Georg Kolbe Museum

On a glorious May morning John and I took the metro to a quiet, residential neighbourhood in Western Berlin and walked down Sensburger Allee 

to the Georg Kolbe Museum with it's Bauhaus-influenced studio and walled garden.

By chance the Kolbe Museum was hosting a show of sculpture influenced by dance, Tanz Plastik, with works by Kolbe, Degas, Rodin, Marino Marini, Camille Claudel and others, as well as photographs of famous early 20th century dancers like Nijinsky, Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan. A fascinating show.

Unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph the exhibition but I did manage to snap a peek at it from outside the studio. On the right, you can glimpse Georg Kolbe's most famous sculpture, The Dancer, 1912.

Just outside the studio/museum we entered the Sculpture Terrace. In this view we can see a male sculpture by Richard Scheibe in the foreground and 3 of Kolbe's sculptures behind. Let's have a look at John's close-ups of these.

Large Standing Male, 1931/34

Woman, 1933/38

Roman man, 1936/37

Across the terrace we find Kolbe's Young Striding Man, 1935. Kolbe attempted to express the human spirit through nude sculpture. German architect Mies van der Rohe liked his work and used one of his female nudes in the pool of the Barcelona Pavillion.

Behind the Sculpture Terrace we entered the gorgeous garden. Let's walk down the path

to the beautiful Dancing Girl fountain in its centre.

The garden was abloom with rhododendrons.

John found the garden hose both sculptural and beautiful.

Across the garden from the studio/museum we found the home of Kolbe's sister, now inhabited by the Café K.

We were glad to sit down to a cider for me and a pilsner for John

in that lovely, cool setting.

Refreshed we headed back through the sculpture garden to exit

past the street entrance to the cafe. Visit the Kolbe Museum; you won't regret it.