A Day at Dachau

"The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil." Genesis 6:5

I must admit that I approach this days post with a bit of trepidation as I attempt to convey what a day at a concentration camp entails. The verse above may have been applied to the world before the flood but I must admit that a sentiment similar to this crossed my mind several times today. With this in mind I will use a two prong approach and start by telling you the simply facts of the journey and then later delve into the emotional journey that Dachau was for myself and I believe the rest of the group.

We began by meeting our tour guide (Ralph Lunstrom) at the hostel and proceeding to take the 25 minute train out to Dachau, just outside of Munich. Once in Dachau we then took the bus to the actually camp which was originally outside the city but is now well within the city. Ralph talked us through how prisoners were brought into the camp and explained the sadly ironic meaning of the phrase that used to hang over the entrance. "Arbeit Macht Frei", which translates to the phrase "Work will set you free." This was disturbingly true at Dachau as it was a work camp that literally worked thousands to death. Sadly this sign was just recently stolen and attest to the frightening prospect that there are still groups that revere Nazi artifacts enough to spend upwards of 1.5 million Euros to steal them.

We then toured through the various buildings which included the administrative in-processing building, a replica barracks, prison, and crematoriums. By far the most eerie was the crematoriums. Dachau was the first of over 1,500 camps to be run throughout Germany and Europe during WWII. During its years of use it housed just over 200,000 prisoners and killed around 76,000 of those prisoners.  Of course exact amounts are impossible to know but I will tell you that standing in a room where thousands upon thousands of humans were burned is a heavy and incomprehensible experience.

This type of experience brought several truths about humanity into utterly clear perspectives. Evil is a real thing; any person who walks through the gates of Dachau and sees the images of starving faces and piles of bodies knows that humanity has this sickness of sin and is capable of unthinkable atrocities. I know for myself I left being once again assured that evil must always be actively, and sometimes violently, opposed.

The last monument had four different languages that all stated the same fact. It was a message that a day at Dachau or any concentration camp invariably teaches and commands the viewer; "Never Again".

Create Your Own Adventure: Munich Edition

This morning we dispersed and created our own adventures in Munich. We awoke early and found our way to the U-Bahn and the platforms for our trains. We split up and ventured into the unknown. My group took off to Fussen to see the beautiful Castles.

We eagerly exited our train and made our way up to the first Castle, Hohenschwangau (try pronouncing that one!) This was the Castle King Ludwig grew up in as a summer home. This was a beautiful small castle (small being a relative term). Hohenschwangau was built in the 1800’s and is in its original condition (for the most part). The inside is the original architecture and designs. In this castle we saw Ludwig’s elaborate taste for design. He built a ceiling in his bedroom with tiny holes in the center of the stars painted upon it so that he could illuminate them from the room above and sleep under the stars.

We then trekked over to the third castle King Ludwig built, Neuschwanstein. It was a long hike up, but a beautiful sight to see. This castle is the inspiration for Walt Disney’s castle and is an incredible sight to see. The interior is about 1/3 of the way finished. The rest of the building has been left empty, due to Ludwig getting in trouble for spending too much money, and then dying a few days later. However, Ludwig did get to live in Neuschwanstein for 173 days. He built the entire castle for himself. He had no desire or intent for others to be in the castle. After the castle, we hiked a bit further to the bridge behind the castle. This was an adventure to say the least, as the path was covered in snow and rather slippery, but we survived and we glad we went.

The other group traversed to Salzburg. They walked around this beautiful European city. They went to see the valley and hear the church bells ring from the beautiful cathedrals. Then went to Motzart’s birthplace and his residence, along with the Mirabel gardens (famous from their debut in the Sound of Music). They also enjoyed walking Getreide Gasse, a shopping avenue with medieval signs (“worth it”). They told me that the views were incredible, and more beautiful than anything they have seen. I might have to come back and make my way down there sometime in the future. I wish I could share more about this amazing adventure, but you are just going to have to ask them all yourself.

When we finally made it back to Munich, we went to the Hofbrauhaus (the beer hall). What a cultural experience. Close your eyes. Imagine Germany. Imagine a hall filled with music, and talk and men drinking beer out of stein bigger than your head. Well that is what we saw. It was a lot of fun to eat dinner in this atmosphere. 

