Dear People of the World (formerly Dear Americans)

Japanese woman who experienced Bauhaus art and turmoil in 1930's Germany.

 

Please read introdcution first.

   

Th Bauhaus School was established by an architect Walter Gropius in Weimar, 1919. It was the first year of first democratic government in Germany. Then the school moved to Dessau in 1925. From 1925 to summer of this year, 1932, the school had been managed in glass-window wall and simple shaped building that symbolized Bauhaus's own architecture style.

 

But this year Dessau city council made a resolution to stop funding Bauhaus. Bauhaus had to relocate its base to Steglitz, Berlin as private school.

 

Director of the school, Herr Ludwig Mies van der Rohe 46 year-old man spoke to 31 freshman students including Masako Chikano in the orientation on the first day of Winter Semester.

 

The school offered the courses such as art, architect, interior design, photograph and textile. In order to get a diploma, the students had to pass 3 levels of the curriculums. First level was to study basic concept of Bauhaus art. 

 

The very concept of Bauhaus was "unification of art and technology."

 

Masako could not understand that concept. How come art could be united with technology? She thought they should have been separate things. However, it did not matter to her. She just decided to enjoy life in Berlin, the most liberal city in the world. She wondered if she could be acquinted with better man than her ex-husband or his sworn brother. 

 

But at first she wanted to make good friends.
 
The school gathered students from all over the Europe. As days pass by, she made a lot of friends. They were nice and very friendly. One of the reason why she could make friends so easily was she was richest student among poor students. 

 

She lived in nice and big comfortalbe room in the apartment house near the school. She always wore very nice and expensive clothes which she brought from her home in Japan and bought in Berlin. 

 

One day she and her 3 classmates went to the cafe near the school. She ordered a cup of coffee. But they did not order anything although they were sitting at the same table. When the coffee came to the table, they took a spoon and dipper a spoon of coffee from the cup and blended in block sugar from the pot. 

 
She was suprised to see what they were doing. She said to them, "why don't you order anything?"
Each of them said "That's enough for us, Masako. You know we cannot afford."
Then she asked waitress to bring coffee for everyone. They were really pleased.

 

Her generousity attracted other more studens. She was always surrounded by sevearal classmates at school cafeteria, cafe, or restaurant. She sometimes hold a party for her friends.
She became a popular idol of the school. Actually not just because of her generousity but her beauty and cheerful character like she had been in Japan.

  

However, she was never a good student at school. She was not so serious about school work. She always thought art was just fun things. Not a thing to practice and get into like literature or mathematics. In fact she did not have ambition to become a great artist or craftman. All she wanted to was to spend a few years in Berlin and return home. The school days were like vacation for her. She knew the school would not kick her out because of her lazy attitude because her family was one of the biggest donor to the school.

 

One day in drawing class, the class drew the object, which was ball and vase. She was drawing an instructor, a man with black hair and glasses, tall thin, at the age of late 20's. He was Meister Marcus Weiss. His specialty was interior design but he teaches basic art to freshman students.
She drew his face like cartoon figure. She always did such things when she was a school girl in Japan. Drawing just lines of the objects seemed to her, very boring. She could not concentrate on doing that.

 

"Hallo, Fraulein, what are you doing?" Herr Weiss came to her seat and said to her.
"An art, Meister" she said laughingly.
"This isn't funny. Are you serious about doing this work?" Meister looked very upset.
She responded very arrogantly.
"Well, I thought this object seemed more artistic."
"I cannot tolerate such act of yours just because your family gave so much money to this school."
Herr Weiss shouted in the classroom. All of the classmates turned attention to her and their instructor.
Masako suddenly got shocked to see his angry face and very straightforward comment.

He embarrassed her in class. She was so ashamed.
"Oh, what am I going to do?" she got frightened.

 

Suddenly a big cracking noise was heard. Several men seemed to rush into school building.
What happened? She wondered and looked at Meister.

 

Meister Marcus Weiss said "Here they came again."

 

Then the door of the classroom opened. Several men in yellow-brown uniform got in.

They were holding bars in their hands.
"You, communists, morale decay!" they shouted.
Everyone stood up and got frightened. A young tall man with blonde hair looked a leader of the group.
Weiss shouted back "Get out here, Stupid! This is no place for Storm Troopers or Nazis."

 
A leader of the men laughed at Weiss and smashed the vase with a bar. A tension grew in the room. A tall blond haired man approached to where Masako and Weiss were. Masako stood and watched the man carefully. He was in yellow uniform with an arm badge which had black cross in white circle on red belt.

 

She looked at his face very carefully. He had very beautiful blue eyes. Very handsome man.
The man found Masako and looked at her surprisignly. They each had very good eye contact.

 

"Oh, my god!" she screamed in her mind. Then she fainted on the floor.

 

 

Continued to Chapter 2.