A morning in Berlin. Reichstag, memorials, lessons.

Leaving behind discussion of The Wall, it's effectiveness, or ineffectiveness and the message it sent to the world of the inadequacy of the Communist East German society to provide for it's citizens, we now step back in time for the events prior. 
When Germany was Germany, not an East and West.
After World War 1 (then called The Great War) and after The Great Depression- both things that were NOT "Great" and I would not like to see them be made Great Again. 
They were so UN-Great, that the country of Germany was in a pretty desperate space. 
And, presented to them was a man who promised to give Germany wealth and respect again. 
Now. I suspect that even the most desperate of Germans, had they been able to see with clarity what would happen in the future, would've steered clear of this man. But, alas, they did not see. And those who did see, recognized his megalomania (meg·a·lo·ma·ni·aˌmeɡələˈmānēə/  noun: obsession with the exercise of power, especially in the domination of others.) and his demagoguery,(Demagoguery is an appeal to people that plays on their emotions and prejudices rather than on their rational side. Demagoguery is a manipulative approach — often associated with dictators and sleazy politicians — that appeals to the worst nature of people.) hoped he would be kept in check by the other parts of the government. 
I put the definitions for those two words right in the blog, because, those are two words I have not had a whole lot of use for in the past, and needed a refresher on what they meant. Both definitions are from Google, which, thanks to my nifty new computer, is easy to access into the blog. But, I also cruised definitions from Merriam-Webster and the Cambridge English Dictionary and though slightly different, the definitions are similar.  Also, the peak usage for the word "megalomania" in the last century was between 1945 and 1950. 
History shows Hitler was not kept on check. When he was voted to power as Chancellor of Germany, there were only two other members of the parliament , the Reichstag, who were in the Nazi Party. The hopeful thought the rest would balance out the Nazis. 

Huz and I headed out into Berlin to see the sights with few expectations. I had done only a little research about our Berlin trip, having spent most of my efforts in understanding Poland for the longest stretch of our travel. 

We made our way to the edge of Tiergarten, a large greenspace in the city centre. There we found this impressive Wilhelmian piece of architecture, The Reichstag. This is where the German Parliament convenes. It opened in 1894, and served as the seat of Parliament until a Great (and suspect, one month after Hitler assumed power) Fire in 1933. It was a ruin for 40 years, and only fully restored and used again after the reunification of Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall in the 1990's. 

Behind me, on the right of the photo, you can see a somewhat unattractive and temporary structure built along the bottom of the building. This is what is used for screening people prior to entering the building in our age of terrorism. 
To the side of this structure is a memorial to a piece of frightening history, that led up to even more horrific drama. 

Memorial to Politicians Who Opposed Hitler

 This unassuming row of slates is a memorial to all the members of the Reichstag who opposed Hitler. These were the folks that were supposed to "keep him in check". This was the division of politics that was to balance out the demagogue megalomaniac. 
They died. 96 of them.
Each slate has on the side the name, birthdate and date of death, mostly in concentration camps, of the elected member of the government. Most of them were accused of treason by Hitler and shipped off to a concentration camp to die. If they died in a camp, the name of the camp is also on the slate's edge. 

 Ravensbruck, Dachau, Neuengamme, Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Theresienstadt; dozens and dozens of names of death camps that took in the elected officials of Germany, and snuffed their voice, and any chance the world had of skipping the abominations to come. 

Now, diagonally across the lawn in front of the Reichstag, stands this building, the Bundeskanzleramt, or Federal Chancellory. This is where current Chancellor, Angela Merkel runs the business of Germany. 

I like that the people of Germany, affectionately? call the building "Bundeswaschmaschine" or "Federal Washing Machine" for it's looks. 


Before leaving the Reichstag, we went on a hunt through the edge of the Tiergarten for the 

Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Murdered under the National Socialist Regime

At the memorial, looking grim. In the park there is a glass wall with the time-line of the summary genocide of the Sinti and Roma people. Chilling to read, for how reasonable the politicians made it seem at the time. An accounting of a people who were mostly uncounted for they were a roaming population. Considered undesirable, and perhaps treacherous, impoverished and a threat to the German people, they were sent to camps. 

 Here,  in the shadow of the Reichstag, as if to remind the politicians of what can happen when the power is put in evil hands, there is a peaceful pool. In the center is a triangular stone that is the shape of the badges put on the prisoners of the concentration camps. A fresh flower is placed there daily. 

 The bronze pool is edged by a poem written by Roma poet, Santino Spinelli. It reads:
Gaunt face   dead eyes    cold lips    quiet   a broken heart   out of breath    without words  no tears

Surrounding the pool are stones, and on some of the stones are engraved the names of the concentration camps in which an estimated 220,000-500,000 Roma and Sinti were murdered. I guess they didn't bother to keep accurate records. 

