Berlin. The Testicle of the West

"Berlin is the testicle of the West. When I want the West to scream, I squeeze on Berlin." A very well known quote from the former Soviet Union leader, Nikita Khrushchev, when he gave a speech in Yugoslavia in 1963. Of course, the city of Berlin played a pivotal role during the Cold War. For the West, which included the Americans, the British, and the French, West Berlin was an island surrounded by a sea of red Soviet land. In 1949, the SED in the East, a Communist regime, took over the state's politics, while in the West, former Cologne mayor and anti-Nazi during the Nazi years, Konrad Adenauer, led the West. During the 1950s, Berlin was separated, indeed, but not to the extent it would later be. There was no wall. There was a border, in which if you had the right documents you could go back and forth. But as tensions arose, it was agreed that a wall between the two states was to be built. For two years the infamous Berlin wall was built. This development would define Berlin for nearly the next thirty years, and to an extent as we saw today, still plays a significant part in Berlin's heritage. 
This is a large cathedral seen on the West side of Berlin. It is important to note that the city itself during WWII was 80% bombed by the allies. This building was able to stay standing, although faced considerable damage. Instead of tearing it down it was decided, like many things, to let it remain the way it was for the purposes of remembering the war. For over sixty years it stood tall, damaged and ruined. Now they are refurbishing it, (in its destroyed state) which is apparently a four year process. 
Of course, Berlin is well known for its commemoration of the war. I don't think cities in Germany go to the same extent as Berlin does in remembering the victims of war. This may have been the closest commemorative plaque near our hotel. The first two words, when translated say, "Killed to death," followed by "hushed." The plaque commemorates a homosexual who was victimized by the Nazis. 
A former train station located in the heart of West Berlin (interestingly in a very wealthy neighbourhood where there are many fancy embassy residences. The very rich part of Berlin. Actually it is no longer a trainstation. It is now a cafe of sorts, but the tracks still remain as it was where the Jewish deportation centre in Berlin was located.

After the war, these metal platforms were installed to commemorate the Jews who were deported to places like Auschwitz and, the closer camp to Berlin, Sachsenhausen. They would give a description of the date of the deportation, the number of victims, and where they were going. As you can see there are lots of them.  
 
This may be an odd picture for many of you who read this. However, it plays an interesting role in my own personal knowledge, as I wrote about these apartment buildings only a few semesters ago for a research paper. These were built by the West, and were used in a competition of sorts for architects all over the world. It was called Interbau, an exhibition to show off West Berlin's new modern style. This area is called Hansaviertal. The locals call it hansa. Frankly I find the architecture quite ugly, but it was built in the 1960s after all! The 1950s and 1960s architecture is not known for its beauty that's for sure. Just look at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Nonetheless, this neighbourhood was used to demonstrate the West as modern living, and to contrast the Socialist living in the East.
 
One cannot see Berlin without seeing one of the remaining Nazi built buildings. Olympic Stadium. Built in the mid 1930s for the 1936 Olympics where Germany was going to host the games. Of course, this Olympic games is well remembered for two things. First, the grandiose nature of the ceremonies, due to Hitler's plans to show off his country to the world. Secondly, Jesse Owens, the African-American track star who took home four gold medals. Pretty amazing considering the circumstances, and the racial policies that were already taking place during this time. 
The former Stalinallee. A boulevard in East Berlin. I apologize it was hard to take a picture of this. Google images has some very good pictures to show this grandiose street. This is not a freeway. Its an inter-city street that was used by the Soviets for their grandiose plans and Socialist events. Leader's birthdays and Socialist holidays are what often took place here. Socialist parades. After WW2 the street was able to be reconstructed by the Soviets to promote their ideals. Very interesting. The facades of each building are quite nice too.

