The final, and perhaps most moving destination of the trip, was the city of Berlin. I didn't expect to be as effected by this city as I was...It would seem that the universe saved the best walking tour til last, for which I was eternally glad. We gathered under the Brandenberg Gate to commence our tour. The famous Gate overlooks Pariser Platz, a space that was extremely busy due to the fact that the IAAF World Championships Opening Ceremony was taking place there on the coming Friday.
From the very beginning, our tour guide (Barry, a very clever Irishman) was full of enthusiasm and information, and proceeded to give us a 20 minute crash course on Prussian/German history, Frederick the Great, and how all that came together prior to the First World War, and then the connections and developments that lead Germany into the darkest of dark days, the Second World War, and the Holocaust. After a deep breath, he proceeded to talk about what happened to Germany following WWII, the dividing of the country and of Berlin into East and West. Barry explained that at the end of WWII, the Allies invaded Germany; then the Soviets moved from the East, and invaded up to the Oder-Neisse Line. The Americans, French, and British came as far as the Oder-Neisse Line from the West, and following the end of the War, this Western part of Germany came into the hands of the allies. They divided up their share of Germany into their own sections; however, when West Germany was formed, these regions united.
The Soviets controlled East Germany, and imposed strict Communist rule over it, including forced collectivization and one-party rule. According to the Soviet Union, this was the "Free" Germany, but it was merely a puppet state of the Soviet Union as it now controlled most of Eastern Europe as Satellite States. As tensions between the U.S. and the Soviets grew, Berlin was also split, as both sides wanted it as the capital for its share of Germany (even though Berlin lay deep in the heart of East Germany). Eventually, West and East Berlin came into existence; it is important here to note that the construction of the Berlin Wall began during the Cold War. Overnight on 13 August 1961, the East and Western halves of Berlin were separated by barbed wire fences up to 1.83 metres high. Over the next few days, troops began to replace the barbed wire with permanent concrete blocks, reaching up to 3.6m high. The government authorities saw it necessary to stop the influx of people moving from the eastern sector of Berlin into the free West.
As it happened, East Berlin fell into the hands of the Soviets, however West Berlin, was controlled by the Allies, and it became a sort of "safe haven", deep in the heart of Communist East Germany. Eventually, the Americans, French, and British felt that their portion of Germany was ready to become a country again, and they united their regions to form a democratic West Germany in 1949. Angry at this sudden move, the Soviets bitterly retaliated the same year and made their portion of Germany a communist East Germany. As a result, the two 'Germanies' were formed, and would not be united again until 1990, after the demolition of the Berlin Wall, which Barry promised to tell us in more detail about this as the tour progressed, which indeed, he did.Very impressive job from Barry; and there's no way I would even try to reiterate the story in any greater detail, sorry... But, what I can certainly reiterate was Barry's summary of the city of Berlin; it's a place that is still searching for it's identity.
Unlike other cities that I visited during my European vacation, this city is under constant construction- things are being built up, things are being torn down. The landscape is constantly changing, and Barry assured us that no matter when we returned, the city would look different. But what I was most taken by, was what Barry described as a 'condition' that many Berliner's have faced since the demolition of the Wall- it's what he, and the German people refer to as, "diemauer im kopf " - the wall in the head. Although 20 years ago this year, that Wall came down, the people themselves are still divided, within themselves. There are still colloquial jokes about the East and the West side...and it will take generations for people to move on, and move forward. But the good news is, they've started.
You still with me?
Please stick in there... :)
Okay- so after all that my head was swimming, and I guess yours probably is too- but off we moved, past The Reichstag, the first parliament of the German Empire (which we had to wait almost two hours to get into, and ended up being totally overrated- although it's free to enter, if you're going to Berlin, don't bother) which was flying many German Flags (apparently a most unusual sight these days). The Reichstag, coincidentally, is very close to Hilter's bunker, or at least the sight where it once existed. Although the bunker has now been destroyed, there is still a large patch of lawn and a sign as a reminder of where this place lay buried. It was here Barry gave us a bit of an overview into how Hitler died, what became of his body, or ashes, as it may be. NB: Don't drink Berlin's tap water.
I don't think it was any coincidence that from this point, our tour guide led us to the Holocaust Memorial- moreover, I don't think it's any coincidence that the Memorial itself is located so close to both the Bunker and The Reichstag. Our tour guide explained to us that the large space on which the memorial is built was a very valuable and sort after piece of land- which had laid empty since what was originally there was bombed to smithereens during air raids in the second World War (along with 90% of the city of Berlin)- as it is located a block south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Pariser Platz; essentially, the centre of Berlin. It was decided by the 'City of Berlin' that the space should be used in someway to remember the millions of European Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust. A number of suggestions were made; one I remember was that the space should be turned into a bus depot, where free buses would run, taking people out to the nearby concentration camps from days gone by- but the reason that concept was rejected was that the City believed that those who got on the bus were already aware of the tragedy, and were making active steps to further remember what happened... so as to never forget.
