Читать книгу What I Saw in Berlin and Other European Capitals During Wartime онлайн

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I can easily fancy Berlin without the Linden, or the Sieges-Säule, the most insolent monument I have ever seen—even without the Kaiser, but not without plenty of beer. I am trying to think what the Berlin cafés will look like at night without the national drink. Probably they will get as dull as the teetotal London night clubs in war-time!

I found myself walking down the Gendarmen Market, perhaps the only fine square in Berlin.

Here is the Schauspielhaus in which during one of my former visits Moissi, an Italian who is one of Germany's best tragic actors, was appearing in Hamlet and Othello. I remember an old German professor telling me of his almost exclusive love for the Shakespearean theatre, and comparing it with the old and modern German theatre to the total disadvantage of his countrymen.

I wonder if the Chauvinistic influence of the war has made him love Hauptmann and detest Shakespeare!

Here is also the old French church, spoiled by recent restoration. Till the outbreak of the war there used to be here a daily French service and a Sunday sermon. Now the church is closed, most of the priests have gone back to France, and one of them is said to be fighting against Germany. Only an old French lady and the sacristan are there in a small house at the back of the church.


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