 Just blocks from the Reichstag is the famed Branderberger Tor, or Brandenburg Gate. 
It was built on the site of the former gate to the road to....Brandenburg. It was erected as a symbol of peace in the time of King Frederick William II of Prussia, 1791. HA! Well, it wasn't a symbol of peace forever. The statue on top, the Quadriga, is a chariot of 4 horses, pulling a goddess- originally Eirene, goddess of peace. But, after Napolean defeated the Prussian army in 1806, he took the Quadriga to Paris. Peace no more. 

This is a man, happy to not currently be deliberating on Nazi mass murder.  Victory, small. 

When Napolean was defeated in 1814, and the Prussians occupied Paris, they took the Quadriga back to Berlin, to top the gate again. But, now, the gate was no longer seen as a sign of peace, but as a truimphal arch, and the Quadriga was redesigned into the goddess of Victory, with the Iron Cross and Eagle added to her lance. 

Part of the history lesson!
 Cool pictures of the Branderberger Tor moving through it's different stages.

 1945 looking a bit rough. 

After April 1945, note the portrait of Stalin in the center of the Pariser Platz.

 The wall around the Brandenberger Tor. 

1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall!

 Directly behind the Branderburger Tor is the Pariser Platz.  One of the buildings directly behind the gate is the US Embassy. 

It looks accessible.  Don't be fooled there are guards and concrete driving barriers and that's not a door. Just looks like a door.

A few blocks from the gate, and the Reichstag, is a dirt parking lot. This seems weird, as this is a busy, modern city where space is a premium. Who would own a dirt parking lot? 
Well, there is a small sign that gives you the reason. Underneath this dirt lot is the bunker where Hitler first married his mistress, Eva Braun, then committed suicide. With her. I think it was a "Thing" at the time to go out together. So, no one wants to use the space. No one wants to build upon it. Going back through my photos, I didn't even take a photo. Too disgusted to bother. 

And, within sight of the dirt lot is this eerie bunch of monoliths. There is no large sign, or anything flashy. This 4.5 acre space sinks to the center, and is filled with large granite stones, like rows of massive tombs. It's disorienting in it's scope and the way it sinks at the middle. It is the 

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

 The gloom of the weather fit the scene so well, with a rain falling in earnest. It seemed like the rain should always fall on this patch of ground. 

Huz walked around the rows a bit, but to be honest, I was so deeply saddened by the weight of it all, I hung around the edge. 

How do we keep our eyes open? How do we prevent the fear, the anger, the crazy minds that speak to those things and prevail? How do we keep ourselves from looking away? How to stand up for the persecuted? How to prevent history from repeating itself, pure, or in slightly different form? 
Were the people who were struggling and pinned their hopes on Hitler's promises of prosperity deceived or culpable? 
Tough questions. Revolting history, already written. History continues to be written, it is just, now, we are the authors. 

Berlin- Den Mauer. The Wall.

Berlin 2016

When I last shared in this blog, Huz and I had been in Wrocław, Poland.

Loved it! He had been lecturing and hosting and being all Rad.

But, now we took the opportunity for a bit of vacation, and traveled by bus back to Berlin. 

I have to say, when planning our adventures from Cowfeathers Farm, we had a heck of a time figuring out any kind of train passage between the cities. It seemed to only be an option of bus. And, even after traveling to the source, we still didn't iron out a train option. 

So, a bus ride through the forests between the two countries, without jet lag this time, was just fine. When we arrived back at the Hauptbahnhof train station in Berlin (the bus stops directly across), we went into the station to the Visitor Center. There we purchased passes that allowed us, as visitors, to ride all the public transportation for a flat fee. And it was a good deal. 

So, back outside the Hauptbahnhof, the tram station a few steps away allowed us to hop on the tram and travel down the Invalidenstrasse to our hotel.

We had booked rooms at the Honigmond Garden Hotel, and it was a great choice. 

This was the walk to our rooms. 

   

Just beyond the little table on the left of the photo is the bannister that led to the steep, narrow stairs and our rooms a few stories above. 

On a narrow landing (I had to stay on the stair, as Huz and I could not both fit on the landing and open the door), we found our door. It opened into a tidy little kitchen with a luxurious little bathroom behind it. Beyond is a dining room, with petite fireplace, and then beyond that our bedroom, with a large wardrobe and a big four poster bed. And Huz.

 And this is our view from French Casement windows. Lush garden below, with this fabulous green wall making our room feel extremely private and as an oasis in the city.
But, we don't go on vacation to hang out in our rooms! So out into Berlin we shall go.

 Our first order of business was food, and that is a touch complicated by me! But, we found a place several blocks from our hotel that was right up my food alley, and had a lovely little luncheon.
We then set out for a wander, and consulting my friend- a map- found we were quite close to a place where the Berlin wall still stands.

