W e slept like the dead and got going pretty late. We had discovered a nice modern cafe around the corner with really good coffee and pastries, and had a quick breakfast before heading across town.
First stop was the “Bockenheim” or original campus of Frankfurt’s university. The Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität–to give it its official title–is relatively new, founded in 1914, and unusual in its founding as a “foundation university,” i.e. an institution supported by private funds. A few buildings, including the main building, had survived World War II, and others were added rapidly as the university underwent a major expansion in the 1950’s–when Alexander Kluge lived and worked there.
This is the main building, the Jügelhaus; in the late 1950’s, Kluge was given an apartment on the top floor next to the residence of the famous architect Ferdinand Kramer, who was overseeing the university’s expansion.
And this is the Studentenhaus, where Kluge first lived when he came to Frankfurt in 1955.
And, finally, this is the Institut für Sozialforschung, home of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory–the thing that binds my two biographies, since both Walter Benjamin and Alexander Kluge were both closely associated with the Institut. Kluge over time became the legal advisor to institute, and a close friend of the great philosopher Theodor Adorno.
In fact, when you come out of the U-Bahn at the stop nearest the old campus, you see a kind of Technicolor version of Adorno himself.
It was now only a short walk to the Palmengarten, one of the largest botanical gardens in Europe. Although Europe saw the coming of spring a good bit later than we did, there were still some spectacular sections of the garden, starting with its rhododendrons!
Among the many other highlights was an enormous tropical zone within a series of greenhouses.
The day was still young, so we headed to the Städel Museum, the city’s main art collection. After a quick snack in the cafe, we dove into the galleries. The especially strong collections of German 18th and 19th century art are highlighted by Tischbein’s iconic portrait of Goethe, “Goethe in the Roman Campania.”
And the holdings in German expressionism are impressive, with great Ernst Ludwig Kirchners. And there is an entire room of Max Beckmann’s work. But the painting I will remember is Louis Corinth’s “Walchensee in Winter.”
The old master’s collection is also impressive, with wonderful work by Dürer, Holbein the elder, Rembrandt, and Botticelli.
It was a glorious spring afternoon, and we strolled back along the river, with views onto the downtown skyline–or “Mainhattan” as it is often called.
We had a nice dinner at a more casual place, Emma Metzler, which is housed in the Museum of Applied Art designed by Richard Meier.
The first courses were excellent: we shared strips of grilled char with mushrooms and zucchini in a bright, memorable sauce. Sue had pikeperch rolled with “spaghetti” of young turnip, arugula, and a sauce based on squid ink; I had risotto presented with a soft cauliflower / sheep’s cheese “crust.” Both were delicious. the dessert was a bit of a letdown, and the service, probably intended to be casual, was better suited to a cafe than to the excellent food.
We strolled home at dusk. Here are a couple of pics looking across the river, first to our hotel and then to the cathedral.
