Berlin

Hello Everyone,

Sorry that I didn't get my post from the weekend in the alps out to you guys yet. I am still waiting on a couple of videos to complete the entry and, once I get them, it will be posted. In the meantime, here is the entry from the Berlin Tour I went on with my fellow exchange students.

Some of you may know that I'm kind of crazy about history. One of the key reasons for my coming here was so that I could experience some of the history that I so often read about in books and in school. However, I was not prepared for the feelings that come with experiencing the places where this history happened. nowhere on earth are these feelings more powerful than in the city of Berlin, which has been the centre for so much of the political history of the 20th century.

This church, almost completely destroyed during allied bombing at the end

of the second world war, has remained in the centre of West Berlin as a monument ever since.

One of the facts that shows how involved Berlin is in the past century of history lies in the fact that there are still 13 operational nuclear bunkers scattered throughout the city. Although (hopefully) after the end of the USSR the need for these bunkers has been significantly reduced, many remain in operation. In a 5 star hotel near near the Brandenburg Gate (you may recognize it as the hotel from which Michael Jackson dangled the baby out of the window), there is an elevator leading from the penthouse suite to the bunker below the hotel, for the private use of whoever happens to be spending 13, 000 euros for the use of that room on that particular night. 

In the city, although much of the legacy was removed, you can still feel the ghosts of Nazi Germany in the city, and the relics of a time gone past. However, credit must be given to the city of Berlin, and to all of Germany, for the way that the people here deal with the past. All Germans will admit that what happened in the past was a truly horrible event that destroyed millions and millions of innocent people. But to put this history on display for people to come and visit and see and learn about what happened here in the hopes that such an event may never again occur takes a kind of strength that I have neither seen nor heard of in any other circumstance ever. 

Of special note is the Holocaust memorial located about a kilometre from the Brandenburg gate. Although controversial, it is a very significant monument and a must visit in the city. Below is a panorama of the view from outside the monument, while above is a view from inside.

The other significant, even more recent historical event that has shaped the city is the division of the city into East and West sectors and the separation of those sectors by the famous Berlin Wall. In fact, 

The Berlin Wall today at the East Gallery, still in its original place. 

Scattered throughout the city are several museums about what life was like in East Berlin, and it really is incredible. Of special note are the Berin Wall museum at Checkpoint Charlie and the DDR Museum, which shows off artifacts from everyday life. One of the main features of the museum was the standard car of that time, made out of plastic due to metal shortages. These cars had to be ordered and often took about 13 (no typo) years to be delivered to the family that ordered them.

Of course, there are other relics in the city, which was the capital of the influential Prussian empire until 1871, when Germany became a nation. If you are not that interested in history, or if you have a short time in Berlin, you have to visit the Story of Berlin exhibit, which covers all of the topics of the history of Berlin in one place. It is a fantastic exhibition that I truly enjoyed going through. 

My fellow Canadian exchange student Christina, myself, and Lukas, who went

 on exchange to Canada, in front of the Brandenburg gate, the symbol of not just

 old Prussia, but of the reunified Berlin.

All of the exchange students with our walking tour guide (to whom I have to credit much of the information used in this entry) outside Humboldt university, a prestigious university with former alumni including Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx.

However, if you are a big fan of history and want to see what the past looked and felt like, there are two places you need to go to. The first is Stalin's office in the chateau at Potsdam, where the treaty dividing Germany was drawn up and signed. Although very little of the chateau is open for exhibition, standing in the red office where Joseph Stalin once devised how to split up the German nation is a powerful and intimidating feeling.

although photos are not allowed in side the chateau, I got a 

picture of the red star flowers growing in the garden.

The second place you need to stand is this parking lot:

Underneath this parking lot is the buried bunker in which Adolf Hitler killed himself when the Soviet Army invaded Berlin. To this day some of the vandalism scrawled by Soviet soldiers remains on the pillars of the Reichstag, the German Parliament building. The symbolism is unmistakeable. Unlike some of the other remnants of the Nazi regime (the headquarters of the Luftwaffe was turned into a tax office) this part was destroyed in order to deprive potential pro-nazi supporters of a rallying point in the days and years after the war ended. 

In the end, the relevance of Berlin in the 20th century cannot be understated, and it is an amazing place to travel to both for the tourist experience and for the deeper feeling of history on seemingly every street you walk past.

I'll leave you today with a photo from the roof of the Reichstag. I'm sorry if this entry was a bit history centric, but that was really the best way to approach my trip in Berlin. I know I enjoyed it very much and I have to give credit to my fellow students, who supplied many of the pictures. If you have any questions about the city, my exchange or a quick point, post them in the comments and will get to them as soon as I can.