Going to the Theater II

Hi everyone :)

If you haven't read part I you should most definitely do so :)

The castle was amazing but so was my dad's play. 

My dad has been directing play's ever since I can remember. He was out schools drama teacher and the first time I was on stage was when I was just 6 I think. I loved it and still do. The theater is my dad's and I's world, we used to live for it. Now that I have moved out and have gone to uni I can't take part in his play's anymore but I try to go see all of them. 

So when he told me that the premier of his newest one was at the weekend that I came back from New Zealand, I more then happily agreed to come.

The premiere was sold out and the even had to add a couple of more chairs, which we were all very happy about. My dad always puts all his heart into his productions and it is just nice to see that all his hard work pays off in the end.

The play is about the castle of Bruchsal and it's history. The process of building it in 1720 and how it got destroyed in March 1945. Most of it burned down after the bombing of Bruchsal during the II World War but it was decided that the main part of the building would be reconstructed. It took till the late 1970s till they were finished and turned it into a museum. 

My dad playing a teacher who shows his pupils around the castle in the time leading up to it's destruction in 1945. 

And the prince-archbishop Damian in the background.

Damian with a worm that embodies all the problem's he faces with the building the castle.

We also switched showplaces during the play and got taken into the chapel royal that got reconstructed on the outside but the inside was modernized very beautifully. 

The teacher my dad embodied was his father. My granddad helped to clear the chapel after the bombing with one of his classes he was teaching because the castle and all that came with it meant a lot to him. 

The priest, who was responsible for the chapel royal, was so grateful for that and wanted to give something back. Obviously it was in the midst of the post-war years and he didn't have any money so he gave my granddad this:

It is the head of an angel statue that used to stand in the chapel. I grew up with this angel sitting on a shelf in my dad's study and knew it was a heirloom but I never had a clue as to where it came from. 

This angle's head is worth a lot to my family which is why we would never give it away to a museum. It was given to my granddad for the great work he did in trying to help rebuild the chapel royal and that can never be offset by money. 

The play was truly great. For me personally because it also told a bit of my families story that I hadn't heard of before for everyone else because of the pictures it created and the way it brought history to life.

x

J.

Going to the Theater

Hi everyone :)

Since our internet decided that it was acceptable behavior to die on us yesterday I was not able to update my blog. So I'm doing it now being a crap friend that only goes to see their friend to abuse their internet :D

...

Okay that is a lie I also brought her pizza :D

During the time I stayed with my parents, after I came back from new Zealand, I went to the theater with my whole family.

Well it wasn't exactly a theater but a castle that a play was held at, one that my dad wrote and took part in, so: Go Dad! 

My dad chose this place because of it's history and what it means to him, which is a lot. He was born in Bruchsal, spend the first years of his life there and experienced the aftermath of the II World War there ( my dad was born in 1946 so just a year after the II World War had ended). 

So the place his play was about and took part in is the castle of Bruchsal.

layout: Caste of Bruchsal

It also has a beautiful garden but we didn't go and look at it this time round. 

The caste is amazing and my dad took us there more than once although the first time I was only a baby, so I don't remember much of it :P

The second time however is a clear memory. I love this place because of it's partly simple beauty and in other parts ridiculousness of splendour. 

It was built in 1720 at the desire of Damian Hugo Philipp from Schönborn-Buchheim a prince-archbishop and is one of the many baroque styles palaces in Germany. Damian wanted a pompous castle but at the same time save money which is why most of the relief on the pillars is painted on instead of buying more expensive pillars. 

it looks very real but is in fact drawn on

But he didn't put aside with other parts of the castle for example the staircases. Their architecture is incredible, they have built them this particular way so they could fit in a smaller mezzanine, in between the first floor and the grand hall on the 'second' floor, for servants. 

The second floor is designed with such detail it truly is amazing and you fell like you will never be able to see it all. 

The pillars on the walls surrounding the staircase are made from colourful marble. I absolutely love them.

when I first saw this my mind was blown. It is so gorgeous and has such a different character to every other building and castle I have ever seen

This is the view into the grand hall from the platform, which almost feels like a standing on a balcony, that they have built so the staircases don't end in nothingness and it is symmetrical as well. Above the platform is a beautiful ceiling fresco.

I remember being in the castel with my dad when I was younger and saying to my dad that I would love to lie on the floor so I could get a proper look at it. My dad obviously wouldn't let me because there were loads of people around and it nowadays is a museum after all, so no lying on the floor for me. 

But since I am a very cheeky person and don't like rules that much, especially when I don't think that any harm is done if don't follow them, I did lie down this time. 

It was 10.30 pm and no one, apart form the view people that had stayed after the play, was there and those were all people I knew and had since I was about 6. 

So I didn't really see a reason why I should not be able to do it. 

I lay there for quite a bit just admiring the painting above me. I can highly recommend that technique if you want to get a proper look at a ceiling fresco without getting a stiff neck from doing so :)

More about the history, which is directly linked to the play, tomorrow :) For now enjoy the pictures and look forward to tomorrows post!

x

J.