Berlin in a nutshell...or two nutshells...

1/14/10
Berlin, Germany

3 days of Berlin.
Casie: What can I even say about:

German culture
Incredible architecture
Apple streudel
Berlin wall remains
Brandenburg gate
Site of where Hitler killed himself that is now turned into a playground
Jewish cemetery
Potsdam
Nightlife
Wannsee haus
Checkpoint Charlie
West/East Berlin
Metro system…my goodness the metro system

Yes, those are just some of the many sites we saw in Berlin the past 4 days. As nice as travelling sounds and as pretty as the pictures are, we certainly got lost so many times. Adjusting to a new culture for a couple of days can be pretty rough. It’s all necessary to a good travel!

Instead of going over each and every detail, I am just going to give some input on sites I enjoyed learning about. Check point Charlie told many stories of how East Berliners escaped to West Berlin. One of my favorites: a singer made space for his girlfriend to fit in his amp and carried her across borders. It’s incredible how innovative people were with tactics of how to escape.

The Berlin Wall was exciting to see. I could not believe it was just 1989 that it fell down. It’s hard to think that we stand in a country that was divided not so long ago. I never felt closer to history than I did now. It’s easy to get caught up in the touristy sites, food and culture. However, some parts of Germany are still transitioning from the war—kind of like “Where do we go from here?” To me, those must be fuzzy parts of history. “How do we do better?” “What do we put in this area that was bombed?”

The Wannsee haus was the location where the Nazi officials planned “the final solution to the Jewish problem”. I can’t really grasp that statement as I reread it over again.
“Jewish problem”
“Racial hygiene”
“Plans for mixed marriages-no children allowed”
“Evacuate Jewish from their property”
It was interesting how official they made it sound and how easy it was to make orders and organize the death of many. Observing the process of their meeting was chilling.

Overall, spending a couple of days in Berlin gave us a chance to learn some German, meet people and experience the culture. Give me some apple streudel in a pool of warm vanilla sauce anytime please. Now as for the cold, I must quote from our friend Erin, “Cold, our relationship is over!” Just when you think it is as cold as it can get…it gets colder. Just imagine that nasty cycle occurring over and over again.


Becca: Berlin was a little sad for me. It decided to wage war on my back, so I ended up missing most of the “historical” part of our trip. On our first morning there, we took a walking tour of part of Berlin, including some really gorgeous churches and Hitler’s bunker where he hid out at the end of the war/committed suicide. I missed the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the afternoon tour because I was unable to stick with the group at that point. That was pretty unfortunate, and I was pretty bummed. I didn’t get to see much more historical stuff on our free day either. The walking just wasn’t happening, so I had a very limited trip to get apple streudel. It was quite delicious. I went back to the hotel (again) to rest for the next day because I was SO excited about going to Potsdam the next day.


The Cecilienhof Palace was phenomenal. I was so excited to be standing in the room that the Potsdam Agreement was deliberated and signed. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Potsdam Conference, it took place in 1945 and basically decided Germany’s fate after World War II. Democratization, demilitarization, decentralization, and deNazification were the four pillars of the accord, but there was huge controversy over what each of these things would look like in post-war Germany. Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt (later Truman after Roosevelt’s death) didn’t always agree on how to carry these larger ideas out…and we see the beginnings of the Cold War in these disagreements. Robert and Casie and I took a picture that replicated the one taken of Churchill, Truman, and Stalin in 1945. It was pretty great. I’m convinced I have to live in that palace. I am moving my Globe Museum into one of the rooms and setting up camp. That’s allowed, right?