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Potsdam Palaces

Potsdam 1

Potsdam is a small town not far from Berlin and easily accessible by train. Its palatial landscape can be attributed to Frederick II the Great, who lived form 1712 to 1786. Sanssouci, Freddy’s summer palace was intended to rival Versailles when originally built. It was built to encourage relaxation and while visiting, I can understand why. The gardens are far reaching complete with fountains and flowers, and the rooms are more than elaborate. A style very popular with Freddy the Great known as Rococo can be seen throughout this castle as well as the others buildings scattered around the park. Before the afternoon is over, I am able to visit four palaces, get trapped in the rain once, and stop several times for snacks. The combination of the natural green with the grandeur of the castles suggests fairytales, and when it occasionally rains, I feel like that tale is reaching its dramatic climax where good must fight evil eventually culminating in the “good guys” living happily ever after.

Potsdam 2

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Jewish Museum and Holocaust Memorial

Both the Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin make an architectural statement equally strong to its exhibits. The Jewish Museum, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, starts on the bottom floor as a series of zigzagging hallways. These hallways then help to divide the museum into three areas– Continuity with Germany history, Emigration from Germany, and the Holocaust. This is all compounded by the empty spaces, irregular windows, and interactive exhibits. Although I am clearly biased, the Jewish Museum or Jüdisches Museum is a highlight of my Berlin experience and I recommend Jews and non-Jews alike to go at least for a quick look.

Jewish Museum Berlin

Designed by another great architect, Peter Eisenman, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (the Holocaust Memorial) sits on a 5-acre site and consists of thousands of concrete slabs. These slabs of varying heights are arranged on a rolling landscape in a grid-like pattern. Eisenman leaves the interpretation of these slabs to the viewer, and not having one “correct” interpretation of the memorial forces individuals such as myself to stop and think for much longer what each slab may symbolize. The site may represent a cemetery or maybe train cars used to carry the Jews. The disorientation of the slabs may reflect the feelings of Jews during the time of the Nazis. In addition, there is little signage indicating the purpose of this site or even that it is a memorial. The subtly of the memorial just like its openness to interpretation add to its value and to its uniqueness. Finally, below the memorial is a small museum discussing the stories of specific individuals and families that suffered during the time of the Nazis. Individualizing the Holocaust is a saddening experience because I start to learn how real families suffered. That said, personalizing the Holocaust is effective when trying to explain the atrocities committed under Nazi Germany.

Holocaust Memorial Berlin

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The Reichstag

Soon after arriving in Berlin, I realize that I would like to walk up to the top of the glass dome above the Reichstag. The Reichstag is Germany’s parliament building that was burned down in 1933 and rebuilt. The idea of the glass dome is that the German government is supposed to be transparent and when the parliament looks up at the ceiling, they can see the citizens of their country walking above them. Unfortunately, it is probably more often that they see citizens from everywhere else walking the spiral ramp around the dome.

Reichstag 1

I go to visit this popular Berlin landmark and am turned away because the Reichstag is currently under a terrorist threat. They allow people to visit by reservation only, and reservations can only be made online. Back at the hostel, I try to make an online reservation; however, inconveniently, the english translation of the website does not have the required page. Therefore, with the help of the hostel staff, I navigate the german site and eventually sign up for a time slot. I feel that the challenge involved in seeing this site only made it more desirable for me to try and go, but I am not entirely ready to admit that.

Reichstag 2

On the day of my reservation, I venture back to the Reichstag, go through the necessary metal detectors and scanners and eventually find myself at the base of the dome. There is a great audio tour that recognizes where I am standing and lets me know what I am seeing when I look out over the city. And when I look downwards, I can see Parliament working below. In addition, the architecture of the dome is as impressive as its views. There is even a shade that rotates with the sun to ensure that Parliament is never faced with unwanted glare. The day is relatively clear, the dome uncrowded because of the hurdles required to visit, and the Berlin cityscape shines from this high perspective.

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Berlin’s Cultural Scene

Berlin’s art, music, museum collections, and memorials all sum together to create an atmosphere that includes something for everyone. Although there is much I could mention on this topic, I will describe one encounter I have with said culture on a night I decide to go to a nearby jazz club.

