Blog 6.1: Berlin

This blog will be different than the other blogs I have previously completed, in that I will be focusing only on the parts that I thought were the most important about Berlin.

I honestly believe Berlin could possibly be my favorite city that the program visited. It has an extremely unique past, which has led to an even more inimitable present. With Berlin being split in half for over 30 years, the city could be comparable to identical twins being separated at birth and having two polar opposite upbringings, The Soviet Union in the East and Western influence in the West. Upon reunification, Berlin had to work to merge the polar opposite cultures they had been immersed in for decades. These differences can still be seen today with the changes of scenery and architecture in the East and West along with the East only having used trams while the West used the subways system. The entire city seemed to revolve around the younger generations and the city had more of an upbeat vibe. There were platz’s everywhere that had every type of food you could think of with live music and shows to help you enjoy your lunch or snacks. Also, Berlin is a museum paradise with as many different types of museums as you could possibly want! I think the highlights of the excursion are definitely the trip to Sachsenhausen, the guided city tour with Sion and also the tour of the KFH kidney center in Leipzig. I’ve grown up hearing and reading about concentration camps and the horrors that are associated with these camps. But, you do not fully understand the horrid conditions that these people lived in. You don’t get to see where 300 people had to sleep in an area not meant to hold more than 80 people. You don’t get to see the rooms where hundreds, possibly thousands, of human beings were experimented on and tortured. You don’t get to see the remains of the buildings where tens of thousands of humans walked through, tricked, murdered and burnt in a furnace to not have to “waste space” with mass graves. You don’t get to hear and read stories of captives going into the neutral zone and being shot without warning because the guards were being scared for their lives if you happen to escape. And you don’t get to walk through the gates that every person sent to Sachsenhausen had to walk through and read the Arbeit macht frei sign on that gate. This was an experience that will never be forgotten.