Adventure #9: [Berlin] Jewish Museum and Holocaust Memorial

We were able to visit the Jewish Museum in Berlin. It was an eye opening experience because the building was built to make you feel uncomfortable. The walls did not come to a 90degree angle and the ceiling began to come closer to the ground as you walked through. There was an exhibit that you could walk on if you wanted to. It was representing 10,000 Jewish lives that were lost during the Holocaust. Even though it did not look like artwork it is what the artist wanted. The Pictures above are of that exhibit. 
I found the museum to be extremely interesting with all the artifacts there were at each exhibit. 

The picture at the left is a memorial to all the murdered Jews of the Holocaust. Each stone is a different size and length to simulate the chaos of the Holocaust. 

Adventure #8: [Leipzig]

We traveled to Leipzig by train for about three hours one way on my 21st  birthday. We went there to see the War of Nations Monument and St. Thomas' church where Bach is buried.  

War of Nations Monument pictures are above on the left and right. The monument was built to honor a battle that was fought on the ground the monument stands on in the 1800's. The monument is the biggest one in Europe being even bigger than the Eiffel Tower. 

 St. Thomas' church was a very beautiful church. It was

cool to go in and see where Bach was actually buried. Bach was choirmaster at this Gothic church for 27 years. The great music Bach wrote during his Leipzig years commanded little attention in his lifetime, and when he died, he was given a simple grave, without a headstone. When the church was rebuilt he was give a grave in the middle of the church.

Adventure #7: [Buchenwald]

"Jedem das seine" means in English, "To each his own." This is the phrase that is on the entrance of the gate to the former concentration camp Buchenwald. Buchenwald was built by the prisoners in the summer of 1937. This camp is one that many people have heard of around the world. The camp was equipped with a crematorium, barracks, and a zoo. During the time Buchenwald was running many of the prisoners were killed and burned in the crematorium. I did not like taking pictures here because it made me uncomfortable. I felt taking pictures would be a little disrespectful for all those who had died there.

Adventure #7: Weimar [Hotel Elephant]

Weimar is the most culturally significant city in all of Germany. Many great people have called Weimar their home. Great poets such as Johann Wolfgang von Goeth and Friedrich von Schiller, and the great pianist Franz Liszt worked there. This city was the birthplace of Bauhaus, a movement that influenced much of 20th century art and design. 

During World War II,  Hotel Elephant became a famous place for Hitler's speeches. The picture above on the left is showing the balcony where Hitler would give his speeches. The picture above on the right is the room where we stayed.

On the picture on the left is a statue of the two famous poets F. von Schiller and F. Nietzsche. Below is a picture of 'fake' ruins that were man-made to look pretty.

Adventure #6 continued... [Bernburg]

We traveled to Bernburg, Germany to see a beautiful castle that is right off the Saale River. Bernburg is a small city and at one time was the residence of the royal family Anhalt. There is a legend that  a Jester by the name of Till Eulenspiegel, who served as the trumpeter in the tower of the castle, made a false alarm to tell the people to go into the tower only so he could have their delicious food.

Adventure #5: Wittenberg

 Since the early 16th century, the city of Wittenberg has been associated with the name Martin Luther and the onset of the Protestant Reformation. 

Here Luther is reputed to have posted his 95 theses on the door of the castle church on October 31, 1517.  This led to the protestant movement.  The picture shown on

the right is a picture of the castle church. This is the church the theses were posted.

The town is a beautiful little town where many people come to walk around and shop. The picture across the page from the castle church on the left is a statue of Martin Luther. The picture below Martin Luther is a picture of the inside of the church.

Adventure #4: [Magdeburg] here I come. Elbauenpark.

 This is a picture of a museum in Magdeburg, Germany about science and math. The building, Millennium Tower, as you can see is shaped as a cone and when you go there can climb to the very top. The stairs to go up on the outside are in a spiral, but on the inside they go straight some of the time. There was a famous experiment that happened in Magdeburg called, "Magdeburg Spheres." The museum was made to show 6000 years of human history in unique exhibitions. The museum is located in a park called Elbauenpark. In this park there is also a

butterfly garden, various flower gardens, and many sports areas. We had the chance to go to the butterfly garden and see some amazing looking butterflies. I captured a picture of this butterfly pictured right while we were there. 