How about a streetlamp designed by Nazi architect Albert Speer. This was built for the Olympics so that when the athletes walked the long street to the Olympic Stadium, they could see the "beautiful" new street lights the Nazis had installed. Of course, Albert Speer played a crucial role in designing many of Hitler's buildings. He was tried at the Nuremberg Trials and was sentenced to 20 years of hard labour at Spandau Prison, where he would stay for the entire duration. Afterwords he wrote a few books condemning the Hitler, Himmler and the SS. He would later take full responsibility for his roles in the Nazi Party. He is often considered the "good Nazi" for being able to admit his guilt and giving money to a number of Jewish charities in his later life. His books and details about the personalities and inner-workings of the Nazi Party are increasingly valuable to historians.  
The Reichstag. Just days after the War (above) and presently. The most interesting story about this building is the Nazis set the Reichstag on fire in 1933 in order to begin their Nazi racial policies. They would later put the blame on the Jews for setting it on fire, in order to anger the public, and for them to begin implementing their racial policies. Presently there is a dome above the Reichstag, which is relatively new so that people can walk up. The clear glass symbolizes that the government of Germany should always be transparent and easily seen by the people and the world. 

Brandenburg Gate. When the Nazis ascended to power they used the Gate as a party symbol. The Gate survived World War II and is one of the damaged structures still standing. The gate was badly damaged with holes in the columns from bullets and nearby explosions. Following Germany's surrender and the end of the war, the governments of East and West Berlin restored it in a joint effort. The holes were patched and were visible for many years following the war. During the post-war partition of Germany the gate was isolated and inaccessible immediately next to the Berlin Wall.  The area around the gate featured most prominently in the media coverage of the opening of the wall in 1989. Throughout its existence, the Brandenburg Gate was often a site for major historical events and is today considered a symbol of the tumultuous history of Europe and Germany, but also of European unity and peace. 

These pictures were taken from photographs of the Berlin Wall. On the left, an approximately 200 foot span between the two walls. Simply known as the "Dead Zone." Basically a no mans land between the two sectors. On the right, apartments in the East were used as "wall fillers." No one on the left hand side lived in these apartments that faced the West as people had initially tried to escape to the west through their windows. On the other hand, the West used that small gap as an alley way. Kids were known to play in these areas. Like bounce a ball off the wall.
 
Present day portion of the Wall. This was from the East. During the partition period, no one in the East could get that close to the wall. So the difference between the East and West wall was the amount of graffiti on the West wall. Now the East has graffiti all over it. Some of the pictures talk about unity and peace. Very cool.
 
Hotel Adlon. During the Nazi period, officials of the regime would go to this hotel to celebrate or have a good time. It remained standing miraculously after the war. However, when the Soviet occupation went in there to party one night, a few soldiers went into the wine cellar and somehow it caught on fire and it burnt down. It is amazing that the building was able to remain throughout the War, including still running primarily as a hotel and hospital for soldiers, but when the Soviets showed up it accidentally caught on fire. During the war the hotel had bunkers underneath for its guests.

An example of a typical Socialist building. you can't really tell, but it's a utopian picture of kids learning in school, doctors, teachers, scientists, physicists, astronauts all doing the Socialist duty. These ideals were far from the truth. In reality, East Germany, and the Eastern bloc for that matter, was a highly oppressed and suppressed country who did not have the things that the propaganda, ideals, and pictures portrayed.
 
A couple more pictures of Stalinallee. Now known as Karl Marx Boulevard. Cool fact: The street was built to go in the direction of Moscow. The idea that you could travel straight for a long time and end up in the capital of the USSR.  
   We can now say we've touched the wall.
Finally, Check point Charlie. The border crossing between East and West in Berlin. Now a very touristy attraction. Takes away from what it really is. It was really called "Checkpoint C," but Charlie is the pseudonym for it. In October 1961 it was the scene of a standoff between Soviet and American tanks. Luckily nothing happened.

That is it! We have finished our trip through Poland and Europe. I hope you all enjoyed the blogs, and hope you learned some European history. I know I did. And I enjoyed writing about it. Thanks for reading! Off to my home sweet home!

Munich Part II: The City

I am starting to fall behind in these blog posts. I have to do two today because I return home tomorrow.