Berlin Academy of Science, the Jewish Museum, and Evensong

On the 15th of January, we began our day with a delicious German hostel breakfast. Our whole party woke up significantly less refreshed than desired due to a rambunctious group of students staying on our floor. Tiredness aside, we left for the Berlin Academy of Science where we were shown around by Dr. Eberhard Knobloch. We began the tour with a history of Euler's works accompanied by some of his original manuscripts and writings. It was fascinating to see books penned by the great man hundreds of years before our time. 

Original copy of one of Euler's books

After the history of Euler, we got to listen as Dr. Knobloch gave a PowerPoint presentation on the history of the Berlin Academy of Sciences as well as his personal history as a mathematician. He has won many prestigious awards including a Blaise Pascal Medal for Social Sciences and Humanities and made many great contributions to his field.

Dr. Knobloch's Blaise Pascal Medal

After we finished at the Berlin Academy of Science, we headed off in search of the coffee and food that Donna claimed we all needed (to be fair, she was absolutely correct). I ate a delicious sandwich with chicken and tomatoes and some sauce similar to pesto. I also had a coffee to ensure maximum awareness at our next stop: the Jewish Museum. The museum was different than what I expected in that only the first portion of it was dedicated to the Jews and the atrocities committed against them during World War II. The majority of the museum was dedicated to the history of the Jews and the rich culture that they come from. The parts that were linked to the Holocaust were deep and thought provoking. The most interesting and even disturbing part for me was the Shalekhet (Fallen Leaves) memorial. Walking up to where the memorial was, I thought I heard the sound of breaking glass or construction of some kind. As I got closer, it got increasingly louder and then I saw the source of the noise. The display consists of 10,000 metal faces on the floor of a poorly lit room. Guests are invited to walk through the art and their steps made the sound I heard. I stepped out onto the display and gazed down at the faces, all distinct yet indistinguishable from any other face in the pile. To me, this signified that each Jew murdered in the Holocaust had a distinctive story, family, and life yet the Nazis stripped this from them when they relocated them to concentration camps all over Germany. Each of the faces had its mouth agape in a silent scream of terror, signifiying the hopelessness that must have faced each victim at the end of their days. The rest of the museum was interesting and conveyed the loss of the Jews in a cultural sense, but the Shalekhet memorial was the most moving aspect of the museum for me. 

The Shalekhet Memorial by Menashe Kadishman

After the Jewish Museum, which we explored at our own pace, we broke off into groups to go explore until Evensong at 6 at the Berliner Dome. My group went back to the fantastic chocolate shop because some people didn’t get as much chocolate as they wanted the previous day… and it’s one of the only places in the city where you can use the loo for free. After we wandered around for a bit, we headed in the direction of the Berliner Dome. We waited outside for several minutes in the bitter cold, quoting Monty Python before we were allowed in. The interior of the cathedral (shown here) was absolutely beautiful. 

Altar at the Berliner Dome

The Evensong service consisted of a Scripture reading, in both German and English, as well as an organ solo, some hymns and a final blessing, again in both German and English. After Evensong, we took a chilly walk back to a bus station and made it back to the hostel around 7. After dinner, a large group of us hung out in the 1^st floor lounge to play a rousing card game. I daresay none of us will forget the evening soon and for some it may have been the start of something special. All in all, a fabulous end to our last day in Berlin. 

Tour of Berlin and Reichstag

Tuesday

We woke up very early in the morning to board the train back to the London airport. After a brief delay, we left on our flight to Berlin. We have had a spectacular time in London, and it is hard to say goodbye after such a short week. Still, it is great to look forward to the adventures to come in Germany. The flight was great, but we had a missed approach on final because somebody, not one of us, was in the lavatory.
Settling into Berlin, the Hostel is quite different than in England. The city feels different as well. It is immediately apparent that the city feels more industrial. Almost all of the surfaces have graffiti on them, damage from the war is much more apparent, and the climate is much colder at this time of year though I am told it is much warmer than in prior tours. We visited the Pergamon museum with a self guided audio tour then went to the hotel to check in.

