One last adventure before the end of the season. Berlin, was different from other cities I have visited. Not in the fact that it was simply in a different country, but the city carried a feeling.
It was like nothing I had experienced before, it is not an exact feeling I can place a finger on. The wave of emotions that come over me as I walked through an area where so much history has taken place, not even a century prior, was shocking. The exterior of the city has changed over time, but a feeling still hangs in the air. It’s a feeling of sadness, confusion, frustration and pain. There is a big difference between reading about the events in the comfort of the classroom and actually standing on the ground where the history was actually made. When hearing about these events in a classroom you tend to distance yourself from it, thinking it was a sad event that occurred long time ago. When you are there, with the distance no longer separating you, there is no escaping the true horror.
With that being said I am not trying to scare anyone away from a visit. I think it is a very important place to visit and emotions to experience. It grounds you in a way, taking you away from all the petty things of today. It reminds you that any struggles or problems are minor in comparison to what others had to endure.
The first place that we visited while in Berlin was the Berlin Gates. The Berlin Gates is and was a sort of check point for those who wanted to move from East to West Berlin or vice versa. This is because the Berlin Wall was built only about ten meters away, which is now resembled by bricks laid in the road through the city. As we moved West through the Gates we came upon the Reichstag Building, that is the home of the German parliament. After taking in the architecture of East side of the building we walked to the back to take in the glass dome, which symbolizes the reunification of Germany. Next we walked South through the Tiergarten, that holds a glass wall etched with an outline of events from year to year during the Nazi command and the chaos they brought. Once we made our way through the park we headed towards the Holocaust Memorial. The memorial was built in memory of all the Jews who were lost during the reign of the Nazis. The memorial took on the appearance of hundreds of graves laid over the city block.
We did not cover the historical aspects of the city in one day it was split over a few days time as there is a lot of ground to be covered. Also we were not simply there for the tourist events, but for the Final Four of Euro League. Therefore our trip was split into both learning about the history of the city and making more history. On the third day of our trip we decided to take our adventures indoors to the Jewish Museum. Now if there is one thing I learned from this museum is that looks are deceiving. From the outside the building didn’t look any too big, but once inside it seemed to go on forever, so if you choose to go leave yourself plenty of time. Our tour began with a bit of history from the time of the holocaust. It held historical pieces from the time such as letters, pictures, blankets and other belongings. With each piece there was a description or background given. One that stood out to me was a blanket. It was one of the only possessions a jewish man had as he lived in a hole for fifteen months until Alliance troops took over the part of the country where he was held up. The man ended up living to be 93 years old. It had me amazed, both in that he survived the Holocaust and that he lived to be of that age after such an experience. True reminder that you can preserver in life! The next portion of the museum was called the Holocaust Tower. It was simply a hollowed out part of the building that had cement walls, with quarter size wholes spaced equally apart. The room stretched the full height of the building and was only lit with the bit of natural light streaming the ceiling. If you kept really quite you could hear things such as whispers, screams, moans and just all sorts of eerie noises. I’m still not one hundred percent sure what it was supposed to replicated, but the best idea we had was a gas chamber. To say the least I wouldn’t mind never going back in there. From here we went out into the Garden of Exile.The ground was on a slant with huge pillars extending from it, also on a tilt. The purpose of this was to cause one to feel uneasy or off balance as they walked through. It was to replicate the feeling one is supposed to have when thinking about the history of the city. After the Holocaust portion of the museum it moved into the history of the Jews throughout time both leading up to the Holocaust and after.
On one of the final days of the trip though the weather had turned bad we had one more stop, the Berlin Wall Memorial. This was an open air memorial that was dripping with historical information. Below the actual wall they outlined the history of the country and government from before the raise of the Nazi party to almost modern day. Even if you think you know plenty about this time I know I picked up on a few facts I was unaware of prior to.
Berlin was a city mostly centered around history and in all honesty how couldn’t it be after what had happened there? Though history was not all it had to offer it was still a modern city will places to shop, have a cuppa or get a nice meal. As I had mentioned earlier we went there for basketball, the greatest event in European basketball, the Euro League Finals. The experience was one of a kind and something I will never forget. I am glad that I had the chance to see Ryan excel at such a level this early in his career and they took home third. To be playing for the third best team in Europe only your third year in is nothing to scuff at, it’s a real achievement. It’s an achievement at any point in ones career and I know everyone on the team worked hard to get there.
All together I would say Berlin is a place everyone should visit at least once. It may not have the parties or beachfront that most vacationers look for, but it has the history. The trip was very educational and emotionally raw, two things everyone needs.
By: Katie Albright
Life Before & After 