Tuesday, March 20, 2012

My Time as a Berliner Bear

In order to fully understand my trip to Berlin, you must first understand the story behind Friday night. Daniela turned 21 last week, and she wanted to go out on Friday to celebrate. This turned out to not only be a birthday celebration, but also an engagement celebration. Her boyfriend from the US arrived in Hamburg that morning with an engagement ring and proposal in tow. So, we went out, we celebrated, we came home, and we slept. Unfortunately, because we live so far from downtown, we had only had 3.5 hours of sleep before we had to head back into the city to catch our 8:30am train. So, we started off the weekend somewhat exhausted.

After a short two hour train ride, we arrived in Berlin (where we were greeted with crystal clear skies and temperatures in the mid 60s!). When we got to our hostel, we realized that we were both way too exhausted to lead our own sight seeing tour. So, we hopped on a free tour that left from our hostel. This was the first guided tour we've done since being in Europe, so I was a little worried. What if it was boring? Or what if we didn't get to see everything we wanted to? Turns out, my concerns were all for naught. We had this vivacious tour guide who was born and raised in (can you guess?) Boston! I never thought I'd talk to a fellow Bostonian in Germany. Anyways, she had a crazy personality and made sure the tour was low key and fun. Heck, at the beginning of the tour she brought us to a roadside stand for a "beer break." She told us a lot about the history of Berlin and introduced us to the more artsy, offbeat side of the city.

Our first stop on the tour was Museum Island, which is a cluster of 5 museums in Berlin. In front of Museum Island is a large open park known as Lustgarten. This area is famous because of the speeches Hitler gave here before WWII. It is also home to the Berliner Dom, which was once the royal courts church. Just to give you an idea of what our tour guide was like, she stopped us in a sandy area next to Lustgarten and drew a picture of Germany in the sand with a pen. This was her way of giving us background information on Germany before we started the tour. Sweet? I think so. Afterwards, we took a walk down Unter Dem Linden which is one of Berlin's most well-known street. It houses Humboldt University (famous for producing 29 Nobel Prize winners and having Albert Einstein as a professor), the Royal Palace, and a memorial in remembrance of the Nazi Book Burning. At the end of Unter Dem Linden is one of Berlin's most famous landmarks - The Brandenburger Tor.

Berliner Dom and Lustgarten - the site of many famous
speeches given by Hitler
Altes Museum - one of the five museums comprising
Museum Island. You can still see some of the damage
caused during WWII in the pillars. 
Humboldt University - home to 29 Nobel Prize Winners
Denkmal zur Erinnerung an die Bücherverbrennung - monument
commemorating the burning of 20,000 books on the night of
May 10, 1933. You can't see it in the picture, but below the
glass window is a room filled with empty bookshelves. 
Brandenburger Tor
Even though we saw a lot of historical buildings on the tour, our tour guide also kept things interesting by showing us the more random sights of Berlin. For example, apparently the city of Berlin numbers every single one of its trees. The tree and its associated number is then put into a Baumkataster (Tree Registry) and kept on record. So, of course, our quirky tour guide brought us to tree #1. She also brought us to her favorite chocolate store where they sold sample packs for 99 cent. Obviously, we all went in and got ourselves our very own sample pack! Each packet contained 8 pieces of chocolate with varying levels of cocoa. As expected, I greatly disliked the chocolates with higher cocoa levels. Dark Chocolate = Blah!

City Tree #1
A boiling chocolate lava cake
We also visited many WWII and Cold War historical sites. First up : Charlie Checkpoint. The Charlie Checkpoint was once the main gateway for Allies, non-Germans, and diplomats to cross between the Soviet sector and American sector of Berlin. [Side note : The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 to separate the members and beliefs of West Berlin from those of East Berlin and East Germany] Our visit to this site ended up being really hilarious. Our tour guide promptly informed us that the "guards" in front of the checkpoint were were actually male strippers hired as actors during the day. She also pointed out all of the inaccuracies surrounding the American soldier on the billboard. Apparently, he has multiple ranks in the military as well as metals from wars that had not been fought yet. Either way, it was painfully obvious that the checkpoint is just a place for tacky tourists such as myself to stop and take pictures. We also visited a section of the Berlin Wall, Hitler's Bunker, and Hitler's old office building. Hitler's old office was torn down after the war, and an apartment complex and Chinese restaurant now reside in the space. Hilarious, yeah?

