On Friday, my Fulbright friends and I walked around the city and found parts of the Berlin wall and Museum Island. I left them in front of Museum Island and a building that I later found out was Chancellor Angela Merkel's home! From Merkel's house I went to meet my second cousin once removed (or my grandfather's first cousin's son). We ate ginormous pizzas and walked around some hip neighborhoods in East Berlin. We passed by the New Synagogue and a Jewish neighborhood, the Hackesche Höfe (fancy courtyards filled with shops that were actually once full of mud and had almost fallen to ruins during the GDR days), and the Kunsthaus Tacheles. The Kunsthaus Tacheles were offices and a shopping arcade in the early 1900s and then they served multiple purposes during and after WWII. The building was partially demolished and was suppose to be completely demolished when an art collective moved in in the 1990s, thus, saving the building from demolition. I first learned about this building and the art collective during a class at Pitzer named "Cities in the 21st Century." I was hoping to go inside the building to see its spray-painted walls and art studios, but it has recently been locked up and the artists have been evicted. This development is very controversial. Luckily, the sidewalks around and the yard behind the building are still full of funky artists constructing different installation pieces and graffiti art that my cousin and I explored. On a side note, "tacheles" is a Yiddish word that means to speak one's mind or straight talk.
Walking back to the train station to go our separate ways, my cousin and I stopped by a former boarding border crossing between West and East Berlin called Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears). I knew about the Berlin Wall and its aims, but I had not realized the actual impact of the wall until going to this museum and having conversations with my cousin, who lived in Berlin while the wall existed.
On Saturday, my friends and I went to the famous Kaiser-Wilhelm Church, which is a landmark in Berlin because it was bombed during WWII and not reconstructed. Then we tried to escape the bitterly cold weather by shopping and eating Thai food. After we warmed up, we went back outside to see another stretch of Berlin Wall. It was the East Side Gallery with lots famous graffiti depicting feelings and memories of the wall. My friends and I then had dinner and went to a hip-hop dance, Halloween party. I would categorize my costume as a Hipster Minnie Mouse. Ironically, while we waited for our subway to go back to our hostel from the party, I saw a real mouse.
Sunday morning we walked around a huge flea market. They were selling everything from antiques and clothes to door nobs and radios. It was great to be among people who actually live in Berlin, rather than a lot of tourists. Overall, the trip was a success! However, it was very cold the entire time and I did not get to see as many museums as I would have liked. Maybe, I will have to return! While it didn't snow in Berlin, when I returned to the CR and Plzen there was a fresh blanket of snow on the ground! The snow only lasted a few days, but the cold weather has lingered... It is going to be a long winter!
Happy Halloween!
Photo Key:
1. Brandenburg Gate
2. Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
3. Museum Island
4. Hackesche Höfe
5. Kunsthaus Tacheles - Front view
6. Kunsthaus Tacheles - Art in the back
7. Berlin Wall
8. Halloween Costumes - Asha = Zebra, Miriam = Minnie Mouse, Robin = Witch
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