A Mid-Westerner in Mid-Wales

A couple of weeks ago, Dan and I went to Berlin.  ”Why would you go to Berlin in the middle of January?!” you might ask, and rightly so.  We encountered snow, hail, sleet, rain, and freezing rain.  Despite the less than ideal weather conditions, the trip was very fun!  It was a chance to see our friend, S, who is on research leave from Aber, and to see one of Europe’s capital cities that has been built and rebuilt many times through the years. As usual, we packed in a lot but a very cool aspect about Berlin is that you never feel like you are in a crowded city.  It feels like a collection of towns although the Mitte (the center of the city) certain feels very bustling.  Here are a few highlights from our trip.

We arrived late on Friday night so Saturday we started our sightseeing with the Brandenburg Gate.  It is the main symbol of the city, and we saw its image duplicated in many places throughout the city.  We walked under it to get to the Parliament Building, the Reichstag, where we had booked a slot to go to the top of the dome.  I definitely recommend that you go if you are visiting Berlin for the first time. There is a free audio tour, and we were able to get the lay of the land from the great views (even on a gray day!) of the city.

Us in front of Brandenburg Tor

The top of the Reichstag

Throughout our trip, we kept crossing over the old wall dividing East and West Berlin.  Where the wall used to stand, there are markers in the ground to show the location.  We went to Checkpoint Charlie where there was the standoff between US and Soviet tanks in 1961. There are quite a few landmarks left, but I have the sense that it is more for tourists than anything else.  I did not feel the gravitas of what happened here amongst the hawkers selling old Soviet gear and the fake US soldier posing for pictures with tourists.

We are always reminded of whether we are in East or West

The station at Checkpoint Charlie

The remnants of the wall were much better at conveying the conflict between East and West.  There were a couple of places that showed the last places where the wall is still standing, and we visited two: one near the Topography of Terror and the other which was the official Memorial of the Berlin Wall.  Many people, of a range of ages, lost their lives on the wall, and we learned about the numerous escapes, attempted escapes, and escape routes.  My memory of the Berlin Wall coming down is tainted by the news images that were broadcast at the time.  In my memory, it seemed like such an organic process, where fed up citizens revolted and practically took down the wall with their bare hands.  Learning more about it from the Memorial, the November 9 border opening was actually an orchestrated event that was months in the planning.

The Wall near the Topography of Terror

The Berlin Wall Memorial is more like a pleasant park nowadays

Berlin played a big role in World War II, of course, and we visited a few places of remembrance.  We went to the Jewish Museum, which detailed the history of Jews in Germany from the 1300s.  I was a little disappointed that it mostly focused on the persecution of Jews throughout history instead of balancing it with other aspects of Jewish life.  However, I did learn a lot!  For example, I always thought that the horrible stereotype of Jews as greedy was rooted in their occupation as moneylenders (e.g., Shylock in The Merchant of Venice), but what I didn’t know was that Jews were barred from taking up most occupations. Moneylending was one of the very few career choices open to them so it hardly seems fair to force them into certain professions and then claim that it is due to undesirable traits that they are drawn to those professions!

The old and new parts of the Jewish Museum

The other memorial we saw was the Holocaust Memorial.  It’s a large site, very gray, and very powerful.  We walked up and down between the concrete, saw others playing hide and seek, and got lost in the rows and rows of narrow spaces.  It made me think of coffins and graves, and they at first were short and knee-level but pretty soon overwhelmed you with their volume.  It’s easy to get lost and separated, as happened to us for a few minutes and for those in the Holocaust for a lifetime.  But people persevered and carried on, and life moves forward, all messages that I felt were loud and clear in this memorial.  There was a lot of controversy when this memorial was built, but I think it’s very fitting.

It's hard to see the scale of the Holocaust Memorial but it's quite large

Some perspective on how tall the structures are when you are deep inside

Many different sizes, perhaps to indicate the range of people lost in the Holocaust and affected by it

Although there are quite a few ugly moments in its history, Berlin now is an epicenter of art and music.  We saw many examples of art in the streets and in the museums.  The Altar at the Pergamon and the Ishtar Gates were extremely impressive (although much of it is reconstructed as the original stuff is too fragile or broken).  Should plunderers give back their loot to the countries of origin?  Not sure what the right answer is. But the right answer to “should I go to the Berlin Philharmoniker?” is an emphatic YES!  S had suggested that we go for a jazz event there, but I saw the great classical program that was on before it, so we decided to go to both.  4 hours of music was perhaps a little much, even for the most dedicated enthusiast, but I am so glad I got to see this orchestra perform in this hall!  Unfortunately, Sir Simon Rattle wasn’t on the program for the first part and was ill for the second part, so we didn’t see him at all.  Nevertheless, we saw some of the best string-playing of our lives, and despite sitting at the very rear, the sound was magnificent. What a night!

The Altar at the Pergamon Museum

The Berlin Philharmoniker is one of the best orchestras in the world! And this hall has some of the best acoustics in the world!

The trip was also filled with delicious food, of course!  We had a divine German meal at Lutter & Wegner, delicious Turkish food at Hasir, and a perfect Italian meal at Aroma.  S is in our Aber book club, too, and a couple years ago, she suggested this quirky little book called The Invention of Curried Sausage by Uwe Timm.  The book describes how currywurst was invented in Hamburg, not Berlin as everyone believes. Regardless, Berlin still has some awesome currywurst, so we tried it at one of the best spots in town, Curry 36.

Classic German street food: currywurst and fries!

Eating Turkish food in Berlin is a MUST!

Bad weather won’t stop us from having a great trip! We saw plenty and had a fabulous time with S whom we miss very much!  Thank you, S, for being such a fantastic host!  It was a great little getaway before things got really busy at work, and it was a very educational trip as well (in a good way).  Next capital city: Cardiff for the Wales vs. Scotland rugby game!