Charlie Checkpoint - The most famous checkpoint between
East and West Berlin
Male strippers pose as guardes during the day
Part of the Berlin Wall
The location of Hitler's old office building. Anyone care for
some Chinese food?
At the end of the day, we visited the "Memorial to the Murdered European Jews" and the Reichstag, or Germany's parliament. Ordinarily, you can climb to the top of the Reichstag dome for free, but a large election was taking place in Berlin that weekend. Thus, the building was off limits to all visitors. That was kind disappointing, but I guess it gives me a reason to return! That night, we hung out with some fellow Americans we meet on the tour. We started the night by getting dinner at this really cool restaurant. When we walked in, we saw a ton of televisions with stock market figures flashing across the screen. Apparently, the price of beer and alcohol changed based upon what was being ordered at the bar. So, it was literally a stock market of alcohol. We weren't there when this happened, but the stock market can "crash," causing alcohol prices to plummet. Super random, but really cool. Afterwards, we went to an Irish pub in celebration of St. Patrick's Day. For the second night in a row, I got very little sleep. This time I think I punched in at about 1 hour of sleep. So, needless to say, I was dragging ass on Sunday.

Memorial to the Murdered European Jews - this memorial
was actually really controversial because people claimed it
only commemorated the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
Thus, the city promised to build other memorials for each of
the other groups affected.
Reichstag - German Parliament
On Sunday, Kaitlyn and I visited a few more touristy as well as non-touristy sights. We started the day by walking through this really old building that has been taken over by artists. Murals are all over the walls, and artists have free range to paint whatever they wish. Sadly, many believe that the building will be torn down within the year. Afterwards, we walked by the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), which is the tallest structure in Germany, en route to the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall. It stretches 1.3km (0.8 miles) and is an "open-air gallery." This means that artists from all over the world are allowed to come and draw on it.

A rundown building that has been turned into an artist's
paradise.
A view of the artwork inside the building.
A picture of myself with the Berliner Bear.
Each German city has a mascot. Berlin's
mascot happens to be a cute little bear!
The wait / walk signs on the stop lights
are even little miniature Berlin Bears. 
Fernsehturm (TV Tower)
World Clock in Alexanderplatz
Standing in front of East Side Gallery, the longest remaining
portion of the Berlin Wall.
The Bostonian in me had to take this picture.
 Dunkin' Donuts are all over Berlin. I couldn't
resist the temptation to get a Strawberry Coolatta
and Boston Creme Pie Donut. I know, judge away...
One thing that was painfully obvious after our trip to Berlin was just how much of the city got destroyed during WWII. Even today, large plots of land remain bare - concrete foundations are the only indication that a building once stood there. During WWII, Berlin alone was subject to 363 air raids that destroyed close to 70% of the city. Then, the construction of the Berlin Wall during the Cold War further destroyed the city. Today, you see new construction taking place all over the city. This lends hope to the belief that one day the city will be able to completely rebuild itself. Tschüss!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Part II: Dachau Concentration Camp

On Saturday morning, Kaitlyn, Daniela, and I traveled thirty minutes outside downtown München to the Dachau Concentration Camp. We all knew that it was going to be an emotional morning, but I was completely at a loss for how to prepare myself. Dachau Concentration Camp was the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany. It would later serve as a model for many of the other Nazi camps.

To get into the camp, you have to pass through these large, metal, rod iron gates with the words "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" (Translation: "Work will make you free" or "Work Liberates") inscribed on them. This phrase was used by the Nazi's as propaganda - they wanted outsiders to believe that the camp was a "labor and re-education camp." Immediately upon passing through the gates, you find yourself in a large open area known as Roll-Call Square. Every morning and every evening, the prisoners would line up and be counted. Even the dead prisoners were brought out for roll call. If someone misbehaved or stepped out of line, they were brutally beaten. At times, the roll-call would go on for so long that the weakest prisoners dropped dead.

