Even though the places I sit down and take time to write are continuously changing (I am now in Palm Desert lounging by the pool on a beautiful, sunny November morning), the memories of the trip are constant and still awaiting revelation. So yes, back to Berlin.
The morning after the wall celebration, Jason and I took our time to get ready, and then headed to Alexanderplatz—the main square of once-Soviet controlled East Berlin, and the location of the city’s Fernsehturm, or the TV tower. It was at this landmark location where we were meeting Fat Tire Bike Tours for our five hour tour of Berlin. One would think that after the third day in the city we would have seen the main sights, but due to the crowds and planned festivities the day before, most of the city remained unexplored. And hence the investment in this incredible company to bravely guide a large group of often aloof native English speakers around Berlin.
Needless to say, 5 hours on a bright orange bike being led by a knowledgeable 25 year old gent from Manchester was incredible (for the art and history of course, although my proclivity for English accents also fixated my attention) ;-). So Jason and I braved Berlin by bike. In laundry list format we saw and experienced Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall, Hitler’s Bunker, the Watchtower, the Topography of Terror, Brandenburg Gate, Luftwaffe Ministry, (insert here a beergarten break for lunch :-)), the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Bebelplatz (where Hitler’s infamous 1933 book burnings took place), Museum Island, the Reichstag (Germany’s government house), Potsdamer Platz (new business sky-scraper business district), Schloss Bellevue (the German president’s house, and the Victory Column. Whew!
By the time the tour ended, it was dark. I suddenly remembered the need to “casually” visit Fassbender & Rausch, renowned Chocolatiers at the Gendarmenmarkt—a Europe Semester obsession—introduced to us two years ago by our fabulous guide Gabriel,. Over and over, I had raved to Jason about this chocolate; over and over, I reminded him to wait for his chocolate purchases—that those who are patient will be richly rewarded (lame pun, intended, as always). Thus on that evening, November 10, 2009, Jason and I spent a combined total of 100 euros on chocolate, or approximately 152 U.S. dollars. It is fine chocolate might I add. Not wanting to take the extra time to return to the hostel, we carried the 10 pound chocolate bags to our next destination: the longest still-standing segment of the Berlin wall. Located in lower southeast Berlin, the stretch of wall follows the river for 1.6 kilometers. In 1990, local artists repainted each wall segment with symbolic murals of peace, reconciliation, reunification, and freedom. Jason and I toddled along this 1.6 kilometer stretch, increasingly heavy bags in hand, and marveled at this cement piece of history beside us.
We crossed over the Oberbaumbrucke—a sandstone, castle-like bridge—to Berlin’s west-side artsy district and found a little place to have dinner. Our eccentric and quite talkative waiter (who used to live in Texas…possible eccentricity connection?) contributed to the two hour dinner and two exhausted travelers by the time they made it home around 11pm.
The next morning, Wednesday, was sadly our last day in beautiful Berlin. Saying goodbye to the Three Little Pigs Hostel, we took our luggage to the train station lockers before navigating our way through Hackescher Markt, searching for the apartment of a certain Gabriel Fawcett—renowned historian, tour guide, and friend of Westmont’s Europe Semester 2007. We found Gabriel just as he was rushing out to meet clients at Berlin’s five star luxury Hotel Adlon. Thus we joined forces with the in-high-demand guide and rapidly chatted as we rapidly walked to his destination. Our interaction was brief, but thoroughly insightful. From Gabriel’s recommendations I headed off to Berlin’s Holocaust museum located underneath the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and then to the Berlin Wall Museum while Jason visited the Pergamum Museum—one of the most famous museums in the world and the possessor of the Greek Altar to Zeus and King Nebuchadnezzar’s Ishtar Gate (once marking the entrance into Babylon), both fully reconstructed inside the museum walls.
For two and a half hours Jason and I went our separate museum ways. Although I had been the Museum of Tolerance in LA and the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, walking through the Holocaust exhibits in Berlin was completely different although the memorable subject matter was largely the same. Here I was walking beneath the 2,711 cement blocks above me, knowing that I was engaging in Holocaust memory when I was only a stone’s throw away from both Hitler’s bunker on one side and the Reichstag on the other where Hitler gave the command to commence the Final Solution in 1941 and the subsequent murder of 6 million European Jews. My visit to the Berlin Wall Museum also shared a unique weight since its location beared historical significance as well. Located on Bauerstrasse and at a sight in front of a lengthy Berlin wall segment, the museum devoted much of its information to commemorating the 200 plus people who lost their lives from 1961 to 1989 trying to escape East Germany. In a graphic display of pictures, interviews, and videos, visitors could see and hear first hand videos of people—young and old, male and female, either falling to their deaths or being shot at from nearby East German guard towers. And you look at these images and you read about the victim’s family and friend responses, and you feel more than just sadness. I was angry. An 80 year-old woman was on the list of victims; so was a 2-year old boy. I angrily wondered the conscience level of the Stasi police. Thankfully, the time called me away from the museum since I had to be back to meet Jason for lunch. I hurriedly walked back to the S-bahn station, but has I did, I noticed similar buildings all around me; I was on the same street where so many of the photographs and videos were taken when communism was still in place. It was scary, and I ended up running back to the station, not wanting to be alone with my thoughts, and eagerly awaiting Jason’s accompaniment.
Soon enough, we were reunited, enjoying a delicious lunch of espressos and sandwiches at the Café Einstein. Gabriel recommended this place as one of Berlin’s famous cafes, and although slightly pricey, Jason and I thoroughly enjoyed our last meal in Berlin. After lunch, we quickly headed off the Reichstag to wait in an hour line to climb the colossal glass dome on top and the city’s most well-known symbol of transparency in government. Although the cold wait was tedious, the security stringent, and the elevator ride to the top uncomfortably crowded, the magnificent architecture and views that awaited us were beyond worth it. Jason and I hurried up the spiraled ramp to the dome’s open-aired top, took several pictures of the dome’s glass and mirror-filled interior and hurried back so as not to miss our 4:35 departing train.
We boarded the train and left Berlin’s incredible 4 billion euro train station behind us. We were on our way to the last destination of our journey: Dresden. Halfway between Berlin and Prague, this East German city was the most destroyed city in Europe’s entire World War. With almost 90 percent destroyed in February of 1945 (just a few mere months before the war officially ended) and 80,000 civilians killed by the combined American and British air raid, Dresden was where Jason and I would spend our last day in Europe, and once again be enveloped by such inspiring—although sad—history.
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