“If Copenhagen were a person, that person would be generous, beautiful, elderly, but with a flair”
Just when I couldn’t think of another reason Europe is the perfect place to study abroad, I discovered Copenhagen.
With the study abroad students at Freie Uni, I took a week long trip to Hamburg and then Copenhagen. The other option for the trip was Paris, where I was 3 months ago, so I decided on Copenhagen not really knowing what to expect.
That was the best part.
Copenhagen is easily one of the most beautiful cities I have seen in my travels so far. The city is littered with cosy cafes, quirky bookshops, live blues bars, and architecture with a perfect twist of old and modern. Needless to say, in our short trip I sipped a cappuccino more than once among the floor to ceiling bookshelves of the Paludan Cafe. A personal highlight was the round tower observatory. After walking up a twisting ramp in a medieval tower, you are greeted by a breathtaking view of the stars and Copenhagen by night.
One of the most interesting aspects of the trip was our excursion to Christiania, an autonomous, alternative community in Copenhagen. I have never seen anything like Christiania before, and have developed a newfound respect for alternative lifestyles. Our local guide had been living there since 1974, soon after it was first established. He was humble and pleasant demeanor reminded me to appreciate the simple, everyday things in life.
Naturally I got my fix of royal palaces and castles! On a free day I ventured to the Christianborg Palace, the former royal residence. The highlight was undoubtedly the rich, intricate tapestries in the reception rooms that depict scenes from Danish history. Kronborg castle, popularly known as Shakespeare’s castle, was a short bus ride from Copenhagen and looked like a Harry Potter set.
Copenhagen is not a city I considered visiting before I was presented with the option by my study abroad program, I never knew much about it. But that is one of the things I love about studying in Europe – I have access to places I had never even considered traveling to before. Moral of the story: If you ever travel or study in Europe, I would fit Copenhagen into your itinerary!
Photographs from inside a Stasi prison
Last friday I visited the Stasi prison in East Berlin, where 250,000 people deemed “hostile elements” to the communist system were imprisoned. Apart from the peeling paint, the prison looks almost as it did when it was operating – the phones, typewriters, lamps, and chairs still lie in their place in the prison’s 120 interrogation rooms.
Deutsches Historisches Museum Dienstag
Tuesday was a very productive day.
I went to the DHM document center to view some original albums made by Wehrmacht soldiers stationed in Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. Up until this point, my understanding of amateur photography came from the limited literature on this topic and some photos I had found on online databases.
But to view the original items and draw my own conclusions gave me an impression of what historians actually do. Getting this experience as an undergrad is what I love about the Research Rookies program.
After the DHM I returned to the Stabi where I managed to get through 4 years of the Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung without an alarm going off. It was interesting to see how war affected the press – by 1943 each issue was only 6 pages.
Right now I am waiting for my connection to Osnabrück at Hannover train station. Going to take a mental break and visit some family!
Starting out at the Stabi
Today I headed to the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin to look at some newspapers from the 40s. Using German to navigate through the catalogue, register for a reader’s card, and ask for help was actually not as hard as I thought. It definitely helped to look up vocab beforehand. If my accent or incorrect adjective endings didn’t give it away, the fact I needed to bring a German-English dictionary with me probably did!
I was able to order copies of the Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung from 1939,1940, and 1941 with the help of a very friendly librarian. Unfortunately, I only got halfway through 1940 because an alarm sounded and everyone was sent home…Nonetheless, it was a good experience to get acquainted with the library, and now I know what to do when I go back tomorrow.
(Not sure why the quality turned out so horrible)
BUT – I always have a backup plan! I decided to use the afternoon to read at the Topographie des Terrors library. I revisited a few books I read last semester about propaganda troop photographers, and realized some things I didn’t last time. This time round I paid more attention to the footnotes, to see what material is available in the Bundesarchiv.
The Topographie des Terrors library is in the basement of the museum. The museum is located where the RSHA headquarters were in the 30s and 40s, which housed the Gestapo and other instruments of terror and persecution in the Third Reich. I highly recommend this museum to visitors to Berlin (plus, it’s kostenlos!)
Tschau!
Research Update
Our mid-semester break begins this week. Or as I like to call it, “research week!”
Today I am spending the day at the FU Library, reading and preparing some analysis questions for the places I will visit this week. The FU philological library (also known to students as the “brain”) is a great place to work because it is dead silent, especially on a Saturday.
On Tuesday I will be visiting the Photo Archive at the German Historical Museum to view albums by Wehrmacht soldiers in Poland. I am looking forward to (but am also a little nervous) my first experience researching in a German archive. It will be a great experience both in handling original material AND getting acquainted with German archives in Berlin. I don’t think communicating in German should be a problem, as I looked up some vocab and such to help me during my visit…we shall see!
Then on Monday and Wednesday I will be looking at microfilm of Nazi era newspapers at the Stabi (state library). Hoping to find photographs by propaganda units published in newspapers.
That’s all for my update for now…I will let you know how it goes!
German word of the day: Wanderlust. An impulse or longing to travel.
An Australian living in America studying in Germany…Yeah, I’m confused too
A question I get a lot from other students here is: ‘So you’re an Australian studying and living in the US…and now what are you doing in Berlin?’
Apart from the usual goals like experiencing a new culture, having an international friend network, and improving the language etc., I do have a few specific reasons I would like to share with you.
My German family heritage and love of history drew me to the idea of studying in Germany. Berlin was always a kind of underdog city; it didn’t share the same status as an attractive, timeless metropolis like Paris or London. It was decided Berlin was to be the capital after unification in 1871, and even then poor Berlin was the unwanted capital, seen by Germans as uncultured and without character.
