Berkeley Tourist Attractions

An attraction of interest in Berkeley is the University Art Museum, with a collection of paintings by 19th and 20th century artists and an important film archive.This museum, situated on the university campus, was built in 1970 to the design by Mario Campi, and in the following two decades has earned a good reputation. The surprisingly large stocks held by this young museum stem from works of art collected at the time the university was founded (1873).Hans HofmannThe decisive impetus leading to the building of the museum came from the German painter Hans Hofmann, who lived in America from 1932 and had already held summer courses at the University of California in Berkeley from 1930 to 1931.As a teacher (he opened his own art schools) he had a great influence on young American painters, such as Louise Nevelson, Helen Frankenthaler and Larry Rivers.In 1963 he presented 45 of his paintings to the university and promised to donate money for the building of a museum.Seven years passed before it was completed. Today, about a half of all Hofmann's works to be found here are displayed in one big hall, so that in no other museum can you get a better view of the work of this painter.The museum also has a big collection of orientalia, as well as numerous paintings from the 19th century. Special exhibitions are often held, particularly of painters, sculptors and photographers of the 20th century.

The symbol of the University of California at Berkeley is the bell tower known as Sather Tower, a 1914 reproduction of the St Marc's Tower in Venice. Being 308ft/94m high, it towers over all the other buildings on the spacious and park-like university grounds. From the top there is a magnificent view of the campus, San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.The tower contains a 61-bell carillon which chimes on the hour and plays music every day at 7:50 a.m., noon and 6:00 p.m.

Something of a special nature which is worth a visit is the Lawrence-Berkeley Laboratory, in which the Nobel Prize winner Ernest O. Lawrence pioneered new developments in the field of atomic research. His assistants included, among others, J. Robert Oppenheimer who did important preparatory work in developing the first atomic bomb. When Oppenheimer opposed the making of the hydrogen bomb, investigations were made on the grounds of his alleged Communist views, and President Eisenhower withdrew his permission for him to work on any further secret projects.

The Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology in Berkeley has a diverse collection from native California, ancient Egypt, Asia, Oceania and pre-Columbian Peru.Phoebe Hearst who sponsored archaeological and ethnologic expeditions, which formed the beginnings of the collection, founded the museum in 1901.

Established in 1890, the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley has more than 20,000 species of plants from almost every continent. The diverse collection of plants is arranged according to their region of origin. The five best-represented families in the UC Botanical Garden include cactus, lily, sunflower, heath and orchid.

The California Memorial Stadium, a sports arena with more than 76,500 seats, is located in the southeast of the University of California at Berkeley and is of interest.

The Earth Sciences Building, not far from the north gate of the University of California at Berkeley, contains palaeontological and mineralogical collections, as well as an interesting seismograph on the ground floor.

The Cyclotron (particle accelerator) is in the northeast area of the campus of the University of California at Berkeley.

In the chapel of the Pacific School of Religion (1198 Scenic Avenue) can be seen one of the largest stained-glass windows in the world.

The Palestine Institute exhibits archeological finds from Palestine, from the time of the Old Testament up to the fifth century BC.

Southwest of the South Hall at the University of California at Berkeley is the Sather Gate which together with the Plaza forms the center of the student quarter.

Southwest of the bell tower at the University of California at Berkeley stands South Hall, built in 1873 in the Tudor style, and the oldest building on the campus.