With 3 days left before I start work, you know that thing that I was brought here to do, I decided to go ahead and hit up Berlin. When I intially heard that I was being conisdered for the job here, this was the trip I was looking forward to the most, but I didn't know that I would be going here within the first 5 days. Also, I was anxious to get to put my new Nikon d3200 camera that my dad got me for Christmas to use. Thanks dad.
I woke up at 2a.m. Friday morning and couldnt go back to sleep. Played some playstation with Sam and JC back in the motherland. It's a good way to catch up with my friends back home. I packed up a bag and headed for the train station in Hannover. Since this was my first time on the train, I wanted to limit my stops, so I chose to leave from Hannover instead of Celle. This also meant that I got my first experience on the autobahn. Wind turbines dominate the terrain in between Celle and Hannover, as well as elevated deer blinds at the edge of every field. The combination reminds me of West Texas, except for the green fields. There was a ton of deer in the fields, but all too far to really compare them to deer in Texas.
I will skip the part where I don’t know what on earth I am doing at the train station. However, I made it on a train that was headed east, so I figure that was a good start. 90 minutes later, I was at the Hauptbanhof station in Berlin. My first experience on the train was awesome. They are way smoother and spacious than planes, and quite simple once you learn the system. Like everything here, you learn everything by trial and error.
The feeling you get as the train is pulling in to Berlin is similar to the one you get when you pull up on the Vegas strip at night. That is if your interest in history is up to par with your interest in partying and spending money. The victory column can be seen pretty much the whole way in. This was a tower built after Prussia defeated France in 1880. The coolest part about this tower is that the statue of Victoria on top is made of French cannons that were melted down to make the statue. I’m not sure if there is anything more bold than not only defeating the enemy, but to melt their cannons down to molten metal and then shaping it as your own statue to show off. Hitler had the tower moved to the center of the city for higher visibility, which is why you can see it immediately when arriving in the city…. He would.
As soon as I stepped off of the train I realized 2 things. It’s freezing, and I should have wore boots. The first patch of cement I stepped on was covered in ice. No, I did not fall. Sorry to disappoint you. The first bridge I crossed had a guy whose job was to walk back and forth and throw gravel over the bridge. Maybe 250 meters from the train station was the Reichstag. This is Germany parliament building, which I thought was incredible, but little did I know it wasn’t as impressive as the rest of the things I would see. I stood in a snow covered field for 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get my tripod set up with numb fingers. Got it set up, took some pictures, and went for some café at the shop next door to map out the rest of my day.
This guy saving me from breaking a tailbone
The Reichstag
I then headed to the Tiergarten, which is Berlin’s central park, without the stabbings. It is supposed to be a really neat place in the summer, but it was covered in snow and too cold to explore the whole place in mid January, so I swung by the outskirts and saw a few statues and moved on. The one worth noting is a the statue of Beethoven, Motzart, and Haydn. What made this statue worth speaking of was the bullet holes that were created during the infamous Battle of Berlin.
From there I moved to the Brandenberg gate. This was built in the 18th century as a symbol of military victory, but became the gateway to East and West Berlin once the city was divided. I later returned for pictures of this at night, which is a much prettier setting, especially if there were not Kurd protest in the way.
After stopping to buy gloves, I went to the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe Museum. Aboveground, hundreds of stones represent those who were killed, but belowground is where the real museum lies. The entire memorial was pretty somber, but nothing compared to the postcard room. Multiple letters that were written from concentration camps to family members outside the camps were displayed. I didn’t take any pictures in this room, just because I didn’t feel it was appropriate. Some things are just better to be experienced in person. Another room that was pretty unbelievable was the biography room. The audio played a short 30 second bio of each of the Jews that were killed during WWII. Only about half of the Jews could be traced, but for all the ones who have, they have a story for each. This must have taken an enormous amount of time to compile this information about each one. If you were to listen to each biography it would take you 6 years, 7 months, and 27 days.