Entrance into Dachau Concentration Camp.
Arbeit Mach Frei : "Work will make you free" 
Roll-Call Square with two barracks in the background.
Just south of Roll-Call Square is the Maintenance Building. This building was constructed by the prisoners from 1937-1938. Today, the building houses an exhibition and museum dedicated to Germany and Dachau during WWII. "There is a path to freedom. Its milestones are: Obedience, Honesty, Cleanliness, Sobriety, Hard Work, Discipline, Sacrifice, Truthfulness, Love of ty Fatherland" was once written in big letters across the top of this building. The west wing of this building was known as the Shunt Room. Here, new prisoners were stripped of their personal belongings and physical identity. Each prisoner was forced to strip naked and hand over everything that belonged to them. They were then given a number. From that day forward, they would be known by their number. Their old name and their old identity no longer mattered.

The Maintenance Building
A large monument was later constructed in front of the
Maintenance Building.
Just north of Roll-Call Square are the barracks. The barracks are positioned on two sides of a long, narrow road. Each barrack housed a certain type of prisoner, with the "higher ranked" prisoners (non-Jews) placed closer to Roll-Call Square. The barracks were destroyed after WWII, but two were reconstructed for viewing purposes. Cobblestone plots mark the location of all 34 barracks. Inside the barracks, living quarters for the years 1933, 1937, and 1944 were reconstructed. The camp was originally designed for 6,000 people, but by the end of the 1944 it housed over 30,000 prisoners. I can not possibly fathom what it must have been like to be in Dachau at the end of 1944. The entire time I walked through the camp, my stomach was in knots and I felt like at any moment my eyes were going to well up with tears. 

Camp Road with the reconstructed barracks flanking both sides. 
Bathroom facilities located inside the barracks 
Living Quarters : 1944-1945 
Living Quarters : 1937-1938
Living Quarters : 1933-1934
Cobblestone plots mark where each of the 32 barracks once
stood. 17 barracks are located on each side of Camp Road.
After viewing the barracks, I walked the length of Camp Road, taking in my surroundings. The sky was blue and the grass was green, yet the entire place was depressing and lifeless. At the end of Camp Row sits a series of Religious Memorials. Each monument represents the hardship and sacrifice that the prisoners went through.

The Mortal Agony of Christ Chapel
Jewish Memorial
Carmelite Convent
Protestant Church of Reconciliation
Russian-Orthodox Chapel
The last section of the camp was by far the hardest to swallow. After crossing over a small stream, I found myself standing on the grounds of the Crematorium. The Crematorium was separate from the main camp - only workers were allowed to cross over into the area. One of the first rooms I walked through was the Incinerator room, which still contained the four cremation furnaces. Execution by hanging was also carried out in front of the furnaces. You could still see the original beams and contraptions used to tie up the rope. The most emotional room in the Crematorium was the gas chamber. The original faucets were still attached to the wall, and you could see where the gas would come out.

Crematorium - Barrack X. Some claim that this building was
never put into operation.
The four cremation furnaces in Barrack X
Gas Chamber 
After viewing the crematorium, I walked along a path leading through the nearby woods. It was here that I literally found myself at a loss for thought or motion. About 1/4 mile down the path, I happened upon an engraved stone placed in front of a garden. The engraving on the stone read: "Execution Range with Blood Ditch." I slowly turned my gaze upward and noticed for the first time the long ditch running parallel to the barbed wire fence. I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped and tears welled up in my eyes. As I stood there alone in the woods, I started imagining frightened prisoners lining up one by one, knowing full well that their time was up. In that split second, everything I had seen flashed before my eyes. It all came to life, and it was immensely sobering.

Execution Range - the blood trench is partially hidden
behind the rose bushes. 
The saddest part about visiting Dachau was realizing just how close the camp was to the town of Dachau and the city of München. Were people really that naive? Did they really not know what was happening inside the walls of the camp? Or did they just choose to ignore it?

Part I: München and Bayern

This past weekend, Daniela, Kaitlyn, and I traveled to München (Munich) and Bayern (Bavaria). München is a city in the region of Bayern, which is located in southeast Germany. Rather then writing one really lengthy blog entry, I have decided to split this trip into two separate blogs. The first post will talk about my time in München and my day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle. My second post will be devoted entirely to my experience at Dachau Concentration Camp. I hope to get Part II up by tomorrow night, so be on the lookout.

