Free German Foundation, which ran Goethe­haus, had given its approval in Apr 1944, Beutler launched an awareness campaign: leaflets, newsletters and vol­un­teer lists. Hav­ing devoted much of his career to Goet­he’s memory, re­con­str­uct­ion seemed mandatory.

Alas others thought diff­erently. Post-war Germany, now occupied and divided, was no longer the nation it had been. As people strugg­led to come to terms with the Third Reich, guilt began to grow. Though most were anxious to put the Nazi years behind them, it was a rare person who didn’t value Germany’s cul­tural past.

Post-war, Eugen Blanck & Werner Hebebrand were app­oint­ed Frank­furt City Planning Office’s new chiefs. Committed mod­ern­ists, they focused on affordable housing, deter­mined to rebuild Frankfurt al­ong functional, egal­itarian lines. Anticipating a bitter struggle with­in the City Council and with Beutler, they created a survey of lead­ing architects who opposed reconstruction, and started a new press campaign

Even Germany’s most prominent writers and artists, who shared a deep admiration for Goethe’s works and referred to his Frank­furt years with pride, were concerned about what rebuilding Goethehaus would mean post-war. Poet Reinhold Schneider saw hero-worship. A leading anti-war figure, Schneider’s works were banned by the Third Reich and he became the Conscience of the Nation. He det­ected in Beu­t­ler’s plan a cultish hint, like the adulation piled on Hitler. If West Ger­m­any was to rise from the ashes, Schneider thought it vital to rescue the German spirit from itself.

Modernist architect Otto Bartning said Beutler’s promise of a faithful rec­onst­ru­c­tion was a dev­ious commitment. Since Goethe’s father remodelled it, building methods had changed, new materials were introd­uced and regulations were tightened. Even with a large budget, Beut­ler could only produce an imitation. Lack of authenticity made Beut­l­er’s plan a giant lie, dec­eiving the public with a false im­age of the past. Giv­en all that Germ­any had exper­ienced since 1933, this was the opposite of what was needed.

Many worried about costs. Philosopher Dolf Sternberger strug­g­led to justify sp­ending money  so many were home­less. Since history was less valuable than the lives of ord­inary cit­iz­­ens, they should have erected a simple Goethe memorial on the rubble. What might I have said, had the Melbourne Shrine or Sydney Harbour Bridge been bombed?

Beutler thought it easiest to go be­hind the Planning Off­ice! But when he heard Blanck and Hebebrand, it was clear that a sneaky app­roach was inappropriate. So he began writ­ing to polit­ic­ians, writ­ers and scholars for supp­ort. His appeals were elegant and charm­ing, diff­erent from his oppon­ents’ rants. They suc­­c­­eed­ed! With­in weeks Beut­ler received help from industrialist Richard Mert­on, Soc­ial Democratic polit­ician Kurt Schumacher and nov­elist Ernst Wiechert.

The most important backing came from Hermann Hesse. With his friend Thomas Mann, 1929 Nobel Prize laureate in Literature, Hesse domin­ated German liter­at­ure. Hesse’s novels won him the Nobel Prize for Lit­erat­ure in 1946. Though he remained in Swiss exile, Hesse had devoted his career to explor­ing the individual’s quest for auth­en­ticity. But he was not an uncrit­ical Goethe fan. Goethe was the blight of Hesse’s intell­ectual life, boring, pompous and drunk, even though he regarded Goethe as an important writ­er for the post-war era. Hesse was ac­utely aware that there were other more pressing needs in Germany but he was still convinced that Beutler’s plan was a vital enterprise. It wasn’t just that Goethehaus had represented the loss of some­thing beautiful. Rather it was so import­ant in its potential to force present/future people to think  critically.

Goethehaus today

Hesse’s intervention was decisive. In Apr 1947 Beutler won City Council approval to re-build Old Goe­t­hehaus. Blan­ck and Hebebrand were hor­r­ified. 3 months later André Gide (French Nobel Prize winner in Lit­er­at­ure 1947) pres­id­ed over laying the found­ations. Mayor Walt­er Kolb saw the house as a place of peace and sp­ir­it­ual underst­and­ing between nations. 2 years later, Goethehaus triumph­antly reop­en­ed. 

