Lots of walking around in the cold

So here's a REALLY long post to keep anyone who reads this entertained for a bit. GOOD NEWS is that my family has wireless! Hooray! Now I can email/blog all the time, but for now I have to finish unpacking at my family's home. 

January 5, 2010 Tuesday 6:41am 

On Sunday, after wandering around the UBahn for a good 15 minutes I finally found the correct train to take. It turns out I’m not good at telling the difference in German words which would be a handy trait if I could do it. (You try remembering the difference between Kufurtenstrasse and Kleistsrabe and Kurfurstendamm when you’re confused) Anyways I got to Potsdamer Platz and found the old parts of the Berlin Wall that have been preserved. Not much is left because when the wall came down everyone just wanted to take it all apart. The paintings on the wall are really interesting. I’ll put some below. Oh yeah and throughout Berlin wherever the wall used to be there is a brick line inlayed into the ground.

 

On my way to the Brandenburger Tor I saw the Holocaust Memorial which literally translates from German into “The Memorial for the Murdered Jews of the Holocaust.” It’s large concrete slab blocks that are on uneven ground for an entire block. Its hard to explain so you should just google it ha. After the memorial I found the Brandenburger Tor which is really cool because I’d say it’s the most recognizable spot in Berlin. I wandered in some tourist shops b/c I was FREEZING! Did I mention the average temperature has been 22 degrees Fahrenheit! BRR! Right next to the Tor is the Reichstag so I went over there only to find out it was closed for “weather conditions.” Along the way I also saw the memorials for those who were shot by Soviets attempting to cross into West Berlin. There were a lot of memorials for them, a lot of people died.

 

Only a little way down, on a kind of small street next to the Tor I found Hitler’s bunker. This is the most surreal place I’ve ever been. Hitler’s bunker was bombed into oblivion by the Soviets and then after reunification it was filled in to become a parking lot. Its really surreal to stand on the ground where Hitler had actually been. I was lucky enough to have a English tour next to me when I walked over there and found out that Hitler shot himself because he believed a solider dies from wounds. After Eva Braun and Hitler had died his soldiers were directed to burn his and others bodies in the garden near the bunker. AKA the street that was behind me. It’s just crazy to think that one of the most evil people, who murdered so many, used to live underneath the parking lot that I was staring at with people brushing snow off their cars and little kids playing.

 

The street where Hitler's body was burned. On the right is the parking lot that was previously the top of Hitler's bunker. 

On a happier note after getting some snacks at the hotel I went to Alexanderplatz which I really enjoyed. Its got the TV tower called Fernsehturm. I went into St. Mary’s church then over to the DDR museum which attempts to show what life was like in East Berlin. It was pretty interesting considering people were raised with communal potty breaks, went to apprenticeships instead of college, were pressured into becoming friends with their fellow workers, had to apply to get cars and flats only to receive them years later, while a chemist made less money than a bricklayer. Along the way I also saw a memorial to the women of Rosenstrasse who came together without organization to protest the Nazi’s because all of them were Christian women who’s Jewish husbands had been arrested and were about to be sent to concentration camps. Instead of gunning down 25 unarmed women or sending them to concentration camps the Nazi’s actually gave them their husband back. Its really quite an amazing story.

 The Rosenstrasse women memorial (above)

Yesterday (Monday) I decided to go back to Alexanderplatz because it was so full of people out and about. I went to the Marx and Engels statue which is kind of funny because its in such a capitalist area now I don’t think Marx or Engels would really approve of the work that was going on in this square. After that I passed by the Rotes Rathus, the town hall of Berlin, to get to Nikolaiviertel which is a square that used to be one of the oldest parts of town until it was bombed to smithereens during WWII (a constant theme of Berlin’s historical landmarks). In 1987 the whole place was rebuilt to look like it once had. So basically none of the buildings, except maybe one or two, are older than 1987, but its really lovely all the same.