So now you know about Munich's beer culture and everything there is to know about beer. But how about the city's rich history? How about its role during the Nazi period? Bavaria, the state in which Munich lies, was and still is a very conservative place. Certainly compared to Berlin, Munich is a very wealthy city. It may have something to do with the state owned biergartens and the amount of people who enjoy the tasty beverages! But, before then, Munich played the role as the birthplace of the Nazi movement

 This was Hitler's apartment suite. Inititally it was the suite located on the second floor, but as his Chancellorship evolved, he needed more security. All other suites were then for used for the SS and other Nazi personnel.

 See the green. That's a computer shop. But, before it became the shop, it was the original bierhalle where Hitler spoke some of his very early speeches in the early 1920s. Initially, he went to one of the ADP (Workers' Party) functions to spy and listen into their delegations, so that he could report back to another party that he had previously belonged to. However, when he listened to the speeches and people talking, he liked what he had heard, and soon enough he was at the podium giving his own speeches. He soon became very prominent because of his "great" oracle abilities. The ADP eventually turned into the NSADP (National Socialist Workers' Party or Nazi Party), and Hitler would soon attempt a coup d'etat in the city of Munich and overthrow the government. He was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison, but only served 9 months because the judge was fond of Hitler and his politics. Already we can see how Hitler's popularity was beginning to win people over and that he was already starting to corrupt the certain systems, like the judiciary system.

 Just around the corner from Hitler's bierhalle location (Not his beer hall because it is well known that Hitler didn't drink or smoke!) was where the Oktoberfest museum is located as per the previous blog entry! Its the white building.

 See the wall and the statue? Like we saw in Warsaw, there is evidence of gun shot holes in the walls. These are left for people to remember the war's destruction and not to repeat the past.

 This was the first Nazi Party headquarter's after they rose to prominence. Eventually they would have other buildings set up all over the city and the rest of Germany. See the next photo for an interesting fact!

 In the building you see in the above image, are these doorways and above the doorways on the ceiling are these tiled designs. They resemble the Nazi swastika. The swastika is banned everywhere in Germany, but these were left in the old Nazi party headquarters so that people can remember the past. They are also left there because they are sort of an abstract swastika and not necessarily the one that we most associate with the Nazi period. Very interesting.

 Munch was significantly bombed in the war. This is because it played a huge role in the formation of the Nazi party and this was well known to the allies. For this fact, the allies wanted to ensure that they bombed the city as best they could. Many building stood tall, but had no roofs. This building had a big portion of its side blown off. When the allies rebuilt the building, the purposely rebuilt it with a different stone so that people could remember the war.

Preparations are on the way in Munich for Oktoberfest. Sounds like a gong show. The biggest tent, if you could call it that, can hold 13,000 people. But it's really packed.

 If you have a working knowledge of Nazi history, most likely you have heard of the White Rose Party (Weisse Rose). The White Rose movement opposed Hitler and Nazi rule and WW2. The White Rose movement is probably the most famous of the civilian resistance movements that developed within Nazi Germany but some of its members paid a terrible price for their stand against the system. It was made up of students who attended Munich University. Its most famous members were brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl. The Members of the White Rose movement clandestinely distributed anti-Nazi and anti-war leaflets and it was while they were in the process of doing this that they were caught. The small party produced anti-war leaflets (see the photo of the sort of leaflets put into the cement) that were also deemed to be anti-Nazi. If they were captured they would have been charged with treason with the inevitable consequences. That is why the group had to be kept very small. Everyone knew each other and each was convinced of the loyalty of everyone in the group. It was while leaflets were being distributed at Munich University (see photo) that the Gestapo arrested Hans and Sophie Scholl. They were seen throwing the leaflets around the university’s atrium by a caretaker and he contacted the Gestapo. Both Hans and Sophie admitted their full responsibility in an attempt to end any form of interrogation that might result in them revealing other members of the movement. They, plus one more person, were found guilty and sentenced to death by beheading. The executions took place the same day! You think the verdict was already fixed? Of course it was!

