Tales of an Orchestra Den Mother | Part 3, Dichotomous City

"The Communists"

HYSO's 2022 tour itinerary was a reboot of a planned April 2020 tour cancelled last minute due to Covid-19. I believe that the two year delay made this trip much more meaningful than it could have possibly been in 2020. Although the itinerary was the same, the world changed in the interim due to Putin's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Berlin, Leipzig, and Prague were all places that once lived under partial or full Soviet control from the end of World War II until the fall of the Iron Curtain. Those we met in these places spoke disdainfully of "the communists" and life under the regime that ended three decades prior. For these former Eastern Bloc citizens, Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine simply reopened decades old and only superficially healed wounds. Pro-Ukrainian signage was everywhere throughout these cities, a show of solidarity from places formerly under Russian control.

While I was aware of the era of communist control in portions of Eastern Europe post World War II, I had never mentally connected them into a coherent whole until arriving there. For me, it was being physically present, seeing the Soviet era architecture, and hearing first hand accounts of life under communist authority that made everything click. These lessons were imparted with renewed urgency driven by Russia's ongoing aggression toward Ukraine. This trip was eye-opening for me and the reality of that history was reinforced everywhere we went. Our learning process began while touring the once-divided city of Berlin.

Although I understood that the Berlin Wall separated the East and West Berlin populations, I failed to appreciate an important nuance (thanks for nothing, Michigan public schools). The wall was not merely a bilateral dividing line; it was specifically built by the communist regime to keep their citizens inside. This realization completely altered my understanding of Berlin's history and colored everything I saw thereafter.

Sunday, April 17: Brandenburg Gate

Izzy and The Bear at the Brandenburg Gate

Our first stop in Berlin was the iconic Brandenburg Gate. Completed in 1791, it once marked the formal entrance to Brandenburg. Though damaged, it survived World War II more or less intact. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, it has become an icon representing a united Germany.

The bronze statue atop the gate known as the Quadriga was removed by Napoleon in 1806 and taken back to Paris as a prize of war. It was repatriated to Berlin some years later, but essentially destroyed in World War II. Today's Quadriga is an exacting replica of the original.

The Hogwarts contingent at the Brandenburg Gate.

Coca-Cola iconography was not something that I anticipated being prominently displayed in Berlin.

The Berliner Fernsehturm (Berlin TV tower) is a product of 1969 East Berlin. At 368 meters (1207 feet), it is the tallest building in Europe open to the public and has become an icon of the Berlin skyline.

We stopped for lunch in a plaza near Neptunbrunnen, an 1891 fountain depicting Neptune. Team Hogwarts ventured off on their own in search of food while Yana, Zhenya, and I found lunch at a nearby kabob place. Though I have known them for the many years our children have been classmates, it was my first time having lengthy conversations with them. The three of us found that we connected well.

Sunday, April 17: Spree River Cruise

This was my second visit to Berlin. The first time, I was surprised by how modern the city seemed compared to other prominent European cities. The reason for this, of course, was that so much of the old city was destroyed during World War II. After lunch, we took a river cruise on the Spree where the varied architecture of Berlin highlighted that much of the city had been reimagined since the war.

Luke's glasses and mask (but very little of Luke himself), The Bear, and Gabe in extreme close-up.

The dichotomy between old and new.

The Bode Museum was constructed on the Museum Island between 1898 and 1904. 

The Bode Museum.

Passing beneath this tunnel made me feel like I was in the opening credits of a Bond film.

Our cruise took us past the magnificent Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) built in 1893. It was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in World War II and allowed to remain in a state of disrepair post war by the communists as a physical commentary on religion. Scaffolding around the structure today hints at ongoing restoration.

A genuine Berlin Bear!

The Berlin Cathedral.

The Berlin Cathedral.

The Berlin Cathedral

The Berlin Cathedral. Photo by The Bear and edited by her in Lightroom as part of a class project.

The Berlin Cathedral.

We transitioned from the grand nineteenth century architecture of the Berlin Cathedral to the modern styling of the Humboldt Forum. We would spend some time in this museum space the very next day.

By the way that old architecture is surrounded by new, one can easily infer exactly where Allied bombing laid the city to waste by war's end.

The Humboldt Forum and Berlin Cathedral.

The Berlin TV Tower.

The Berlin TV Tower.

The "3XN Cube Berlin" building claims to be the "smartest building in Europe". Not having the time to administer IQ tests to buildings, we will have to take their word for it. Regardless, it is a striking fixture on the banks of the Spree.

"Non-Violence" was a sculpture created in 1984 by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd as commentary on the murder of John Lennon. The original is displayed at the United Nations complex in New York City, but the artist produced 30 copies that are on display in various cities around the world, including this one. 

The Bear enjoying her river tour of Berlin.

Bear motifs are plentiful in Berlin. We felt right at home.

What manner of "Day of the Triffids" jabberwocky is this?

Haus der Kulteren der Welt (House of World Cultures)

Bundeskanzleramt (German Chancellery).

Bibliothek des Deutschen Bundestages (Library of the German Bundestag) 

Deutscher Bundestag – Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin's Reichstag building, is home to the lower house of the German parliament (Bundestag). The historic building was completed in 1894 and survived both fire (1933) and war despite significant damage. It remained unused until reunification and its restoration was completed in 1999.

Reichstag Building.

Sunday, April 17: Hotel Abba

Our lodgings at Hotel Abba were sparse, but comfortable and somehow elegant all at once. And, oh Mama Mia! With that crystal chandelier hanging above my bed, I truly felt like a Dancing Queen. In Waterloo.

My room with the fancy, fancy chandelier.

Although the rooms at Hotel Abba did not have refrigerators, the front desk staff was happy to store The Bear's medication in the kitchen refrigerator. They also placed  our long-thawed cold packs ("Kuhlpacks") in a freezer to get them ready for the next leg of our trip. It seemed that the worst of our cold storage woes were over.

Dinner that night was a buffet at the hotel after which time we all crashed. For those of us unable to sleep on the plane, it was the first time getting real sleep since leaving New York the day before. I find that these kinds of hard resets do wonders for syncing my internal clock to the local time.

The next day would be spent touring complementary portions of the city by land and end with the student's first concert in Berlin's Heilig-Kruez-Kriche.