I sleep with a different person each night it seems...I came back after my exploratory tour of Berlin to find my roommate was Richard, a tech guy who worked at a university in England. He was on a three week break and we shared many of the same interests. It was good just to have the two people in the room. A bit noisy with the kinder outside. I wanted to ask him "how do you say 'Shut up!' in German" but didn't want to wake him in case he was sleeping.
Next morning we had a great breakfast downstairs and walked to the victory column. You can see bullet and artillery fragments on the column. Disturbing! We parted ways. A good fellow.
I set off for the train station but got sidetracked by the Brandenburg gate. This was abandoned land for about 20 years when the Soviets decided to build the wall there. When the wall came down, they redeveloped the whole area and France got their assembly back. A very touristy area.
I toon the train back to the main station and then attempted to head south for the topography of terror museum. Transit was tough and then impossible when one station was out of service. The 500 metre detour turned into a 2 hour side trip where I accidentally discovered the island of museums and took a random team that dropped me at a station where I could access the Topography Museum.
The Topography of Terror Museum is named this because the area was home to all the SS offices and other State Ministeries. The exhibits are stark and simple detailing how Hitler came to power. I chuckled when I saw that Hitler closed down the unions and arrested the leaders. I guess people in power don't like it when people try to affirm their rights. Then it was just a series of rights being reduced, opponents being imprisoned, books burned, Jews forbidden to go into villages. Sad to see. They then gave a who's who of the people who put the extermination plans in process. Some committed suicide, some escaped, some were tried. It was a simple but powerful exhibit. The whole museum started when people started to mark the prison cells as a way to remind peopld of what occurred.
With this museum done, it was just a short walk to Checkpoint Charlie where the American and Soviet sectors met. There were workers dressed as American soldiers holding flags who charged 2 euros for a picture. The museum was informative but probably hadn't been updated since the '60's. It made the resistance museum in southern France look pretty good. What was most interesting were the escape stories and the ways that people reached freedom in the west. I watched a show once that told of a family who made a hot air ballon and another guy who made an ultralight plane and picked up his brother on the lawn of the Riechstag. All the actual things used in the escape are available to view. Others were not so lucky. One story of a man named Peter involved him getting shot and laying bleeding under the wall and asking for help. It took 45 minutes for a doctor to arrive but by that time he'd bled out. Another young boy had fallen into the river but nobody could rescue him lest the guards start shooting as the river belonged to East Germany.
I had a little bit more time before heading back to the hostel so I saw the Jewish Museum. You had to go through a metal detector as well as having your things screened. The architecture of the museum had several empty spaces to symbolize all those in the war. It turns into a bit of a maze but the individual articles with the story behind the owners is stirring. Letters, sewing machines, spoons and all with a sad ending for their owners. There was an artist who made sketches while in the ghetto. He also made a book filled with wonderful, positive images for his son and it was a wish for his future. I think it was called "Tommy's Birthday". The artist was officially making posters for the Getmans but when he was caught with his sketches depicting real life in the ghetto, he was sent to the camps and murdered. That's the word they use in each case at the museum-not killed or died-these almost seem too gentle. The most powerful piece occurred when you round a corner and there's a long, narrow darkening corridor which has metal, circular faces on the floor. It is dead silent and it hits you that those people are gone forever. It was brilliant.
The museum also sought to teach about the history of the Jews. Due to various laws in earlier times, they had limited job prospects: beggar, lawyer, doctor, or banker. They also have a big focus on learning. I enjoyed this museum thoroughly.
Time was up and I made it back to the hoste landing in what was a district for prostitutes. Several of them called out to me like old friends. Such a warm and welcoming neighbourhood! Grabbed my bags, caught a bus and landed at the steps of Buckets.
Buckets is a app designer who lives in London but wanted to share his penthouse view in Berlin. I found him to be very friendly, welcoming, and funny. He's got a tonne of travel stories and has travelled to several places. He is new to warm showers and laughed when I told him there were ferocious debates on the warm showers forum about whether people should be accepted without bicycles. For my part, I am glad he was flexible. The owner of the apartment had a piano so I played for a bit. I will certainly be happy to come back and play my own piano again. He was also good enough to cook some soda bread from his traditional Ireland. Day 1 done in Berlin!