Den Mauer- The Wall.
It turned out that it wasn't just a patch of standing wall, it was the Berlin Wall Memorial.

Excellent! Because I must admit my ignorance here. I just didn't understand The Wall. I knew it separated East Germany from West Germany. And was a larger symbolic divide between Communism and Democracy. I knew people died trying to climb over the wall and escape East Germany.
The rest was murky. Who decided this was a good idea? And, if the wall was just across Berlin, why not just go around it instead of over it? Just walk into the countryside of East Germany and walk through the fields to the west. Skip the whole Wall thing and people shooting at you.
Although I do understand it much better now, I still can't answer the question "Who thought this was a good idea?"

 So, my image of The Wall being a line is false. The wall went all the way around the West Berlin, and so it was an oasis of democracy in the communist East Germany. There was a portion of West Berlin allotted to the Americans, another to the Brits and the last to the French. So, after the fall of the Hitler Regime, the victors carved up the spoils, and this was their idea of how to make it fair.
BIG Eyeroll.

 Much friendlier looking that when it was in use, the wall now has some green space, is no longer surrounded with barbed wire and trigger-happy guards.

Along the wall in the memorial area are these boards that have information on them about the wall. This board is about  a man who died here trying to climb over the wall to visit his mother. They had been separated by the ding-dongs who thought up a wall, and he was missing his Mummy.  Humans are really so bonkers. They had to build a wall to keep people in their society, because so many people had left they were floundering. So, instead of finding a way for the society to prosper, they shoot people who try to leave.
And we share DNA. Rather discouraging.

I found this photo interesting, as I realized we were standing in the same location. So this is what it looked like. You can see in the foreground, the wall divided a cemetery from the church on the East Berlin side of the wall. So, not only could you not visit your living relatives, you couldn't visit dead ones either. There is a guard on a small wooden stand, between the wall and the fence of barbed wire. There are visual barriers up across the road, so East Germans couldn't see down the street to the West Germans prospering and get ideas.

 The older building in this photo is the same building as is pictured in the Wall photo. I pointed it out with a curved blue arrow. There are new apartments going up across the street.

And this road, that prior to the wall went past the cemetery, is still blocked off by wall. In the old photo above, it is marked with a red arrow.

Standing in history.

Crazy history. But as they say, history repeats itself. So, better have a good look, just in case we are around when it does.
This is fairly recent history. As the inscription says on the marble in the photo back a-ways, the wall stood from August 1961- November 1989. I was born into a world where this wall existed. And I was in college when it was finally taken down.
Although Germany has centuries of history, the history of the 20th century is truly palpable.
In the next blog, we take a tour of Mitte, Tiergarten, and the postcard sights of Berlin. Plus the devastating reminders of the ugliness of the demagoguery of megalomaniac Hitler.
Fun!

Back on the FARM.

Well, for a few months, the Cowfeathers Farm Blog has been "offline", as my computer decided to be non-compliant. With anything. Maybe the Russians don't like Farm blogs?
But,  Huz came through with a new, tidy little laptop to get me started again. My birthday present (ahem-friends know my birthday is in July, but...) has arrived!
So, tonight, I sit as the wind and the winter come back to roost- the winter has been unseasonably warm, wet and muddy, but is getting back to the game tonight- and think of how to surmise the past 4 months.
Forget it! Let's just go from here.
But wait! I didn't share Berlin!
I stopped at Polish up-rising in orange. But didn't share Berlin and Potsdam. These were two names I was familiar with, of course Berlin had a wall, and a Communist murdering government for 40 years,
and Potsdam sounds like a Dutch city. But it took a trip there to get a grip.
So, tomorrow, as the wind blows and the ice hits, I shall endeavor to share. Also, I will have slept off the awesome Pear Elderflower Martini bestowed on me by Huz. Sir Mix-a-lot.
Welcome back to the Farm!

Pomaranczowa Alternatywa- The Orange Alternative- Protest, baby.

I have mentioned in my previous Polish blogs my admiration for the Polish people. They have demonstrated incredible resilience and determination in the recovery from the occupations and atrocities of the last century. One of the incredible stories of this strength is the "Orange Alternative" po polsku "Pomaranczowa Alternatywa".
When Germany lost World War II, and, I don't pretend to understand how exactly this happens, but instead of making Poland Poland again, the country was given to the Soviets. This isn't a blog about that in particular, but I still don't get it.
Anyhoo, the Polish people had the heap of atrocities know as Nazis and then Stalinist Soviets from about 1939 until they eventually dropped the Soviet yoke in the late 1980s.  Wrocław, where we stayed in Poland was the site of a movement that helped lead to Poland as it is today. The movement was called the Orange Alternative, and was begun by a man named Waldemar Fydrych. As movements go, it was a pretty jolly one. One of the techniques instituted by Fydrych was to paint playful images over the painted-over anti-Soviet graffiti. The idea was to point out the Soviet government's lack of competence and absent sense of humor.