Goethe's library rebuilt

Beut­ler received the 1960 Goethe Prize for rebuilding of Goethehaus. He died in Frankfurt that year.

Jugendstil - Art Nouveau in Prague

Jugendstil was the art­is­tic style that arose in Germany in mid-1890s and continued until WW1 loomed. It derived its name from the Munich magazine Die Jugend-Youth, which featured Art Nouveau designs. Two phases were seen in Jugendstil: 1] the early pre-1900 style that was mainly floral in character, rooted in English Art Nouveau; and 2] a later, more abstract phase, growing out of the Viennese work of the Belgian-born architect Henry van de Velde.

The fate of Alfonse Mucha (1860-1939), Czech painter, ill­ustrator and graphic artist, worked in Paris at the turn of the century, then some time in the U.S. He returned to Prague in 1913. There he particip­ated in the décor­ation of several buil­dings, being an active proponent of Czech modern art. So if some of the Prague Art Nouveau artists came from Vienna or learned in Vienna’s architectural schools, especially Otto Wagner's, Czech artists grew their way into Art Nouveau. Wander around AN sites in Prague and notice that Prague Art Nouveau artists had their favourite decorative pattern: a set of tree branches with flat and overlapping leaves.

Some areas of the town were designed in Jugendstil style. But out­side the city’s inner centre, the general state of the buildings did not look good. The broken windowpanes, the falling plaster and the Art Nouv­eau door han­dles repl­ac­ed by standard ones were certainly due to the Russ­ian legacy. But there haven't been many reconstruction programmes as there were in western Europe, so most or­iginal Art Nouveau buildings were not pulled down in Prague.

Sunflower Door, Prague, 1900

Quora   

A romantic walk across the Vlata on Charles' bridge will show the great astronomical clock (unique except for Strasbourg Fr­ance), rectan­g­le stone towers, part of the ancient city wall with typ­ical steep slat­ed roof and four peaks in the angles. For Classical Music lovers, there is a concert in every church every day. Till 1918, Prague was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and then became the capital of Czechos­lov­akia (and later the Czech Republic).

But from the later C19th, independence movements arose. These voi­c­es claimed political autonomy and also cultural autonomy. In any case, Prague was not as broadly spread then as it is today. So a lot of Art Nouv­eau buil­d­ings that are today in Prague were in fact in other little indep­endent towns eg Smichov. Modern Prague started in the 1920s, and like many other large towns of that time in Europe, the capital city grew rap­idly. The era was contem­porary with fast rural depopulat­ion com­bined with start of industry. All the city walls were razed during later in the century.

The Sunflower Door was part of a building designed in the Art Nouveau style that was popular ac­ross Europe at turn of C20th. This decorative style was charact­erised by its use of nat­ural forms, curved lines and intricate floral-plant inspired motifs. The door bel­onged to the Art Nouveau movement expressing love for nature, with a prominent sunflow­er being a central design element. The door was created in historic Prague, a city known for its wide range of architectural styles, from Gothic & Baroque, to Renaissance & modernist. The Sunflower Door contributed to the city's reputation as an architectural treasure trove and is a bel­ov­­ed detail among the city's many historic buildings. It was a beau­t­­iful example of how everyday obj­ects like doors were transformed into works of art in Art  Nouveau period, and remain today.

Hilbert House, 1904

Sidewalk Safari

This door was built in 1900 by Czech architect Osvald Polivka (1859-1931), associated with the Secession-Art Nouveau period in Prague. Expl­ore the feminine con­tent of image graphics. There is an ancient language structure that assigned either a feminine or mas­cul­ine attribute to an action. The person waiting to catch a ball is in fem­inine-passive; the ball thrower is in masculine-active mode. Sex­ual designations based on body functions have been part of lan­guage as a form of classifying & understanding the world.

Designed in 1904 by Czech architect Kamil Hilbert with period decorations by Karel Novák, this is Hilbert House. The nicely curved arabesque metal work integrates very well with the carving on this street entrance door. The arabesque style glass bord­er­ing etching adds an additional transitional detail between the interior and exterior of the window. The arabesque radial pattern above the door functions like other Art Nouveau doors.

