Thursday
Morning we started our exploration in the Tiergarten. We briefly stepping in in
order to see the memorial to homosexual victims of the Holocaust. This opened
up a discussion about groups other than the Jews who were persecuted in the Holocaust.
Many feel that the other groups, including homosexuals, Sinti and Roma, and
the disabled, are sometimes not discussed often enough, especially since these
groups made up 5 million of the total deaths of the Holocaust. Following in the
Holocaust theme we next moved to the memorial to the 6 million murdered Jews of
the Holocaust. The structure, as I wrote
in the last blog, consists of a couple thousand large blocks shaped vaguely
like coffins but varying wildly in height and angle. As you move deeper into
the memorial you sort of get lost in a forest of concrete. There is a sense of
isolation and disorientation in the memorial, also a feeling of being
overwhelmed. There is a definite solemnity to the feel of it once you’re
thinking about what it represents. But what it odd is the reactions of the
people. Our tour guide brought this up
specifically. People tend to just hang
around the memorial. Groups picnic on the blocks and children run around yelling and leaping from block to
block. So they question was considered, is this disrespectful? And is it a flaw
of the open design that it makes people behave this way, or at least doesn’t
prevent them from doing so. On first thought, yes. People running around in a
memorial of death is not ok. But our tour guide brought up a good point and I
think I agree with him. He pointed out that people are people and they react
differently to things. The memorial is an odd construction in the middle of the
city and people will deal with it differently. The memorial itself is
essentially all about people, it represents people lost. People who, themselves
would have had different reactions to something like that. Some of those
honored and remembered in the memorial themselves would probably have played
upon the cubes. So in that way, it make it a place where people both remember
and live seems appropriate, really. Downstairs the harsh reality of complete
horror becomes apparent. There is all sorts of information about the genocide
of the Jewish people, from initial anti-semitic laws to systematic murder. The
history lesson at the beginning is bearable but once you begin reading the
writings from letters and diaries of real Jews in concentration camps, it’s
just heartbreaking. And the room in which names and their stories, in most
cases brief and in all cases extremely tragic, are read aloud. What struck me
was how little hope most people had. In school you tend to read stories which
are long and drawn out dramas where you hope they will escape. What is harder
to get a grasp of is how many stories are merely “This person was born in this
city. When the Nazis came they were separated from their family and then shot. They
were 14.” It’s hard to figure out how to react to such a surreal horror as
those in the Holocaust. It’s like all words fall short.
After
the tour we were a little behind schedule and a lot sad so we went ahead and
broke for lunch. We met back up in a bit of rain which luckily didn’t hold out
because our next activity was to wander through the Tiergarten. We tried to see
the Soviet Memorial but it was all blocked off in order to prepare for the Euro
Cup. Soccer is of course huge here so massive screens are set up outside in
order for fans to get together and watch the game. We then went to the House of
World Culture. This place was structural significant due to its interesting
rounded shape. This was designed in the 50s by an American in a style that Mr.
Caldwell informed us was sometimes called the Jetsons Era due to its futuristic
looking style. I liked that a lot.
But the best thing about this building was
its contents. We walked inside to find a very large white cube with an
entrance. The cube was seemingly pitch black but blaring exotic dance music at
extremely high volumes. Upon further investigation we found a film playing
inside which consisted of about 3 minutes of an Angler Fish swimming with this
music as background, then about 5 of two men dancing around a rotating
rectangular prism hung from the ceiling. And that was it! I loved it.
From
there we continued through the Tiergarten and ventured to the Victory Tower.
Upon climbing to the top of it you can see an amazing expanse of city on every
side. It was rather fun to try and identify all of the places we’ve been so far
this week from up there.
Then we broke for the day and went back to explore the
Tiergarten again. Liz and I were excited about all of the nature in the middle
fo the city. Also about the really awesome jungle gym which looked like some sort
of spiderweb pyramid made of ropes. It was amazing. We cooked ourselves some
dinner because our apartment has an awesome kitchen and then headed over to a
local pub with a strangely American flavor. They’re really in to hotrods and
pinup girls from the 50s. They also play 80s music videos almost non-stop.
The
next day, Friday, was an early one because we had to catch a particular train
out to Einstein’s Tower in Potsdam. It was worth it though to visit what was
both a really fascinating looking building and a place where a great mind
worked.
We spent the rest of the day in Potsdam, exploring cool churches and
hanging out in markets. I had a rostbratwurst on a bun which was pretty good. I
like a lot of the food I have tried thus far in Germany. I did not like the
currywurst as much. It is a big deal in Berlin though as it turns out.
Our
final group activity of the day involved walking through the Prussian Royal
Palace Gardens and then taking a tour of the Sanssouci Palace. It was in the
same sort of over the top style as Versace and apparently played host to
Voltaire for a while.
The gardens were lovely and the second palace we went to
(but did not tour) was also very beautiful, as was lying in the grass trying to
tempt ducks with Pringles in the grassy expanse in front of the palace. Then we group split for the
day and a few of us went with Dr. Stuckey to the church on the edge of the
Gardens. My favorite thing about that was the crypt containing the coffins of
Friedrich Wilhelm IV and his wife.
Very early
Saturday morning Liz and I then embarked upon our first lone quest. We hopped a
train at 6:45 am to Prague and began to explore the city. Prague is amazing
beyond words. Our first destination was the Prague Castle which contains
several churches, palaces, shops, and a dungeon! It’s surrounded on every side
with more of the same. Almost every building in the area is hundreds of years
old. We toured the Old Royal Palace which was the seat of power in Prague for
generations. It was built in the early 12th century by Prince Sobeslav. It contains a massive
Hall/throne room, a room painted with the Royal Crests of important officials
of various reigns, and (most importantly) the tower window from which the Defenestration
of Prague occurred. The Defenestration of Prague, in short, was four Catholic regents being thrown bodily from a window by protestant officials.
But perhaps the most beautiful thing in Prague was the St. Vitus Cathedral. Filled with incredible stained glass and impressive vaulted
ceilings, it also contains the extremely ornate final resting place of John of Nepomuk, a martyr for the crown.
Our adventure
continued the next day when we walked around town and along the river. We found
this building with really cool looking architecture.
We also walked across across
the famous Charles Bridge. This history bridge, built in 1357, is
lined with fascinating statues and, today, many street venders and a hurdy gurdy man.
We also wandered around the Vltava River area long anough to find the John
Lennon wall. This wall was originally painted with extraordinary images in
honor of John Lennon soon after his death. The wall was whitewashed at one
point but was brought back by new owners and dedicated to the Beatle once
again. Today it is open for all to paint but has not quite reached its past
splendor, being mostly covered with traditional “So-and-so was here!” graffiti.
We managed to catch our train back to Berlin after an amazing dash to the
central train station and arrive safety back in our Berlin “home”.
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