My Thoughts on Berlin

As you guys probably know, I just returned from an incredible trip around Europe thanks to my really long Easter vacation at Oxford. Even though I believe that the best way to form opinions about places is to visit them yourself, I am going to share my opinions with you since I know you might not have the opportunity to go to these places, and if you do have a chance to go to Europe this might give you an idea of which places you would like to see.

First, we went to Berlin, which is the capital of Germany. The history of Berlin is a dark, sad story, but you can tell that the city is trying to reinvent itself. There is lots of post-modern architecture, especially in the fancy shopping districts. There is also a youth sub-culture which decorates the city with graffiti. However, there is plenty of architecture left from pre-20th century times such as:

 the Berliner Dom

the Brandenburg Gate

The thing is that for each of these impressive sights, there is a sad story to accompany it. For example, the Berliner Dom is a result of Emperor Wilhelm II's desire to "compete" with other European countries. Specifically, he wanted to show up St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, so he destroyed the church on this sight and built the Dom to be as ornate as possible. He viewed the Dom as a way to show off and increase his own power.

The Brandenburg Gate is one of the most famous landmarks in all of Europe, and it serves as a symbol of Berlin. However, during the Cold War it stood directly next to the Berlin Wall and the Soviets even covered it with red banners when JFK delivered a speech there in 1963, which prevented anyone from looking into the East. It is hard to imagine what it was like to live in a city which would not even permit you to visit relatives 5 minutes away from your house, but that was the reality in Berlin up until the end of 1989.

Other sad stories of Berlin are commemorated by memorials around the city. For example, there is a monument at the famous Humboldt University which reminds visitors that the Nazi burnt thousands of books on their campus in 1933. Also, there is a memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe and a memorial for "the victims of war and tyranny." While Berlin has moved on from days of war, there are still things that sadden me, like the fact that 80% of the population has lost or never had faith in God. Also, there are gypsy women all throughout the city at the major tourist sites asking for money for food, etc - our tour guide informed us that it is part of an organized crime operation and that they must turn over all the money they receive to a group of powerful men who essentially own these women.

For these reasons, I can't say I love Berlin. However, I think that it is an incredibly interesting place to visit and that there are a lot of impressive historical sites, so I would recommend going if you have a chance. Also, I would wait until mid-April because in the end of March the weather was getting warmer, but the trees and flowers had not yet blossomed.