berlin – summer 2013 a homelink home exchange experience

Berlin – Summer 2013A Homelink Home Exchange Experience

Exchange Family & Friends

Christa & daughter Katharina in black.

Uwe at far right. Son Chris (who stayed home studying for exams) in red shirt.

Christa & daughter Katharina in black.Uwe at far right. Son Chris (who stayed homestudying for exams) in red shirt.

Propaganda Pillar (replica)

Exhibit at Museum of the German

Resistance Movements.

Memorial to the German Resistance

Statue in the courtyard where Col. von

Stauffenberg, Chief of Staff of the General Army

Office and 3 co-conspirators were executed on

July 20, 1944 for that day's failed attempt to

assassinate Hitler. Inscription (translated)

reads:

"You did not bear the shame

You resisted

You bestowed the eternally vigilant symbol

of change

By sacrificing your impassioned lives for

freedom, justice and honor.”

(Note: von S et al. resisted only when

it was clear that war was lost)

Be Prepared!

Amusing vending machine in front

ofconvenience store/pub on the

corner of the street where I lived!

Checkpoint Charlie Guardhouse (replica)

Checkpoint Charlie was the most famous border

crossing between West and East Berlin. From 13

Aug. 196l to 22 Nov. 2009, only Allied occupation

forces members and foreign tourists could enter

East Berlin.

The Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie

documents the history of the Berlin Wall and exhibits

daring means of escape used by East Berliners

(tunnels, homemade airplane and SCUBA device,

cars with hidden compartments), and honors the

est.136 people who died in escape-related incidents.

Street Musician

Talented classical violinist busking

near the Museum Insel (Museum

Island) , a UNESCO World Heritage

site.

Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery)

Viewed from the Lustgarten (Pleasure

Garden), one of 5 museums forming

theMuseum Insel (Museum Island).

Others are the Pergamon, the Bode,

the Neues, and the Altes. Saw the

famous bust of Nefertiti at the Neues.

I didn't visit the others, as they

housed primarily ancient classical art,

and I was more interested in

contemporary art and history.

Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)

The largest Protestant church in

Germany, constructed in its present

form in 1822 on the occasion of the

union of Prussia's Lutheran and

Reformed communities. Site of

regular services and concerts.

I attended a chambermusic concert

there with a Servas host, Reinhild

Graffiti Wall Panel

Don't remember where this photo was

taken. There are graffiti-covered

remnants of the Berlin wall at several

sites in the city. including paintings by

wellknown artists. A comprehensive

collection of wall graffiti photos can be

seen at

http://www.google.com/search?q=Paintings+on+the+Berlin+wall&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=-FklUuCCF-afiALiwoGoDg&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=733.

At Ploetzensee, a small glacial lake

in the middle of Berlin. A Servas

friend, Jette, brought me there on a

chilly afternoon. We were the only

persons there. I took a quick dip,

then showered in the 1920s style

wooden shower house. Couldn't

erase the chilling mental image of

the deadly shower houses of the

Nazi era,

Lone Grey Heron at Ploetzensee

I thought it was a great blue heron,

but an expert set me straight!

Brrrr!

Wearing bikini given to me by my

friend Edith in Bilbao. (Makes going

to the bathroom easier than one

piece suits.) Wouldn't be caught

dead in such at home. Europeans

"let it all hang out!" At some

beaches many former DDR (East

German) residents, go "au natural."

Bi-Cultural Icon

The friendly community center and

park across from my apartment

sported an outdoor bread oven with

two separate wood-fired

compartments - one for "halal"

("kosher for Muslims) baked goods

and one for non-Muslims.

Tiergarten flower garden

The magnificently forested 520 acre Tiergarten was two blocks from my apartment. Its prewar 200,000 trees were cut down for fuel during the war and fuel-starved post-war period, with only about 700 remaining. Replanting the forest took place between 1949 and 1959, which explains why I had no recollection of a large urban forest during my spring 1959 semester at the Free University of Berlin. Once a hunting area for royalty, it now comprises a vast network of pathways, gardens, lawns & statues.

Beware of rabbits!

Flower garden areas are fenced to

keep out hungry rabbits!

Jewish Darwinism

Amusing poster at Jewish Museum

showing evolution of a Jewish menorah to

a Christmas tree! (Part of an exhibit on

pre-Nazi era Jewish assimilation nto

German culture.)