The course of history was also changed from the city in the 20th century: Here the culture of the Weimar Republic thrived among political turmoil and inflation, the Nazi party marched through the Brandenburg Gate when Hitler seized power in 1933, the cityscape was bombed to pieces during the 40s, and here east and west Berliners lived two completely different lives until the wall dividing them fell in 1989.
Since then, Berlin has become a new, progressive, and modern city that is always under construction. At the same time, you can feel the history woven into the landscape as to never forget what the city went through and overcame. A term the Germans have for this we do not have in English is Vergangenheitsbewältigung, or coming to terms with one’s past.
Talk about history where you walk – These stolpersteine, or stumbling blocks, are memorials that mark where members of the Jewish population lived before they were deported and murdered by the Nazis.
Art on the Berlin Wall ‘Ostgalerie’
In addition to the cityscape, I also sought to learn about my area of interest through a German frame of reference. For those of you that haven’t read previous blog posts, my historical interest is in the Nazi era (I will talk about my current research later!). So in addition to an intensive German language course (which is excellent, I might add), I am also taking a class called ‘Berlin: history, memory, literature’ and ‘The Human Condition and the Totalitarianism Experience.’ So far they have both been thoroughly engaging and interesting classes, that have added yet another dimension so my understanding of German history.
Another reason why I wanted to study overseas: Research! I am also taking part in the Research Rookies program for a second year at NIU. My last research project in this program (see earlier blogs) critically studied the way historians that study the Third Reich from the 1980s to the present utilize and interpret photography as historical evidence. This time round I am doing my own archival research into photographs, comparatively studying the representation of civilians in official and unofficial photography in Eastern Europe during WWII.
While the United States Holocaust Museum has a decent collection of said photographs, this was not enough to be able to explore this topic thoroughly. The sources I need are in German archives, so I have organized a trip to the military archive in Freiburg as well as the state library and German Historical Museum in Berlin. Despite some language barriers, doing the footwork on the online databases in preparation for my visit has actually been really exciting and rewarding. I will be visiting the state library and museum in two weeks during my mid semester break – I am looking forward to finally getting my hands on some material! I am really glad I set this challenge for myself, I didn’t think I would be able to do something as cool as this as an undergraduate.
Sachsenhausen: impressions in black and white
The unimaginable atrocities committed by the Nazi regime against Jews, political opponents, the disabled and other groups deemed “undesirable” is something I have only encountered in books. It is one thing to read about it, but something entirely different to see it in person.
The site today is quite large, yet only represents only 15% of the original camp in its entirety, not including 100 satellite camps. After you walk through the gates of the watchtower, past the iron wrought ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ sign, you are standing in the roll call area, which was surrounded by a semi-circle of prisoner barracks. Straight ahead lies a memorial, and the Soviet special camp behind it. To the right you can walk into the pathology barracks and the prison, and to the left are the infirmary, mass graves, and ‘Station Z’ crematorium and gas chamber.
Visiting such a place is difficult to explain, so I hope to leave you with an impression of what I saw in photographs I took at the site.
To build a future you have to know the past.
– Otto Frank, 1967
Visiting the Anne Frank was more than visiting yet another museum. Reading Anne Frank’s diary sparked a passion for history that motivates me to study it at the university level. To see the space where she and seven others lived in hiding was both moving and unlike anything I have seen before.
A quick refresher for those not familiar with the story: Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl who went into hiding between 1942 and 1944 in the secret annex of her father’s business in Amsterdam. She is famous for the diary she kept during this period, which was published by her father after the war. Tragically, an anonymous tip led the German secret police to their hiding place, and the seven hiding there were arrested and sent to the death camps in the east. Otto Frank was the only one of the eight to survive.
The museum was laid out really well, visitors start by watching a short introductory film and making their way through the downstairs warehouse and the offices upstairs. Throughout there were quotes from Anne’s diary. Then visitors can walk up to the secret annex through the original bookshelf that hides the entrance. The rooms in the attic contained original artifacts, including the pictures Anne pasted on the walls of her bedroom for decoration. They kept the windows blacked out which really gave you a sense of what it was like to live in darkness, closed to the outside world.
After a section on the story of Otto Frank’s decision to publish, there is a room in the exhibit that has several TVs showing clips of contemporary examples of prejudice. At the end of each clip, the screen prompted visitors to select yes or no in answer to a question related to the presented issue (there were buttons you could push from where you sat). Then the results of the group was displayed on the screen. This was a really great way to challenge visitors to think about the prevalence of different kinds of prejudice in light of what they just learned from Anne Frank’s story. As Otto Frank said, “To build a future you have to know the past.”
Anne Frank House
Serene Switzerland
Guten Tag/Bonjour/Buongiorno!
With its mountainous landscape, picturesque lakeside towns, and perfect location on the cusp of France, Germany, and Italy, Switzerland really is a gem with incomparable natural beauty. I was only there for two days, but had enough time to explore Basel and Luzern. It was nice to relax and stroll about the towns without an agenda or hopping from one tourist attraction to the next. I packed a lunch and had a small picnic by the serene Lion Monument, climbed up the medieval clock tower, walked on the lakeside, and enjoyed some Czech music by the music festival in Luzern. I would love to go back in winter and do some skiing and catch one of the cable cars up to Mt Pilatus! But for now, on to Paris!
(Below) Luzern
(Below) Augustweggen – Little bread rolls made for Swiss National Day in August. Yum!
(Below) Lake Luzern. Too bad that beautiful blue water was a bit too chilly for a swim!
in search of history 