This contemporary jazz club, B Flat, located not far from my hostel, received good online reviews and I figure while in a city that offers so much entertainment, I should at least try to take advantage. I arrive at the club shortly before the performers begin, I find a close seat so that I can watch the pianists fingers on the keys, I order a cold beer, and I watch the sky outside move from dusk to dark. The music begins. It is hard to find a beat to tap my foot to, but I search for it anyway. Nonetheless, I am impressed by the modernity of the song’s introduction. One minute passes, and I start to feel that the introduction is a bit long. Two minutes pass, and I begin to realize that this is an entire introductory song and not just a couple notes. Five minutes pass, and I think to myself this song is a bit long for what it is. Fifteen minutes pass, and I notice that the temperature in the bar is a bit warm. Thirty minutes pass, and the musicians are still on their first song. I am still looking for a beat for my foot. The pianist enjoys standing up and occasionally scraping the strings in the piano with various tools he has brought along. The trumpeter continues to make seemingly unmelodious and untraditional sounds escape from his instrument. Sixty minutes pass, and I still feel that they are on the same song because there has not yet been a break for the audience to applaud. Finally, 80 minutes pass, and the musicians begin a ten minute finale.

I walk back to my hostel trying to find news ways to appreciate what I have just witnessed. This is when I realize that even if the music was not completely my exact genre of choice, this experience still proves the creativity and openness of the Berlin music scene. From these performances all the way to Las Vegas style shows, Berlin has an expansive repertoire of evening entertainment, which is just one of many of the city’s attractive traits.

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Berlin

Berlin is a very livable city, and by this, I mean there is so much to see and do for both locals and tourists, that it seems it would never become dull. If something one day brings me to Berlin for an extended period of time, I will not complain. Its full history, albeit very controversial at times, has created a city complete with a diverse cultural scene, a young vibe, and a population proud to call themselves Berliners.

Brandenburg Gate

My first day running around the city, I start at the famous Brandenburg Gate and stroll my way down Unter den Linden. I quickly run into Tim and Adam, two friends I met in Munich who had been staying in the hostel next door. We continue onwards to the city park as we all enjoyed our afternoons. Basing myself at the Wombats Hostel in Berlin, I had easy access to the subway, which in turn makes getting to any other landmark uber convenient. From the moment I arrive, I am excited to to spend several days in this very alive city.

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German Engineering

There are two museums in Munich in which I let my inner-nerd come out, the Deutsches Museum and the BMW Museum. The Deutsches Museum, the world’s largest museum of science and technology, is too big to handle in one afternoon, but I run around anyway spending extra time in the New Technologies section, the Transportation section, and the Materials and Production Section. Specifically in the Materials and Production area, I have a fun time looking at the power machinery of old. The exhibition is laid out in chronological order demonstrating the development of machine-tools and engines. On a different afternoon, I visit the BMW Museum, which is adjacent to the BMW headquarters and factory. Not only do I enjoy learning about the history of the BMW brand and its many cars over the years, but equally impressive is the unique and design conscious architecture of these many buildings. Through these two afternoons, I have at least received a flavor for the excellence of German engineering.

Deutsches Museum

BMW Building

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Munich Walking Tour

I get to know Munich through the NewEurope Free Walking Tour. At first, I am skeptical of the tour as a large number of people make their way to Marienplatz. Large groups, soft speaking tour guides, and crowded cities are all part of an equation that usual pushes me towards a self-guided tour. However, I’m with a couple friends I met at the hostel, and I decide to wait it out a little before making a decision. Before the tour starts the group gets divided up several times eventually placing me in a group of about twenty-five.  It is still a sizable number; however, the tour guide can project her voice and as a result, I become more optimistic about the tour to come. By the end of the tour, I would highly recommend this activity, which is offered in several European cities by Sandeman’s NewEurope Tours. The tour is free with the guides expecting tips based on their performances. This, in turn, creates a great incentive for the guide to provide an excellent tour complete with jokes, fun stories, and a lot of entertaining background as we walk around the city.

