Berlin

On Saturday, August 20th, Gay and I caught a morning train from Wittenberg to Berlin.  We decided to take a four hour walking tour and then do further exploration on our own.  The tour was led by a 20 something named Heather who has lived in Berlin for five years and has her master's in German history.  She was lively and informative.
 The tour had three main focal points.  They were: 1. General German and Berlin history; 2. the Third Reich; and 3. the Communist era.

This photo incorporates the first two topics.  It is one of the oldest museums in Berlin and is located on what is called "Museum Island".  It was also a favorite spot for Hitler to gather large crowds and address them.

This shows part of a very powerful monument.  It is about a block square and it is the monument to the murdered Jews of Europe.  This monument fills about a city block with over 2,000 cement blocks.  They are all unique to one another in that not one is the same size.  It is purposely abstract so that people who experience it may develop their own meanings from it.  Below the monument is a museum to the Holocaust which takes the exact opposite tack.  It focuses on a number of extended Jewish families from around Europe.  It shows photographs of the members of the families and then tells what happened to them.  We learn who survived and who was murdered.  It, too, is a powerful experience.

In these many memorials and museums, I experienced the Germans as facing the reality of the past straight on without flinching.

Another feature of Berlin's history is that of the Communist era.  This photo shows one of the few reamaining sections of the wall which was erected to keep people in East Germany from escaping to the West.

This is the American part of "Check Point Charlie".  This was the most traveled check point between East and West.  The East German side had a huge complex for checking people entering and leaving East Berlin.  At times, the guards would completely strip a car to make sure that no one was being smuggled out.

Another museum which Gay and I went to was on the grounds of the former SS building.  If focues on the Nazis themselves and less on the victims.  It, too, is a clear and unflinching look at the horrors of the Third Reich.  On of the most chilling experiences came from the photos of the concentration camp guards smiling and laughing while they are taking some R and R.  These pictures show a casual side which seems to indicate that they were simply having a good time away from their jobs.

Our all too brief time in Berlin provided many strong experiences.

Blessings.