We flew into München Friday evening, dropped our stuff off at the hostel, and headed straight to a local beer garden. We met this really nice guy on the train who warned us that the Hofbräuhaus was extremely touristy and a recommended a more local brewery to go to. So, we took his advice and went to Augustiner-Bräu München instead. We quickly learned that their beer garden is only operational during the summer. Whoops. But, we had gone there specifically to drink a beer outside, so we ordered our beer, paid for our beer, and then drank our beer outside to drink. We then headed over to their indoor restaurant where we all ordered and drank the stereotypical 1L mug of beer. All I have to say is ohhh wooow that was a lot of liquid. The glass and beer were so heavy that we jokingly used two hands to drink out of it ;)

The brewery was really cool. When we walked in, the waiter immediately sat us at this really long table filled with a bunch of older Bayern men. They were all sitting around, drinking beer, and having a good time. Kaitlyn started talking to them right away, but I remained more closed off. I thought it was weird that we got placed at a table with a bunch of strange men who had very clearly reserved the table for their party. I felt really bad - I almost felt like we were crashing their good time. Either way, they didn't seem to mind, and it ended up being a lot of fun. When I tried to read the menu, I was faced with a bunch of really German looking food options. I had no idea what anything was, so I asked one of the guys sitting next to me what was good. He pointed to "Deftiger Schweinsbraten mit Kruste, Kartoffelknödel, Dunkelbiersosse und Speckkrautsalat." (Translation: Hearty Roasted Pork, Crackling, and Potato Dumpling in a Dark Beer Sauce with a side of Kraut salad) So, I ordered it, ate it, and didn't realize until I got home that I had just eaten pig skin. The skin was actually pretty good. It was really hard on one side and then had a softer, fatty layer on the bottom. You couldn't even cut through the top layer - you had flip it over and cut it from the fatty side. The Potato Dumpling was super weird. It was kind of doughy, but in general it just couldn't make up its mind as to whether it was trying to be bread or potato. Lastly, the Kraut salad was disgusting. I've actually come to enjoy Sauerkraut, but this salad was too much. It was completely drenched in vinegar and it left this really awful taste in my mouth.

A traditional Bayern meal: Pork, Crackling, Potato
Dumplin, Kraut Salad, and a 1L beer.
After a depressing visit to Dachau Concentration Camp Saturday morning (see next post for details), we traveled back into the city where we met up with Daniela and Kaitlyn's old roommate, Christoph. Christoph is a Bayern native, so he gave us a personalized tour of  München. He showed us all the famous tourist sites as well as a few lesser known attractions. It was so much fun spending the day with him and his friend. Below, I have posted pictures of my favorite sights in München:

Little Athens - One of the three Greek buildings surrounding
a courtyard. 
Alte Pinakothek - A large art museum in München. Do you
see where the stone has been replaced with brick? The
middle of this building was bombed during WWII.  So
after the war, they reconstructed the building with a
different middle.
Siegestor - A large archway in München that is
topped with a statue of Bavaria and four lions.
Englischer Garten - One of the worlds largest public parks.
This park is larger then Central Park in NYC and Richmond
Park in London.
The Chinese Tower - In the center of the Englischer Garten is a
Chinese Tower and beer garden. This is one of München's most
popular beer gardens. A brass band was playing traditional
Bayer Music on the first floor of the tower while we were there.
Eisbach/Surfing - A manmade wave was created on the river
running through the Englischer Garten. Surfers will come and
surf on the wave, which is located smack dab in the center
of the city. It was such a strange sight seeing men surfing in
the middle of an an urban setting!
Hofgarten - A large garden in the center of München. In the
background is the Theatiner Kirche and Odeonsplatz.
A closer view of Theatiner Kirche
München Residenz - Former residence of Bayern monarchs
Neues Rathaus - München's Town Hall. This picture was
taken from the top of a nearby church.
Three times a day, the Glockenspiel located
on the front of the Neues Rathaus will go off.
The characters dance, sing, and play music for
12 minutes. Thankfully, we made it just in time
to see the show! 
View of München from the top of a church. It was such a
crystal clear day that you could see all the way to the
German Alps!

