Friday August 15, 2008

Following the prison (yesterday’s post), we visited the site of the 1936 Olympics.

This was the place where Jesse Owens won four gold medals, which embarrassed Hitler, because he believed whites were a superior race.  Yay for Jesse – a black man!

Victory Column had been in the news a few days before our visit, because it was where Barack Obama had spoken.

The Brandenburg Gate is another historical spot.

The Brandenburg Gate was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II to represent peace. The Gate was designed by Karl Gotthard Langhans, the Court Superintendent of Buildings, and the main architectural design of this landmark hasn’t changed since it was first constructed in 1791. Ironically the gate was incorporated into the Berlin wall during the years of Communist government. The Brandenburg gate is probably the most well-known landmark in Berlin, it now stands as a symbol of the reunification of the two sides of this great city. 

Checkpoint Charlie was one of the most fascinating visits of the day.

It was a main crossing point by foot or by car when the city was separated by the wall.

I was most fascinated at the creative ways some people escaped from East to West Germany.

It was interesting to see the remains of the Berlin Wall and learn of the pain and separations causes by this manmade structure.

Cerwin straddling the line that separated East and West Germany at this particular location.

Stasi Bunker

I tried to imagine how I would feel if I had to escape to a bunker because of war – sometimes for hours, other times for days.  This one held 1,400 people.

The womens’ bathroom

The only people who got a bed were women with small children.

A kind of hospital.

Remnants of war.

I looked at these shoes and tried to imagine who wore them.  Was he a young soldier, the age of our oldest grandsons – a young man the age of our sons – or maybe in his late sixties, like Cerwin.