Adeventure #3 continued even more... The [BERLIN WALL]

The Berlin wall was built by the German Democratic Republic in 1961 and stayed up till 1989. Germany was split into two parts, East and West. East was closing its borders to the rest of the world and they used the wall to do this. The wall was replaced over the years to ensure no one could escape into West Germany. The wall was made out of concrete slabs.

In this picture I was on the border of both former East and West Germany.    :)

 

In East Germany they had different traffic symbols and in order to remind the German people of their history they still have them up and working on the streets of Berlin.

Adventure #3 continued... House of the [Wannsee] Conference

The house in Wannsee, Germany we visited is a former villa built in 1915 and used from 1941 to 1945 by the SS guards as a conference center and guest house. On January 20, 1942, fifteen high ranking representatives of the SS, the NSDAP and various ministries met to discuss their cooperation in the planned deportation and murder of the European Jews. Now, the house has been turned into a memorial and Educational Site for anyone who wants to come and experience it. 

 There were a lot of small gardens around the grounds of the house we had a little photo shoot. You could see the garden from the balcony of the building.

Adventure #3: Cecilienhof [Palace]

On the third day we traveled to Potsdam, Germany to see a palace called, Schloss Cecilienhof.  


This palace was built by the Hohenzollern dynasty. It was under construction between 1914 and 1917.  The palace was named after Crown Prince Wilhelm's wife Cecilie von Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Both of them lived there at some point in their lives. From July 17 to August 2, 1945, the Potsdam Conference negotiations between the victorious Allies of World War II were held here. This is how Cecilienhof palace became known around the world.

To the Right- The Potsdam Conference 

was held in this room of the palace.

The pictures below are gorgeous rooms. With perfect light make these pictures make the palace even more beautiful. The architect built the palace to mimic the English Tudor style.

Adventure #2: STASI Prison and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

On our second day in Germany we traveled just north of Berlin to a concentration camp called Sachsenhausen. This camp was  built in the summer of 1936 by concentration camp prisoners from the Emsland camps. It was one of the most notorious death camps of the Nazi empire and was liberated by Allied troops in 1945. During our trip we went to two concentration camps and this one was our first. 

It was difficult to deal with the reality of what a concentration camp really was when I could actually see mass graves, fences, and watch towers. My feelings were rather stoic during most of the tour because I would not accept that humans would do such terrible acts toward other human being for no reason except that their religion was different. 

To the Right- Neutral Zone is the gray rocks in the picture. Prisoners were not allowed to go in this zone because then the SS guards would think the prisons were trying to escape. Some guards would throw parts of the prisoners clothing into this zone and shoot them in the back for their own benefits such as time off and better food. 


Below- Prisoner's Uniform this uniform was very clean. And usually did not look like this.

 

Below- Watchtower B this is where guards would be to watch the prisoners.

Another Stop that day was at a STASI Prison. During the time of GDR there was a secret police called the STASI. The job of this undercover police force was to make sure the GDR remained the GDR and that no one interfered with that. The prison held political figures to people trying to escape East Germany. Our tour guide was actually incarcerated in one of these prisons. I saw the cells they were kept in and a torture device. The police used a lot of manipulation to retrieve information from the people they are interrogating. 

 To the Left- Cell a prisoner was to sleep on a wood plank bed in a certain position the whole night. There usually was more than one prisoner to a room. Each room had one bucket for going to the bathroom.

  

Adventure #1: [DDR] Museum

The day we stepped off the plane and into Germany, we headed straight for the DDR Museum in Berlin, Germany. The picture that is shown is of the side of the museum. The museum is the most visited museum in Berlin. It depicts what everyday life was in the GDR (German Democratic Republic). From the nude beaches to the type of clothes they wore, the museum shows the outside world what is was like to live during the time of the GDR. 

The pictures that follow are some  buildings by the GDR... Enjoy :) 

To the Right: Television Tower it was built to show West Germany that the East was better and more technological advanced.

 To the Left: Berliner Dom this is a cathedral built before the GDR, but is located across the river from the DDR Museum in former East Germany.