Mr. Li goes to Berlin *

2007-06-17 11:00 p.m.

I travelled to Berlin, Germany (I believe there is a city/town in the US by the same name) for four days, my first time travelling alone and to Europe in seven years. “How much German do you know?” Heather asked me at the train station. “Four year’s worth,” I replied, then added , “six years ago.” Brave me again decided to venture into the unknown. Here’s a recap of the days.

Thursday:

Woke up darn early to rush to the train station. My destination was not, as you may have suspected, was not Birmingham International Airport, but rather London’s Luton Airport. That meant that I had to change trains. I chose the London route, which meant that I had to travel University Station-New Street-Euston-St Pancras-Luton. The ride went smoothly until Euston, where I strained myself to find the train to St. Pancras. I soon discovered that I had to walk to that station, and thus I lost precious time. Finally, after running like mad, I checked in about thirty minutes before boarding time but again was held up because I didn’t read the instructions regarding bottles. Finally, I boarded the flight and bought a rather expensive lunch on board (it was those kind of budget airlines).

My first word of German was to the immigration official whom had a sort of surprised look on his face, not expecting this Chinese man to speak German. With no luggage to gather, I tried to orientate myself with the S-Bahn (railway) map, trying to locate my stop, the Zoologischer Garten train stop. First off, fo course was to get a ticket. A myriad of German words which I used to be familiar with appeared on the screen. Ah!!!!!!!!, I screamed silently , which button?

“Brauchen Sie helfen?” I heard a voice next to me. Brauchen, brauchen, ah yes, the German verb for need, a word that I learnted in Secondary 3. The train official thankfully spoke English and even directed me to which platform to head to. God Bless him, I thought and emerged to see a typical railway station that you would see in books. Not exactly, the modern kind (as compared to Birmingham and the UK) but I reminded myself that I was in the heart of the former East Berlin. Do not this as you read along.

The train ride was close to a hour and I took time to recollect more German from the conversations of fellow passengers, but gathered little. As the train moved, buildings , some modern, some still needing repaired passed by. Finally, I emerged into the sun light and took out my ticket just to check. “Please validate your ticket,” the words read in English. My mind wondered what of earth it was for, but it hardly mattered, given that I was out of the station.

My next quest was to located a street called the Nuernburger Strasse where my B&B was located. I stopped two Policeman (Polizei) on the way and asked in broken German. The reply came in pure German and I understood words such as “links” or “left”. Oh ok, I can do this myself, I thought. Yeah, I did, only after more than an hour of walking. Finally, I entered a cosy room which wasn’t exactly that of my Tennis Courts Room. Dinner was a Lamb Kebab and Pommes Frites or Fries with mayo and Ketchup, which tasted different form normal Ketchup. After watching some German Soap Opera, I drifted to sleep.

Friday:

Breakfast was at eight and it was there I met Herr Christian Schulz, the manager, who looked like a younger version of my German tutor in my final year. Breakfast was continental, but that was typical of European Breakfasts and I had no complaints. My plan for the day was a walking tour from a Broacher I picked up and to my delight it was in English. On the way to the meeting point, I nearly got run down my a cyclist who screamed “Aufmachen!” and for got that cars drive on the right side of the road. After paying close to 14 Euro, the group of ten set off with a very friendly and energetic guide named Jakob. He was born in Berlin and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in British Literature from some college in United States and a Master’s Degree in History. So he was really easy to get on along with and extremely knowledgeable, adding great depth to the history of Berlin that I already knew. Most of the group were Americans, and there was one Singaporean in his late forties by the name of Gary. As we chatted, he even asked whether I attended ACS for my A levels. As I corrected him, I wondered whether he was an ACSian. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to ask that question.

We moved around the city, starting from sites from ancient Berlin (its founding and growth) to that of its present day. Our first major stop was the Museum Island (yes Berlin with its river, has an island) and our guide pointed out several museums giving the history of some of them. Oh yes, before hand, we had a great view of Berlin’s radio tower, or rather former East Berlin’s technological superirority. It was suppose to show East German strength and dominance, but ironically was built with Swedish help. “There’s a revolving restaurant up there,” he remarked, adding that it would be worth head up to it. Unfortunately, being formerly East German construction, much of the interior is much 1960s East German and he added that the coffee has distinctive East German taste. Secondly, we crossed a bridge to reach the island and got a glimpse of the city’s Synagogue in the distance. Interestingly, we were told that during the Night of the Broken Glass (Kristall Nacht), it was spared from destruction (reason which I can’t recall.

We next entered a open garden or the Schlossplatz and in front of us was a large palace, the home of Emperor (err, darn again I have forgotten his name. But if memory serves me right, German Kings or the equivalent wetn by the names of Frederick or Frederick William). It certainly was a beautiful ground, long open to the public and school children were playing catch over there.

Somehow or the other, we we brought to Berlin’s famous Unter den Linden, the counterpart to London’s Bond Street, or New York’s Fifth Avenue. Except that it is more than a shopping area. We first reached the Neue Wache, or the War Memorial (not a direct translation). It was initially a guardhouse during the Imperial times, and served as a war memorial since 1931, for the First World War, and after that, the Second World War. Lying the in the Soviet zone of Occupation, it became a memorial for the victims of Fascism and Militarism. Inside there is a sculpture and a open vent directly above it. The sculpture is thus subjected to the harshness of the elements, signifying the harshness of war.

