Dresden und Geschichte sind geil

  After a fantastic trip to Prague, it was time to buckle down on a Philosophy paper and a German final. After those inconveniences were out of the way, I took a tour with Paz's German class in East Berlin to check out some catacombs. We went behind an old building structure that is primarily all clubs now. We went under one of the buildings that was undergoing construction. The building was first built as a brewery and the underground was used as a cellar. In WWI, the same building was a hospital, then it was a bunker in WWII. Today many Berlin artists hang out there to get inspiration. The future construction plans to transform the building into a parking lot. I really enjoy that every corner, building, house, and person in Berlin has it's own story pertaining to Berlin's long history.

Chancellors of Germany

Preserved Soviet messages

Later in the week I went on a tour to the Reichstag. The Reichstag serves similar functions to the White House. Ever since its mysterious fire (although many theorize that it was the Nazi's who wanted to burn constiturional documents) in 1933, it was never fully rennovated until 1990. There is a room in the middle of the building that is covered with Russian messages. During the Battle of Berlin, the Soviets took over and wrote messages all over the walls. The walls have been preserved (there are also bullet holes). The guide told us that 2 weeks ago, a Soviet Vet visited the Reichstag in uniform and took a picture next to his own message. He is 97 years old.
    There are also tons of art pieces. There is a wall of metal boxes that are each dedicated to a chancellor. There is a black box representing the time Germany did not have a democracy. The guide also said Hitler's box needs to be fixed about every 2 weeks because of vandalism. There is also a 4 sided tower, and each side of the tower represents a different time period: the Empire, Weihmar Republic, National Socialist, and the modern Republic. Each side scans a speech during the corresponding time period. After the tour we walked to the Dom at the top of the Reichstag and saw an amazing view of Berlin.

 

Frauenkirche

 The next day we took a trip to Dresden, about 2 hours south east of Berlin.  Dresden was completely destroyed during the war but many of the gothic architecture was rebuilt. There were also still many communists buildings around, so the mixture of architecture was interesting. One building, the New Green Vault, housed thousands of pieces of porcelain and jewelry from the hierarchical times. We went up the well known Fraunkirche. Dresden is known for their Christmas markets. It was extremely crowded but the vending stalls and decorations were charming. We venture out of the touristic zones and the scene reminded me of Berlin. All of the apartment complexes were graffitied or had huge monuments on them. There were other forms of art such as sculptures protruding from the buildings. Dresden was also fairly cheap. The dialect was hard to understand, a little southern, (which makes sense why I haven't learned shit in German class since my teacher is from Dresden) and does not have a good reputation.

Christmas markets!

  The next day Christine invited her parents over to celebrate her mother's birthday. The house wall full of 80-year-olds. It was truely amazing. They were extremely interested in American and student life. They then told their stories about the war. Christine's father jumped over a bridge he was defending because he did not want to take orders from the Nazis nor was he about to get attacked from the oncoming Americans and Soviets. Christines father is also an engineer and very good with his hands. A typical German decoration is a Christmas Pyramid. Jonas, my host brother, was also over and we assembled one Christine's dad had built years ago. The heat from candles spin the pyramid.

I am now officially done with finals, no longer studying abroad but just abroad. I have tried to go to Berghain and Water Gate, 2 of Berlin's most exclusive clubs but have gotten denied at both. I WILL go before I leave Europe though. Even if I have to go the night before my flight back to the states :) Farewell dinner for FU BEST was delightful. Also going to the ballet Swan Lake tonight, then off to Barcelona tomorrow morning for my 3 week trip! I wont have my computer with me so blogs will be postponed. Merry Christmas and Happy New years! 

Inside Jokes:

my mad skateboarding skills 

dingle-berries

scarfed-masked murderer of Dresden