Finding Beauty in Unexpected Places

I'm now officially behind on blog posts, as I intended to write about this topic last Thursday. However, after a busy weekend full of exploring the city and my first significant amount of homework, I now have time to start catching up.

Last week the weather was finally sunny so I decided to take a walk in my neighborhood. Due to the fact that I live next to the old city border (from 1860 to 1920), my neighborhood includes a lot of cemeteries. And as I am my father's daughter, my walk through the neighborhood turned into my walk through this cemetery:

I found it interesting to see the differences between this cemetery (and maybe European cemeteries generally-I haven't been to enough to know) and American cemeteries. Namely, most of the cemetery consisted of fairly high walls with gated family plots in front of them as opposed to the typical American single stones for couples (although there were also newer sections laid out this way). The family name and information was placed on the wall while the plot was usually planted with flowers. Mostly, I just found the cemetery really beautiful-albeit in a slightly melancholy way. And thus comes the title of this blog post, as I'm fairly certain most people wouldn't use the word beautiful to describe a cemetery. Anyway, I wound up taking a bunch of artsy cemetery photos. Here's a sampling:

In particular, I love this one-especially with the sepia tone. 

In more traditional touristy fashion, I also visited the East Side Gallery last week.

The East Side Gallery is a 1.3 kilometer long portion of the Berlin Wall that was painted on the east side in 1990 by artists from all over the world. Unfortunately, many of the paintings have been destroyed by graffiti or wear during the past 20 years. However, some of the pieces were restored or repainted (although controversially) in 2009. To fit with the theme of the blog post, I think the East Side Gallery was a great way to make the wall, a symbol of division and the fear of the Cold War, a place of artistic beauty. Not unsurprisingly, many of the pieces deal with the fall of the wall, division of Germany, Germany's historical past, the Cold War, etc. Here are some of the pieces in the gallery:

The most famous works in the gallery include this series of faces by Thierry Noir:

and "My God, help me to survive this deadly love" by Dimitri Vrubel, which depicts the kiss between Communist leaders Leonid Brezhnev (head of the USSR) and Erich Honecker (head of the DDR):

This piece, commemorating those individuals who died attempting to cross the Berlin Wall, was also particularly moving:

It was also the largest part of the wall remaining I had seen thus far (it might be the largest intact section overall) and I found myself trying (and failing) to imagine what it must have been like to live with this barrier running through the city. Here's a photo of a larger section (from the western side):

Reichstag

So, I realized after writing my last post that blogging only once a week was going to lead to excessively long posts that I find a bit overwhelming to write/other people probably find too long to read. So here is another blog post, a mere two days after my last one.

Today, I visited the Reichstag, the home of the German Bundestag (Parliament):

As you can see, the building is quite impressive in typical official government building style. However, like everything else in Germany, it has a completely fascinating history. The building was originally built in 1894 to house the Reichstag (the original German parliament). It did just that until 1933, when it was damaged in a fire, a pivotal moment in Hitler's rise to power. 

During WWII, the building was destroyed even more by Soviet troops. This damage can still be seen today, as some of the Soviet graffiti was preserved during reconstruction.

The Reichstag wasn't used as Germany's official parliamentary building again until 1999 after Germany's reunification and the restoration of the building in the mid 90s.

Random Fun Fact: The Reichstag was entirely wrapped in cloth by an artist before it was reconstructed in 1995. Here's a photo:

Source: http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/The_World_Exhaled_at_Sarajevo

In previous German courses, we've had class discussions regarding how ridiculous this entire art installation was. I'm still not entirely sure whether it was brilliant or a huge waste of money.

In either case, the Reichstag was reconstructed and remodeled in 1999. Due to this reconstruction, in comparison to other legislative buildings I've seen (really just the US Capitol and Minnesota State Capitol) it's very modern stylistically. Here's a photo of the main chamber where the Bundestag meets:

A huge part of the 1999 renovation was building a glass cupola on the top of the building.

People can climb up to the top of the cupola and look down at the Bundestag chamber:

There are also some great views of Berlin, so I naturally took far too many photos. Here are a couple shots of the city:

Other interesting parts of  the Reichstag included a room specifically set aside for meditation, prayer, thought, and reflection and a memorial to all of the members of the Reichstag/Bundestag members who were elected democratically. 

Each of the members was given a box and placard including their name, party, and years of service. As another example of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, a single black box represents the Third Reich. Additionally, those parliamentary members who were victims of the Nazi regime are marked as victims of the Third Reich. 

It was interesting to see how the past (the memorial to former members, the remaining Soviet graffiti) was joined with the ultra-modern style of the renovation. I also found myself juxtaposing the style of the Reichstag with the US Capitol and as I write this, I'm wondering whether passing legislation in a highly traditional, historic locale or a newly built, modern space actually affects the legislative process. In either case, visiting the Reichstag was a great experience.

