October 30th, 2012

So much has happened since my last post!  First, Ali and I did a lot of research on what the best Currywurst place in Berlin was, and based off of the information on the internet, we decided to visit Bergmann Curry.  Let's just say we were not disappointed.  I have had a lot of Currywurst during my time in Berlin but this was definitely the best.  It was a little distance away from my apartment, we had to transfer from the U8 to the U7  and then walk a little ways, but it was worth it.  They served high quality sausage with delicious curry sauce, I highly recommend it to anyone who is in Berlin!  We are still planning on visiting some other famous Currywurst places such as Curry 36, but I think that Bergmann Curry will still remain the best in my book.

On Friday, Prof. Wagner took our class to the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe near the Brandenburg gate.  I had never been there before but had heard a lot about it from classmates as well as seeing photos.  The reading that Thorsten assigned had a lot to do with the process of deciding which design to use for the memorial as well as a lot of other controversies surrounding its existence. All of the difficulties in trying to make the perfect memorial remind me a lot of what I have read about the erection of the Jewish Museum in Berlin that we visited last week.  I can't imagine having to design a memorial or museum that has the ability to accurately reflect all of the horrible things that the Jews have been through as a result of the Holocaust.  Fortunately, there are people more artistic and creative than myself that have been successful in articulating such a troubled history.  I really enjoyed seeing the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe; I was very captivated by its design. It slightly reminded me of the Garden of Exile from the Jewish Museum. The pillars don't seem overwhelming at first, being that they are only a foot or so tall at the edges of the memorial. Even looking over all of them from the outside, I guessed that walking through I could still mostly see out on top of them. Walking through it was a much different experience.  Toward the middle the ground is lowered and the pillars are almost more than 10 feet tall. In addition, the shape of the ground ranging from across the memorial is almost shaped like a sine wave, which makes it harder to navigate through. Even though we showed up as a group, as soon as we entered the memorial everyone went their own way and explored it.  I felt overwhelmed when I was at the tallest point of the pillars; I almost a feeling of claustrophobia.   This powerfulness that radiates from this memorial is, in my opinion, an effective method of conveying some of the emotions that are tied to the Holocaust.  All of the debate and time, as well as effort, that went in to the memorial is well worth it.  James Young, author of one of the articles I read, had a point that the debate about the memorial itself and the process of creating it serves the memory because it brings the events in to the minds of everyone.  That is something that I really agree with. I hope Berlin continues to erect Holocaust memorials on any scale, just so that the current ones are not forgotten and so they don't slip into the unnoticed objects of the every day routine.  We went into the exhibit underneath the memorial and I really enjoyed that as well.   I just returned from a visit to Amsterdam which I will discuss in its own post!

Above: Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe 

Ciao from Berlin,
Becca

October 22, 2012

Berliner Dome during Festival of Lights 

As of yesterday, I have been in Berlin for a month. I almost can't believe it! Time is going by so fast and I am having the time of my life.  Currently, my boyfriend Ali is visiting me from Seattle. During the first few days that he has been here I took him to Alexanderplatz to show him the TV tower, and then one stop further to Hackescher Markt to show him the Berliner Dome and Lustgarden and historical buildings in that area.  I was proud of myself that I was able to guide him around the city and show him all the landmarks that  I had previously seen on my tours.  Later in the evening, we went to the last day of the "Festival of Lights",  I had gone previously on one of the first nights and had only seen the lights on the Berliner Dome, but we decided to wander around toward the Brandenburg Gate and we saw a lot of cool lights on various buildings along the way.  It was one of my favorite nights that I have spent in Berlin so far.  On Friday,  Thorsten took us to the Jewish Museum in Berlin. It was within walking distance from the apartments so we decided to have a nice early morning walk to the museum. It has been really sunny in Berlin the last few days so it was nice to enjoy the sun while it lasted.  I had done extra reading to prepare for a presentation that I had to give that morning, so seeing the building and its interesting architecture really connected to the reading I had done.  The building emphasizes 'voids' as a representation of the numerous voids of Jewish History in Berlin as a result of the Holocaust.  Even without the exhibition, the building itself serves as a large tribute to the history.  My favorite part of the museum was the Holocaust Tower. It is a large cement room that is void of heat and the only source of light is from a rectangular slit in the ceiling.  Thorsten told us that the Architect, Daniel Libeskind, designed the room after hearing the experience of a Holocaust survivor. As soon as being shoved in a train while being deported, filled with feelings of fear and intense sadness, out of all the darkness on the train all she could see in the darkness was a rectangular slit.  Libeskind's recreation of this experience in the form of the Holocaust Tower was extremely powerful, the whole building itself was.  I was not very impressed by the actual exhibit itself, but I understand the idea that the museum wanted to move away from having Jewish History in Berlin begin and end at the Holocaust.   I am really enjoying my time in Berlin and my classes as well. The classes I am taking are the only ones where I don't get bored of the reading and I actually find it interesting. Being in the city where all these events have been taking place makes the history come alive.  My next mission is to find the best currywurst place in Berlin.