Villa Henlenka 

designed by Alois Korda in 1903

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Villa Henlenka was designed by Alois Korda in 1903. With its angle tower and floral glazing, this villa accumulated many Art Nouveau and tradit­ional features. Although it is the best example of Jugendstil villa near Prague, today the villa requires a lot of renovations.

                                      

Municipal House, 1905-11

architect Osvald Polivka
Prague Now

Municipal House (1905-11), designed by Osvald Polívka, was Prague’s most vigorously art-nouveau building. Every detail of its design and decoration was carefully considered and every painting and sculpture was loaded with symbolism. The city authorities wanted a multi-purpose building which offered not only public services but also cultural events eg concerts in Smetana Hall. The most symbolic nationistic event in Municipal House was Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence, 1918. Extrav­agantly decorated both inside and outside by leading Czech artists, it conjures up fin de siècle atmosphere. Restored in the 1990s after decades of neglect, the perfect decorations are in the restaurant.

Grand Hotel Europa was once the jewel-in-the-crown on Wenceslas Square. When the hotel opened in the 1870s, it was a symbol of luxury unprecedented in Czechoslovakia. Over the years, the hotel rooms became outdated, but the facade remained sparing with Art Nouveau details.  After renovation in 1906, the hotel once again luxurious.  

Royal Hotel Europa, 1906

Wiki

Hilbert House (1911) was sculptor and architect František Bilek’s studio and home, complete with semi carved stones and bricks. The whole building has beklen designed by Bilek from the furniture to the door handles, a perfect building to be used as a Museum about Bilek’s sculpture work. Brick work masonry was articulated by pillars in form of corn sheav­es, trying to express Bilek’s view on substance of life. See Bilek Villa in WanderBook.

Dancing House, 1992-6

modern and deconstructivist architecture

Wiki

 

Dancing House was designed by Czech architect Vlado Milunić & Canadian Frank Gehry on a perfect riverfront space. It consists of 2 cylindrical towers in daring shapes, it resembles two people swaying and dancing to music. One tower one bends at the middle, curving back, inspiring many to think of Ginger Rogers twirling about in the arms of Fred Astaire. In a city known for 1000 years of art & architecture, this modern building in Prague provided a sleek and modern contrast to the Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau standouts all around the town. The French restaurant on the top floor is very elegant.

Read Petr Wittlich's book, Art Nouveau Prague, 2000

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Brisbane's noble 1886 Synagogue/shule

The first Jews in Brisbane were convicts in Moreton Bay penal colony in 1824 - home to repeat offenders who moved from larger NSW convict colonies where c1% of Moreton Bay convicts were Jewish. When Brisbane’s penal colony closed, a free settlement opened in 1842 with no ex-convicts. Instead some families came north from Sydney, seeking new prospects with Qld’s 1859 separation from NSW.

Byzantine minarets & circular stained-glass window 

Beautiful white building, the twin towers soared above the nearby buildings in 1906. 

Brisbane Synagogue in State Library’s collection 

In 1859 there were just enough Jewish men to form a 10-man minyan for worship but by early 1865, services were so popular that private homes were needed. More settlers came and the community needed a proper synagogue/shule. Most of the new Jewish residents settled around North Quay, meeting in each other’s homes on Sabbaths and holy days.

Ads Brisbane Courier, Mar 1865 said: All members of the Jewish community are requested to attend a meeting at Mr B Benjamin’s Queen St to form a Congregation. A committee was created, to find a fitting site and to recruit members. For 10 years the new group used a leased rooms in Queen St business buildings each Sabbath. Bulcock’s Building Queen St even has a historical wall plaque.

Congregation leaders approached the colony’s Surveyor General to secure land but unlike many Christian neighbours, Jews lacked the infrastructure & land holdings of Anglican and Catholic churches; Jews needed to raise building funds. But young Qld colony’s economy was unstable in the 1860s, closely tied to UK banking investments and agriculture. From mid-1866, a Depression caused financial disaster for many members who returned to Sydney bankrupt; the building fund ended. The other Jews used in rented rooms, buying ritual objects and helping fellow Jews who’d suffered in the Depression. However worship in a rented hall was uncertain eg women needing to sit upstairs.

