Langwitches Travel

Our third day in Berlin was reserved to visit the Jewish Museum.

The Jewish Museum Berlin first became known for its architecture - the building designed by Daniel Libeskind was already a much frequented place by Berliners and tourists in 1999, two years before the permanent exhibition was opened. The website also reflects the great interest in the architecture with texts and pictures of the two buildings: the Old Building (the baroque Collegienhaus) and the modern Libeskind Building.

Besides the interactive exhibits that tell of a 2000 year history of Jews in Germany, the most impressive part of visiting the Jewish Museum for me was the architecture. I would have never imagined that a building and its layout could impact me in such a way.  

We listened in on a guide, that was explaining to another group of visitors, that architecture has always been important in the Jewish faith. In the Torah it was exactly explained by G-d, how to build a temple, arches, tabernacles, tents, etc. There were rules for everything. It is also still tradition in a Jewish house to leave a certain area unfinished to remember the destruction of the Temple. The museum architecture remembers this…

One area of the museum was physically divided into axes. Visitors walk down each axis. There is the axis of exile with all the names of the cities that Jews emigrated to.

In 1938 a Jewish newspaper wrote:” For every Jew living in Germany today, probably the most urgent question today is:”When and where can I emigrate?”Between 1933 and 1941, some 280.000 German Jews fled the Nazi regimem heading for the United States, Palestine, Great Britain and other parts of the world, including South America, Africa and even Shanghai in China.

The axis of Exile led into the Garden of Exile. 

where 49 tilted columns are standing on a sloping plot of ground. They are filled with earth and with Russian oliver trees whose branches form a canopy of leaves in summer. The exile meant rescue and safety, but the escape from Germany and the arrival in a foreign country caused disorientation. The refugees often had difficulty gaining foothold in their new home.

Walking in the garden of exile, one could feel a certain wave of nausea and even dizziness while trying to navigate through the labyrinth of columns, where you did not know what you were going to find around the next corner.

Another axis is the axis that leads to the Holocaust Tower

The axis of the Holocaust slopes gently to an empty 24 meter high space called the Holocaust Tower. it is unheated and lit only by natural light falling through a diagonal opening in the wall. Sounds can be heard from the outside. Daniel Libeskind called this room the “voided void”. It was later interpreted as a commemorative space for the voctims of the Holocaust. Libeskind’s architecture continues to be open to entirely different, personal interpretations.

No Comments »

Since Day Two was our only full day in Berlin, we got up early (well as early as five women can get up and ready). We met my cousin with her husband and son to take the subway to the Zoo. The weather was being kind to us and it did not rain.

What a beautiful zoo. I would recommend to anyone visiting Berlin to take to time to visit. The animals… their habitats… the surroundings… the trees, … everthings was really beautifully done.

We had, of course, a special purpose for going to the Berlin Zoo. We wanted to see Knut, the famous polar bear cub. He is a little over 6 months old now. Twice a day, Knut comes out with his zoo keeper and has a little playtime in front of hundreds of cheering visitors and school children who came to see him.

We saw Knut again, after his official appearances were over. He was in an area all by himself. It was obvious, that he was not happy, since he was running around making loud “crying” noises, calling for his zoo keeper and “adoptive father”. A few minutes later we saw Thomas Doerflein appear on his bike leaving the polar bear area. No wonder Knut was so upset! It was odd to see the “now so famous” zoo keeper just a few meters away from us.

In the afternoon we said goodbye to my cousin and her family and took one of the famous city tour double decker buses. Despite the rain, we enjoyed the almost two hour ride through Berlin, driving by the most famous landmarks and areas.

• Kurfuerstendamm
• KaDeWe
• Luetzowplatz
• Jewish Museum
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Gendarmenmakt
• Alexanderplatz
• Berliner Dom
• Unter den Linden
• Brandenburger Tor
• Reichstag

We got off the bus at the Brandenburgertor, since we had a break in the rain. It was a special feeling to walk through the gate, that I had last seen almost 30 years ago as a child only behind the wall.

We also walked through the Holocaust Memorial, that is just around the corner of the Brandenburger Gate. What an amazing experience… It will still take some time to digest.

No Comments »

We left Frankfurt early, around 6:30 am, and drove through the Bundesstaaten (states) Hessen, Thueringen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Brandenburg to the capital of Germany: Berlin. Although the weather did not cooperate very much, we made the drive within 5 1/2 hours.

