Berlin, Deutschland

Here goes the story of Berlin:

I was supposed to leave last Friday, but I impulsively decided to leave Thursday afternoon right after I finished my laundry (so early in fact, my clothes were still a bit damp as I left). Unfortunately the tickets were double the price at the counter, but I had no alternative so I had to suck it up and fork out the money. Fortunately, I was able to sleep in the hostel (Three Little Pigs) for free the first two night, unbeknown to the receptionists of course, luckily the bed wasn't reserved the two nights I stayed there. The first night we were just walking around the city, didn't really do much especially since we got there around 9PM. The train ride over was nice, we stopped in Dresden and another city that I dont remember. I met some friends from New Paltz too. Friday, we went on a tour of 'alternative' Berlin. It was run by a bunch of punk guys, and they took us to all the alternative spots in Berlin, such places where there is beautiful, impressive graffiti, the Turkish area of the city, old parts of the Berlin Wall, old squat houses, a beach run by African immigrants on the river, a skatepark, cool second hand stores, an absinthe shop, and my favorite part, Kunsthaus Tacheles (which translates from German/Yiddish to Art-house and "straightforward/honest talk"), an old building from the pre-WWII era that somehow survived, and turned into a squat house after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and is now an alternative artist community filled with graffiti all over the walls, but featuring many artist galleries and studios, with really impressive work (and of course really obscene and controversial work as well). In the back, there was a sculpture garden and a cafe. We also saw West Coast Customs (from Pimp My Ride, MTV; as well as an area that was bombed during WWII, but never cleaned up)
Later that night we went on an 'anti-pubcrawl' which took us to different alternative bars and pubs in Berlin. So I drank a bit too much absinthe, got sick, and how I made it home I can't quite remember, but rest assured that I did. I have to give myself credit for being able to do it in a giant city with a very labyrinthal metro system (it still baffled me even as I left on the last day).
Good thing however, I felt fine in the morning, but the day was gloomy and cold, I attempted to visit a museum, Neue Nationalgalerie, which a guidebook suggested to go to for it had a collection of paintings by Munch, Picasso, and so on. So the gallery wasn't very impressive, and the Munch collection was supposed to be a supplementary introduction to the actual collection of modern art, but it was interesting anyway (or maybe I thought so since I paid for it already). I tried going to the Bauhaus Archiv, and another museum, but they had already closed, I got lost, and somehow stumbled upon a giant monument which served as victory monument to the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, and subsequently Franco and Austrian Wars as well. After a miserable trek back to the hostel, a nice nap, we decided to go out. I missed Prague a bit, so I stuck with Czech beer for part of the night (Budvar Budweiser, which is Czech and NOT German). We went to a cool club with a good electronic band playing. It was a good night, and some of my friends who stayed later vouched that there were people there past 7AM still dancing. The next morning some of us went on a New Berlin Tour. These tours, some of which are free, are run by people around my age, are they are very informed about what they are talking about. We chose the Third Reich tour which brought us to all the relevant 'highlights' of the Third Reich in Berlin. It started at the Brandenberg Gate (also the site of Obama's speech during his campaign, when he visited Germany). Our tourguide, a young girl around my our age from Glasgow, told us the background history of the Third Reich. Fortunately I was also well-versed in German history from a few classes I took/have taken. Our first stop was the Reichstag, the German Parliament. The Reichstag is different from the Bundesrat in that the Reichstag is elected by people, and the Bundesrat is comparable to the way the House of Representatives is elected. The building is very impressive and commanding. The top part, Dem Deutschen Volke means "For the German People." Apparently it was heavily destroyed during the fire which (as historians believe now) was precipitated by the Nazis and eventually led to the dictatorial assumption of Hitler. There was a a huge line to get in so we didn't bother, but the other government buildings nearby were also impressive sites, huge and stately, but mostly impressive modern architecture. In front of the Reichstag is a memorial