Day 2: An Introduction to the Berlin Wall

On the second day of my stay in Berlin, the UF in Berlin Photojournalism study abroad coarse officially began. My companions and I began the day by checking out of our hostel and heading to the Hotel Transit Loft, the place where we would be staying for the rest of our time in Berlin. We met up with most of the rest of our group (some of them were busy flying into the airport or getting themselves lost in the city) and Professor Freeman took us to a nearby park called Volkspark Friedrichschain.

The center of the park is a large hill with lots of trees and winding paths to the top. What you don't know at first glance is that the hill is actually an old German World War II bunker/flag tower. If you looked close, you could sometimes see the telltale signs in the form of ruins and cracked concrete. 

The park also had a beautiful lake and a large fountain.

One of the things that I found most interesting about the park however was not the man-made structures, but the absence of man's influence. Unlike many larger parks in the United States, the park here in Germany was not manicured and left relatively unkempt. The vegetation was allowed to grow where it pleased and often overgrew onto structures and the paths.

Later that day, when everyone had officially arrived, we went to the official Berlin Wall Memorial. 

It was an interesting experience actually going to the wall, after having heard so much about it through the years. To actually go up and touch it was crazy when you think about all the rich historical context that it was created in. 

On the sides of the wall there is a lot of graffiti and many people and families lay out in the grass, relaxing next to the monuments that represent such a difficult and dangerous time in Berlin. 

Professor Freeman also showed us a cobblestone line that aligned itself with the Wall. He explained to us that this line goes throughout the city and shows where the Wall once stood.

The most fascinating part of the trip to the Wall was getting to look through the cracks of one area and getting to see a remnant of 'The Death Strip.'

This was the area in between the two Walls that was lined with barbed wire and where several people died in escape attempts from East Berlin to West Berlin. Seeing this area through a small crack was chilling, seeing the desolate ground and how daunting it must have been to cross.

After our time at the Wall we went to a Biergarten for dinner. A Biergarten is a large open-air eating area where you can buy a small meal or drinks and eat with friends. It was like a large outdoor high school cafeteria, but it's for adults and families and it has good food. There were even little children running around and playing without a care in the world. It had such a great atmosphere and I'm amazed we don't have something quite like it back in the United States.

The Biergarten was a fitting and fun way to end the second day of the trip and the first official day of the study abroad course.