Day 2 of Berlin was going to explore free but interesting stuff in Berlin!! Heehee.
This is me outside an atas concert hall. Swantje insisted that I have to have my face inside the photo as proof that I was there
We went to check out the Ritter Sport museum nearby, where I went mad and bought a few kg of chocolate. I justify myself by saying that these would be my souvenirs. So better hope you're one of the people I'll be sharing these with!
After which, it was "History Come Alive" episode 2 in Berlin, about the times of Nazi Germany.
We first went to the 'Typography of Terror'. It's an exhibition on SS & Gestapo during Nazi Germany. I was curious as to how Germans viewed Hitler, because from my history lessons, Hitler was an interesting figure. He was a great leader who managed to restore strength in Germany in slightly more than a decade, but he was also one of the greatest villians of the 20th century! From what Swantje had said, it seems like schools in Germany emphasize on the atrocities that he had done (eg Holocaust) a lot more than in Singapore. In fact, she didn't think much about the economic side of the Nazi regime.
Went to the Holocaust memorial near the Reichstag building, a memorial for the murdered Jews. Interestingly enough, wikipedia pointed out that it was just the Jews, and not the others that were persecuted (ie gypsies, communists). It was quite strange that children and teenagers were running around and jumping around the 'blocks'.
The Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) is apparently a symbolic place for many of the key events in Europe's history - from Napoleon, to WWII and the Cold War. Today they use the place to screen the World Cup.
Busking is a lot more interesting in Berlin, partly because it's an artsy and hip area. By the way, this guy is a one man band playing something like an accordion and drums at the same time haha.
Proof that you can pretty much do anything to busk around Brandenburger Tor
After which, we headed to the Reichstag building, where parliament sessions were/are held in the past and present (Imperial Diet, Weimar Republic and after German reunification). I remembered from my history lessons that it burned down in 1933. According to Wikipedia, "This gave a pretext for the Nazis to suspend most rights provided for by the 1919 Weimar Constitution in the Reichstag Fire Decree in an effort to weed out communists and increase state security throughout Germany."
Rings a bell now.
The car of East Germany during the Cold War
No comments:
Post a Comment