to the members of hte Reichstag who voted against granting Hitler dictatorial powers, and who were all later imprisoned for it. Afterwards we went to the Soviet War memorial. It was built at the site of a planned 'people's hall' under Hitler, but never happened, so the Soviets decided to build a memorial over the place so that Germans could never build anything over it in the future. Also, the memorial is loaded with a ton of propaganda, but notably, it was built in the Western section of the city, so that they would have a reason and excuse to be able to cross into the Western territory of the city. Afterwards, we ventured into the park nearby and took a look at the newly designed memorial to the homosexual victims of the Holocaust. I personally feel it kind of lacks, and is a bit cheesy, it just features a giant block of concrete (the same concrete used for the Murdered Jews of Europe memorial that we saw right after, across the street). And inside you can see a video of two men embracing each other. The footage isn't even 'old' footage, clearly shot for the memorial. Afterwards, we walked across the street to the Murdered Jews of Europe memorial, which a lot of people might suggest that it lacks in meaning and depth but I personally liked it. It's hard to explain, but the photos I took I think do justice to it. It's a recently built memorial, and I think it vaguely echoes the Vietnam War memorial in Washington DC. After the tour ended, a few of us went back to it to check it out more, and ventured into the Museum underneath it, which is really interesting and moving. Across from that memorial is the location of Hitler's bunker (underground and not visible anymore, it collapsed during an attempted excavation, but was nonetheless relevant) where he committed suicide with Evan Braun at the close of the war. Nearby was the Luftwaffe Headquarters, an original building that epitomizes Nazi architecture. Although clearly a different city, the block the building is on used to be home to the epicenter of the Nazi headquarters. Also nearby is the under-excavation remains of the Gestapo/SS headquarters, which are, rather ironically, nearby a bunch of ethnically diverse restaurants. Following that, we went to a synagogue which was one of only six from that survived the Kristallnacht progrom in November 1938. Overall, 84 synagogues were burned, destroyed, or otherwise useless. Around the block is where the Jewish Quarter used to be, and a small memorial now rests there. Behind it used to be where the old people's home was, as well as other community buildings, eventually used by the Nazis as a transitory point for deportation, and then later destroyed completely. Of course, I had to put a stone on the table where the memorial was as other Jews that passed by it had. We ended the tour at a hopeful site. I had taken Jews of Germany last Fall semester, and read about the Rosenstrasse Protest, which is an incredible hidden gem of the Nazi era. Basically, a lot of 'half-Jews' (meshlinge) were deported along with 'full-Jews' during the Fabrik-Aktion (the last roundup of Jews in Berlin before it was declared judenfrei). The wives of the men who were wrongly deported protested the Nazis on Rosenstrasse, with the Nazis threatening to shoot at them. In a strange twist of history, they actually withdrew after the women refused to disband, and somehow managed to get the SS to send back their husbands, all of them. They all survived the war and escaped the Holocaust, unlike their other Jewish counterparts. Theres a really good memorial created by an East German sculptor there, as well as an annotation on the road sign marking the historical significance. After Rosenstrasse, we went back to the Jewish memorial again to check it our more thoroughly.
After a dinner of really cheap sushi, we decided to go out, but only for a little bit. Initially we wanted to find a hookah bar, since it was Sunday night and Turkish businesses would still be open. Instead we found a small bar somewhere and the bartenders, being the friendly Germans they are, bought us shots and drinks all night, definitely one of the highlights of the trip :)
The next morning, I decided to venture out myself to the Bauhaus Archiv. Without getting too much into detail, the Bauhaus was a very influential design school prior to WWII that ended with the ushering in of the Nazi era. Bauhaus designs for modern furniture and appliances and household items are common things we see today, but were very avante-garde at the time. There was also a really good photography exhibition of an American photographer who shot various locations of New York City. By the time I got back we caught the next train leaving the main train terminal in Berlin, and back to Praha, home.