DDR, Kunst und Vergangenheitsbewältigung

So in the past week, many of my experiences have revolved around one (or more) of three themes: the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik-otherwise known as East Germany), Kunst (art) and Vergangenheitsbewältigung (best translated as "coming to terms with the past"- usually used in reference to the process of dealing with the Holocaust and Nazism in Germany).

die DDR

So early last week, I visited the DDR Musuem, an interactive museum that depicts everyday life in the DDR. In some ways, as evidenced by the following pictures, it was a lot of fun.

Here we are trying out a Trabbi, essentially the only car brand  in East Germany:

and enjoying our DDR living room:

But, in addition to lovely interactive DDR apartments and vehicles, the museum also described the political and societal oppression, censorship, and remarkable presence of the Stasi, the state police force. While I was certainly aware of some of these features of DDR life before visiting the museum, I don't think I had actually realized the extent of state control in the Eastern Block during the Cold War. And yet, in spite of all of this, the DDR was still a remarkably normal place for most people. Yes, the TV shows, newspapers, magazines, fashions, and available products were controlled by the state, but life goes on, popular culture (there were some examples of TV, music, etc. at the museum) was still entertaining and endearing (especially in the case of Rumpelkammer, a TV program in which an old guy-who reminds me a bit of Mister Rogers-shows and discusses clips from old films) and at least everyone had enough to get by.

I left the museum feeling much more educated about the DDR and life during the Cold War. Among this new information the following interesting fact: the U-Bahn (subway) line I take to school every day runs through former East Berlin between two parts of former West Berlin. During the Cold War, the line continued to run but didn't stop at stations in the East, leading to these stations being called Geistbahnhöfe (ghost stations). I also left the museum feeling even more conflicted regarding my views on incorporating socialistic elements into governments and societies today.

Speaking of the DDR, I also took a guided walking tour of Prenzlauer Berg, one of the sections of Berlin on the East Side. It's a really interesting neighborhood of the city to walk through due to its, in typical Berlin fashion, ever-changing history. The area was originally settled in the 1800s, and the cool thing about Prenzlauer Berg is that these original buildings are still there today (due to the neighborhood not being as heavily bombed by the Allies during WWII). Here's an school that was opened around the mid-1800s:

During the DDR, Prenzlauer Berg was largely ignored by the government, so most of the housing was not modernized:

and due to the cheapness of this housing, Prenzlauer Berg was home to the DDR's art subculture and political resistance movements. Since the fall of the wall, it's been really gentrified and is filled with young families and trendy shops today.

Kunst


This week, I also took a guided tour visiting private galleries and art spaces in Mitte, the area of the city where the Goethe Institute is located. Also part of the DDR, this part of town became a huge art center immediately following the reunification of Germany, due to its cheap, non-residential buildings. While it's now been similarly gentrified into trendy shopping, there are some parts of the city that remain cool 90s art centers, such as this Hof (courtyard) which is actually protected from development as a cultural site:

This sculpture moves when you put money in it:

It was really cool to see some hidden art centers that were off the beaten path.

I also visited the Neue Nationalgalerie, another modern art museum. I went on a tour with Goethe which was great for understanding the pieces better. While the museum included some pieces from the usual modern artists, such as Picasso, Warhol, etc. and this completely amazing light installation:

it also had a lot of German art from both East and West Berlin which dealt with the aftereffects of WWII. It was interesting to see here, and at other art museums, how artists responded to and dealt with the traumatic events of WWII through art, as well as to see how East and West German art diverged as the nation was divided. 

Vergangenheitsbewältigung

So, as I mentioned before, Vergangenheitsbewältigung is the process of coming to terms with the past. Over the past week through both a guided walk run by Goethe about National Socialism and my own visit to the Holocaust Denkmal (memorial) I learned more about the past the Germans have had to bewältigen and ways this process has unfolded. 

While the walk didn't include many physical sites due to the destruction of Berlin during WWII, I still found it to be really interesting. Even if Hitler's bunker isn't around today, it's still chilling and a bit exciting to hear the story of his suicide while standing on the ground where the bunker stood. Some of the few relics of National Socialism remaining today include the German Finance Ministry building (originally the home of the Nazi's Ministry of Aviation-kept intact by the Allies as a landmark for bombing missions):

and the walls of this subway station which are made of the marble from Hitler's office:

1933-1945 was certainly a chilling period of German history which Germany has had to come to terms with. One of the sites dedicated to this purpose is the "Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas" (translated as the Memorial to the Murderd Jews of Europe), often called simply the Holocaust Denkmal. Built in 2005, it consists of 2, 711 large concrete slabs placed at varying heights and angles. From the Wikipedia article about the memorial, the slabs "are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent an apparently ordered system that has lost touch with human reason." After experiencing the memorial today, that's a pretty accurate description. I have never felt quite the way I felt today at any other memorial. I felt uneasy, confused, lost, morose, and alone while walking through the concrete slabs that completely engulf you. Here are some photos, even though there's no way to really adequately depict the experience:

There was also a small museum underneath the memorial which provided a timeline of the Holocaust and included a wide diversity of personal experiences, stories, and accounts of Holocaust victims, which I found very moving.

