Gryphon Travel

The Memorial to Politicians who Opposed Hitler was our first stop today. There were 96 congress members who opposed Hitler when he was first brought to power in Germany.  Note, Hitler came to power with only 33% of the popular vote, a case in favor of rank choice voting if I have ever heard one. All 96 were later murdered for their protest.

The Reichstag building is Germany’s congress building.  Over the historical building a new modern dome has been built with a open window down onto the floor. This symbolizes the transparency of the modern German government. We walked to the top of the dome to look out over the city

You take an elevator to the top of the old building, bottom of the glass dome. Then take a ramp up to the top and the matching double helix ramp back down to the bottom of the dome. On our way back down in the elevator, it suddenly stopped and the lights went out. Everyone started talking excitedly in German, we couldn’t understand anything. Eventually the elevator moved again and opened up a floor above where we were supposed to get out. As we were walking out a nice lady took pity on us and explained in English that it was the only time the elevator had ever failed at this building. That is what got them all excited. There you have it, a tiny bit of Reichstag history. First elevator failure.

Our next stop was a memorial to those who died trying to enter west Germany from east. More on the Berlin wall later.

After that we followed Rick Steve’s advice and had a historical walk through Berlin. We saw areas built to celebrate diversity and education by the Prussian King later turned into a book burning area in defiance of that very idea by Hitler.

Rows and rows of coffin sized concrete slabs of varying heights dominate this corner of Berlin. A striking and somber tribute to the horrors inflicted on the Jewish people during WW2. In the first government sponsored memorial the wording used in the name ‘Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe’ is significant. It shows a certain accountability that had not been present before. The use of the word Murdered is honest and was extremely controversial at the time of installation. It honestly made me question, has the United States government ever shown a similar accountability for the murder, torture, and enslavement of the people of Africa? How can healing begin without it?

To be honest, I can not do justice to each and every monument to the history of this war torn city, but I believe Berlin has emerged as a progressive and diverse city with influences from many different cultures and a willingness to accept and embrace change.