St. Patrick's Day in Belfast, Northern Ireland - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

St. Patrick's Day in Belfast, Northern Ireland - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com

Berlin: History alive (part 4)

The East- West border is always wandering,


sometimes eastward, sometimes west,

and we do not know exactly where it is just now:

in Guagamela, in the Urals, or maybe in ourselves,

so that one ear, one eye, one nostril, one hand, one foot,

one lung and one testicle or one ovary

is on the one, another on the other side.Only the heart…

(by Jaan Kaplinski)                                                       The Wandering Border

And I didn’t know which side my heart was. But it was really aching. The most memorable part of our Berlin tour was the journey from west side to east. We took a s-bahn to Ostbahnof. The s-bahns are surface trains and U-bahns are underground trains. These form the main transport system of the city.

The s- bahn we took had to cross the river spree to reach the eastern part of Berlin. The journey was quite enjoyable. I remember that there was a man in the train singing with a guiter; and a very old lady was sitting beside me who compensated her overall palor with a bright red dress and very bright red lipstick.

The change of view is so obvious and striking that you need no guide to tell you that you have entered the eastern part of Berlin. It was gray. And it bore the memories of its war trodden past all over it, much more than the western part. It actually seemed a completely different country. The fields were gray, the streets looked forlorn and the houses deserted. Once outside of the Ostbahnof, the crowd in front of Hauptbahnof, the busy faces, the shops and restaurants and all the color seem to be stories from a different country. Here life seemed grim and gray.

We went on walking. The eastside gallery on Mühlenstrasse was what we came to see. It was colourful and some of the graffiti was really good and many were real works of art. Though most of it were damaged by people and weather and the paintings sure needed restoration, one could clearly see the passion of the artists who boldly spoke against the partition through their colors.The paintings actually lifted my spirit.

The reunification of Germany and the breaking of the Berlin wall has always seemed to me to be a dream story…too good to be true. I am myself from a part of the world where we have long sighed across borders but still can’t reach our brothers and sisters on the other part of the boundary. Our own ancestor’s land is a foreign country to me. I have never seen it and as a child have always hoped to see it without crossing a border. My father comes from East Bengal, present Bangladesh and I am born in modern India. But I can never forget that the country they call Bangladesh is a part of my own history. I have never seen the land where my ancestors lived, where my father spent his childhood.

So while I was looking at  East Berlin, which was not East Berlin anymore, lying there gray and sad, I was feeling an incomprehensible pain, love and a bonding with these people devastated by the whims of a few statesmen who have played with their allegiance, their future and their pasts.

Berlin: History alive (part iii)

Close to the Brandenburg gate is the German parliament, Reichstag. It seemed to be one of the most visited attractions of Berlin as there was a real long queue to see the dome. I would advise anyone who visits the city to come as early as possible in the morning to avoid a very long queue if they want to have the view from the dome. The dome on the top of the Reichstag offers a 360 degree view of the city and it lets sunlight down to the Parliament floor. The construction is really impressive.

While waiting in the long queue, we talked about whether this building we were about to visit was important just as the new Parliament building or the years of history associated with its name compelled our interest more.

Reichstag

Just like the Brandenburg gate, the Reichstag building has seen several historical ups and downs and has a strange story of its own to tell. Before its construction German Parliament assembled in various smaller houses on the Leipzeiger strasse.

In 1872 an architectural contest was held to chose the architect to build the new building. Though work couldn’t begin even after 10 years when another architectural contest was held among 189 architects. The winner was the Frankfurt architect, Paul Wallot.


On 9 June 1884, the foundation stone was laid by Wilhelm I. He died in 1888 and the construction was completed in 1894, under Wilhelm II, who was against the idea of Parliament as an institution.


In 1916, the words “Dem Duestchen volke”( to the German People ) were added though it did not please the Emperor, Wilhelm II and he even tried to block the inscription. The building’s cupola built with steel and glass was a marvel of architecture of the time


On 9 November 1918, after the World War I was over Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed the “republic” of Germany from one of its balconies. It remained the seat of Parliament of the Weimar Republic till 1933.


In 1933, it was set to fire supposedly by Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch socialist. The Nazis then did away with Parliament altogether. The damaged building was used for military purposes during World War II and was further destructed by air raids and also became the target of the red army in the battle of Berlin in 1945.