For views of and information about the

stark and compelling Daniel Liebeskind-

designed Museum building, go to:

http://

www.jmberlin.de/main/EN/04-About-The-M

useum/00-about-the-museum.php

Brandenburg Gate (Tor)

Iconic symbol of Berlin (and Germany). Built between 1788 and 1791, it separated West from East Berlin during the tine of the Wall (1961-1989).

It and the surrounding Pariser Platz is the site of major celebrations, speeches, and demonstrations

Holocaust Memorial

Covering 4.7 acres a block from the Brandenburg gate, the site contains 2,711 concrete slabs of varying heights and sizes arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. Reminiscent of a cemetery, its grim starkness evokes despair and silent contemplation. An underground exhibit chamber honors the memory of families who were killed during the Holocaust.

Legoland Giraffe at Potsdamer Platz

Once Europe's most bustling shopping and entertainment complex, Potsdamer Platz was completely destroyed during WW2 and lay bare till after German reunification in 1990. Dominated by the Sony Centre with its soaring glass and steel tent-like roof, it includes the Daimler/Chrysler Atrium, shopping arcade with 133 stores, cafes, several dozen movie screens, a film museum, mini-lake and ice rink. Architecture is result of world-wide design competition and an example of "urban renewal' at its finest.

Environmental Protection Posters

Along the hiking trail from the Grunewald train station to the beautiful (largely nudist) Teufelsee (Devil Lake) beach.

A sinister arrow in front of the train station points to Platform 17, transport depot for Jews bound for Polish ghettoes and, later, to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Sample Poster

Rough Translation: Don't bother nesting birds - please...

For birds eat bugs that harm our trees!

Charlottenburg Palace

Largest palace in Berlin, it was commissioned by Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Friedrich III, Elector of Brandenburg and inaugurated in 1699. It is the site of baroque concerts by musicians in period costume,

Fancy Dinner Theater

I skipped the dinner, but enjoyed the concert.

Ready, Set, Play!

Sneaked photo in before musicians began to play. Works by Handel, Vivaldi, arias from Don Giovanni, and a flute concerto by Frederick the Great himself and other Baroque pieces were performed.

Gilded “lobby” settee

Comfy Intermission Perch

Amusing Berlin Zoo Sign

White Wolf at Berlin Zoo

Zoo Playground

Playground has imaginative animal-themed spaces for kids to play on and in.

Anti-Morsi Rally

Egyptian activists demonstrate against former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi at plaza near Brandenburg Gate.

Carpool for Birding Outing

Outing was listed in calendar of NABU, Germany's environmental protection organization. Focus was the banding of

baby "Baumfalken" (hobbies in English) which involved 57 year old bander, Paul Soemmer climbing a 30 meter tree to a nest, removing baby birds and lowering them for examination, measuring, and banding by Baumfalken expert Klaus -Dietrich Fiuczynski. Till 2 years, ago, 75 year old Klaus made similar ascents to study the falcons which also nest in girders of high tension poles

Klaus addresses his crew of volunteers

Paul points to the treetop nest

Puts on climbing gear

Eyes the tree

Starts up…

and up…..

and up….

and up…

Nest in view…

Within reach…

In the bag!

Precious package received…

Out of the bag…

Gentle inspection and measurement

Band is affixed…

Cameras are “all eyes”…

Baby

Volunteer records data…

Bridge to Werder

• Werder is an island suburb of

• Potsdam in the Havel River and

home of Servas hosts Barbara

and Heinz Guenther. We toured

Potsdam, visited their

• garden, swam in the river, and

had supper at their home.

Servas Hosts Barbara and Heinz

In their garden

A neighbor’s garden

My former (1959) student residence in Berlin

Click icon to add pictureBuilding, now vacant, was built in 1916 and was designed by Germany's first female architect, Emilie Winkelmann, as a residence for "emancipated urban women." Building's mgmt. company let me see the interior, most recently used as offices and a theater. Building is cited in several sociological journal articles about 1920s era women in Germany.

Marquee of former theater

I thought "Tribune" signified a newspaper!

The former theater occupants referred me to the management company.

Lisa Ross and sons Troy and Richard

Lisa lived with me for 3 years. Is now teaching and living in Saudi Arabia with her two sons. She and the boys visited me for a week in Berlin, after participating as volunteer English conversation partners at Pueblo Ingles in Spain ,just as I did the previous month.

Father 1959 Berlin; Son 2013 Dresden

Frido#1 died in E.Berlin in 1987. Was my student boy friend.

I visited Frido#2 and his family in August 2013.