Wednesday

The day begins with a tour of the Reichstag. The campus consists of several other buildings which, together, form the parliament of Germany. Entry to the building is heavily guarded, getting in is akin to passing through airport security, complete with heavy interlock doors. Once inside, our guide takes us around to several rooms and talks about the history of the building. There have been several renovation over the years sometimes prompted by fire, other times by political changes. The current building was completed in 1999. The inside is very modern, not something I expected looking in from the outside.
We learned that Germany does not have separation of church and state like we are used to in America. The government still pays taxes to the church, and there is a beautiful prayer room inside the Reichstag which is used regularly for prayers before meetings and is open to anybody who works there.
The parliament floor is filled with purple seats arranged in a special configuration to separate the various political parties. It is surrounded by glass, so members of the press and public can watch without entering. The ceiling is very high and vents directly to the massive glass dome above. From the ground to the top, the dome extends 54 meters. We climbed up to the top and got an impressive view of the city.

After we exited, we met our second tour guide who took us through the city and talked about various significant points. I will save all of the details for a future post, but I will cover a few of the more important things we saw. We first walked through the Brandenburg Gates and discussed the significance behind several historical events that happened there. The gate has seen a lot, and it now is seen as a symbol of the rough history of Germany and Europe as well as peace and unity. The gate used to be on the western edge of Berlin and, during the GDR, was right on the edge of the Berlin wall.
The Berlin wall was another site that we talked about. There are monuments and portions of the wall that remain standing, but it somehow seems more somber to see the red bricks which now run through the city and indicate where the full wall once stood. They go under buildings and across streets.
We finished our tour on museum island, an island in the middle of the city that is home to several museums and historical buildings. After our tour concluded, we went to Fassbender & Rausch, an incredible Schokoladenhaus (chocolate house) which was essentially a gourmet restaurant which only serves things made out of chocolate. I had the most buttery hot cholocate you could imagine with a cappuccino mini torte which is described on the menu as espresso mousse combined with coffee ganache on a dark sponge cake under a layer of white chocolate.

The British Science Museum

As I pulled out my wallet and scanned myself out of South Kensington station, our group prepared . We emerged from the tunnel and exposed ourselves to the brisk sunny skies of London and rushed towards Holy Trinity Brompton Church. After already visiting St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminister Abbey Holy Trinity Brompton was much more personal. After attending one of the most technologically integrated and impressive services I have ever attended, we moved on to the British Science Museum. 

Inside were exhibits that covered some of the most practical subjects in science. As I entered the museum the first exhibition I visited covered Space Exploration. Diagrams and models of some of the Saturn rockets were displayed as well as life-size models of prominent space satellites and equipment. The Apollo 11 landing craft, Hubble Telescope, and a genuine piece of a Moon boulder are featured as a testament to the Museum’s effort to inform the public on the importance of humanity’s journey to explore the stars. 

The next room I visited featured the evolution of machines. From the world’s oldest steam engine to the return spacecraft for the Apollo missions, the room did an incredible job providing a progression of inventions that accurately described the development of technological progress. 

The next room I visited had four floors of content aimed at educating guests with a variety of practical topics. The first floor was aimed at a younger audience. Needless to say I didn’t spend very much time in that section. The second floor however covered the climate and humanity’s role affects the environment and had a more mature approach. The third floor is where I spent the most of my time. Inside were several different interactive touch screens and exhibits to help guests understand the content. The entire floor was directly related to the human body. The museum covered sexual development, gender psychology, and common body alterations. Each subject had detailed and appropriate information that obviously enabled guests to become more aware informed on the most relevant information to any visitor. The fourth floor was labeled Engineer Your Future and featured a variety of games concerning the design of things we use everyday. 

I didn't get the opportunity to visit anymore of the Museum, however I can say that with the shear volume of items they had on exhibition that it was extremely well organized and directed. Overall, today was a great opportunity to see any remaining attractions we hadn't visited yet and I am glad I visited the British Science museum. 

The Six Napoleons and a Stegosaurus

Yesterday everyone was given the freedom to chose what adventures to find in London. Hannah and I paired up to visit 221 Baker Street and the Natural History Museum. Both were excellent choices. Most of our cohorts went to the Tower of London and were able to see the crown jewels and the armory. Others went to the Globe Theater, or were clever and did some of the required assignments for the semester (I really wish I had done that).

Riding the tube to Baker Street turned out to be more difficult than we had thought. The station nearest to our hotel was closed for service- apparently a common occurrence on weekends. The Londoners around us had only minimal reactions. But the trip was well worth it- the Sherlock Holmes museum has incredible! The tiny flat was absolutely filled with artifacts from the stories (the books- not the movies or TV show). Guarding the entrance was a gentleman dressed as a convincing Lestrade, with Mrs. Hudson knitting just inside the door with a ubiquitous cup of tea. The mock home of everyone's favorite detective clearly illustrated who was supposed to live there, small touches could be definitive traced to either Watson (like the small office filled with medical equipment and texts) or the cramped bedroom jammed with monographs, suspicious syringes, and all the makings for an excellent disguise.

