The Sites of Bonn, Cologne, Berlin, and Dresden

Outside of the curriculum, we have seen a great deal of Germany and learned much about its history. We began in Bonn, where Dr. Reiner gave us a personal tour and explained to us Bonn's role as the capital of West Germany. He showed us the city's cathedral as well as a wonderful view of the Rhine. As we came near the AIB offices at the end of the tour, Dr. Reiner pointed out a nearby building. It was closed to the public, he explained, because it was a seminary. In fact, it was the seminary that Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, attended.
The next day we saw a museum on the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was a very informative demonstration of the events that have shaped the development of Germany and Germans over the past 40 years.
We spent the afternoon in Cologne, where we were given a brief tour of the inner city and the cathedral by Andre. He showed us Roman ruins, the old Rathaus, gave us a history of Cologne both in antiquity and over the course of the cathedral's construction, and then took us out to a local bierhaus.
Berlin is overwhelming. We arrived about three hours before the new year. In one hour we were walking out of our hotel toward the New Year Festival. In another hour we were at the far end of the festival. After almost another hour of pushing and shoving, we were in front of the Brandenburg Gate just in time for 2009.
The next day we had our bus tour. Berlin is the worldwide Cold War packed into city size. Checkpoint Charlie had a rebuilt booth (the real one was torn down) and around it were pictures of loaded American and Russian tanks pointed directly at each other, about a football field apart. It gives this member of a younger generation a better appreciation for how dire those times had felt. There were many other memorials, monuments, and musuems that were very nice to see, but I was most of all amazed by how much Berlin was defined by the time it spent divided.
Today we visited Dresden, which still has ruins in the old part of the city. So far we have mainly seen the Zwinger (a sort of festival square) and the Frauenkirche. The Frauenkirche is a Lutheran church that is unique in two ways: the church is named after Mary and the inside is filled with statues and images Jesus and some other important biblical figures (though not a single image of Mary can be found).
We have more to see in Dresden and I still have much more to see in Berlin tomorrow and Monday before we move on to Hannover.