Berlin is everything and more of what I imagined it to be. As Germany’s capital, Berlin is a city that will forever be changing from its past historical events. For instance, in Berlin Adolf Hitler killed himself, where the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe is stationed and where Albert Einstein taught classes. Almost every building has been built or rebuilt at some point in time. The city looks industrial and new, while at the same time has battle wounds, never forgetting what happened in the past. For instance, in Germany, the German Parliament building was rebuilt with a dome where people could travel and walk to the very top over Parliament officers. This is to remind the officers whom they serve for. When looking up from their seats officers see ‘the people’. Today, it is illegal to say that the Holocaust never took place.
Many Germans will tell you that the Holocaust has different meanings. However, stationed in Berlin one can find a memorial dedicated to the murdered Jews of Europe. 6 million Jewish lives were taken from Hitler’s dictatorship. The memorial is highly controversial; its true meaning is questioned because there is no explanation of it. The artist that made the memorial said when you see it you are to interpret it as your own view of what the dedication means. To me, the memorial looks like a massive graveyard. There, each stone stands for the families and lives that were progressively taken throughout the war. In the middle of the memorial, large cement blocks tower over you. I feel that this stands for the significant number of deaths that were taken in 1940 during the middle of the war. When you stand on the outside of the memorial you see smaller cement blocks you can see over.
Just up the block from the memorial you find one small sign explaining that Hitler and his wife committed suicide in their underground bunker. The small sign signifies that it happened however, does not glorify it. Rumors are that Hitler fatally took his life by shooting himself when biting down on a cyanide capsule to insure his death. Then he made his soldiers burn his body above ground to destroy the evidence. (Cool fact, the Nazis were low on fuel and were unable to burn his body fast enough. The Soviet Union was able to find his body and dentally confirm his body was dead.)
From Hitler’s reign you find the building where the Nazis were stationed. This building has more offices than the pentagon in the U.S. The same building also was soon to be found next to the East Berlin Wall. Today, pieces of the wall still exist to remind them of the past. Also from Hitler’s reign you see Humboldt University where the Nazis burned all the books. This happens to also be where Albert Einstein had once taught astronomical lessons. Next to the library there is a memorial that you view empty book selves that will forever remain empty from the knowledge that the Nazis tried to erase.
Berlin is much more than meets the eye and has been built then built again and rebuilt. The city is still being rebuilt to this day and will continue to while at the same time recognizing the past.
FirenzeGoesBlonde 