 More later,  Ciao!

October 15, 2012

Wow--I had an amazing weekend.  The past weekend was my class's field trip to Munich.  We left early Friday morning and everyone met at the Schoenefeld airport. I helped the group figure out how to get there from our apartments, and it was nice to be able to read the map and not become confused. I really feel like I am starting to settle in to my new life in Berlin.   On Friday, we went to OSKA fashion headquarters.  Initially, I wasn't the most excited because I am not extremely big on fashion, but talking to the owner was a really cool experience.  He was really nice and friendly and answered every question asked by our group really well. It related back to the presentation that I heard at the Bavarian Embassy in Berlin on Thursday.  The owner explained that the company was mid-sized and did very well and that Munich was a good place to be centered, which is something that I heard over and over again during the presentation.  It is really interesting to me that Germany, at least Bavaria, is run by small to medium size businesses instead of being ruled by large corporations like in the US. I think it makes it a lot easier for people to start their own businesses and actually expect to have some success where in the US it is difficult for a business to get off of the ground.  The owner even talked about how much the employees have a say in the company and that they had very few   problems because there is good communication and everyone works together. During the reading last week, it talked about the workers-council and I really found it cool to see that concept in practice. I could tell that he loved his company and the people that we saw during our short walk-through seemed to be really happy and enjoying themselves.  That night, the UW purchased dinner for us at the Ratskeller in Marienplatz. It was delicious. I had Bavarian duck and potato dumplings and it was one of the best meals I've had in Germany thus far. On saturday, we toured the BMW museum and that was really interesting as well.  I am really enjoying all of the places I have seen during my trip so far. They had a motorcycle with a side car on display from the year 1943, which is obviously a war-time production.  The tour guide didn't spend any time going through the role BMW played in WWII, where as it is quite evident that they provided a large number of airplane engines to the Nazi regime.  The lack of this information from the tour signaled to me that Munich is not ready to face its past. I saw this in other places around the city as they had very few memorials toward the Jews and other victims of the Third Reich.  This is my first time in Europe and I am loving experiencing a different culture and a refreshing change of scenery.   Saturday night, most of the people in the program went to the Hofbräuhaus  which is world famous for their beer. It was a really fun time and I am getting closer to people in my program.  I feel really lucky to be around such a great group of people; I enjoy being around all of them. On sunday, a few of us got up early (around 6am) and went to the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was about a 2 hour train ride away from Munich.  I was so tired on the way there, but I am SO glad that I got up and made the journey. It was a 30 minute hike from the village, which was a 20 minute bus ride away from the train station in Fussen.  From the castle, it was another 20 minute hike to a bridge that served as a viewpoint.  We were rushed on time since we had to leave at 2pm to make the train back to Munich in time to make our flight, but the viewpoint was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen.  I will upload pictures when I have faster internet, but it still amazes me that I was lucky enough to go to such a beautiful place.  We went on a guided tour of the inside and it was the first castle that I have been in so far in Europe, and the inside was amazing as well.  I am still exhausted from my adventure in Munich, but when I got back to my apartment in Berlin it really felt like home.   