 

Then I wandered/got lost then turned around again to find the Franziskaner Klosterkirche which is church that was bombed in WWII (see! It is a constant theme!) but instead of rebuilding the church they let it stand as a testament against all war. It is completely vacant and cold inside with only natural light and no one was there except this creepy man who stared and smiled at me so I decided not to go inside. After waiting a few minutes I finally just said I’d do it because the whole place was soo cool with scratches and chunks missing out of it. Then the man popped up again to say in broken English that he was going to “sing songs of Christmas.” But the most amazing thing was when he sat down and started to sing it was gorgeous! He was so good, he sounded like old church choirs do. Anyways I was still freaked out because I thought maybe he was homeless or something and was going to ask me for money. So I left and went to the first Berlin wall which was built in the 1200’s as a protective town wall. So cool! On my way back from the wall I walked past the broken church only to find that the creepy man was working on the sign for the church! I’m such an idiot! He was the caretaker of the church, not some creepy homeless man!

 Here's the church and the man is on the bottom left... ah I feel so bad!

Anyways I then went into the huuuge Galeria Kaufhof which is basically the KaDeWa of the East side of Berlin, although I’d say not as extravagant. I planned the rest of the day with my new travel book. By then I was totally frozen and my feet were wet. Never a good thing. I bought myself a bratwurst from these guys who walk around with grills strapped to their front haha and had my first German sausage and immediately decided that mustard here was always grey poupon (GROSS) and never to get mustard again.

 

After that I took the UBahn over to the Topography of Terror, an open air museum that is dedicated to not letting the horrors of the Nazi’s go unnoticed. Its really quiet horrible. Its on the actual ground where the building that was the main office for the Gestapo, SS, and Reich Security was housed. The building’s gone because after it was bombed in WWII it was torn down, but just recently they found old torture rooms in the basement floor under the ground. Yikes. You can actual see the torture rooms b/c they’ve only just found them. Its pretty scary. This was a really good exhibit b/c it focused on the whole history of the place and then on ALL people who were harmed by the actions of the Nazis. It really brings to the forefront that the stereotypical idea that everyone in Germany was a Nazi during WWII was probably a myth except to a few people because so many Germans were hurt, forced to flee or had family members killed its hard to see how many people supported the Nazis. I mean thousands and millions of people were affected by this reign of terror. Many of the first people to be killed were simply people who went to a socialist meeting once then were detained beaten in the building I was standing on and sent to work camps that later became concentration camps. The section of Jews and Gypsies was really powerful and horrible. Pictures of people being shot and thrown into mass graves were blown up and it was all really awful. The walk was really powerful and I liked that it was outside, almost like no one should be allowed to ignore the atrocities that happened.

 Topography of Terror photos:

Yeah... its really horrible

After that I saw the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Professor Sage would be so proud. Ha. Then I walked over to Checkpoint Charlie which was chalk full of tourists and a guy dressed in an American solider uniform ha speaking perfect German. Anyways it’s a major sight b/c its one of the only checkpoints still left, although I think its actually a replica. From there I walked over to the Jewish Museum which is really amazing. The building is jagged and weird. It took forever to get in, but the whole feeling of being confused and lost is really pervasive. The ground goes up and down and I felt completely lost and turned around the whole time I was there, if you don’t understand, just google a map of the museum then try and figure out how to get around it. Its hard, let me tell you. The museum itself is really cool and touches on 2000 years of Jewish history in Europe which is punctuated by horror and death, but is all fascinating all the same because its less a focus on the holocaust and more of a focus on Jewish life throughout the years.

 

Anyways then I practically ran back to the metro because it was dark and late and there wasn’t a good lighted populated area around. Ha after speed walking I made it back to my hotel and passed out!

 

So that’s been my time in Berlin so far. I know this is long, but I figure I’m not going to get much time to write much later b/c I have orientation today so here’s a bunch of information to keep you busy until I get time to write later.

 

Whoo here it all goes!