 The images of gnomes, or dwarves started cropping up all around the city of Wrocław. And, the movement grew. "Happenings" began to be organized. These were gatherings that were meant to poke fun in a blameless type of way at the Soviet government. For instance, a "Happening" was to ridiculously overdress in Soviet Red on the anniversary of Russia's communist revolution. Or, a "Happening" was thrown where a large group gathered to sing Stalinist hymns to the chimpanzees at the zoo. Perhaps the most pointed ones were when they handed out scarce but basic items, like toilet paper or feminine hygiene products. A favorite and famous "Happening" was during a strike in 1988, where a letter was read aloud to the striking workers, supporting the strikes in strong words- written previously by Lenin.
All the "Happenings" were non-violent, and could be, on the surface, seen as Soviet support. All the while, the gnomes appeared all over the country.

 In 1988, on the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, over 10,000 people in Wrocław marched on the Nazi- built government seat, dressed in orange floppy dwarf hats and chanting "We Love Lenin".

This is my photo of the same building, taken from the Odra river. This building looks so Nazi, it's a propaganda poster in stone.

In 1989, Poland once again became Poland instead of Communist Poland.
But, in Wrocław, the gnomes live on. They have become a touristy past-time, hunting down the little statues that are tucked in here and there all over the city-centre. More arrive each year, I was told there are more than 400 now.

 Huz and I enjoyed looking for them, and in doing so, exploring the city more thoroughly.
 But I also loved how the "Just for Tourist" entertainment in art was tied so closely to the idea of poking fun at the Soviet government.

(Orange) Hats off to you, Pomaranczowa Alternatywa!

Let's talk about a Stud.

.If you're thinking "Not Again!" No, this time it isn't one of those talks.

 Currently, I am building nothing! So, not discussing stud walls.

 Or stud earrings.

 Or even shirt studs. Although I do find them interesting.
Not even this Stud:

This is about this kind of stud:

Stallions, kept specifically for breeding are called "Studs". And the place which houses a breeding stallion is also termed "A Stud". Although, the term does lend itself to a bit of grandeur."A Stud" seems to have a professional and purposeful element to it.
This particular blog is about a the beautiful Stud at Książ.

 When Huz and I arrived at Zamek Książ, and bought our tickets, there was some indication that for 10 more zlotych ($) we could also tour the Stajnie and the Palm House. So, we must.  And after our grand tour of the Zamek, we took a look at the primitive map on the back of our ticket, and headed off to the Stables. Kind of. Had we gone down the road leading to the castle, and through a park, we would eventually have found this sign above. Most helpful. But we did not. Instead, we went down a stair outside the castle gates that dwindled into a dirt path into the wood. And, then to a small track, past some ruins of some sort, and then what appeared to be a bus stop in the woods. But, we are map readers, and our map said the stables were this way.  At least, this direction.
Eventually we saw some grizzled, smoking bent over men, with one or two younger backs chatting at the back of a an old tudor-style building. We approached- obviously in the wrong place, but they pointed us through a gate and to another building on the other side of the courtyard in front of us. And thus we entered, through the workers entrance at Stajnie Zamkowa.
To see this:

 Oh yeah. This is delicious! 18th century barns full of horses. My happy place.
As I gaped, a fellow came out with a gorgeous horse to do some lunging in the huge arena in the center of the stable block. 

 Not all the horses in residence are breeding animals. There are also riding ones. Lots. And, yes, I wanted to ride too!

 All the buildings that make up the block are stables with these wonderful vaulted ceilings.

 These girls reminded me of my Pony Club kids, polishing boots and cleaning tack on the floor before getting on to ride. Polish Pony Club? Maybe. It would be pretty cool to have a Pony Club based out of a castle.

 Huz, gasping in astonishment at the accolades of this stud?

 I don't know what all the medals mean, but Lokan is a well decorated boy!

 The Stables is well known for the Stud, but also for driving and dressage, as well as jumping. On the castle property is a cross country course as well as a driving course.

 And this, dreamboat indoor arena. I sat on the observation deck and it felt like a church. Sigh.

 I even stalked the Polish Equestrian Team.

 These standing stalls were empty, but there was a man humming and giving them a good scrubbing. I loved his wooden chair. For comfy breaks?

A pair of matching blue roan ponies, presumably driving partners? came over to say hello as I walked through their stables. This one consented to taking a "selphie" together.

Thank you Książ, Stajnie Zamkowa for the horse "fix". Next time, I'll bring breeches and boots!