Kellogg Occupy Berlin

To celebrate a friend’s birthday, 30+ Kellogg students studying in various exchange programs flock to Berlin. It was below freezing, the week that Europe faced the cold front. I still decided to take a walking tour of Berlin, thinking this is the ideal way to learn about this city rich in history. Berlin was originally built on a swamp, Berle meaning swamp. We start at the Hotel Avalon, infamous for where MJ swung his baby from the balcony. The 1920's marked the split of the city to east and west Berlin as well as diving the entire country between the communist East and the Allied West. The country, similar to France is one made up of small cities and villages, with only 4 cities with over 1 million people. The Holocaust memorial is a set of slabs which left relatively unexplained by the artist, as to evoke your own thoughts on its meaning. Walking through the Third Reich, an area filled with former Nazi buildings (SS headquarters etc), we see the Death Strip, between the inner and outer walls of the Berlin wall, where snipers would shoot at captives trying to escape. 

In the Mauer Museum, located at Checkpoint Charlie, an area where many people try to escape to west Berlin, there are many interesting tales of escape attempts. Some examples include, hiding in suitcases, hiding in a toilet and then swinging over the wall, and stealing papers from another person to get to the other side. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Lastly, the Topography of Terror  museum is just about all that  I could handle for the day. With the eerie and chilling feeling of being in the Third Reich, and learning about the gruesome details of the Holocaust, I leave in a depressed state. 

On a more upbeat note, what fascinates me most about Berlin is the cryptic recent history which can be seen and felt all through the city, the arty and graffiti, hipster style, and how they all just melt together into one and co-exist with harmony. It’s a perfect blend of history, culture, street art, and a hipster scene. It’s something that I wouldn’t see or imagine before, but it works. We spent the last night partying until 7am, as we couldn’t get into any clubs until 2am. The next time I come back, I’ll make sure it’s during the summer.