Though it was no more the parliament , yet it was restored in 1961 after another architectural contest. After the Reunification of Germany, the official reunification ceremony was held in the Reichstag on 3 October 1990.But there was yet another architectural contest in 1992 and another reconstruction that ended in 1999.The new beautiful cupola was made and the parliament then finally moved to the Reichstag.

Berlin: History alive (part ii)

Walking on the streets of Berlin is walking through history itself. Although Berlin has quite recovered from its World War II wounds and contemporary life with its fashion, ambition and troubles has taken its natural priority in the lives of people there, yet a newcomer to the city can't but notice the scars and bruises here and there. Many of the impressive buildings were already rebuilt while many were still under construction.

A little History

Founded in the 12th century, Berlin is quite a new city by European standards. Yet, it has often been the center of German history. It became the capital of the German Empire in 1870, after the Unification of Germany following the French defeat in the Franco Prussian war.

As we walked through its busy streets, now and then hoping on a S-bahn or U-bahn, there was an inescapable thought that came to our mind again and again. What it might have been like to walk these streets in the Nazi era, the pre and post World War days!!

Berlin was never the center of the Nazi movement. However, when Hitler came to power in Jan 30, 1933 Berlin was the capital of Germany. At that time almost 160,000 Jews were living in Berlin which was 4% of the Berlin population and 1/3 rd of all German Jews. And this whole population was exterminated in the Holocaust that followed.

I sure don't remember where we went first and how I planned the trip through the city. But I remember the city, its buildings and streets and the impression it created on me and it is just as fresh today as if it was yesterday.

Brandenburger Tor

I remember standing in front of the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg gate) filled with awe and admiration. How many layers of history lay behind its plaster? This awe inspiring large gate is one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany. We have seen it so many times in pictures and yet standing in front of it is an overwhelming experience.

Erected in the 1730s it was one of the 18 gates to enter the city. Between 1788 and'91, the old simple construction was replaced by the current construction. Its design was based on Propylaea, the gateway to Acropolis in Athens, Greece. There are 12 Doric columns and 5 passageways of which citizen were allowed to use only two. On the top is Quadriga, a chariot drawn by 4 horses driven by Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory.

In 1806, Napoleon took the Quadriga to Paris after defeating Prussia at the battle of Jena-Auerstedt.



In 1814, it returned to Berlin after Napoleon’s defeat. This time Victoria's wreath of oak leaves was supplemented with a new symbol of Prussian power, the Iron Cross.

In the Nazi era, it became a party symbol.

It miraculously survived the allied bombing in World War II.

There were holes made in the columns though, which were plastered and yet could be clearly recognized.

After the War was over and Berlin along with Germany was divided, it became the gate to enter East Berlin from the West.


In 1961, the Berlin wall was built just west of the gate and the checkpoint at the gate was closed.

When in 1989 the wall was broken Brandenburger Tor became the symbol of this reunification as Helmut Kohl passed through it to be greeted by the East German Prime Minister Hans Modro.




So there we stood steeped in history, and though our eyes were wondering at the present beauty of the columns, our minds were wandering through the past and marveling at this symbol of victory. The Germans didn't win the war. And yet the German people did win their war against all kinds of separatist forces and finally secured their freedom here just before this great symbol of Victory.

Berlin : history alive

Enough of Switzerland.
Let me tell you today about our trip to Berlin.
In 2003, we lived for sometime in Frankfurt and from there we made two trips: one to Berlin and another to Paris.

Berlin as it seemed to me was quite a cheaper city than Frankfurt.We lived in a twin bed room in a hostel which seemed quite cheap and they even gave us complementary welcome drink,a bottle of rose wine.

They had an elaborate breakfast within that price too.
The city was like nothing I ever saw before or hope to see again.The deep wounds that the World War II made on its bosom were still not completely cured.Although a great part of the city and its devastated old buildings had already been replaced by replicas,you could just feel its history as you move through it.

Whenever I go to some city for a day or two, I try to make a solid plan. I first read and read and try to find out the attractions that I won't like to miss.Then I study more about them .I form an idea about the transport system in that place and try to find out if there are any passes available. I find out if there are entrance fees for the places I would like to visit. After that I finally decide what to see and what to pass by.

Thus, I formed the list of the must-sees in Berlin

1. Brandenburg Gate
2. Checkpoint Charlie
3. Eastside Gallery
4. Potsdamer Platz
5. Charlottenburg Palace
6. Berliner Dom
7. Reichstag
8. Kaiser William Memorial Church
9. Bebelplatz
10. Duetscher Dom and  Französischer  dom