Bavaria Statue - This female statue represents all of Bayern.
She stands for strength and glory. The statue overlooks
Theresien-Wiese, which is the large open space used to
host Oktoberfest.
We saw a lot more sights along the way, but those shown above were my favorites. That evening, Christoph and his friend took us to another Augustiner Brewery (they were all over the city - it was ridiculous!) where I got another traditional Bayern meal of veal meatballs. Hands down, best veal meatballs I've ever had. We ended up going back to the hostel pretty early because we had a really early train to catch the next morning. We all wanted to get a good night's rest, but this plan didn't work out too well for us. We were all awoken at 2:30 am by a brawl out in the hallway. A bunch of guys had gotten back to the hostel, and one of them was really drunk and angry. He was yelling at all his friends, throwing punches, and hitting the wall. I was really afraid that he was going to bust through our door. After about 10 minutes of screaming, one of his friends convinced him to move into the bedroom. The yelling continued for awhile, but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep once they retreated into the room. Unfortunately, being startled awake by a large, angry brawl was not what we had in mind for a good night's rest!

On Sunday morning, we caught the train to southern Bayern to visit Schloss (Castle) Neuschwanstein which is located on the edge of the German Alps. For those of you who do not know, Neuschwanstein Castle was the inspiration for Walt Disney's famous Sleeping Beauty Castle. Neuschwanstein was commissioned by Kind Ludwig II in the 19th Century as a tribute to the composer Richard Wagner. Unfortunately, Ludwig died during the construction, so the castle was never finished. This was somewhat disappointing because we traveled two hours from München and only saw a partially completed castle. Also, a large part of the castle, including the famous tower, was undergoing construction. So, they were completely covered in plastic and staging. This was obviously a disappointment, but oh well, what are you going to do?

Up until that point, we had been having freakishly good luck with weather while traveling. Lüneburg, Florence, London, Dublin, Cliffs of Moher, Prague, and Amsterdam were all, for the most part, sunny and rain-free. Well, our luck finally ran out on Sunday. In München, conditions were cool and misty, but after traveling two hours south into the foothills of the Alps, the temperature had plummeted and the mist had turned into a heavy snowfall. It snowed for about an hour before it transitioned back over to a misty rain. The weather was really disappointing because the clouds and fog blocked our view of the Alps. But, this problem will be shortly be rectified when I visit the Swiss Alps in two weeks! Plus, even though it was foggy, I was still able to enjoy the natural surroundings. To be perfectly honest, my favorite part about the entire trip to Neuschwanstein was walking through the woods, seeing all the snow, and hiking up to the castle.

The only way to get to the castle was by hiking up this long, steep road. The road ran 1 mile up the side of the mountain, and it was steep enough to ensure that my calfs and shins were burning by the top. The castle sits on the top of a hill overlooking the entire valley. It is situated in a really beautiful spot. Woods and waterfalls surround it, and it overlooks the Alpsee (a large lake) and Schloss Hohenschwangau - a smaller but more lived in castle. The tour of the castle was a bit of a disappointment. We waited over an hour for the tour, and it lasted all of 20 minutes. They took us through the completed part of the castle, which included the King's living quarters, the Throne Room, and the Maid's quarters. The completed rooms were impressive, but it was such a short tour that it seemed almost worthless. One thing we did learn on the tour was that King Ludwig was obsessed with swans. There was a large ceramic swans in every room, and the faucet in his bedroom was in the shape of a swan (the neck and mouth serving as the faucet). Because the castle was constructed so recently, modern amenities such as running water and central heating were included. The strangest room in the castle was a cave constructed off his bedroom. Apparently, he had a massive waterfall and electric lightning show set up in the cave during his short residence in the castle.

View of Schloss Neuschwanstein from below.
Standing in front of the Foothills of the Alps.
Please note that for the first time in probably
15 years, I wore sneakers two days in a row.
Another view from Schloss Neuschwanstein.
We hiked to the bridge (Marienbrücke) after
touring the castle. 
View of the Alpsee and Schloss Hohenschwangau
A waterfall underneath Marienbrücke.
View of Schloss Neuschwanstein from Marienbrücke.
Alspee with the fog covered Alps in the background. 
A view of Schloss Neuschwanstein from the base of the
mountain. You can see from this picture just how foggy
it was that day.
Our trip home was relatively smooth. Except for a slight hiccup in miscalculating how long it would take to get through München airport, we had no problems. Considering we had to take a bus to a train, to a subway, to a plane, to a subway to get home, it's a miracle that everything went as planned! And, for the first time ever, I made it through a European metal detector without setting it off! I view that as a huge accomplishment. 

Just a reminder that Part II (Dachau Concentration Camp) will be posted sometime tonight or tomorrow. 

Tschüss!