After ceremoniously eating an airport cheese burger and about eight hours in air, we landed in Frankfurt and stepped onto German soil. This, however, was short lived and soon we ended up in another plane bound for Berlin, where we spent our first week, Feb. 17-23, doing an entry tour. The tour would take us to many historical sites in Berlin and at each stop a student would give a short presentation, completely in German, to the group.
At the airport in Berlin we were met by a coach bus that would take us to the youth hostel where we were staying. The bus driver looked overwhelmed as he tried to stow all the bulging suitcases in the bus’s storage compartment for all the excited American students. Herr Barske explained to him that we were an exchange group. He still did not seem impressed. After about a twenty minute drive through the snowy streets, we unloaded at the Aletto Jugenhotel, where we stayed that week.
In the hostel, we were separated into rooms. I stayed in a room with four of my female classmates. The room itself was small, comprising of two sets of bunk beds, two single beds, two closets with small wooden shelves and cubbies and in true European style, two separate rooms containing the shower and toilet. It was also furnished with a small television set and a heater underneath the window (which unfortunately took us two days to learn how to operate).
Each morning we ate breakfast the hostel provided us and generally left the building by 8 to walk around the frozen city for 8 to 9 hours at a time. We visited many of the landmarks one associates with Berlin: the wall, Alexanderplatz, the Brandenburg Gate and even Pariser Platz, where Michael Jackson infamously held his baby out of a hotel window.
My favorite site was the site I gave a presentation on: Denkmal für die ermordeten Jueden Europas or The Holocaust Memorial, which is a memorial dedicated to the Jews who died during the Holocaust. We visited it Saturday, Feb. 21. The memorial is comprised of 2,711 gray concrete blocks called stelen, which are systematically placed in a grid pattern on a sloping hill. The stelen vary in height, the shortest being at the front of the monument at the top of the hill. As one walks further into the monument, and further down the incline, the stelen rise up, towering over one’s head menacingly, creating a feeling of entrapment. The maze-like quality of the memorial also adds to this feeling.
I talked with one of my peers, Liz, as we navigated the snow covered field of stelen in the memorial. Liz interpreted the height of the stelen as a metaphor to how the rise of the Nazis had progressed. She noted also how when entering the memorial the stelen seemed unobtrusive and harmless but became more threatening and overpowering as one walked further inside.
While preparing my speech in Eau Claire, I did not appreciate the memorial, but visiting the site made me realize how unique and special it was. It also made me realize how lucky I was to experience Berlin, and the rest of Germany, in such a hands on way.
Another one of my favorite places was the Schloss Sanssouci, which we visited on the morning of Thursday, Feb. 19. Sanssouci, meaning “carefree” in French, was built by Prussian royalty as a sign of wealth and power as well as a summer getaway. Though we only visited the guest palace, it was very regal and impressive. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside.
Our friendly tour guide took us from room to room, unlocking doors and explaining the palace to us slack-jawed Americans. We shuffled along behind her, trying to keep up in the over sized grey slippers guests were made to wear to prevent any damage to the floors.
The ceilings were adorned with massive paintings of Greek and roman gods and goddesses and the walls were adorned with bright silks or in ornate French rococo style designs plated in both gold and silver. Most of the rooms were nature themed with bright golden leaves and flowers.
My favorite room in the palace was decorated almost completely with seashells and semi-precious stones. They formed patterns on the walls and ceilings and between them gazed sea creatures both real and mythical. The room had five chandeliers and the floors below them were shiny marble. A corner of the room even featured a fountain.
I also really enjoyed the Sammlung Berggruen, which we visited on the afternoon of Feb. 20. The Sammlung Berggruen is an art museum that contained many works by Pablo Picasso. Through the audio guide I purchased, I was able to walk through the exhibit and learn about his “blue” and “red periods” while examining pieces of Picasso’s actual artwork. I soon discovered that each room at its own theme and began to enjoy trying to interpret the pieces before pushing play on my audio guide.
The entry tour was packed full of tourist sites, history and a lot of walking. As a group, we put in long hours exploring Berlin and at the end of each day I sunk into bed and cursed my aching knees and feet. I soon understood why we were earning one credit for the entry tour. Overall, it was a great experience though. I also found that the people of Berlin were generally very kind to visitors and forgave me for my lack of fluency and directions. They smiled, congratulated me for being an exchange student and wished me a good time in Germany. Because of their friendliness, I was never afraid to ask someone to help
me find my way.
I could write a detailed description for each place we visited, however it would take too much time! Instead, below, I have included a list of all the places we visited. Feel free to post questions about any of the sites or research them on your own. Hopefully, I will also be adding more pictures of the entry tour as more of my classmates get Internet access here in Marburg, and we can exchange photos more easily. My camera broke the second day of the entry tour and I had to rely on the willingness of others to take photos for me. Bis spaeter!
S.N.
Berlin Wall
Scheunenviertel
Hackesche Höfe
Museumsinsel
Alexanderplatz
Nikolaiviertel
Reichstag
Brandenburg Gate
Pariser Platz
Berliner Dom
Schloss Sanssouci
Topographie des Terrors
Neue Synagoge
Schloss Charlottenburg
Kurfürstendamm
The Holocaust Memorial
Neue Nationalgalerie
Philharmonie
Gendarmenmarkt
Friedrickstraße