Men's seating downstairs, women upstairs

 
Rev Jonas Myers moved to Brisbane in late 1865, as President, Treasurer, teacher and kosher butcher. A George St cottage in 1867 served as a synagogue and minister’s home, plus he travelled far up north in the Qld colony to serve their needs. But members who lived in central city liked Adelaide St while members settled in a commercial district Fortitude Valley didn’t. A long weekly journey by horse-cart was too long, so Rev Myers sold Adelaide St. Another man, business man Samuel Davis, built a small shule hall in the grounds of his big North Quay home in 1870, now Mater Misericordiae Hospital. But the Committee needed a permanent site.

In the 1860-70s many churches went up in Brisbane as part of the civilising role of the new colony’s architecture. Mean-while Jewish members renovated the Masonic Hall in 1876 and stayed until the new synagogue opened. Most early gentlemen’s social clubs excluded Jews from membership; only freemasonry’s universal outlook gave the chance for Jews to socialise widely. These men from Brisbane rose in the Freemasons’ ranks, incl President Adolphus Hertzberg.

To find a architect, some men offered design proposals. But the Building Committee’s decisions led to conflicts. The official Qld Government heritage register for the shule listed British Arthur Morry, engineer-architect-parliamentarian as designer in 1884.

Alas financial struggles continued when the Shule Building Committee asked for ambitious plans. Their minutes showed plans for a schoolroom, board rooms and upper Ladies’ Gallery, plus seating for 600 people within a budget of £3,000. Morry assured the committee that he could deliver their financial requests, but by Jan 1885 when the tenders were returned, the cost blew out. Using an image of the sh-ule’s planned design to raise subscriptions, they advertised in Jewish Chronicle newspaper in London and in the British Empire. The congregation was eventually able to raise £6,450 in private donations from local and overseas Jewish donors, incl from London’s Rothschild and Mocatta banking families. In July 1885 the Building Committee led by Rabbi AP Phillips laid the foundation stone to commence building, in a grand public ceremony reported in local papers. The Brisbane Courier newspaper discussed R’ Phillips speech about the importance of a fixed shule to the Jewish community, esp for the lonely immigrants.

In July 1886 the shule was finally consecrated in Margaret St. In the history of Qld Jewry, there was no more brilliant function than the historic opening of the new synagogue. It was full to capacity with congregants and public dignitaries, including the colony’s Chief Justice, Attorney General, Mayor and members of the Qld Legislative Assembly.

Raised platform & reading table holding Torah scroll while facing the ark.

Surrounded by prayer books for congregants to read in their seats

Holy Ark, the most sacred part of a synagogue,

resting place for Torah scrolls

 

Brisbane was an ornate & exotic marker of Jewish presence. The structure’s elegant design was referred to in reports as Byzantine style, like the public architecture across Europe deriving from C13th–14th Islamic design elements eg Spanish Alhambra. See a pair of minaret-style turrets out front, octagonal columns & horseshoe-shaped buttresses supporting the Ladies’ Gallery. The exterior had a Romanesque style ornate gable & circular tracery, while the interior had a Gothic cathedral style. The members belonged both as Jews and British Subjects in the colony.

As the community grew, school rooms were added in 1906; in 1920s a newly-built hall with a retractable roof was used for Sukkot harvest festivals. Then as time passed, a large new group of Russian Jews, culturally distinct from the older Anglo-German Jews, arrived in the early C20th. They had different identities, speaking Russian and Yiddish, and not feeling comfortable in Margaret St Synagogue. So they created South Brisbane Hebrew Congregation, their own timber shule in Woolloongabba, 1915.

 

When German Nazism rose in 1930s, some cultured artistic & religious Jewish refugees fled to Brisbane. Their experiences had a profound effect on the community, esp when Brisbane became the epicentre of WW2’s S.W Pacific campaign. Hundreds of American Jewish servicemen flooded into Qld and sought the comfort of Jewish religious practice in shule.

