Berlin and Buchenwald

Two trips to Berlin and Buchenwald brought into sharp focus readings and lectures on recent German history.

Berlin

We spent two days in Berlin, the city which was perhaps the most visible sign of the cold war, and eventually "the peaceful revolution" that brought down the Wall, shortly followed by reunification.

• At left Natalie, Dawn, Derek, Jonelle, and Hollins near one of the preserved sections of the Berlin Wall.
• Joel, Natalie, and Dawn at the Brandenburger Tor.

The highlight of Berlin was touring the redesigned Reichstag (seat of Parliament) that reopened last November when the capital moved from Bonn back to Berlin. The building was built in 1894. Hitler used the burning of the Reichstag (probably staged by the Nazis) to justify the dismissal of the elected parliament in 1933, and the building was further damaged by allied bombing.

The new design, which preserves the original, scarred walls, and features a transparent dome above the area where the Parliament meets, intends to convey the sense of "government openness to the people"--and what an incredible architectural feat it is! From the top of the Reichstag, which we visited at evening, we could look down at parliament in session, see sections of the Berlin Wall, and view the now reunified eastern and western halves of Berlin spread out below.

• Part of the group inside the dome.

Buchenwald concentration camp

On May 18, students visited Weimar, where poets Goethe and Schiller and composers Bach and Liszt once lived. Half the day was spent touring the nearby Buchenwald concentration camp, where Elie Wiesel, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and many others were imprisoned during the Holocaust.

• (Right) Deborah, Andre, Jonelle, and Derek at the memorial to the many Buchenwald victims.
• Students near one of the preserved crematoria.

Back in Jena

An important part of Germany SST is language skills and relationships students develop with their host families. Here Kelly and Jonas chat with members of their host families, the Mšllers and Reibolds, at the front of their home church, the Lutherhaus.