Upon leaving the museum around 5:30pm, when it was already dark, the fastest way for me to reach the U-Bahn was to walk back through the memorial. In the dark, I found the memorial to be chillingly scary. There is definitely a sense of not knowing where you are or what is coming in the dark, an experience not helped by the sounds of small children playing throughout the memorial. Overall, the memorial was a very unique experience unlike anything I've experienced before. 

On the topic of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, Berlin has also placed gold plaques (called Stolpersteine) throughout the city to remember Holocaust victims. While Stolpersteine exist throughout Europe, almost 3,000 have been placed throughout Berlin. They sit where Holocaust victims lived and include their names and eventual fates. Here's an example:

It's simultaneously a subtle and yet jarring way of remembering these individuals. On almost a daily basis while walking through the city, I'm shocked into remembering the Holocaust by suddenly seeing a set of gold plaques in the ground. And yet, in terms of actual size, the plaques are fairly small, being only 4 inches in size. Although it's startling to run across them, I think it's an ultimately important way to remember. 

Spaziergang

So after two weeks of living in Berlin, I feel like I've begun to settle into a routine of class and homework. Last week I spent most of my time either relaxing at home (cooking, completing homework, etc.) or taking walks (Spaziergang) through the city, as the weather was finally sunny.

As part of taking advantage of the weather, I've seen more of my immediate neighborhood. I live in Kreuzberg in the southern part of Berlin. It's a very diverse area with significant immigrant populations and is an increasingly hip area for young adults. In particular, I enjoyed jogging along the canal (it might be a river, but I'm pretty sure it's a canal) north of my apartment this afternoon. Here's some photos of the canal (the last one was taken from an abandoned ferry boat):

During the week, I also explored Unter den Linden, one of the major streets of Berlin, named for the linden trees lining the boulevard.

Some sights along the street include the Berliner Dom, one of Berlin's most iconic churches:

Humboldt University:

and this statue of King Frederick II:

This week, I also participated in some of the Gothe Institute's Kultur-Programm events, including a walk through Mitte, the oldest district of Berlin. The guided walk was a great way to see the sights of the city while also learning about Berlin's history. And, from what I've seen thus far, Berlin's history is certainly unique. 

What has struck me the most about Berlin's past during the past week is the sheer amount of change this city has undergone in the past hundred years. In the past century, Berlin has been the capital of a monarchy, a fledgling democracy grappling with hyperinflation, an authoritarian dictatorship, a socialist nation under the influence of the Soviet Union, and a capitalist democracy, survived the devastation and destruction of two world wars, been divided between East and West, capitalism and democracy, and reunified to become one city again. And the multifaceted nature of Berlin's past is remarkably evident throughout the city, whether it be the juxtaposition of the uniform, concrete, socialist apartment buildings with the Western shops inhabiting their ground floors in former East Berlin, or the close physical proximity of Marienkirche, Berlin's oldest church, dating from the Middle Ages, and the Fernsehturm, a symbol of East German socialism:

Here's the inside of the church:

The walk also helped me realize the extent to which governments have changed the city itself to achieve certain ends.  As a citizen of a country with a remarkably stable governmental system, this was a fairly new phenomenon for me. However, in Berlin, a city of such political change, the placement, movement, construction, and removal of statues and buildings all have political meaning. For example, this statue of Martin Luther:

currently sits next to Marienkirche. It originally stood in front of the church, but was moved by the DDR government and replaced by a large statue of Lenin. Following reunification, while the Luther statue remained beside the church, the Lenin statue was moved by the government to a rural location about an hour outside the city. 

Similarly, the Stadtschloss, the royal palace in Berlin, was torn down by the DDR government following WWII as it was seen as a symbol of imperialism. In its place was built the Palast der Republik, the DDR parliament building, a striking example of Soviet architectural aesthetics. Following reunification, the Palast der Republik was torn down over the protest of many East Germans to rebuild the original Stadtschloss. 

Overall, I'm really enjoying learning about Berlin's unique history and feel very fortunate to be able to live here another six weeks.