Above: Me at the Neuschwanstein Castle Viewpoint 


More later, Ciao 

Becca 

October 10, 2012

It feels like almost no time has passed since by last post; time is moving very quickly in Berlin.  I can't believe I am already in my third week here. All my friends that have studied abroad have told me that it goes by in the blink of an eye, and now I am starting to see what they mean.  I am really enjoying my time here and I am going to miss it very much when my stay here is over. I have been settling in to more of a routine which is making it seem more like I am living here instead of being as much of a tourist. I really like being able to find my way around. I remember being so confused when I first arrived but now I can get anywhere in the city by simply reading a map.  Yesterday we went to the "House of Democracy" near Alexanderplatz and met with our tour guide from last week's visit to the "Topography of Terror", Sebastian Gerhardt.  He was a great and informative tour guide last week; he knew a lot about the history of Nazi Germany and I learned a lot from his presentation. During our visit yesterday we got to learn more of his background and experiences in Berlin. I learned that he was a young activist during the fall of the Berlin Wall and gave a lot of information about what life was like and more about the events in the time period in general.  One thing he said that really stuck out to be was when he was telling a story about one of his friends from West Berlin.  He said that his friend didn't really feel the effects of reunification until he moved much later to a part of East Germany, and that for the West it was just like they had gained a little bit more territory. I found this really interesting as we have been reading in class about the conditions in the East and how everyone was pushing for change and that the Fall of the Berlin Wall was a life changing event for so many. It is crazy to me to think that life could be so different in such a close proximity.  This contrast was really interesting to me and I really enjoyed Sebastian's presentation and learning more about reunification.  Another thing that I found interesting was Sebastian's focus on the funding of a lot of the organizations. He told us that the House of Democracy was completely self-sufficient in terms of funding and that gave them freedom that many other organizations didn't have because the others are obligated to play nice with the state in order to maintain their funding.  This gave me the impression that the House of Democracy was more authentic in its aims, which I really appreciated.   This weekend the program is going to a field trip in Munich which I am very excited for; I will update when I return.  Ciao from Berlin!

October 5, 2012

Above: Me and one of my classmates in front of the Berliner Dome

5.10.2012

I have been in Berlin for just over two weeks and the experience has been great.  I am really enjoying all the street art; it gives the city so much character.  Over the course of my time here I have been on many tours and seen a lot of the city.  Starting with the tour around Kreuzberg, I saw how close I am living to the Berlin Wall.  I am still having a hard time wrapping my mind around what it would be like dividing this city into East and West and having each side be unreachable and radically different.  Seeing the "Berliner Mauer 1961-1989" outline around the city is a small but powerful reminder of what used to be there.  In addition to the history surrounding the Berlin Wall, the remains of World War 2 and all of the Holocaust memorials are very powerful.  I remember on the city tour with Nigel and walking into the "Mother and Dying Son" monument and feeling a completely different energy than I had just felt outside. The empty room and black statue in the middle with the open roof created a haunting atmosphere that confronted me with feelings of sadness and almost mourning. Throughout high school and college I have learned a lot about WW2 and the Holocaust, but actually living in the city where it took place takes my knowledge to an even deeper level.  Being in the area by the Berliner Dome where Hitler rallies took place, or being by the new Humboldt Law school where thousands of books were burned evoke very intense feelings of awareness.
            On a lighter note,  on Wednesday 3 Oct a few of my friends and I went to the German Unification Celebration at the Brandenburg Gate. I had a very fun night as there were a lot of people there and a very happy atmosphere. It was my first time seeing the gate since I have been here, and it was a great site as it was lit up for the festivities. Although I went to this event mainly to have fun, it has a close connection with what I am learning in my classes here. I have been studying East and West Berlin before the wall came down, in addition to when it actually fell and thereafter. After doing reading and learning about how excited people where the day the wall fell, it made me happy to know that even more than 20 years later German people still come together to celebrate East and West becoming one, despite their rocky history over time.  At the end of a very busy week, my class went to the Topography of Terror in West Berlin and were given a very intensive run-through of the history of the SS and Gestapo during WW2 and their role in the Holocaust.  Our tour guide was very knowledgable and challenged my group to see beyond the photographs on display and look deeper into Nazi propaganda and how subtle yet effective it was.  At that location I had a similar feeling when walking into the "Mother and Dying Son" monument. It is extremely powerful to be in a place where so much history has happened, and the Gestapo headquarters still haunts the area, even though the building itself is no longer there.   Overall, my experience in Berlin so far has given me a large shift in perspective and awareness of important events in history.  One of the most important things I have learned has been the role of memory in personal and national identity. I am excited to explore more of the city and become connected with the memory of Berlin.