Berlin

28 May 2013

Last night was hilarious. We got into the Berlin hbf station after 11pm. I had made arrangements for the boy we were staying with to meet us at the McDonalds in the station, but after waiting for over an hour I was beginning to think we would have to sleep in the train station…which actually would of been quite the adventure! Finding Internet to connect our devices too has surprisingly been one of the hardest challenges we have faced. That particular McDonalds required you to have a phone in which it would text you the password. Since none of us have phones, you can imagine how much good that did us. I eventually talked to a nice couple who let us borrow their phone to call our friend. Turns out he took the 11:08 I described to him to mean 11:08 in the morning, and he had showed up at the station nearly 12 hours earlier to pick us up. I should of specified 23:08, which is how Europeans refer to time. After that call we decided the instructions he gave us to reach his house were too difficult, and without a phone or internet we might as well sleep the next 6 or so hours at the train station before we would meet up with Jessica at the famous Brandenburg Tor.

Berlin Wall at the East Side Gallery.

Ampleman…Communist Eastern Germany changed all the pedestrian lights to show a man wearing a Nazi hat…

At about 1 in the morning I talked to a young Irish girl who was willing to put in her mobile phone number, get the password through via text, and let me enter it into my ipad. As this was happening I had probably the biggest scare I have had yet on this trip. Two middle aged men were sitting next to us in the McDonalds constantly turing their heads and looking over at me. After a few uncomfortable minutes, the larger one pulls out some sort of badge looking think and flashes it in front of my face for a mere second, demanding to see my passport. Neither of them were in uniform, nor looked sophisticated enough to be a cop. I didn’t have any time to get a good look at his badge, before he was hounding me with questions on why I was in Germany and what my “intentions” were. He was asking details about where I was staying, who I was meeting up with, and what places I would be going. I was quite intimidated by all his questions, in which I answered as vaguely as possible… I did result in giving him by passport in which I was sure I would never see again, but after what seemed like an eternity of time he returned it to me, and asked questions about my “colleague” Ellie sitting over at another table. They left and I held my passport in my hand, telling myself that their was no information they could of captured from it that would be harmful to me unless they had HD cameras in their eyes and had taken a picture of it…which is highly unlikely. Anyways, after the incident the Irish girl I was sitting with turned to me and noted that was the weirdest thing she had ever experienced in a train station… Crazy, kind of scary, and flat out weird… When Steven returned from his adventure to find the bus station, I told him about what had happened and of course he asked why I had given him my passport without proof of their identity. He then went on to describe how he would of “decked them” if they had continued to be rough about it. He even taught me a bit of self defense in case I ever needed it in a situation such as that. I just didn’t want them to deport me from the country, I was having too much fun! I guess the moral of the story is do not get stranded at a train station late at night, and especially without a guy who can deck the “bad guys” for you.

I got Internet access, and started posting on Facebook, getting ahold of my friend who eventually decided to just pick us up from the McDonalds. By now it was nearly 2 in the morning, so his willingness to do that meant a lot to us… Ninh was a great host and I am so thankful for all his kindness and generosity towards us.

The atrocities that occurred years ago in Berlin and its surrounding regions are too much for my stomach to handle. We joined a 4 hour walking tour that took us around all the famous sites in the city, led by a guide who knew both the historic and modern Berlin like the back of his hand. We first met up with Jessica at Dam Square and walked around a bit of the shops, cafes, and bakeries…one thing that you cannot miss out on when you are in Europe!

#1 Brandenburg Tor
Our tour guide was incredible. We started in the Plaza called French Plaza where the famous Brandenburg Gate stands. On either side of the gate were East and West Berlin and the Gate stands as a memorial to the connection of the two sides after being separated for nearly 45 years. After WWII and Germany’s surrender to Great Britain and the US. The US embassy stands on the south side of the gate, and the French on the North. It is interesting that the statue adoring the top of the Brandenburg gate was seized by France for some time and held in the Louvre before being taken back by the Germans. The lady is known as Lady Victory and now stands above “French Plaza”.
Eastern Germany was in turmoil, losing people right and left who wanted to go to the western end where jobs were better, people were kinder, and life was happier. Overnight the Eastern Europeans constructed a wall that separated the East from the West, instantly cutting off any connection that used to consist between the two sides. The wall and so called “iron curtain” did not fall until 1989…that was less than 25 years ago. When my mom visited Berlin, she had to pass over the iron curtain to visit the East side and she was only allowed to do so for a day. At that time they had a different government, different currency, and a different outlook on life. When the wall finally fell, it was because some two thousand people from East Berlin decided that they were not going to let the guards at the gate deny the documentation. When only two out the entire group had the proper documentation to pass through the gate, it infuriated the people and they busted through the gate as soon as it was opened for the two who were supposed to pass through. At that moment, the wall fell followed shortly by the rest of the Iron Curtain.