Jewish Memorial - above ground
On my way to the Topography of Terror, I came across a painted piece of the Berlin wall. It was right next to a parking lot which sits above where Hitler’s bunker once stood. The bunker was demolished after the war and is not a spot that they attract tourists too. Just a small sign stand explaining the bunker.
Hitler's bunker under the parking lot behind
The Topography of Terror is basically where all the evil in Berlin was headquarted: The national central headquarters for the secret state police (Gestapo), the Reich SS Leadership, the Security Service of the SS, and the Reich Security Main office. This is a very detailed museum describing the rise and fall of the SS. Like standing above Hitler’s bunker, you get a very ominous feeling being in the exact place where so many evil people were and some of the most inhumane decisions in the history of the world were made. Many of Hitler’s letters and commands are displayed in the museum. You can even see handwritten and typed discussion about ridding the jews in the city. It is creepy.
Wierd to think the Nazi flags used to hang from these Iron Flagpoles
Also, in front of the museum is a long stretch of the Berlin wall. This was the one things that I wanted to see the most. I can think of a lot of things that have the ability to symbolize ideas or history but none quite like this. The wall did so much more than separate the Soviet side from the Allied side of Berlin. Communism and Democracy are very much ideas. They aren’t really tangible things that you can go touch. They are theories. But this might be the only place in the world where a line was drawn in the sand and they said, this side is communist and this side is not. You see where communism once stood and jump across to where democracy ruled. The wall itself represents which of the ideas is preferred. If communism was so great, why must the concrete wall be built, machine gun turrets, tanks, and guards be in place on one side of the wall and not the other?
I saw a few more buildings, took a few more pictures and the sun had gone down around 4, so I decided that I needed to go find a place to stay. I went to a hostel on the North side of Mitte, which is the most historical district of Berlin. I paid 13 euros per night ( about 18 USD) for a bed in a room of 8. The room had 4 bunk beds and lockable lockers inside. When I arrived there was a student from Virginia who was studying in France, and Ross, a 22 year old from Ukraine who was studying in Poland. I enjoyed the hostel. It made me feel like I had college roomates again. David went to the opera that night and Ross and I went to go grab some food and some Berlin beer.
One of the main wedding chapels in Berlin... check how small those people look!
I was told by everyone that the Berliners love to party. Night clubs rule the area and go harder than anywhere in the world. As much as I don’t care for any form of Techno music or dancing to it all, (in fact, the closest thing to techno that I enjoyed was when the Beastie Boys came out with "Intergallactic") experiencing the culture in other parts of the world is why I accepted this job in the first place. I also wanted to experience life deep into east Berlin, where the Soviets once ruled.
I had read thein far east Berlin, the neighborhoods used to be pretty rough. Even after the re-unification of Berlin, some areas stayed that way. However, this is where the best of the clubs are. They have what you call underground or unregistered clubs. They are not registered in the city, and do not pay taxes, and I was told are mostly owned by the mafia. Don’t worry, we were told by plenty of people it was safe. As soon as we stepped off the intercity train, you could immediately see that it was rough around the edges. The main contrast between the soviet side of Berlin and the Allied is the architecture. East Berlin is dominated by concrete, and where there is concrete there is graffiti. Walking around the area, you are surrounded by graffiti littered walls and blacked out windows. Literally, not a single inch without spraypaint. You can only hear a slight thud of bass coming through the wall, until someone opens a door, and you quickly understand what everyone is talking about. Strobe lights, and loud music are inside of every building. We hopped around checking out different places, each of the paths looking like the scene from beer fest where they try to find the competition. We mostly settled in a couple of bars. Ross was equally as interested in American culture as I was his, so we mostly talked about the differences and similarities in our lives and before you know it, it was 5:30 in the morning. Another thing about the unregistered clubs is that they don’t close until the last person leaves, which is usually around 7a.m.
Day1in Berlin: Success.
Tomorrow I will post day 2. Alot of good pictures from Saturday, including the Berlin Dom, Humboldt University, where Einstein studied, the Isthar Gate, and the Pergamon museum.
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