 This was an area where Hitler gave some early speeches. He was also seen in a photograph watching some others speak before he rose to prominence. Just around the left hand corner was a Nazi plaque that commemorated some aspect of the Nazis. When people during the Nazi reign walked passed this plaque they were obligated to do the Hitler salute. Members of the secret police the SS, or Gestapo I cannot remember, stood there 24/7 to make sure people did this. If not people were subsequently arrested and put into jail or a concentration camp. However, as shown in the next and final picture, there was a way around this.

Just ahead of the "plaque" was a small alley way. Some people, who chose not to do the salute, would go down this pathway. Of course, the gold stones in this photo were not always there. They were later installed as a way to commemorate those who avoided the Nazi plaque.

That is it for Munich. I have one post left about Berlin, and then you should have a full history lesson!

Es war ein Vergnügen!

Munich Part I: Beer Tour

I apologize. It has been a while me blogger friends. There are a two reasons for this. First, internet in these hotels is not too easy to come by. Every hotel except for one has made us pay for their use of WIFI. Secondly, when we arrived in Munich from Nuremberg a few days ago, we had a planned beer and food tour. Lets just say we enjoyed ourselves. Actually, I enjoyed myself!

I will tell you all about it!

But first, I must say that now we are in Berlin as I write this post. I had wrote a previous blog about Munich on the long train ride, but some how it got lost in translation, and so now I am redoing this portion of the blog. Due to the lengths and events in Munich. I will call this blog entry part I and the subsequent post part II. Part I is about the beer tour and everything you must know about beer and the second one is about Munich the city itself, and in particular, its massive role in the Third Reich. Very interesting indeed!

About a month ago, prior to our trip, I was interested in possibly viewing a brewery in Munich, as I knew that it was very well known for its beer. I came across a youtube video, and an online city tour guide called Viator. Not sure how it works, but I guess they work with a company called Radius who puts on numerous tours in Munich including city tours in the night, and even Dachau concentration camp. Nonetheless, I was amazed by this online video that I immediately told my mom, and we booked it!

After arriving in Munich after a short train ride from Nuremberg, our previous city, we had a bit of time to shop. We came back to the hotel shortly to drop stuff off, and then back to the train station where the tour guide kiosk was located. We got there a bit early, and were immediately concerned about what we had gotten ourselves into. Initially, it looked as if we were going on a tour with three incredibly drunk, and very rough looking, guys. Luckily this was not the case and more people showed up. Looked like a good mix of people from all over the world including Australians, Kiwis, English, an American, and Canadians, including a group of four Chinese women from the west-side of Vancouver. My mom and I were concerned because I don't think these women knew what they were in for!

The tour began by an introduction to German beer. The guide, and American from Texas, who clearly has enjoyed a few beers in his life time, began to tell us about Augustiner Brewery and the famed Augustiner Helles. It's a type of lager that has only four ingredients in it. It is simple, smooth and delcious. He gave us the story of how it ended up that the last family member to own it had no heir to give the company to so she gave it to a board who, under contract,  had provisions that the beer could only be made in the surrounding, basically so it couldn't expand, and that it had to be made the same way. Then the contract also stated that 50% of the profit from the beer goes to charities around Munich, and the other half goes to the business. That's why you can't buy this golden goodness anywhere else but Munich. Too bad, but one may understand why.

We learned about the word prost! Which is the German way to say cheers! Its important that when you do this that you do it by looking the person in the eyes or else its seven years of bad sex. As the English guys said, "I guess thats better than seven years without sex."

We then got on a train and headed to our first destination. Oh I forgot to say that we were able to test the Helles right at the kiosk in the middle of the station. Very cool! We headed to the Oktoberfest Museum. A must destination for all you beer lovers. The information about this old building is very cool to know. It is also the oldest building in Munich as it was built in 1340, I believe, and unlike most buildings in Munich, it survived the war! As we later found out the next day, just down the alley and on to the big street was where Hitler's famous beer hall was located. It no longer exists and is now a computer store, but it's where Hitler gave his very early speeches and where the origins of the Nazi party began. In 1924, the attempted a coup, which was known as the beer hall putsch. But I digress.

