20-03-23
Dear diary,
Monday was something. We began the day with a tour of the city from Asbjørn, starting at Wittenburgplatz looking at the Western mall, the symbol of western wealth in Berlin during the cold war. We then continued on past the memorial church in Charlottenburg where a terrorist attack had happened and the walls were scarred from the war. This was the first heartbreaking sight of the day, and there was more to come. We went past the TV tower, the various museums, and the rebuilt palace. We followed the road down past the University and saw where the book burning happened, there was a memorial of empty bookshelves too, the memorial plaque read “First you burn books, then you burn people”.
We walked all the way down to the Brandenburg Gate, passing by the embassies. Outside the Russian embassy, there was a display of the damage in Ukraine due to the war, and many signs were facing the embassy stating “proud to be Ukrainian”, photos of dead bodies and numbers of the dead were displayed on yellow and blue paper, this made it feel a lot more real to me.
The Brandenburg gate was grand and to think it had seen an incredible past of war and conflict surround it was shocking. We then went to the Holocaust memorial sight, words can’t explain the feeling it gave me, it was airy and uneasy, and made me upset. But it felt good to pay respects. I want to visit the holocaust museum and learn even more about the history.
We continued on, we stood on top of the cemented in bunker where Hitler killed himself, such a strange feeling being there. I liked how there was no memorial or acknowledgement of the place, but I was also surprised.
We then headed to checkpoint Charlie, passing by the old buildings with the turned over signs that used to display Nazi symbols. Feels unbelievable to be in a place with so much history. Checkpoint Charlie seemed commercialised, an area with lots of fast food, and tourists. But also another place that displayed an entirely different element of history in Berlin.
After the most chaotic journey to the photojournalism class, a journey full of spilt curry, wrong classrooms, and missed busses. We made it. Only 30 minutes late, and nine empty tummies later… the class was interesting, felt more creative than our classes are normally. Showing us more imaginative ways to explore cities and search for stories. We also mingled more with the Norwegian students, and were put into our groups for the rest of the week. I look forward to the other adventures the week will bring.
Day one in Berlin was hectic, and emotionally draining, but over all it was extraordinary.