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.