Our First Days in Berlin

Brandenburg Gate

On our first full day in Berlin we started off with a guided tour. We spent quite a bit of the time viewing different historic sites during WWII. One interesting thing our tour guide did was have a folder of pictures and he would lead us to a place and let us view how it looks now and then bring out a picture of something like a Nazi parade going through there during WWII and it was quite shocking. In both Prague and Leipzig we talked quite a bit about WWII, but something about being in Berlin and getting to see exactly where a lot of major events happened hit different. We got to stand where the bunker was that Hitler lived for the last bit of his life as well as learn more about the way that the Nazis actually came to power. We also went to the Holocaust memorial and spent some time just walking through it by ourselves and reflect. One thing about this that was interesting is that the artists/architects that created the memorial never explained why they created it the way they did and instead left it up to each individuals interpretation. All in all this was probably my favorite tour we had so far. Even though it was less “here’s a famous building”, “here’s another famous building” and more “here is where this big event happened and here’s the memorial for it”, it was such an interesting and eye opening experience. 

After a more hard hitting morning some friends and I decided we needed something a little less intense and headed over to Alexanderplatz to get some lunch and explore that part of Berlin. *I would like to note here that the day after we went they uncovered an unexploded WWII bomb in a construction site in Alexanderplatz that we walked by while we were there*. That evening we had a group dinner at Prater Garden and I got the most delicious potato soup, which was a great way to end our first day in Berlin!

View from the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz

On our second day we began by heading to the Wannsee Museum, where they came up with The Final Solution. We had a guided tour with an amazing guide, and were also given time to explore the museum on our own. We got to dive into who exactly was a part of the making of this plan and what exactly their job was. It was so interesting to see how many different areas there were that needed supervising. I learned truly how paranoid Hitler was and how he planned out everything so thoroughly to make sure that no one person ever got too much power, or that there would never be an uprising against him. I didn’t realize this until after we left, but it was also interesting to see a museum in Germany that was willingly pointing the blame at themselves. They were pointing out this mistake that was made in their past and, instead of shoving it under the rug, they were displaying it and showing how truly horrible it was. 

That evening we got to go to the Deutsche Oper and see Andrea Chenier. This was the first opera I had ever seen live, and it was quite impressive. The cast was amazing and the story line was quite interesting! I don’t think I was all that prepared for exactly how dramatic this opera was. At one point a character was being so dramatic that they just fell on the floor and refused to get up! Overall I enjoyed the performance and I’m so lucky to have had my first real opera experience with a cast that amazing!