Past and Present When Visiting Berlin

Images of Power In A Rebuilt Berlin

The Jewish Community In Berlin

Berlin's Soccer Culture: 

Creating a New Image of Germany

The Potsdamer Platz Promise: Unite and Invite

Remembering The Berlin Wall

Rapid Food In Berlin

Theater In Berlin For Today’s Visitor

The Turkish Community In Berlin: A Visitor’s Perspective

Viewing The National Socialist Past In Berlin

Throughout the city of Berlin architectural styles range from old to new, Classical to Contemporary, and ugly to beautiful. There are many sites in which two or more styles are blended together; creating something that is both old and new. As one explores the city studying Berlin past and present, architecture will often serve as an example of the transitions the city has made culturally and politically. There are three spaces in Berlin in which there has been juxtaposition of modern and traditional architecture in a single space for the purpose of commemoration. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtnis-Kirche, The Jewish Museum, and the Reichstag serve different roles within the greater community, but each building commemorates the tragedies of the past while expressing hope for the future.

Retracing the Holocaust in Berlin

The Holocaust resulted in millions of people being ruthlessly murdered across Europe, and it can be viewed not only as a tragedy, but also as an embarrassment – for something so horrible could not have occurred without the explicit help or silence from many people.  As a student of history, politics and sociology, I am interested in how societies break down, fail and who and how people are oppressed or exploited.  With the opportunity to study to Berlin for two weeks, I found this to be the perfect chance to explore what it was like to live as an oppressed person under the Third Reich.  I decided to focus on the Jewish community since the acts committed against it were the most egregious.  After spending many days exploring the city, I was surprised to realize there was a depth of sites that enabled me to retrace the steps of members of the Jewish community from their lives, to their deportation out of Berlin and to the concentration camps.  Additionally, many memorials force you to reflect on the loss to German and global society of these people.  Overall, Berlin has responded to the horrors of the Holocaust in the Jewish community through the implementation of thoughtfully planned memorials and exhibitions of both a subjective and objective nature.  It provided me with an educational and personal experience that I will not soon forget.

The Remnants of Russian Occupation

            History is never an exact science and impressions of historical circumstances are often colored by an ideological lens.  The “US VS THEM” mentality bread during the Cold War trickled into my education and distorted an accurate picture of the Russian satellite state— the German Democratic Republic (GDR).  After the Berlin Wall fell, because history is written by the victors, the memory of the GDR was quickly treated as a monolithic whole, easily stereotyped and easily dismissed.  The common wisdom of simplified history explains that the East German predicament was as one of initial reluctance that was easily spurred on and molded into compliance by radical politics.  After several years of Soviet control, the East Germans were systematically pegged as complicit ideological comrades of the Soviets and conveniently labeled Stasi members.

Recreational Sports and Exercise in Berlin

Traveling from one country to another for long trips, one can typically find all the usual sites in any city. There are museums of science, history or art to culinary experiences in new restaurants. Each city has its own uniqueness and personality to offer. In this context, Berlin is no different. However, try venturing outside of the typical tourist attractions and consider what the locals do for recreational sports and exercise for a moment. While we may think all sports are handled the same, it seems Berlin opts for a slightly different approach when it comes to athletics. In fact, recreational sports in Berlin offer more of a built-in lifestyle than a conscious effort of fitness and weight loss. Principally, the city of Berlin is equipped for automatic self-propelling motion. The U Bahn and S Bahn creates a membership of citizens and visitors alike that allow walking from point-to-point with an occasional welcomed interruption of public transportation. Ease of use and affordability of the both Bahns make walking to and from places very easy; void of costly gym memberships requiring blocked out workout schedules in personal day planners.