It is quite the unique feeling switching from the East to West side of Berlin. Crossing the line over which the expansive Berlin wall used to span is an emotional experience. Just a few years ago, people only dreamed about crossing the wall from Eastern to Western Europe in search of a better life. As I stood with my toes up to the east side of the line that represents where the wall used to stand, I felt so many emotions rush through my body all at once. How could life be so horrible? Why did people have to live in fear and never understand why things were happening to them? Some things just cannot be put into words…but the emotions that are felt explain it all.

#2 Holocaust Memorial
People do not realize how much time and effort goes into symbolic representation. Choosing specific characteristics to represent and describe certain things is a lot harder than it looks. One must be extremely creative to be able to take physical matter and attempt to represent and honor indescribable events and people.

The Holocaust Memorial is a series of different sized rectangular stones that are situated in a period of rows and columns. The memorial is not meant to represent anything particularly, but instead is supposed to be a memorial that can be interpreted uniquely by the eyes and hearts of its viewers. It was a huge step for the city to agree to place the memorial in the center of the Berlin, the capital of the persecution of the Jews, years previously. The city has changed a lot since then, becoming a place of tolerance and diversity. Visiting the memorial was one of my favorite things we did in Berlin. As I walked deeper and deeper into the center of the stone pillars, I was engulfed by their massive size. They grew larger and larger around me and the ground became more and more uneven, making me feel small and insecure. I took the uneven ground to represent the uneasy and unstable times that led up to the holocaust, and the different sized pillars and stones to represent different individuals with different stories who were persecuted and tormented by the Nazi reign. The stones are like a jumble of chaos, with no order but a unique beauty.

#3 One of the few remaining Nazi architectural buildings
We visited the site of Hitler’s bunker. The same place where him and his new wife Ava Brawn took cyanide capsules before being discovered and captured. It was in this place where he hid from all those who wanted him dead. Nowadays there is a sign in Berlin directing you to a car park, with a short description of Hitler’s bunker. The city decided it was better to keep this site concealed and quiet so that extremists would not attempt to turn the site into a shrine or memorial to Hitler. It was crazy to walk through the modern car park and let my mind race back to what it must of been like during the times of turmoil in Berlin. I cannot even imagine being under the control of such a horrible man.

#4 Berlin Wall and Topography of Terror
Berlin is a tear-wrenching city. Every monument had a story that made my heart want to burst into a million pieces. We visited several different portions of the Berlin Wall, and walked through the topography of terror exhibit describing the history behind the Berlin Wall, the people behind it, and the distress that it caused with its people.

#5 French and German Churches
I find it quite funny that anywhere I go in Europe outside of France, the first place that is made fun of is France. I think it is because the French are so proud and confident that many of the other countries feel ostracized by their display of country pride. The symbolism of Lady Victory adorning the top of the Brandenburg gate looking down upon the French Plaza, is the German’s portrayal of their power of France. Again this struggle for power is evident in a plaza that holds two churches that are nearly completely identical…one was built by the french, followed shortly by the exact same church being built by the Germans-to show that they could match the French’s power.

#6 Museum Islan

#7 Berlin Bear
If you walk the streets of Berlin for even 5 seconds, I guarantee you will see a colorful bear sitting on the side of the street. The bear is the country symbol of Germany. Just as the eagle is our country’s national symbol, the bear is important to Germany

#8 Ampleman

The Eastside Gallery is a portion of the wall that still stands and plays hosts to the numerous “graffiti” artists that roam the streets of Berlin. Every year they have a festival that commemorates these artists and encourages them to share their talents with the city.

#9 West Berlin.

#10 East Berlin

Standing on either side of the wall…in two different places in the city. The wall was so big!

Checkpoint Charlie…this used to be where you would have to cross to get in and out of East Germany.

Victory Tower!

#1 Brandenburg Tor
#2 Holocaust Memorial
#3 One of the few remaining Nazi buildings
#4 Berlin Wall & Topography of Terror
#5 French/German Churches
#6 Museum Island
#7 Berlin Bear
#8 Ampleman
#9 West Berlin
#10 East Berlin