Berlin, Hamburg, and Auntie Jessie

My middle sister Jessie came to visit!  She, Lilah, and I spent about 10 days traveling to Germany, Denmark, and a quick day-trip to Sweden.  We were probably the least prepared two people for this adventure – we had our plane and train tickets purchased along with airbnb reservations in all of our locations, but aside from that had planned nothing.  We even forgot our travel books and camera in France, so we were definitely flying by the seat of our pants the whole time.

We started off in Berlin which kind of felt like what Seattle probably felt like in the 90’s.  Authentically grungy and hip tattooed and pierced people in an artfully-graffiti’d city.  We stayed in Friedrichshain, which is in what would have been East Germany.  We didn’t really realize this until we were at the Berlin Wall and figured out which way was East (I’m not kidding when I say we were unprepared).  I was sort of anticipating a noticeable difference between the two sides of the city, but aside from a small cobblestone path designating where the wall used to be, you would never know this city was once so divided. 

The old Berlin Wall.  The distant wall was the internal wall, and the larger closer wall was the main Wall.  The area in-between the two walls was known as the 'death strip' because even if you got over the first wall you might be shot down by guards (see guard tower in the upper left) on your way to the main wall.  

These pieces of the Berlin Wall are now part of an art exhibition. 

We visited the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, which is about 40 minutes North of Berlin. Among the buildings that are still standing were the Jewish barracks, the isolation cells, and the ‘medical center’.  The grounds and each building are very well maintained and sterile, so it’s hard to fully grasp the horrors of the place when you walk around.  But seeing the cremation ovens, autopsy tables, and readings the details of the types of medical experimentation that went on while standing where it all happened was very intense. Leaving the camp on our own free will was a chilling and sobering moment, we both felt pretty lucky.

This is the front gate as you enter the concentration camp.  The translation is: 'work will set you free'.

Autopsy tables in one of the medical examination rooms

One of the walls of the camp - three tiers of electrified barbed wire leading up to an electric fence in front of a stone wall.  At the very end of the picture is one of the guard towers.  We learned on the tour that many people committed suicide by flinging themselves into the barbed wire.  But if a prisoner ran onto the black stoned area, the guards were instructed to shoot them down - so the guards who successfully shot a prisoner before they electrocuted themselves were rewarded.

After Berlin we headed North to Hamburg to visit one of our old Au Pair’s.  Ute lived with us in 1996, and the last time we saw her was in New York during Jessie’s college graduation.  It was really wonderful to catch up with her and meet her very adorable 3-year-old daughter Nele.  Lilah and Nele loved each other, so that was also really fun to watch.  It was great to have Ute show us all around her home town.  I am always curious to see where my former au pair’s lived!

Jessie, Nele, Ute, me and Lilah in Hamburg

More adventures with Auntie Jessie in the next post! Stay tuned!