We met my uncle and cousin in the Berlin neighborhood of Wilmersdorf. We then settled into the apartment my uncle made available to us. We all then walked to a little typical restaurant in the area “Hell & Dunkel”. After lunch we headed out to explore the area a little further and even ventured to the Kuhfuerstendamm.

We stood in front of the Heiliggeistkirche and were able to catch a little glimpse of how the rest of the buildings in Berlin must have looked like after the war. In some giftshop we even saw some postcards with old photographs of how the area was devastated after the war.

We had dinner in a small Italian restaurant and made our way back to the apartment when it was already after dark.

No Comments »

We had a great weekend with my aunt who lives in Mannheim, the city I was born in. Mannheim is about an hour drive from Frankfurt. The girls were impressed that from the Autobahn we started seeing one castle after another in the hills to our left. I remembered climbing to many of these castles as a child when on fieldtrips with my school. Saturday the weather continued to rain, but Sunday the clouds broke apart and the sun shone through.

On Saturday, we headed into Heidelberg, which is only a 20 minute ride from Mannheim. We took a funicular to the castle and wondered around in the courtyard, saw the world’s biggest wine barrel, and the world famous view from the castle across the Neckar river into the valley over the Heiliggeist Kirche.

We even saw the door knob where, according to a legend, a witch bit into. The legend furthermore says that whoever bites through the iron door knob would get the castle as a present. That witch wanted the castle bad and tried to bite through it. Unsuccessful, but the imprint stayed so that you can still see it today!  According to Sagen und Legenden:

Ein starkes Tor verschließt den Eingang zum Schlosshof in Heidelberg. Durch ein kleines Durchschlupfpförtchen ließ man in kriegerischen Zeiten die Boten aus und ein. An diesem eisernen Pförtchen hängt ein schwerer, eiserner Ring. Er diente früher als Türklopfer.

Wer diesen Ring durchbeißt, bekommt das Schloss geschenkt, so meldet die Sage. Viele haben dies schon versucht; aber keinem ist es gelungen. Eine Hexe wäre auch gerne Besitzerin des Schlosses geworden und probierte die Kraft ihrer Zähne an dem dicken Eisen. Allein es widerstand. Nur ein kleiner Riss ist an dem Ring zurückgeblieben. Dieser Riss im Ring wird seit der Zeit Hexenbiss genannt.

On our way back down, we could not resist to stop in on of the bakeries and have a fresh Bretzel with butter. These bakeries are one of the few things I miss about Germany in Argentina or the USA.

On Sunday we drove to Waldkatzenbach, where my grandmother used to live. It is a beautiful drive through the Neckar valley, passing four castles and cities from the middle ages located on top of the mountains. Waldkatzenbach is located at the foot of the “Katzenbuckel”, the highest elevation in the Odenwald. We parked the car in front of my grandmother’s old house and started walking into the forest.

Although the girls and I are not used to walking very much in America and they were worried about “wandern” (hiking) for two hours in the woods, it was an incredible experience to walk in their grandmother’s footsteps. She any many others of our familiy had made the hike to the “Alte Muehle” (Old Mill), which was also our destination.

We never saw another soul while we were walking through the forest. What a difference to the flat landscape and pines we are used to in Florida. Seeing wild forerst strawberries, blueberries and boisenberries was great, but being able to still taste the rasberries along the way, made the walk seem a lot shorter. The photo of the basket of rasberries was one of four (!!) we bought on the road side on our way back and ate (all four !!!). Unanimously we voted that they were the most delicious rasberries we ever tasted.

Once we arrived at the Alte Muehle, we were greeted by a few cows resting on the meadow. We had a delicious lunch at the restaurant. 

The girls had fun playing on the meadow afterwards and picking apples of the ground then throwing them into the stream, running down and waiting for them to go throught the water mill and catching them on the other side.

No Comments »

In between rain showers and thunderstorms we did manage to go to the Gravenbrucher Kerwe. I small yearly festival that is being held on the square in front of my old elementary school, the Ludwig-Uhland-Schule.

Again I remembered the Kerwe a lot bigger than it actually was. Bumper cars, a Schifferschaukel, a “shooting” stand and a small train going in circles for little children in addition to a food stand.

