FRIDAY:
On Friday--instead of Wednesday, like usual--my class went on its third excursion, this time to the former Nazi concentration camp, and later Soviet labor camp, Sachsenhausen. Sachsenhausen is located on the northern, rural edge of Berlin, called Oranienburg.
Words fail to describe the experience of visiting Sachsenhausen, as well. The only thing I can say is that, as others in my group commented, as soon as you stepped in the camp, a feeling came over you, and you knew immediately that something unimaginably treacherous had happened there.
A [sarcastic] slogan of Himmler's commonly found at the entrances of Nazi concentration camps:"Work makes you free."
The beautiful weather this day, combined with the surprisingly non-chalant attitude of our tour-guide (not German, by the way) made for a rather uncomfortable experience. Everything about Sachsenhausen just felt wrong, and we had originally planned to spend more time there, but none of us wanted to. We had heard enough, we had seen enough exhibitions, and we just wanted out. Even as a visitor, it was hard to stay there for long. We all just felt that the environment was very sterile, as our teacher put it, and that our experience was too distanced from what had really happened there. Of course there is no way for us to imagine what went on or what the prisoners went through, but again...it all just felt so wrong and so eerie, even though there are very few buildings remaining (at least where the tours go) to tell of the camp's history.
FRIDAY NIGHT:
Our class returned from Sachsenhausen at about 14:00, so from there I went around Friedrichstraße in order to find Dussmann's Kulturkaufhaus, a really famous, giant bookstore. I was looking for Anne Frank's Diary auf Deutsch, found it, and continued on my way through Berlin-Mitte a satisfied customer. I did some window shopping and spent the afternoon alone, wandering through the city, trying to re-enter my little bubble of reality after having spent the morning visiting the horrors of the recent past.
I got some noodles and some "bubble tea" for lunch at the Sony Zentrum in Potsdamer Platz, walked around some more, then took the S-Bahn back to the apartments, packed for the trip to Weimar the next morning, and changed into my Germany gear. I had half-an-hour until I was meeting up with Gaby, Patrick, Qiongru, and Matthew to go to the Fan-Meile (Fan Mile) at the Brandenburger Tor to watch the Euro Cup game: Germany vs. Greece!
We met up with Junyi at Friedrichstraße Bahnhof along the way, grabbed a quick dinner in McDonald's (unfortunately--but, not surprisingly, it was much better here than in the US, and they actually offer side salads instead of fries...and they have bubble tea), and then walked to the Fan-Meile, where we pushed our way up to the front of one of the giant screens showing the game. We stood amongst a couple hundred thousand fans, jumped and screamed, and ultimately celebrated Germany's outstanding 4-2 victory against Greece.
After this, we went to a bar/restaurant near the Berliner Ensemble, near the bridge of Friedrichstraße Bahnhof. We were drawn to this particular bar because it has "stock market" tickers that change as the "bar stock market" closes every fifteen minutes--rates go up and down according to the popularity of particular kinds of drinks in the bar at any given time. So, if we all ordered a Berliner Pilsener, when the "market" closed, there'd be a spike in the "stock shares" for Berliner Pilsener because of our order. Pretty cool and entertaining. :) The six of us sat around and talked and ate and drank for a while before catching the last train back home to our apartments. We got back in about 00:30, but it was another hour or so before I went to sleep because I had last-minute things to prep for the trip to Weimar.
I wish I could express through this post (a) just how awful Sachsenhausen was, although--to reiterate--it was a rather sterile, museum-like environment, and (b) just how much fun we had at the Fan-Meile and what a blast all of Friday night was...but words fail me.
SATURDAY:
Today, I had to wake up early in order to meet at the Freie Uni by 7:45. From there, we met the bus that took us to Weimar, and it was a four-hour ride. When we were half-way to Weimar, we stopped at a fancy rest-stop/gas station, I got a Berliner (Pfannkuchen, aka the only kind of donut I like, aka what JFK accidentally called himself when he said, "Ich bin EIN Berliner" instead of just "Ich bin Berliner"), and then I slept on the bus, which is a huge accomplishment because I'm never able to sleep while in transit.
At last, we came upon a small and cute, picturesque European village, once home to German greats from Bach to Goethe: the town of Weimar!
