I love the British Museum. A beautiful building housing more wonders than you could possibly take in in one trip. Ok, the ownership of some items may be a little dubious (yes, that's you Elgin Marbles) but the fact it's free is fantastic. Everyone ought to go. Several times.
Of course the visiting exhibitions aren't free. (How dare they make you pay for the privilege of getting more of the world's most thought-provoking and fascinating artefacts to come to this country on 'tour'?!) In recent times I've been wowed by stunning shows on the Aztecs, Egypt, Pompeii and the Vikings - each sumptuosly put together and all giving eye catching lessons in periods of history you maybe already thought you knew well.
The museum has currently turned its attentions to Germany for a timely reflection on a nation marking 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The show, which runs until January 25, begins with that very landmark.
I've always had something of an interest in Germany - paricularly its culture, football and past - so this, and the accompanying Radio 4 series (available in easy to digest podcasts), has been a real treat.
The exhibition and radio series seem to be a labour of love for British Museum director Neil MacGregor - who picks up on the work of A History of the World in 100 Objects in some style.
There are a couple of key themes that run throughout. Firstly, that you can't hope to understand Germany's history without looking at places such as Strasbourg, Kaliningrad, Prague - all no longer German, but each play an important part in its story and, in the words of the organisers, are key contributors to the 'memories of a nation'.
The series and exhibition also, interestingly, looks at how Germany's development as a patchwork of small kingdoms and states (it wasn't a nation until 1871) feeds in to its development. MacGregor reckons, for example, that the competition and lack of one overbearing central power created the conditions that Gutenberg and Luther would have struggled without. In France or England, he argues, Luther would have been banned and suppressed much more easily without the ability to look anywhere else for more favourable conditions.
He also seems to think Germany's traditions mean compromise and coalition are at the heart of its politics and shape favourable views to the EU. It may be stretching it a little but MacGregor suggests that Germany sees the state as a collaborative entity and so presumes that is how the EU could and should work. In Britain, so the theory goes, we are used to one party 'strong' government so we presume that is what the EU is/wants to become and are, as such, more skeptical about its aims and concerned about it dominating our life.
Whether you agree or not, it's an interesting point about the present, inspired by the past and our understanding of it.
Those themes are played out more explicitly on the radio, whereas it's the objects themselves that naturally come to the fore at the museum. An unsung highlight has to be the triple portrait that, face on, appears to be Wilhelm I but (with the nifty use of wooden strips) from the left appears to be Bismarck and on the right Frederick III. The child in me is still fascinated by things like that. Surely this would be a nifty marketing idea even now?
From Marx to the Bauhaus with books and paintings there's plenty more of the culture you'd expect/hope to see. Oddly the most interesting exhibit for me proved to be the detailed model of Friedrichstrasse station. At first glance this looks a rather fun piece that wouldn't be amiss alongside a child's train set. Upon closer inspection you realise this painstaking replica was used to instruct spies. It's a telling example of how the Stasi - keepers of smell samples etc - made the mundane menacing and how it obsessed over its quest to keep East German society under close watch.
What of the Nazis? Well, in some respects this exhibition and series could be seen as an attempt to broaden our understanding beyond 1933-45. Indeed MacGregor has spoken of the fact that many other nations have made a concerted effort to move beyond the two terrible wars and understand the close ties they have with Germany. He clearly feels we still need that here and does his bit for the cause here.
When I went for an interview for my history degree, I was asked: "You're not obsessed with the Nazis are you?" It seemed a bizarre question. When I confirmed I wasn't and asked why they'd enquired, I was told they got many students who had come to them having studied Hitler, his rise to power and the Second World War at school, GCSE and A-level and wanted to carry that tradition on at university.
In some respects I can completely understand the teaching of the topic. It's a period that has huge relevance to recent generations in this country and offers a chance to do one of the most important things you can with the past - learn the lessons of history. The Nazis were barbarous and, naturally, form a massive part of German history study. But stereotyping and scapegoating a nation are surely the very opposite approach if you've truly understood the lessons of that period.
The period is covered here with a number of items - most movingly a concentration camp gate set in a starkly white corner. I thought it was a tasteful and powerful way of looking at the horrors of the Holocaust.
Not everyone was satisfied. The woman who left before us wrote on an iPad, which had been left out for feedback, that there was 'not enough on the Nazis'.
I guess some people will have gone to this exhibition expecting a glut of Nazi artefacts. The fact that some of those couldn't be swayed by the items they saw shows MacGregor still has a way to go.
The British Museum should definitely be applauded for its exhibition and accompanying series. I felt enriched and informed after my visit. Then again, I always do.
