Berlin at Night - Food & Landmarks

This is a compilation of our delicious food and walks around Berlin after dark... sehr romantisch!

The German Transportation Museum

On Sunday, January 20th, our group toured the German Transportation Museum. This was one of the coolest museums I had ever been in. It was like the Air & Space Museum, but it had all forms of transportation - trains, cars, planes, and boats. It was fascinating to see the technological development of Germany (which was quite impressive) because I could compare it to America's history. The main reason we were there was to examine the involvement of the railroad corporations in the Holocaust. On display was a giant steam engine used during the late 30's through the war. Next to it was a typical cattle car that was used to transport Jews to ghettos and concentration camps. In a single car, the Nazis would cram roughly 100 people. Standing in the dark confines of the car, I was terribly disturbed by the thought of this. The cars were small and very dark. The only light came from one window, which would be covered up with barbed wire. Sometimes, when people realized what was about to happen to them, they would resort to tearing at the barbed wire with their bare hands to break it. If anyone made any sort of loud disturbances or were caught attempting to throw things out of the cars, soldiers would shoot the car. The journey from Berlin to the concentration camps in east Germany or Poland could take hours, if not days. People had to go to the bathroom and sleep standing up. In the winter, it was bitter cold. In the summer, the heat was choking and the smell was unbearable. It was very important to visualize this; it is impossible to imagine otherwise.

The East Berlin Tower

On Friday, the 18th of January, we went back into East Berlin and went up in the East Berlin Television tower. This had been built by the Soviet Union during the late 1960's as an impressive landmark of east Berlin. It is 290 meters tall. As Dr. Moser put it, they wanted something impressive to compete with the West. As we walked through security, it was the first time I noticed a difference between east and west Berliners. Dr. Moser has mentioned there are subtle differences in mannerisms and cultural values, but the personnel working the tower made those differences quite apparent. I felt like I had unfortunately traveled back in time to the Soviet Union of the 70's. The people were nice, but very serious. The security checkpoint was pointless; they searched our bags, made us throw out all liquids, but never screened our bodies. I'm convinced that they just wanted us to buy drinks at the bar in the top of the tower. We crammed in this tiny elevator that took us up 290 meters in under 30 seconds. I was the last person to squeeze into the lift and I accidentally stood in front of the buttons that go up. The woman working the elevator, a middle-aged woman with short brown hair in a uniform fit for a flight attendant, turns to me and sternly says "You go there; that is my place." That moment, in itself, captured East Germany in the 70's. It has been a running joke of the trip since. We are so very nice and pleasant in the east, but that is your place and this is mine. It was a nice piece of the old school. At the top of the tower, we had a 360 degree view of Berlin. It was beautiful!