Prussians, Nazis and Communists

Berlin is a terrific city. It is quite large (over five million in the greater metro area) and very cosmopolitan. You cannot even make a fair comparison between Berlin and Gdansk. Gdansk is 10 times smaller and a regional hub; whereas Berlin is one of the biggest and most important cities in Europe.

Germany as whole is quite a contrast to Poland. Germany is twice as wealthy as Poland ($35,000 PPP vs $16,000 PPP) and had quite a bit more time to develop. Germany has been part of the European Union since 1957, whereas Poland only joined in 2004. Of course, Germany uses the Euro and Poland still has its own currency, the zloty (Poland is suppose to move to the Euro in the next few years). Berlin is also much more “English” friendly. Berliners (at least the West side) have been learning and speaking English for decades. So as Lisa said, “Berlin feels much more familiar”.

That said, my German language skills are about as good as my Polish. Unfortunately, I learned all my German by watching Hogan’s Heroes reruns.

Berlin is expensive, as any big city would be; think New York, then add our very weak dollar to the equation, and it becomes very, very expensive. Even taking the family to the public toilets costs the equivalent of $10. I think we will tour the poor EU countries from now on. Actually, there are two more German cities I want to get to before we leave, Munich and Hamburg (south and north Germany).

Berlin is also not afraid of it's nudity. Big billboards of naked models adorn the streets, and all the naked magazine covers are right in the fronts of the stores. There was a 20 foot tall billboard of a topless model at our train stop. Ben is ready to come back here anytime.

We spent five days in Berlin and saw most of the sites and did our share of shopping. You can basically divide Berlin into three modern histories: the Prussians, the Nazis and the Communists. We made sure we experienced a little of each. I am sure the kids do not appreciate the subtleties. They just think I am dragging them from one old thing to another (which I am- that’s the Professor’s job!).

Berlin was the Capital of the Prussian Empire for a few hundred years. Famous historical figures such as King Fredrick the Great, Kaiser Wilhelm I & II and Chancellor Otto Bismarck were all here. We toured one of the Prussian Palaces built by the first Prussian King, Fredrick I (he was Fredrick the Great’s grandfather). In addition, we toured the Berliner Dom, the large church where pretty much all the Prussian Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses are buried. Like in England and Austria, the Prussian Royalty are all decended from the same family, the Hohenzollern. Interestingly, Gdansk (where we live in Poland) was part of the Prussian Empire until 1919. That is where it obtained its other name; Danzig (the Germans still call our city Danzig).

As for the Nazis, we saw the site of the SS and Gestapo headquarters, the building where the notorious “Final Solution” was crafted and several monuments to the murdered Jews of Europe. They are currently excavating the SS/Gestapo headquarter building, and creating a museum called the Topology of Terror.

We also saw Hitler’s parade grounds and the 1936 Olympic Stadium he built (where Jesse Owens embarrassed him by beating his “superior” Aryan race). The stadium was recently refurbished (but still holds all the 1936 Olympic symbols and monuments, and is now the home to Berlin’s soccer club). As you can imagine, Berlin is quite proud of its Prussian heritage and fight against communist- but of course, there are no monuments to the Nazis or anything like that. You really have to hunt to find most of the remaining Nazi buildings and places.

Probably the biggest aspect visible from the Nazi era are the city buildings themselves. When the Russians descended on Berlin- they bombed the city continuously from 1943 to 1945. Over 80% of all structures in the city were destroyed. So, in many ways, Berlin is a new city, built from the ashes. One building (a bombed out church) remains standing as reminder of what the city looked like in 1945.

Then, of course, there is the Communist era. Berlin not only had the “Wall”, but was really a symbol for the entire Cold War. As I mentioned in my last blog, it is hard now to tell when you are in former East or West Berlin. It is just Berlin. That said, the East side still has a lot more poverty than the West side. I am so glad my kids got to see and touch the Wall. Also mentioned earlier, this is why we picked this particular week to come here. It is the 20th anniversary of the Wall’s fall.

Lastly, we saw the German Chancellor’s house.  Angela Merkel is the current resident, and the Reichstag (the Parliament building), which was also famous during the Nazi period for Hitler’s fiery speeches.

The big news here was the suicide of the soccer goalie of the German national team (Robert Enke). He jumped in front of a train on Wednesday and took his life. It was a big shock to everyone in the country. It was front page news for several days. The funeral was held in the Hanover soccer stadium (it was packed) and televised live. Again, it shows you how seriously the Germans take their fussball.

With the kids, our constant fight is over food. First, they are always hungry, then they don’t like anything the restaurants and cafes serve. They don’t like those exotic European items such as tomatoes, lettuce or anything with a sauce.

They want every meal at McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut. I have philosophical disagreement with eating at any American fast food place while in Europe, except for a few rare occasions.

The famous local cuisine in Berlin is the currywurst. It is long wurst, that has a special tomato and curry based sauce. The wurst is twice as long on as the bun, you use the bun as a handle while eating. You can buy them on every street corner and they are quite good. But you can imagine the kids reaction to them. Most just eat the roll (as long as you scrape the sauce off it). Schnitzel went over a little better; we just told them they were big chicken nuggets.

Finally, today is Natalie’s 13th birthday. We had a small celebration last night (today is a 7.5 hour train ride) and brought some presents with us. I am not sure she realizes it now, but spending your 13th birthday in Berlin is pretty special. However, this was the second birthday celebration where Lisa could not find a proper birthday cake. A box of Duncan Donuts with candles had to substitute.

Not sure where to put this in my blog- but it needs to be somewhere. Apparently the Germans are both literal as well as visual people. You like the sign for the bathroom in front of the stadium? Direct, to the point, leaving nothing to the imagination- very German! My father-in-law may enjoy this the most.

Back to Gdansk, then off to Warsaw in two weeks.