A common sight throughout the city--horse-drawn carriages.
Once in Weimar, we went straight to the hostel, where we dropped off our bags and then went to free time for lunch on our own. We walked about fifteen minutes to the city center, where we found a place to get Döner Kebaps, of course, and then we met up also in the city center for a guided walking tour. From about 13:30 until 15:30, we were on this tour, which took us throughout much of Weimar, I guess. I went with the tour group that was being led auf Deutsch, so there were some details I know I missed. Bear with me as I try to take you through my recollections of this beautiful and historically significant town...
Rathaus--city council--in the main square. Architecturally gorgeous.
The period of Germany as the Weimar Republic (from 1919 until 1933) takes its name from this city, though Berlin remained the capital city. However, in its earlier history, Weimar boasts such residents as the famous composer Bach and the famous writers Schiller and Goethe. But the hotel below, dating back to 1696, however, can unfortunately list Adolf Hitler as one of its frequent guests. Apparently, it was Hitler's favorite place, and he visited it 35 times in a matter of several years. Eerily enough, when we went to Buchenwald on Sunday, we watched a short film about the camp, and in this film was footage of Hitler leading a sort of Nazi rally from the balcony of the hotel, then called Haus Elephant, where the golden statue now stands (it does not commemorate Hitler in any way; I wasn't able to catch who it does commemorate, though).
Proof that Bach did, indeed live in Weimar.
The steeple of an old church.
Much of what the tour guide talked about related to the life of the writer Goethe. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about Goethe (yet), as I don't read German literature (yet--I tackle this part of my major over the next three years), so I just had to nod my head and go along with what the tour guide was saying as if it all made sense... For example, below is a big, beautiful park just outside the town square, and pictured are the ruins of what used to be, basically, an old hang out for all the famous writers, composers, etc. But across the park and behind some trees lay the garden home of Goethe, where he apparently got a lot of his inspiration.
Cool European alley-way with cute, colorful houses.
Goethe's house, from a weird but inclusive angle.
After the city tour, I went with Birch, Junyi, and Megan--girls from my class--to the Bauhaus Museum, which showcases over 250 pieces from various artists, architects, and designers from the beginning of the 20th century up until 1933, when the school was closed under pressure from the Nazi regime. As Wikipedia says, "The Bauhaus school was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar.... it was founded with the idea of creating a 'total' work of art in which all arts, including architecture, would eventually be brought together. The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design. The Bauhaus had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography." I'm pretty ignorant in this area, but it was neat to see, and there were a lot of cool sketches and pieces of furniture there.
We went to the Bauhaus because we had about two hours to spare before we had to meet back up with the group in order to go on another tour, this time of Goethe's house specifically. So, once again, that was pretty cool, it was a really wonderful and bright house, but it was strange because I have very little knowledge of who the man even was. Very interesting, though. Mommy, you would have loved all the colors!
After touring the Goethe Haus, went we back to the hostel, where we checked in, rested, and just hung out for a bit. After an hour or so, we went back out so we could get dinner, but unfortunately because it was Saturday night in Weimar, most of the shops and things were closed, so there wasn't all that much to do.
Junyi, Birch, and Megan in front of the famous Hotel Russischer, where Maria Pavlova of the Russian court once stayed during her visit to Weimar.
Just a cute old bookstore, founded in 1790.
We stopped at a little Biergarten-ish place called Zum Schwarzen Bären, where Megan and I both had Schwarzbiergulasch mit Klöse und Sauerkraut (Black beer goulash with dumplings and sauerkraut). Everything was delicious, very filling, and very German!
After dinner, we walked to a bar that was recommended for us to visit if we wanted to check out Weimar's "night life," and since there was the Spain-France Euro Cup game on, we sat around drinking and just chillin'. As for me, I drank hot chocolate, and I have to say it was honestly the best hot chocolate I've ever had. It was so good!
When the game was over, it was about 22:30, so Birch and I went back to the hostel. I was so exhausted from only getting four hours of sleep the night before, but Junyi and Megan were still going, so they ended up in some awkward students' club, where it was supposed to be Jamaican Dance Night.