Stained glass

In 1955 a grand 2-storey Memorial Hall opened for social events and learning. In 1986 new and elegant stained-glass windows were based on Torah stories; and a Star of David behind the Rabbi. The shule remains a testament to the early pioneers who dedicated themselves to Brisbane’s community. Thanks to Morris Ochert for History of the Brisbane Hebrew Congregation, 1984

Jane Austen's Hampshire home and family

In High School I read and loved two of Jane Austen (1775-1817)’s most famous novels. But this was all fiction I assumed, and not Jane’s real life. Her father died suddenly in 1805 and left no property or income to his daughters. And since his wife and 2 daughters were not allowed to work, the women were left dependent on the support of family men. Luckily Jane's brother Edward had been adopted by his cousins, inheriting their estate called Chawton House Hamps and becoming financially secure himself.

Jane Austen lived and wrote in Chawton, Hampshire

built c1690 and later renovated

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By 1807 Edward moved the women into his 2-storey red brick home, providing happy and productive years of Jane’s life. Each day included looking after Jane’s mother, writing at a small table, eating together, games with the nieces and nephews, piano playing, sharing long walks, going to church and sharing sewing with sister Cassandra in the evening.

 Dining parlour and fire. Jane's writing desk

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Much of what is known about Jane's domestic routine comes from the niece Caroline Austen who in later life recorded the daily routine at Chawton. But little was written about the house’s architectural history. So now, 63 years after I read the book in Literature, it is time to examine her treasured and final house in the charming Chawton village.

The house was originally built in C14th as a small farmhouse, with later additions and renovations made over the years. The house was a thatched, timber dwelling built on the site for use as a farmhouse and then a coaching inn. In 1769 it was bought by the Knight family, distant Austen cousins, and became part of their Chawton estate. The Knights didn’t have any children themselves, so they formally adopted Jane’s brother Edward as their heir.

There were many minor alterations made by Edward Knight for his family eg the blocking of the window from the drawing room to the street, and adding a new Gothic window, looking onto the garden. The garden was extended for privacy, but retained a view towards Chawton Park and the woods surrounding the House where the ladies exercised.

The Drawing Room

 

The current structure resulted from renovations, blending elements of medieval & Georgian architecture. The exterior featured stone and brick with a steeply pitched roof and a prominent chimney. The interior showed the era’s artistry: ornate fireplaces, wooden panelling, intricate plasterwork.

Chaise Lounge

Destinations Detours and Dreams

Kitchen, 

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In 1809, Edward offered his mum and sisters a small house on his Chawton estate. They moved that year, together with their friend Martha Lloyd, forming a cosy female household. Jane lived there for her last 8 years, but suffering from ill health in May 1817, she left for treatment in Winchester. She soon died and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.

Mrs Austen and Cassandra lived at the House for life. The house returned to the Chawton Estate with Cassandra’s death in 1845, and divided into 3 dwellings for estate workers, then as an estate office and a working men’s club.

In 1940 a local founded the Jane Austen Society to try to save the House. The Society attracted a patron, Mr TE Carpenter; he personally bought the House and bequeathed it to the nation as a permanent memorial to his son who’d been killed in action in WW2. Carpenter created the Jane Austen Memorial Trust to run the House as a Museum, and it was formally opened by the Duke of Wellington in July 1949. Jane Austen Society also built up the collections and funded the building renovations. In particular major roof repairs in 2021-2, via Historic England and the Historic Houses Foundation, keep the building watertight.

Since then, more parts of the House have been restored, the interior being restored to the time when the Austens lived there. Today Jane Austen’s House is a Grade I listed site, a certified Museum and an important literary site. It holds a major collection of Jane Austen’s treasures eg her loved jewellery, first editions of her books, personal letters, textiles, paintings and portraits of her friends and family, and the tiny table at which she wrote her famous novels. There’s also a beautiful cottage garden.

It was here her six novels of manners, ground-breaking at the time, critiqued the landed gentry of Regency England. Sense and Sensibility, published in 1811, was her first full-length; Pride and Prejudice 1813, and two more novels published in her lifetime: Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816). Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published postdeath in July 1817. Most of the places Jane referenced in her novels were places she lived in, visited or was inspired by. Most of her letters were burned but from those that survived, she was not a boring writer. She had a sharp wit, and she wasn't afraid to use it, especially in private

Persuasion by Austen, 1817

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Visit the rooms where she lived and wrote; see her writing table, jewellery, letters and first editions of her novels. Explore the pretty cottage garden, play traditional garden games, enjoy Regency clothes and see bonnet designing!

Hampshire and surrounding counties