The entire flight from Paris to Berlin, I talked to a woman from California who had made Berlin her home. I have known many Americans who claim Berlin is their true home, and walking through the streets on the very first day, I immediately knew why. My relative that I take the most after lived and loved Berlin before moving to the states. I immediately felt comfortable in a way I had not really known before in a big city.
The German museum was very cool, and definitely a favorite. It focused primarily on the background of German history leading up to the world wars, and how that lead to the rise of the Nazi party. The museum seemed to own up to almost anything I could think of and it taught me background information that I had never heard. Such as the extent of occupation in the Ruhr valley. We only hear about how terrible the Germans were to the French, but never how atrocious they were at that time to the Germans. It was very cool though to see videos and pictures of Germany at their time of the automobile and rise of public transportation. It looked a lot like the US in that way. It was interesting to see the impact of American culture and how it could be seen as far away as Germany, like the German flapper dress I saw. Something else this museum had that I hadn’t really seen otherwise was what happened to Germany after WWII and how the Berlin Wall a two Germany’s came to be.
This was a Kaethe Kollwitz sculpture depicting a mother with a starving child. Her artwork was used throughout the museum to show an insider perspective of the incredible and humanly visual suffering that was taking place leading up to World War II in Germany
The museums in Germany were very objective museums overall. They don’t try to justify but say how things happened. In Berlin I’ve heard new things never knew before, and saw a new side with background context that showed what made Germany such a viable environment for that rampant racism.
This picture was displayed in a German museum was one of the most haunting images I had ever seen. It depicts partly the extent of influence that the Nazi’s had over everyone in the German state, including the Christian church. This was an ugly truth, and was clearly displayed and explained in the museum
This was a sculpture of a communist rebuilding and supporting one another after World War II. The German museums frequenlty displayed pieces of art and other things that depicted a wide range of political beliefs and backgrounds other than only the popular or positive ones
I think the open and objective manner of the German museums could be seen also in a lot of the conduct in had had while in Germany with Germans. On trains, people look up and smile at each other. Other people would acknowledge others and accommodate others more than I’ve seen before in the other big cities. People just seemed too busy elsewhere to care about others, and here people seemed to always be aware of what was going on around them (except for tourists walking in the bike path!)
This quote discussed the interesting German concept of “blood shame”, which has historical roots in German culture and frames of mind when it comes to reputation and personal regard as well as in an epic stance. It was also wonderful that it was translated and clearly displayed so that American visitors could get more out of the visit to the museum
I felt very welcomed by Berlin, and it was unforgettable and I’ll definitely have to go back