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A Stroll Through Lichtenberg

Aidan Marshall

A Stroll Through Lichtenberg

    Out of all the places I have visited while in the city of Berlin, none surprise me more than Lichtenberg. I originally thought it was going to be another touristy location, with people of all nationalities running from monument to monument. What I found instead was quite the opposite. Lichtenberg is in essence the closest thing to a residential district I could find in Berlin. The streets are calm and quiet, with cobblestone mixing with both dirt paths to quaint little parks, or stone sidewalks brushing up against 6 story apartment buildings. There were little to no monuments or locations that would usually attract attention from tourist with wanderlust, but instead was filled with little churches, schools for practically every 20 blocks, and sports grounds for children to play games. This fascinates me severely as I would have imagined a place so close to Alexanderplatz would be bustling with foot traffic of people from all around Berlin, but as I stated before, the opposite was true. The schools were not necessarily old, but by the same token not necessarily new either, with a design reminiscent of 1960’s-1980’s styled buildings. The apartment buildings on the other hand, were new and designed with modern architecture in mind, with the buildings blending with whites, red, and oranges in bright and interesting fashion. There was also a severe lack of any form of shops or restaurants around thee area I was in. For as far as I could tell, the only thing around was apartment buildings, schools, parks, and sports grounds. However, this could just be the could just be a case of where I was in Lichtenberg. What truly  fascinated me even more than the lack of monuments or tourist in the district however, was the people I found living in the district.

    That was another aspect of Lichtenberg I found fascinating. Unlike the rest of Berlin, which is usually chocked full of all ages of people from young adults to old grandparents; Lichtenberg was instead chocked full of young families. Every so often I would see another young couple walking around with two small children in tow, or I would see grandparents watching their grandkids play on the numerous jungle gyms. From what I could tell there were no overtly joint adults walking around, nor anyone who could be considered middle aged. Lichtenberg seemed the place that one would go to if they wished to raise their young family in Berlin, but not in the more crazier parts such as the Mitte where such young children could easily get into trouble. That isn’t to say however that there was only families. I saw a relative minority of young adults enjoying the serenity of the district, with most using the place as an excellent running ground or biking park.

    In truth, Lichtenberg was a quiet and calm district that was a far cry from most of the districts I have visited. Unlike the usual hustle and bustle I found in central Berlin, Lichtenberg was just soothing and slow with an emphasis on family safety and fun, with plenty of schools and parks to accomplish this.

A Day on the Wannsee

Aidan Marshall

A Day on the Wannsee

             On a brisk Sunday morning I decided to take a train down south of Berlin to the Wannsee, one of the many beautiful lakes within Germany. I arrived there fascinated by the swift change of architecture I had witnessed the farther away from the city center I went. What was once six stories worth of apartments cluster around shops and restaurants had shifted to picaresque estates and mini mansions, each different and more unique than the last. Each of these estates had their own style of design, with ultra modern houses bordering pristine 20th century manors. The roads and sidewalk were equally fascinating, as the usually concrete and stone pathways found within the city center changed to cobblestone sidewalks besides similarly concrete roads. This said pathways would diverge directions either with dirt paths that moved closer to the Wannsee, or through the eventual introduction of modern stone sidewalks. The restaurants of the district however showed more commercialized brands than central Berlin, with 3 chain restaurants for every single institution restaurants. The neighborhoods around the inner Wannsee district such as the Mexikoplatz, seemed an interesting blend of crowded center Berlin buildings with the more singular and unique manors of the Wannsee sprinkled in. The district in all seriousness was basically a town of itself rather than a district of Berlin, with many unique mansions standing next to the seemingly endless Wannsee.

            The people of the Wannsee were showed great difference as well, with many people either lazily strolling by the lake with family members, or with herds of athletes rushing by bike on the vast main roads. But none of this compared to the grandest site of the district, the Wannsee. There seemed to be no real majority or minority of ethnic groups as well, with a splice of all of Berlin’s people enjoying the cool lake air. What did strike me odd was the grandiose manors that bordered the Wannsee were seemingly lifeless, as I saw no movement into, around or out of those many manor grounds, but this could’ve just been the case of the time of day. Regardless though, I found the people at the Wannsee to be relaxed and calm, with many just wishing to sit blissfully by the lake either by themselves or company, or bike through the many sprawling streets the district contained, or even just enjoy the food offered at the many restaurants.

                The main attraction of the district, The Wannsee, seemed a massive lake that bordered what appeared like numerous shores of Germany. The Lake was chocked full of people either canoeing or driving massive boats full of eager tourist through each site the lake could offer. The harbors were equally numerous as the people that inhabited them, with harbors reaching nearly every 200 meters of the lake shore. The parks that were alongside the Wannsee reminded me of the very parks I would frequent along Lake Erie, with people relaxing on benches and mats or walking along with pets and family talking the day away. The Lake itself was gorgeous, with what seemed like both forests and the city of Berlin combined on it’s borders. The Wannsee was essentially another example of the beauty and complex uniqueness that Berlin had solely to offer in the old country of Germany.

My Journey Through The Mitte

         

        On a cold and rainy Wednesday afternoon, I for some reason decided to walk throughout the neighborhoods of Berlin. For the life of me I cannot divine my exact reasoning for choosing that cold day to wander through the city. However I can remember what I saw. From the vast business centers around the Hauptbahnhof to the sprawling apartments that were banked on the side of numerous roads I walked. While I can‘t exactly remember where these buildings or business centers were, I can still remember the vast amount of them situated along the roads and canals of Berlin. I remember them being short in size as only few of the buildings broke past the 8th floor, but that the sheer amount of these buildings was truly breathtaking.

       I walked until I eventually reached the grandest site of them all, The Brandenburg Gate. What a massive monument I beheld on that dreary day, packed to the brim full of people marveling at its grandiose stature. I decided to then walk towards the gate wondering what such a structure was made to welcome.  I walked through it’s titanic archways to see a vast courtyard full of tour groups and people walking around, marveling at the beautiful craftsmanship of the Brandenburg gate. Looking back from under the gate you could clearly see a great corridor of roads that streamlined straight to another monument, one of a monolithic marble column that had a gorgeous gold statue situated upon it. Even though I was miles away from such a monument, I could practically see it as if I was right next to it. I asked a tour guide the name of the statue, with the man simply stating that was the Golden Lizzy statue. I sadly didn‘t ask any further questions as the tour guides group had already disappeared beneath a tide of fellow onlookers.

       I stayed at the Brandenburg gate for a short while longer, perhaps only half an hour. From the gate I walked to the next monument I could see, the Tiergarten. A garden is an understatement for this district, as it functioned more as a forest within a city than any garden I‘ve ever seen. I only ventured past the entrance to realize the vastness of this place. Within it people relaxed under the dripping leaves of its trees, or walked and talked with fellow explorers, wandering and weaving through the Tiergarten endless boughs. I decided to sit down on the only dry bench I could see as I had been walking for nearly two hours. There I stayed and relaxed as people walked by, either talking to their fellows or standing in awe of the beauty this park radiated. If only I had gone when the day wasn‘t so dreary to experience the true gorgeous nature this park would‘ve shown. All I could of observed was the peaceful atmosphere this forest exuded unto me. At about 4:30 I decided to wander back home, back to the hotel to rest after such a weary day.

       I finally made it to my room at 4:50 tired of the long trip I had taken, but glad that I had seen such exquisite and breathtaking monuments as the Brandenburg Gate and Tiergarten. Monuments that rival almost all of the monuments I have seen, or shall see in my life.