After traversing through the old cities of London, Bayeux, Paris, and Kraków, Berlin’s modernity surprised me. They were forced to rebuild most of their city after the destruction of World War II. With this restoration of Germany, the state had to choose how they wanted to represent their history, all the while proving what they have become. After visiting the German Historical Museum and Reichstag, it’s plain to see that Germany has handled both its history and growth well.
The German Historical Museum impressed me with its objectivity. It was very unbiased, as opposed to the museums in England, France, and Poland – each country presented some favorable twists in their history. The German state presented their part in the war well without shirking any responsibility. I also appreciated that the museum went beyond a mediocre description and explained the reasoning behind most of the events in the war. Along with its objectivity, the German Historical Museum was the most comprehensive collection I’ve seen yet. This museum did not focus solely on its own history, but incorporated how other countries were affected by Germany’s decisions. My research in this class was focused on the Kindertransports – Britain’s effort to save 10,000 Jewish and non-Aryan children from German-occupied areas prior to the outbreak of World War II. I was surprised to see that the German Historical Museum had a detailed exhibit on this topic, when it was only briefly mentioned in one of the museums in Britain. This complete collection of war history reinforces the objectivity of this site and demonstrates how well they are capturing their history.
After all the museums we have been in, we finally toured a contemporary building. We received the pleasure of going into the Reichstag, the location of Germany’s parliament. The lengths the government has gone to avoid past mistakes and to set itself apart from the Third Reich is impressive. Our guide spoke of the meticulous decision-making process to use the former Reichstag as the location of current-day Parliament. Interestingly, the building was decommissioned shortly after Hitler became chancellor because of a fire; thus, the building was never used by Nazis. With this line of thought, the government believed they could use the building without sharing anything with the Third Reich.
Another aspect I found interesting was their hierarchy for police. They have different police for different areas; they have cops specifically for the trains and others for the streets. This is done intentionally so that no one person can have more power than another. I’m impressed by all of the steps the new government has taken to realign itself and prevent something like a Third Reich from forming again. Not only did they incorporate the lessons learned from past mistakes into their government, but they paralleled it by combining old and new architecture. Most of the Reichstag was destroyed by fire and the Soviets, when they occupied that area. Despite the almost total destruction, some areas were left standing and the walls or outside structures were incorporated with the new modern architecture. When the Soviets occupied the Reichstag, they wrote on its walls with either messages or their signatures. Parliament uses it today to remind itself and the country of their rocky history so that no one can forget. These many precautions taken show that the history of Germany still plays into issues and decisions today.