The top floor held and unexpected surprise- remarkably realistic wax figurines of some of Holmes' greatest foes. Grimesby Roylott from the Speckled Band had the eerie characteristic of having eyes that followed you around the room regardless of your standing position. It took Hannah and I a bit to determine that these were in fact made of wax, and not petite docents. Please don't judge us.

After our fill of mystery, we hopped back on the tube to visit the Natural History Museum. And there we saw dinosaurs. I don't know what it is, but something about fossils just bring out my inner child. Hannah and I did agree that we were the oldest people there without children. The end of the exhibit was a darkened room with a massive animatronic Tyrannosaurus Rex- which was coolest thing ever. This trip was the ultimate preparation for Jurassic World.

We then got a quick lunch from a street vendor- hot ciabatta  sandwiches filled with cheeses and pesto. Fueled, we began to look for a tea shop. Several disappointing failures eventually resulted in us finding Fortnum & Mason- which was half department store and half just tea. Needless to say I bought a lot of tea.

On the way back to the tube we stumbled into a small church courtyard that housed a petite market of artisans. It seemed mostly to have locals- so the two of us were very pleased for finding something off the beaten path. It was a fun twist to the day.

Eventually, after a short rest we trotted off to what we thought was a quaint cafe and turned out to be the restaurant of a fancy hotel a few blocks away- talk about inaccurate advertising. Nonetheless the food was wonderful, and they managed to seat around a dozen of us. Finding places that can feed all 17 of us has been a bit of a hazard. After dinner a group of the ladies went to a Old Mary's- a supposedly haunted underground kitchen of an old townhouse. We didn't find a ghost- but there was suspicious activity when our room's TV kept turning itself on in the night...

I forgot to mention- another London experience was a quick downpour while walking to the Natural History Museum. It only lasted about two minutes but we managed to get remarkably wet!

Royal Society, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, & The British Museum

This morning, after having breakfast, we gathered in the lobby and Sarah Mickelsen gave a presentation on Female Code Breakers in WWII and Sarah Woods presented The Clockwork Universe, focusing on Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the birth of the modern world.

After listening to two wonderful presentations, we went to the Royal Society where we had the privilege of seeing Principia, The Skeptical Chemist, Newton’s death mask (surprisingly kept in a cardboard box), paintings of the Royal Society, Newton’s telescope, and much more.

We went to Buckingham Palace and took lots of pictures. There were so many people and it was really sunny so the pictures turned out nicely.
Then we were able to buy tickets for Les Miserables for Monday at one of the half-price ticket booths. We were able to score tickets for 24 pounds because we got a group deal. 

We split up to have lunch. Joey, Tyler, and Evan E. and I went to a place called Cafe Fiori close to the tube. I got a cappuccino and a brie, basil, and tomato sandwich. The cheese was the best tasting brie I’ve ever had. The four of us mapped out our day and took the tube to Westminster Abbey. We showed our student IDs to get the discount, paid 15 pounds, and grabbed an audio tape. Walking through Westminster Abbey was amazing. The ceilings were higher than you could imagine and the stained glass windows were intricate. Walking around, admiring the craftsmanship, we realized we have nothing in comparison in America. 

After spending about 3 hours at Westminster Abbey, we made our way to the British Museum. Our feet were tired from walking all day, but we pressed through. At the British Museum, we walked around the giant building, taking in the different cultures and time periods. The categories included Ancient Greece and Rome, Egyptian sculptures/hieroglyphics, and Japanese galleries. At 5:00, we had a tour specific to the Rosetta Stone and afterwards walked around some more all the way to the top floor. 

Our feet hurt after all this walking and we were tired so we returned to the hotel and left at 7:00 to get dinner. We went downtown and adventured around until we found a little shop called Pret. I got a chicken wrap, macaroni & cheese, and a double mocha. We navigated the roads and found our way back to the tube and took it back to the Lancaster Hotel.

Everyone was exhausted and in need of a pedicure by the end of the eventful day full of walking, admiration, and adventure.

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc8ux5Nr5XfezN_eV6GtyoYStCyboxjCp