Another really full day today. We started off with the intention of going to a local church, but we were both way too tired to get up for it. Late morning, we headed out to the lake Wannsee to see the villa where Nazi officials decided to commit the Holocaust. We then took another trip into Berlin city center, where we found remnants of the Berlin Wall and went to the German Spy Museum. We finished off the day with a nice, long walk through the main park in the cool evening air.
Haus der Wansee-Konferenz
It’s not a huge landmark and there’s not much to say about the location. In 1942, the “Jewish Problem” was the topic of discussion for some of Germany’s most cruel leaders.
There were simply too many Jews and they weren’t leaving the country or dying quickly enough. On top of that, there were still millions left. If each one needed a bullet in the head, there wouldn’t be enough bullets to shoot at the Allies. Clearly, a more efficient way to cleanse the continent needed to be created. The best place to discuss such a decision would be at the SS retreat on Wannsee lake. German leaders met and decided on how the Jews were to be exterminated from then on. Death camps such as Auschwitz and Treblinka were established and ramped up to produce death on an industrial scale. The Jews would no longer be a problem.
The lovely villa set on a gorgeous lake shore greatly contrasted the unthinkable discussion that once took place there. As in most of the locations I’ve visited on this trip, you would never know if history hadn’t been preserved.
The Berlin Wall
Even those that aren’t interested in history have probably heard of the Berlin Wall. It’s one of the most important historical events to happen in recent history. The concrete barrier that once divided communist East Berlin/Germany from democratic West Berlin/Germany was torn down in 1989, marking the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union. Today, only a few sections of the wall remain. Valerie and I happened to stumble across a fairly large section while heading to a museum. Very surreal to see history standing before you. Even thought I’ve seen site after site, they never cease to leave me in awe.
German Spy Museum
In an effort to do something a little more fun (aren’t all museums fun?!), we went to the German Spy Museum in the afternoon. It was definitely geared more towards families. There was lots of fun stuff though! The exhibits were highly interactive with plenty of creative ways to let you practice your codebreaking skills, test out secret inks, navigate air ducts, and escape through a laser maze. There was plenty of history and artifacts in there too. Learning about the differences between East and West spy methods and double-crossings was fascinating.
The highlight of the museum was definitely the laser maze. I could see it being a decent business on its own. Basically, you chose a scenario to try to escape from. Easy, medium, hard with static or moving lasers. You tried to get through the maze as quickly as possible without hitting a beam. It’s way harder than it looks! I think I had 3 tries and only got through once. Ton of fun though. I could’ve gone through there for quite a while.
Parks
One of the highlights of literally every city is the awesome parks. Berlin has several large ones close to the Reichstag building, so we took a long walk through there. Plenty of old statues and structures were scattered throughout. The city made the intentional decision to not repair the bullet damage from each of them following the war, despite extensive restoration work in the ’90s. Not one bit of Berlin was spared the destruction.
Seeing these things over and over has given me time to reflect on where we’re at in history. I am so privileged to be taking this trip when I am. For the umpteenth time on this trip, I learned today that the structures or memorials or museums that I was looking at were only built in the 1990s. For decades, people wanted to forget the war. Only in my lifetime has there been a concerted effort to remember it, restore reminders, and preserve them. I’ve benefited greatly from these recent efforts, as I get to learn about and appreciate the hard work of many people that took decades to put together.
Almost over
Hard to believe I’ve been gone from home for a whole month now. May 8th was my first day in Europe. I’ve said it before but in some ways, that seems like forever ago. In others, I can’t believe it’s gone so fast. I’m starting to dread the return to the stresses of everyday life. I’m also really, really going to miss life over here. I love the walkability and transportation, the food is phenomenal and cheap and so much healthier, and I’m constantly surrounded by history. It’ll be hard to go back, I think. But I do miss family and friends a lot.