Annnyway, below's a picture of our hostel room. It wasn't as nice as the hostels Matthew and I stayed at, but it was comfortable, and it was in a quiet part of town...again, not that Weimar probably ever gets too crazy.
SUNDAY:
I slept like a rock Saturday night and woke up just in time to go downstairs and grab some breakfast--several rolls with marmelade, all of which was tasty, but still no match for the amazing jams we had in Poland.
This was the day we would visit the former Nazi concentration (and again, later Soviet labor) camp. When we were finished with breakfast, we loaded the bus, and it was about a fifteen-minute drive outside the city center to get to the camp. When we were 3.5 km away from the camp, we saw a giant landmark that stated our distance, followed by a sign that read, Blutstraße--Blood Street. When we arrived at the camp, it was just as eerie but also as sterile-looking as Sachsenhausen. Very fortunately, upon arrival we were led into the cinema, where we sat with about fifty other visitors to watch an extremely well-done film about the history of Buchenwald in brief. This video was really informative, but also appropriately sensitive to the topic, which is something I felt was missing at Sachsenhausen's museum. In this video, my assumption was confirmed: Blutstraße was the road the first prisoners in the camp were forced to build (1937), and naturally many hundreds of prisoners died along this street during its construction.
After the video, we met our tour guide: a young German man with deep knowledge of the topic and also deep sensitivity for the subject. He showed us pictures and documents, asked us questions, and explained a little about his perspective as a German versus ours as Americans, all before we started the tour. And then, finally, we began.
It turns out that the parking lot where our bus dropped us off and the tourist centers were the former grounnds of the SS-men. The parking lot was where they drilled and learned marches, learned how to operate weaponry, etc., and the bright yellow buildings were their former barracks.
As we walked through the grounds, there were many buildings scattered amidst the trees, all of which had some particular SS function.
The picture below is to illustrate the isolation of the camp, as well as the feeling of emptiness that one experiences as a visitor. In this shot, you can see, from far away, the former SS petrol station and one of their many garages. This street connects to other streets running throughout the camp, and it also connects to the railroad station, which prisoners were forced to build in 1942, that is located just beyond the trees in the photo.
Between 1938 and 1941, Kommandant Karl Otto Koch and his wife Ilse lived in the house below with their three children. The house stands just outside the main entrance to the prison camp itself, in plain view. Koch was later sent as Kommandant to Sachsenhausen, I believe, before getting accused of fraud by the Nazi higher-ups and brought back to Buchenwald, where he was hanged in 1945.
Again, I didn't take pictures of the inside of the camp, and I think the following pictures, still from outside the camp, explain why.
View of the crematorium's smoke stack.
This shot captures only one portion of the large model that our tour guide used to explain some of the camp's layout to us.
From outside the solitary confinement--pitch-black--cells, where hundreds of men died.
Another slogan of Himmler's creation: "Jedem das Seine," "To each his own/To each what he deserves." The entrance to the Concentration Camp Buchenwald.
We spent about three hours at the camp, two of which were guided, and one of which was independent time to walk through the camp and visit the exhibitions. Undoubtedly the worst part of the tour, but also the most important part for me as a visitor, was seeing the ovens in which thousands upon thousands of people's bodies were burned. Although the Holocaust remains forever abstract to me, seeing this part of the horror of the Nazi era preserved made everything that much more real for me. It was truly and indescribably terrifying to see these ovens.
We saw so many more things, but it's just too much history and too many details to possibly blog about. Maybe I'll enter more details later as I feel inspired to. After this, the mood was pretty somber, spirits were pretty low, we loaded the bus back to Berlin, and were thoroughly relieved to be leaving the camp. It was an incredibly moving and important experience, but also, as Sachsenhausen was, a very eerie and "wrong-feeling" place.
MONDAY:
Back to class today! Peggy and the Vanderbilt group were planning to meet up this evening for Take 2 of attempting to go up the TV Tower in Alexander Platz, but once again it is cloudy and rainy with storms in the forecast, so we are going to postpone our visit until Thursday. Once again, from all the travelling and after staying out "late" on Friday night, I could sleep for days.
Best wishes to all those back home!
Gruß
-Monika
wow baby....sobering, wonderful, i simply wish I was with you....
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good girl, baby. i've read the finished entry. i'm very proud of you and your observations.
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