Looking around, a thought crossed my mind: What would have become of me if I would have stayed living in this small town my entire life? Who would I have become had I not moved to Argentina and later on to the United States? What did become of my classmates from 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade who still live in Gravenbruch today?

We ate a Frikadelle (Hamburger) and a Bratwurst with some Pommes (French Fries). Notice in the picture the little pick that is traditional used to eat French Fries with.

No Comments »

The rain has come and has not left the Frankfurt area. Temperatures at least have dropped and we don’t miss the air condition. Marissa has left for Rome with her godmother early this morning. I am hoping they are able to give us some updates through the blog if they find an Internet cafe.

Sabrina, Leah and I took a drive to Gravenbruch a small town close to Neu-Isenburg and about 15 Minutes from Sachsenhausen. I used to live in Gravenbruch when I was 7-9 years old. I found the street and house we used to live in. Everything seems so much smaller than in my memories. Odd to see the gate I used to play “Gummitwist” (Chinese jumprope) until it was too dark to see outside… The windows that are peeking out from behind the hedge used to be my room.

Gravenbruch is having its annual Kerwe, which is a street festival, this weekend. If the rain stops, we will try to check it out. Looking outside our window we see rain, rain and more rain. There is a walnut tree across the window, which also reminds me of one of the houses we used to live in.

No Comments »

We woke up today to a tremendous thunderstorm. Unlike in Florida, the thunder and lightning lasted almost all morning and the rain and clouds have still not dissappeared. Our plans to go to the Freischwimmbad (outdoor public pool ) were ruined.

We decided to take a ride to IKEA in Wallau. While in the United States, I have traveled 14 hours before to drive to Virginia to the nearest IKEA (back in 2004) and lately have  driven only 6 hours to Atlanta in order to go shopping and eat Swedish Meatballs. What a pleasure to only have to drive for 25 minutes to one of the many Ikea stores in the Frankfurt area.

  

While at the Neu Isenburg Zentrum (shopping mall), I had to take a picture to show how common it is for Germans to take their dogs everywhere. The sight of the little and big poochies in restaurants and malls are still surprising.

Here is another example of how we are eating ourselves through Germany… The famous Dickmann’s Schokokuesse, which are little round wafers with a marshmallow type filling and covered in chocolate. Some varieties come also covered in coconut flakes or are with a white chocolate cover. 

No Comments »

What an awesome view from the Main Tower. We went with Ursel downtown Frankfurt today. She took us to the Main Tower, where we went up 54 stories to a platform, where we could see 360 degrees of Frankfurt. The Main river, the Dom, die alte Bruecke, die Alter Oper, the Jewish Museum, the airport. It helped tremendously my overall orientation.

From above we were also able to see “Die Alte Oper” , including all the little food stands for the Opernplatz- Fest. That was also our destination as soon as we were downstairs again. All different kinds of ethnic food is available in little outdoor stands with tables to stand and sit at. We were immediatgely attracted to a typical food from the Elsass which is called “Flammenkuchen”. They prepared it fresh for us in front of our eyes. Different varieties are available, such as bacon and onions or cheese and Rucola (special kind of lettuce). It was delicious! (Check out a recipe here…)

We ended the afternoon with a visit at Hugendubel, a 3 story tall bookstore, that I used to love to go and visit with my father. I stocked up on books to take back to the US. As soon as we left the bookstore, we were greeted by a delicious stand who sold fat and juicy cherries and fresh rasberries. Could not pass that up…

No Comments »

It has been very hot today, almost 30 Degrees Celcius. First culture shock for my little Americans… No air condition nor fans in houses, apartments and stores! And to top it all off NO unlimited ice cube supplies ready to fall out of the refrigerators. The poor waiter of a little Italian restaurant we had dinner in, even had to go and get a little supply of ice cubes just for our drinks. I am enjoying drinking “Apfelsaftschorle” (Apple juice with sprakly water).

The girls are facinated with and are counting all the little SMART cars they are seeing zipping thorugh the roads here in Frankfurt. We also took a little walk to a supermarket close by today and came back with some juicey, sour “Johannisbeeren”, Kinderschokolade, Broetchen, Quark, mmmhhh… 

No Comments »

With a little bit of delay, we arrived in Frankfurt. Car rental went smooth, but we already got lost on our way from the airport to Sachsenhausen. After an involuntary sightseeing tour through downtown Frankfurt , we did arrive at our destination.

No Comments »