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Welcome to Our Picture Gallery (Click on each picture for a larger version.) |
Our transfer to Berlin by train was a pleasant one...a restful six hour daytime journey through the Netherlands and North Germany. The hostel was welcoming and we arrived just in time to witness world history in the making ...the inauguration of our 44th US President, Barack Obama. With our travel passes, we found it easy to master the city's compexities. The completion of Dr. Alberts' course in European Geography was packed with lectures and several city-orienting "walkabouts" with numerous stops including the Brandenburg Gate, the Jewish Memorial, Museum Island, Check Point Charlie and Potsdamer Platz, to name a few. All were introduced within the urban concept of a city like no other in its history, conflict, destruction, division and reunification. Visits included the U-Bahn-Museum, the Sachsenhausen Memorial (concentration camp), the Museum of Technology, the Pergamon Museum and the 1936 Olympic Stadium. Nothing like being shown a city by a "local" as Dr. Alberts is a native of former West Berlin. On several occasions, we were joined by Dr. Alberts' father, Dieter, who provided not only valuable assistancebut an authentic touch of Gemutlichkeit to our stay. He has become, in a real sense, Our Man in Berlin. |
\Berlin Pictures Pic
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The Wall at Potsdamer Platz |
More remains of the Berlin Wall |
The Wall at Potsdamer Platz |
Adam at the controls
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The Berlin Transportation Museum |
Codie at the controls |
With the arrival of Dr. Monika Deegen, we plowed into our second course in the European Odyssey program which explored a more recent period of German and Berlin history ..."from Separation to Reunification." As a native of former East Germany, Dr. Deegen brought an "authenticity" to the topic not otherwise possible in any other setting. During the remaining time in Berlin, we visited a number of "course specific" sites which included: the DDR Museum, Hohenschonhausen (former STASI prison), Check Point Charlie Museum, Allied Museum, Mauer (Wall) Museum, Holocaust Museum., German-Russian Museum, East Side Gallery (Berlin Wall art), the Bundestag (German Parliament) and the Egyptian Museum.. Class lectures and guides provided insightful knowledge of the focus of these fascinating visits. A number of us added our own sites of interest such as a "football" match at the Olympic Stadium and dinner at the top of the "Asparagus" Tower.
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| A daytrip to Potsdam on the outskirts of Berlin introduced the students to the site of the post WWII Potsdam Conference, held at the Cecilienhof estate of the former Hohenzollern ruling family. This was followed by a visit and tour of the opulent 18th century palace, Sanssouci, the summer "cottage" of Frederick the Great. The day trip to Leipzig and Wittenberg was indeed a highlight of our stay in Germany. While at the Nicolai Kirche in Leipzig, we heard a most inspiring account of the 1989 Peaceful Revolution and the significant role the Nicolai church played in the events leading to the fall of the Wall and the reunification of Germany. A brief visit to the famous St. Thomaskirche allowed students to pay their respects to the memory of Johann Sebastian Bach who toiled there for 22 years and is buried at the altar. The picturesque university town of Wittenberg, the Schlosskirche and the houses of Cranach the Elder and Martin Luther provided views of another revolutionary time when Martin Luther, Philipp Melanchthon and Lucas Cranach paved the way for the Protestant Reformation through teaching, preaching and printing. After the conclusion of another course, the students bid farewell to both Dr. Deegen and Berlin as they prepared to move on to Austria for a two week residence in Vienna and the beginning of another Odyssey adventure. |
The former American "sector" |
At the Berlin Museum of Technology |
Check Point Charlie |
The 1936 Olympic Stadiu |
The Musical Instrument Museum |
Berlin Airlift Propaganda
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A 1936 View of the Olympic Stadium
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Entrance to the Olympic Stadium |
