As every
year the KaDeWe, Berlins luxury store, that seductively is only six minutes
away from our flat, decorated its shop windows lavishly for Christmas.
This time
the motto is ‚Grimm’s Fairy Tales‘ – though very liberally interpreted.
I am
especially fascinated by „The Princess and the Pea“.
I own a
genuine ‘Hügel‘ with this theme, priceless because from a very early period of
his work.
A Portrait of the Artist as a very Young Man – and if you think that
‚portrait of‘ has been used here in the wrong way: not at all. You only
should ask: portrait of whom?
Here is a
game that can give much insight into the character of another human being: ask
him/her, which fairy tale s/he loves best. Very often you will be surprised –
even more so if you ask for the reasons of the choice.
It can
happen that the gusto for a fairy tale changes in life. After being fascinated
by The Fisherman and his Wife for many years, (the woman would make a career at
all costs and was never content) I believed that Mother Hulda rewards the
hard worker and punishes the lazy buggers (hehe – they are not called fairy tales
for nothing!). Now I like The Town Musicians of Bremen with their winning motto
“You will always find something better
than death“ so much that I have a little silver sculpture standing on my
desk.
Doubly appropriate as I come from Bremen.
One fairy tale
in the KaDeWe was difficult. Who do you believe is this?
14 comments:
The Town musicians of Bremen - one of my favorites too. I am always attracted to illustrations of this tale. I'll have to go away and think about that last image..........
The windows are beautiful. I can't imagine a shop window over here being so lovingly decorated. There was a time when it was done, but no more.
Well, these are definitely not your standard Christmas shop windows, and aren't they terrific? I'm stumped on the last one & will be eager to come back and see what that one is. I always had a soft spot for "The Princess and the Pea." Such an odd, funny little story it is And, as to that, the artist as a young man's depiction is just perfect!
I just asked my husband which fairy tale he loves the best. He said the story of Percival. Incidentally, I was bragging to him the other day about your 'candy' post, saying it was one of the best I'd ever read on Blogger. I loved it so!
I love the images you included of the window dressings, Britta. I'd have to give some thought as to which is my favorite fairy tale. Though I rather like 'The Princess and the Pea.'
Those window displays are luxe and lovely.
When I was a young girl there was a store in town that had mechanized and moving displays with elves and a Santa and toys galore. We would press our noses to the glass and stay as long as Mother would allow.
There's something magical about fairy tales too, those richly illustrated books from the Brothers Grimm.
I really could not choose just one!
I thought they were selling a wolf there for a moment. My favourite fairy tale was The Little Tin Soldier. It's tragic, he and the ballerina melt together in the fire.
Hi
Beautiful and elegant window displays! I wish I could go window-shopping like you! I have been too busy to do so recently. City born and city bred, I love to see evening townscapes as well where streets are illuminated by red, white, golden and blue neon lights.
My favorite fairy tale is HCA's "The Wild Swans".
I absolutely love this post! Aren't those windows incredible? The last window made me think of Rumpelstiltskin and now I can't think of anything else! My favorite? Any of Hans Christian Andersen's, but probably The Ugly Duckling since my mother always sang the song, too. Most annoying fable? The Tortoise and the Hare, and unfortunately that says a lot about me!
A few of those displays are quite interesting. It's sad that over the years, many fairy tales have been sanitised to remove the elements of terror they were created to carry!
Dear Britta, What a lovely Christmas present you gave us with this post. Thank you for sharing the delights of Berlin and evoking memories of favourite tales and and the lovely illustrated books we had (I can still remember the scent of them). She could be the little Mermaid, or perhaps Cinderella?
Oh, thank you all! That was a big surprise on Saint Nicholas Day!
@Pondside: I share your love of The Musicians of Bremen, because they are seeing things in a positive way, but also act - they simply refuse to be victims.
@Susan: The artist will be proud, when I tell him. I always feel there is a moral in that picture :-)
@Suze: I like your bragging, purr... The other side of feeling the pea: I might be sometimes a bit strenuous - but nobody can complain about boredom :-) And artists have to be hyper-sensitive.
@Hostess of the humble bungalow: Imagine: when I was in Freiburg last winter, they displayed such a moving Santa in the shop window - and lots of children pressed their noses against the glass of the window pane!
@Tony: Wolves they might sell too, and wine and cakes :-) The Tin Soldier is moving one's heart, he is true and courageous.
@Sapphire: Those windows are not far away - and I share your love of lights in the city at night (did a few pictures lately). 'The Wild Swans' only rings a tiny bell in my head - I will read it again.
@Crayon: Rumpelstiltsking is a hot guy with a temper - but the last window is something else :-) The Ugly Duckling has such a fine point - and I can see why the Tortoise and the Hare (in Germany it is a hedgehog and a hare) is so annoying.
@IG: I share your view against 'sanitizing' the fairy tales, which were often quite outspoken, not 'only' for children. In Berlin the show this year for children a version of 'Pinoccio", where they cut out all ugly moments, and even the nose is only once allowed to grow - that is so daft!
@Is the Wiz: Hurray: the winner is: IS! It is cinderella - but I had to look trice because I thought her ash-shoes quite beautiful :-) The doves give her away: picking 'the good lentils into the pot, the bad into their crop".
So: thank you all!
Those windows are fabulous! How lucky you are to live so close.
Rumpelstiltskin came to my mind too for that last one - only because of all the gold. And maybe also because that one was always one of my favorites. Delightfully creepy.
P.S. Yes, you're right about teat---for some reason I like it better w/ two ee's. Weird, huh?
Hello britta,
Thanks for this post..I was so fascinated by the folk stories collected by the brothers grimm from the day I began to read a small book with those tales translated to our native language. later I found a big complete work of all Grimm's Tales and it was such a fascinating experience going through all of them and reading them over and over..
I am the Princess in 'The Princess and the Pea' .....always feel lumps in the mattress.
;-) Always been a fan of Grimm's Fairy Tales, think it is pretty neat that KaDeWe did the store windows in the fairy tale theme.
And thanks to you, too!
@Nicki: Rumpelstiltskin is so fascinating, I think, because their is always another chamber
of straw to spin - as for a writer, and turning ordinary things into gold.
@Tomz:I am fascinated that they are known in India, too. Films of your country we can see here too, but literature is not very much translated, though it must be highly interesting.
@Janet: The Princess and the Pea might be a fairy tale that describes sensitive women? Though of course we can work hard, too - just have a look at our gardens, guys :-)
Post a Comment