Ich spreche kein Deutsch: Berlin

"Ice spreche kein Deutsch" ("I don't speak German") became my motto for this weekend when some friends and I took a trip to Berlin. Before we left, I was really excited to go, but I had no idea I would like Berlin as much as I did. It was so cool to be in a city that played such an integral and controversial role in world history, and even though we encountered a few obstacles because of the language barrier, I strangely liked being in a city where I couldn't read any of the signs or understand anything people around me were saying. 

Although the trip as a whole was fantastic, we got off to a bit of a rough start. On Thursday night when we went online to print our boarding passes, we realized that we accidentally booked our flight back to Dublin for Sunday, March 10th, instead of Sunday, February 10th... oops. We got it all figured out though, and everything went smoothly until we boarded the plane. The plane started moving and was about to take off when the pilot came on the loud speaker and said we had to turn around because a passenger decided he was too afraid to fly and needed to get off. So, we turned around, let him exit (I can't believe this was actually allowed; I don't think this would happen in America, ever), and then were informed that his girlfriend checked a bag and we couldn't leave until they retrieved her suitcase. Nearly an hour later everything was finally ready though, and we were on our way to Berlin!

Brandenburg Gate

As soon as we landed on Friday afternoon, we took a taxi to the Brandenburg Gate where we took a four-hour walking tour of the city. It was really cool to see all of the major landmarks in Berlin, and going on a walking tour was a great way to get oriented with the city before setting off on our own. The tour started near Brandenburg Gate and the U.S. Embassy and went in a loop around the city, ending at St. Hedwig's Cathedral. 

U.S. Embassy

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

One of my favorite stops on the tour was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which consists of 2,711 giant stone blocks of different sizes and heights. The number doesn't symbolize anything or have a special significance; our tour guide told us that the architect designed it this way so that everyone who came to see it would have a unique experience that was meaningful to him or her. As you walk around the memorial, the blocks get steadily taller, and it feels as though you're walking downstairs or underground. 

Checkpoint Charlie

The thing that struck me the most about the tour was that a good portion of it involved going to places that seemed insignificant because they were simply the locations where something used to be. We walked across the parking lot that is now where Hitler's bunker was and saw empty pieces of land where the Berlin wall once stood. A significant portion of Berlin was destroyed during World War II, so many landmarks are gone or are still in the process of being restored. Our tour guide said that most Germans today are embarrassed about Germany's role in World War II, and that many do not feel a sense of pride when they see the German flag. This was so different from all of the tours I've gone on in Ireland. All of the tour guides here talk about how proud the Irish are of their history, so it was weird to be in a place where this isn't necessarily the case. 

Part of the Berlin Wall

Siegessäule - the Victory over Prussia column

Memorial for Victims of War and Tyranny

St. Hedwig's Cathedral

Humboldt University 

Saturday started with a trip back to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, this time with a visit to the museum that's beneath the memorial underground. The museum is designed to pick up where the memorial leaves off, so the ceiling has indentations in it that correspond to where the blocks on the ground above it are. There are several rooms in the museum, and we took an audio tour that guided us through them all. The room that had the biggest impact on me was one that was completely dark and had a few benches inside on which to sit. All day the names of Holocaust victims are projected onto the walls and that person's name and a short biography are read on a loud speaker in German and then in English. As I sat there listening, I wondered how long it took to make all of the recordings, how long it would take to listen to the names of all of the victims, and how many victims aren't included in the memorial. 

Reunited in Berlin! 

When we left the Holocaust memorial, it was time for something a little more fun and uplifting. One of the main reasons why my friends and I chose to go to Berlin was because we all have friends who are studying abroad there now, so a big group of us and all of our friends met up for lunch and a trip to the Ritter Sport chocolate store. I was lucky enough to get to see one of my best friends from high school! It was so great to see her, catch up, and get some advice on how to navigate the subway system. She also gave us directions to the East Side Gallery, which was one of my favorite things we visited in Berlin. The East Side Gallery is a stretch of the Berlin Wall that's about one kilometer long and is covered in artwork by artists from all over the world. The largest open-air gallery in the world, the East Side Gallery is a memorial for peace and freedom. Here are some pictures of some of my favorite parts: 

On the steps outside of Reichstag

It started to get dark as we were finishing up our walk along the wall, but that didn't stop us from continuing to see Berlin's landmarks. At 8:30 we visited the Reichstag (the parliament building), which is a 1200 pound glass dome. You can walk up a 300 meter spiral ramp all the way to the top, and from there you can see directly into the main chamber. The roof of the dome is open, symbolizing "the openness of German democracy," and snow was falling into the building. The view of the city at night with all of the snow was phenomenal, and it was so cool to look out and see all of the landmarks I had visited earlier in the day when they were all lit up. 

View of the chamber from the bottom...

... and the view from the top

As if Berlin wasn't awesome enough, we happened to go during Berlinale, which is an international film festival. We figured that we couldn't not see a film while we were here, so we went into a tourist office earlier in the day and bought tickets for Le Cordeau, the only movie that wasn't sold out and was playing at a time when we were all free. Going into the film, we had no idea what it would be about or what language it would be in, so we were pleasantly surprised when there were English subtitles and we actually ended up enjoying the movie. Le Cordeau (The Raven) is a French film from 1944 about blackmailing and abortion. It's very political and oddly comical, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting movie to watch that's different from what we normally see today. 

The Potsdamer theater where most of the Berlinale films were playing

I never thought Germany would be the first country outside of Ireland that I would visit, but I'm so glad it was. I learned so much about World War II and German history that I never knew before, saw government buildings, museums, memorials, galleries, went to an international film festival, and spent time with great friends (new and old!) Until my next post, Auf wiedersehen!