Trip to Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie 2010

Report: "Stuttgart, Saturday, 16 January 2010" by Marleen Lourens

We were all up and ready to leave for Stuttgart at 9:15 on Saturday, 16 January, at the Tübingen train station. For most of us this was the first time to see original paintings by wellknown artists such as Picasso, Frans Marc and Otto Dix. Therefore, we were very excited about our visit to the Staatsgallerie in Stuttgart!

Two days before our visit to the gallery, we were all divided into groups of three or four. In these groups we had to do research on a specific paínting and the painter, so that we could give background information to the rest of the group, once we stood before the specific original painting. This helped us to gain a better understanding of the paintings and to form our own interpretations. A big thank you to Ann-Kathrin who was a superb tour guide!

After the visit to the Staatsgallerie, a few groupmembers (who were not so interested in shopping) went to the Haus der Geschichte (The House of History). The rest of the group could not wait to get into the streets of Stuttgart for a wonderful shopping experience.

On the evening of 16 January, seven of us also had the opportunity to watch an opera: Eugen Onegin, in the Staatstheater in Stuttgart. This was an indescribable experience. It was a Russian opera with German subtitles, accompanied by a live symphony orchestra! Although we could not understand everything and were a little bit underdressed, this was a night I will always remember and capture in my heart.

Words cannot describe the great time we had in Stuttgart, but it was AWESOME! Thank so much to everyone who made this possible for us.

Marleen Lourens