After much deliberation, it was decided that a Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe would be built, as designed by New York architect Peter Eisenman.
The memorial consists of a 19,000 square meter (4.7 acre) site covered with 2,711 slabs of concrete arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The slabs of concrete are 2.38m long, 0.95m (3' 1.5") wide and vary in height from 0.2 m to 4.8m. According to Eisenman's project text, the slabs are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason (see picture at the top of this post).
Walking through those concrete slabs was a very distressing, overwhelming and saddening experience for me.
Barry continued to remind us that [most] of the German people today are so very sorry for what took place during the Holocaust. This memorial is placed strategically in the centre of town, so that every Berliner, and visitor from anywhere in the world for that matter, will never be able to avoid or escape the knowledge of what happened during the Holocaust.
Attached underground to the Memorial is a "Place of Information", which holds the names of all known Jewish Holocaust victims; it shows a timeline of the murders which took place across Europe, has experts from diaries, copies of letters and photographs from families (most which were retrieved from concentration camps, years after their death)- some of which there is no longer any trace or records. We came back and visited the "Place of Information" the day after the tour, and it extremely disturbing- the atrocities and the crimes that were committed are beyond comprehension.
A quote by Primo Levi, an Italian Auschwitz survivor who wrote extensively about his experience, is displayed in the lobby. It sums up the mission of the memorial and serves as a stark reminder in the country of the aggressors:
"It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say."
From here, we walked in silence for awhile, taking in what we had just seen, until we reached some remnants of the Berlin Wall. We followed the wall until we reached a converging section were the Gestapo, SS and Reich Department of security once stood. It creeped me out just standing there before it. Not far from here is Potsdamer Platz, where in on June 17th 1953, when living and working conditions in East Germany were rapidly worsening under Communist rule, tensions finally reached breaking point and a Workers’ Uprising took place, only to be quickly and brutally crushed when Soviet tanks rolled in; 401 people were killed including numerous tourists and media reporters who got too close, 105 executed under martial law and close to 2,000 more were injured, and 5,100 arrested (1,200 of them later being sentenced to a total of 6,000 years in penal camps).Shortly after this we made our way past Checkpoint Charlie, and past the Topography of Terror; two places which I found to be very emotive spaces- Checkpoint Charlie for the history and significance of what took place there, and the Topography of Terror, an outside museum printed on make shift walls detailing the events that took place in Berlin since the construction of the Wall.
We stopped close by for coffee and reflection, before making our way past theatres and churches, until we reached Bebelplatz, the square which holds the book burning memorial. Here you will find a monument to the book burning- a glass window in the cobblestones, which looks down into an empty book case, large enough to hold the equivalent amount of books that were burned in this all the craziness prior to the start of the second World War (see picture above).
What I found most moving though about the whole space was a line, written by Heinrich Heine, which is engraved on a nearby plaque, and states "Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen", which translates to "Where they burn books, they will also burn humans in the end"(see picture below). Very prophetic words indeed; in fact, Barry made a suggestion, which I would certainly support, that the Bebelplatz instead be called Heineplatz.
Barry then drew our attention to a book stall across the Platz which I had noticed and had a quick look at earlier that morning- turns out that there are always books being sold by students from Humboldt University there, so as to make up for the book burning of the past. This good action, like many others I noticed (especially from the 'new generation', as they put it)- despite the dark, dark days the city, the country and it's people have seen- again demonstrates to me that this is a people who are actively trying to face up to what has happened in their past, claim responsibility, and take action to regroup, rebuild, reestablish themselves and move forward. And they can only be commended for this. It really is a most amazing thing.
Our tour concluded on the lawns right by the Berliner Dom, where the Alexander Platz tower was in sight and Museum Island. It was here that Barry decided to save the best story til last- the story of how, at the end of an international press conference on the 9th of November 1989, a fellow named Schabowski, read out aloud a note he shouldn't have, and when he was questioned as to when the regulations about the boarder control and the abolishment of the wall would come into action, he assumed it would be the same day based on the wording of the note. And to the entire world's astonishement he replied "As far as I know effective immediately, without delay".
There goes God again- speaking through donkeys!
There's a revolution in the air in the streets of Berlin, and it seems to me that in allowing time, employing good actions, freedom of expression teamed with the fostering of diversity and inclusion-through music, visual and performing art (which is uprising everywhere, unavoidable and amazing!)- is leading the way towards a more united Berlin, and dare I say it, a more united Germany.
Maybe we could all take something from the idea of the "wall in the head"; what it takes to break it down, what it takes to rebuild, and the unmistakable value in doing so.
And so I am left wondering...Is it possible, that a place, where so much pain, cruelty, destruction and terror transpired for so long, could wind up being an example to the world...even a model for all humanity?
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