As seen during Munich walking tour

Walking tour

Street musicians in Munich

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Never Again

A message repeated throughout the many museums and monuments of the Holocaust is that retelling its story is critical so as to prevent anything similar form happening again. I fully agree with the message and the sentiment; however, I feel that it ignores the many examples that have occurred between WWII and today. I will admit that determining what events should classify as genocide can be difficult; however, below are examples of others that could be included:

  • Soon after WWII in 1947, the partition of India, in which a newly formed border was created separating the Hindus and Sikhs, resulted in 500,000 to 1,000,000 dead because they were on the wrong side of that border.
  • In Australia, between 1900 and 1970, twenty to twenty-five thousand Aboriginal children were taken from their homes and separated from their families. Some now call them the “Stolen Generation.” (As a side note, the way that Native Americans were treated when European first settled in North America can also be interpreted as genocide.)
  • In Pakistan, during the Bangladesh War in 1971, there are estimates ranging from 300,000 to 3 million people killed by the Pakistan Army. Targeted during this killing include the Bengali intellectual, cultural, and political elite along with Hindus.
  • The Rwanda genocide in 1994 is estimated to have killed 800,000 people. This genocide, lasting 100 days, was performed by the Hutu militias against Tutsis and pro-peace Hutus.
  • The first president of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Macias Nguema, killed or exiled up to 1/3 of the country’s population (80,000 out of 300,000 are estimated to have been killed).
  • The Khmer Rouge from Cambodia, whom I commented on in an early entry, are responsible for killing about 1.7 million Cambodians between 1975 and 1979.
  • Indonesian occupation of East Timor resulted in approximately 100,000 deaths between 1974 and 1999. Many of deaths resulted from malnutrition and it is rumored that the Indonesian military used starvation as its main tool of “exterminating” the East Timorese.

These are only a handful of examples of mass killings that have occurred since the events that took place in and around Germany under the Nazi regime. I agree that the history of the Holocaust should be retold to try to prevent it in the future; however, I also feel we need to try to recognize its signs and instead of learning about how it affected history, learn how it can be prevented in the future.

In addition, most museums I visited did not recall other examples of mass killings and I feel when the take-away message is to prevent something similar form happening again, explaining that it already has will only help emphasize the point.

Never Again sign at Dachau

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“I am haunted by humans.”

I get up early and make my outside the city via train and towards the Dachau Concentration Camp. I have an idea of what to expect from museum exhibits I’d seen, books I’d read, and explanations I’d heard. However, soon after arriving, acquiring an audio tour, and making my way through the camp, I realize I had very little idea of what to expect. In terms of raw facts, most of what I am learning is not new, but my my reaction to the material is much stronger than ever before. Walking down a road that so many others had done before knowing that they might not survive long enough to walk back in the other direction, standing in a barracks that housed suffering prisoners whose life dreams had been condensed to being able to survive, and seeing images of dead bodies being rounded up by a tractor just steps away and only 60 to 70 years ago all make my stomach tighten and my neck tense. How can this have happened? How can someone get away with this, and on such a large scale?

I can barely look at the crematoria that were used to dispose of the dead bodies. These methods prove that killing had become so regular that the disposal of the dead was more troublesome than the killing itself. And eventually, even cremation was too burdensome leading to the use of mass graves. The scale of such murder makes it hard for me to understand each death on an individual basis until I walk around and begin reading stories of some of its prisoners. Each story is so real and seemingly so normal until their entrance into the camp. After this experience, I am not sure what to write to fully recall my emotions in the future; however, capturing such an experience with words may be nearly impossible. This explains why I was unprepared at the beginning of today despite having learned much about the Holocaust before my arrival.

The Dachau Concentration Camp was the first one opened in Germany back in 1933. It later served as a model and training ground for future Nazi concentration camps. The camp contains records of over 200,000 prisoners and almost 32,000 deaths between 1933 and 1945.

Summing up many of my emotions after my visit, the last line from a book titled “The Book Thief” that I pick up at the shop outside Dachau reads, “I am haunted by humans.”

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Biergärten

Munch, a city known for its Oktoberfest, must have great beer gardens. After all, the city swells to about 10x its usual size for the two weeks of Oktoberfest. As I made my way through a handful of these beer halls with friends I’d met from my hostel, the Euro Youth Hotel, I enjoyed tasting many of the varieties that Munich has to offer. In addition, beer is most typically served by the liter, which presents challenges based on the sheer amount of liquid and the weight of the mug as the night progresses.

The two most memorable beer halls were the Englischer Garten, where I sat on a picnic bench next to a large Chinese tower enjoying my beer and a book during a sunny afternoon, and the Hofbräuhaus, an über festive and famous beer house in Munich.

To both exaggerate and demonstrate the size of these beers, the below photo shows how the beer can be distorted to reflect the keystoning affect that often occurs when trying to photograph large buildings from below.

Beer in Munich