Berlin, so rich in modern history, was proving to be a fascinating whistle stop tour. And tours is what I did- two a day- and yet regret that there were a further 3 that I did not have time to do- I will have to return!! I had visited two places earlier that morning- both moving in different ways.
The first was the Holocaust Memorial, easily (and Id just come from Israel so Id seen what I assumed would be the best), one of the most moving such memorials Id visited. Designed by
In the ground underneath, accessed only after going through more security checks than an airport, was the factual part of the memorial. Here photos of people who died. In one darkened room, a voice read out letters of people describing to their family and friends what was happening to them, while at our feet backlit inserts on the floor housed letters written by people in the Ghetto to their family and friends, together with an update, where possible, as to what happened to the letter writer.
The second visit was to the first ever exhibition of Hitler approved by the German Government .......................................as told from the viewpoint of the German people. Bound to be controversial, it was perhaps a wee bit of a mental overload to have visited the Jewish memorial before. Nonetheless, this was history, and in a city like Berlin, so full of modern history, I was determined to experience it all. And, due to the focus of the exhibition being about life in Germany then and who Hitler was to the populace, the Holocaust formed only a small part of the overall exhibition.
It is rather hard to explain this exhibition without, in my unknowledgeable view of modern history, getting into some seriously hot water. Suffice to say- if it does travel, it is a must see- and hopefully by then they will have translated alot of the exhibits into English and at least provided English subtitles to the movie excerpts of Hitler. For the first time, I could almost understand why my German friends have always seemed embarrassed by Hitler and feel the need to almost apologise for being German. The exhibition delved quite heavily into the psyche of the German populace at the time of the rise of Hitler- and thus gave some explanations as to his rise in power and how he could do, politically and legally, what he did during his tenure. All the time there was this unhidden current running through the exhibition as to how the German people supported Hitler and the Nazi movement in its activities. Controversial! Absolutely fascinating.
But again, I digress.........
A bit of history of the Brandenburg Gate which is probably one of the most famous, and photographed monuments in the world. It was built by King Frederick William 11 of Prussia in 1788 and became not only one of the Nazi party's symbols but also that of divided Berlin. It is the only remaining gate of an original 18 in the city of Berlin, and it opened on to a boulevard which led directly to the Prussian city palace.Peter Eisenman after many years on hold, it consists of 2711 stones, all of different heights and sizes, laid in a grid like fashion on uneven and unlevel stones but which created the feeling of being in a maze due to the sheer height of some of the slabs. I was told by the tour guide that the feeling the artist wanted visitors to experience was the uncertainty that the Jews faced at the time- not knowing what was around the next corner, not knowing which road might get you out to walk free down the street, seeing the sun shining above your head but not being able to sit down and admire it due to the walls of slabs around you, not knowing if you would stumble on your next step, the glimpse through the stones of a road full of people- but which was blocked on your next step.
Its inspiration being the entrance to the Acropolis, the Gate is formed by twelve Doric columns creating five passageways- the centre largest one was for the royal family with citizens allowed to use the outermost two. At the top, re-instated after Napoleon originally took it to Paris after the 1806 defeat of Prussia, the Roman goddess of victory, Victoria, rides a chariot drawn by four rather uncontrollable looking horses.
In the days of the Berlin Wall, which extended either side of the gate, it was one of the crossings between east and west Berlin but it was closed by East Berlin as a checkpoint in 1961 and was not to reopen until almost 30 years later. As such, the gate become a symbol for the reunification of Berlin and was the site for Ronald Reagan's famous words "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
Nowadays anyone- bar cars- can cross through its arches. The square flanking it is full of tourists, touts, protestors and....walking tours!!
And its off to another one of these that I must go now....
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