Across the street were three main attractions. To the left was the famous State Opera, where Jackob remarked that it is customary to wear formal attire, despite the price range of your ticket. To t he right was part of Berlin’s once well known Humbolt Universitaet, or University. More accurately, it was the law faculty we were looking at. It had its heyday in the 1920s, producing many Nobel Laureates such a Albert Einstein and Max Plank. After snapping some pictures, we were ushered towards a crowd. “The Bebelplatz,” Jakob remarked, and our quizzing looks were removed as we were told that this was the spot of the Nazi book burning in the 1930s. The crowd was gathered around the only monument there, a glass panel. Looking through, you’re suppose to see the whole lot of books that were burnt—close to 20,000. When I looked in, it was all dirty and murky, so nothing could be seen.

Down the Unter den Linden, we passed by the former Soviet Embassy, or now the Embassy of the Russian Federation. Naturally there are many spy stories associated with it, but I haven’t read that many. Finally, we reached another open square, not before hearing a story of hyperinflation in the 1920s and that of a cabaret dancer. This square was the Pariser Platz, well known because it was bounded by embassies, a Hotel, a famous cultural museum and not forgettening the Brandenberg gate. It was here that with the Berlin Wall in the background, Ronald Reagan made his famous speech with the remark:

“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” [1]

We were given time for a break but despite my hunger, I didn’t buy anything and instead explored the area, nothing the flags around. At one corner was Musuem called the “Museum for the Kennedy’s”, no doubt due to his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” (or rather I am a Jelly Doughnut) speech. We return and Gary left us. The tour seemed to even focus on embassies, and we were pointed to the still under construction American Embassy, which Jakob said would produce a lesser headache for the city since the present one had a street blocked off for it.

And so we did what Berliner could do before 1961, walk through the Brandenberg gate. In doing so, we left the Unter den Linden behind and also entered former West Berlin. (That should be correct I think, Reagan made his speech with the back of the Brandenberg Gate behind him—that is the eagle facing the other way). At this point we were on the 17 Juni Strasse, after some major event in German. We however, did not proceed down to the Victory Column.
Turning left, we reached the Memorial to the murdered Jews in Europe, which was at first glance, nothing like any memorial. It consisted of rectangular stone slabs of varying heights in rows and columns across an area close to the size of a large basketball court.

Jakob stopped and told us the controversies behind the building of it and one was that the company that manufactured the anti-graffiti paint was historically liked the IG Farben group, or the organisation that produced the Zyklon B gas that murdered the Jews.

We moved on and reached an empty ground with apartments that looked drab and a parking lot nearby. Despite the common look, this ground was the site of Hitler’s Bunker, where in the last days of the war, he committed suicide. It’s unmarked because the former East German Government and the present one did not want it to be turned into Neo-Nazi shrine. There’s only a small sign to indicate what the area was and Jakob pointed to a green mailbox, stating that that was the location where Hitler killed himself. In the 70s or 80s, he continued, the East Berlin government built luxurious apartments for socialist workers at the spot but few stayed there.

We then visited the former Nazi Air Ministry where also in 1953, there was an uprising of East Berlin Workers. Our second last major point was that of Checkpoint Charlie. I was so excited about reading the signboards and hearing Jakob’s narration that I missed taken pictures. Presently, it’s a small junction with no traffic lights around the former checkpoint post itself—bad since visitors have to dash across the road just to take a peek inside the booth. The nearby museum sells expensive souvenirs Jakob added.

We ended at another place that had something to do with Berlin’s cultural history. Faminished by then, I found my way back to the Zoologischer Garten U-Bahn this time with the help of a friendly German.

Dinner for me was around my area, it was Currywurst mit Pommes Frites. Good traditional German food. Next door were Chinese restaurants and a sex shop of all things. No, I didn’t venture inside.

Saturday:

Second last day. I made my way back to Checkpoint Charlie to snap pictures. Bad luck, es regent (it was raining) but I still shop pictures of both ends. Then I head down the Freidrichstrasse back to the Unter den Linden and through the Brandenberg Gate again. This time, I head down the 17. Juni Strasse and had a nice lunch of Schnitzel with Champinion sauce (rather oily though) at a café. Then through the Tiergarten I wnet and while it is suppose to be Berlin’s Hyde Park, it was more like Sherwood Forest and one can get lost inside. Eventually, I found the Soviet War memorial and snapped pictures all around. Interestingly enough (and this is accurate) this Soviet memorial is inside what used to be the former British Sector of Berlin.

More than a kilometre away, I finally found the Siegesauele, or the Victory Column, Victory here was during Bismarck’s time an not Hitler’s time. I paid a student’s concession to enter and found the view at the top just a normal view. By sitting down, I managed to angle my camera and snap a picture of me with the column visible.

Oh yes, if my German was not passable, at least there was one major thing that was comprehendible—the Internet. I found a really cheap Internet Café and used it both of Friday and Saturday. My Saturday dinner was a Chinese meal and I would myself conversing in German to Chinese waiters. Not bad. That was the most successful German conversation I had in Berlin.

Sunday:

Well back home. The hiccups occurred on the UK side with trains running late.

Berlin faced division for 28 years (longer if you count the time before the wall) and it has been sixteen years since the wall came down. The city, while drab in most areas and still facing high unemployment, has fought itself to enter alongside all other major capitals and economic centres. Divisions remain as Jakob explained, but he said it is a mere generational issue. East has met West, and I found my trip to Berlin, despite my horrible German, really educational.

[1] See Reagan, Ronald, Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin, Germany, 12 June 1987 http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/speeches/wall.asp [accessed 18 June 2007]. Also see Robinson, Peter, President Ronald Reagan: Inside Story of Reagan's Berlin Challenge to "Tear Down This Wall!", American History Magazine, October 2003,
http://www.historynet.com/culture/politics/3030081.html?page=1&c=y
[accessed 18 June 2007] for information on the background of the speech

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