We got to see many artifacts from the origins of Oktoberfest, how beer was created by watching a video, so the world's first refrigeration system that the guide argues was used for cooling down beers. He told us about how monks were some of the first to start making beer, and how these monks would drink nine litres each day because it made them feel closer to God, and that by making this golden treat they were doing God's work. So basically what I'm trying to say is that by drinking beer you are getting closer to God. It is what God wants according to these very drunk monks. Do you know how much nine litres is? I had two and was really starting to feel it!

We got to taste a few samples of Augustiner down at the cellar of this museum, which is also a pub. Then we headed to the Hofbraukeller, a very large biergarten. I think we need a few of these in Vancouver. I have got to talk to Gregor Robertson about this idea. Or Christy Clark. You think she would be interested? The reason why I say this is, is because the Hofbraukeller biergarten is state owned!!! As our guide said, we are doing our civic duty as tax payers and supporting the state. I think this is very good idea. This is why Munich has done very well for itself. That and its 19% sales tax.

Here we tried a selection of food. Basically a charcuterie plate of German goodness. Cheese and meat. And of course the first one liter beer of the night. It was a variation of a helles. It was bit more toasted and delicious.

We proceeded on to the Hofbrauhaus, a large beer hall. We learned the traditional song that is played by the Bavarian brass band inside, and then proceeded for a few more beers. It was loud. It was raucous. It was hot. It was chaos. It was fun. We hung out with an Australian couple and the American who was in Germany doing his academic research on Ancient Greek scripture. Apparently Munich has good records of these things.

We had a good night. Shared many laughs, and staggered back to the hotel, where I did not feel to good in the morning! My mom was concerned that I may not be able to make go of the Eagles Nest Tour the next day. I sucked it up and put on a smile and away we went to Hitler's summer home Eagles Nest. Which will all be discussed in the next blog entry, and after all these lovely pictures of the debauchery that ensued throughout the beer tour. Enjoy.

PROST!

 The building was very tight because it was built so long ago. My mom like the height of the doorways.

 He cracked a lot of jokes during the tour. Some were pretty funny, yet crude. Did you know when you see images of people carrying a bunch of the 1 liter glasses, its like 70 lbs! Crazy heavy.

 These are the proper mugs to drink beer out of. The preferred choice amongst Bavarian beer drinkers. Has to be the ceramic mugs with blue writing on them. The serve many purposes, but most of which is that they are the most efficient in keeping the true beer taste.

 Apparently never drink draft beer. You don't know how long ago the pipes were clean and how long ago the keg was tapped. Brown bottles are the best for keeping light and air away from the beer. Those to elements are what damage beer the most. NOT HEAT! Brown bottles let the least amount of light in. Second green bottles, and last clear bottles, which are the worst for type for beer. Too bad since I normally drink beer by Sleemans, which uses a clear bottle. And I like the draft too! The hoola skirt looking one was used for shipping the large bottles. Also, have you complained about a tin-like taste when you drink beer from a can? Wrong. It's not the beer. Its when your lips touch the aluminum can that that causes you taste buds to react to the taste of metal. It's not the beer itself. In fact, cans are the preferred choice as they cannot let air or light in the beer. Interesting eh?

 During Oktoberfest there are only four beers allowed. Augustiner is one of them. Each brewery has the special and hidden recipes in this box. This box has four locks for each brewery. Each brewery has its own key. As our guide said, its like trying to open a box for a nuclear bomb. This is a ritual during Oktoberfest.

 Tasting and Prost time!

 State owned! I'm telling you, this could be an economy booster!

German goodness. Very heavy stuff.

 A 1L prost!

 Hanging out with the cool kids!

 This picture doesn't do the biergarten justice. It was HUGE!

 Outside the haufbrauhaus.

 Danke!

Here is to tomorrow's hangover! By the way, that is the way that you are to hold this very heavy mug of beer. We learned that too!