Our last day in Berlin was full of unexpected lessons and surprises. After many tours and heavy information about Germany's history, as well as learn about how Berlin has changed in the past 60 years, one of our last activities was one of my favorites. Not only were we able to visit the East Side Gallery but we were also able to visit fragments of the wall that we're sort of hidden in a pocket of old East Berlin.
What is it: The Berlin wall was a division between the Iron Curtain and the idea of democracy that the Western world had successfully adopted. The split was harsh, depressing and tested the minds of Berliners as far as what they believed, adopted and their resilience. The Berlin Wall did not just divide the city and the country, but it represented the fight between communism and democracy.
First initial reaction: "I would never make it over that wall the first time... Never mind twice"
Feeling during and after: When we learn about these historic events that require us to understand the severity of the situation at the time, it is so hard to actually understand without visually seeing elements that are still left over. I could not believe what a person would go through to achieve power and violence. What was left of the wall left two very different impressions on me. The first, understanding the height and thickness of the wall which made it very intimidating. Second, the art along the East Side Gallery and the fragments of the wall that were left had so many messages through art. It described messages of peace, unity, our earth, as well as history and comments on global situations. It was absolutely incredibly and very inspiring. I could directly connect it to some of the messages that the John Lennon wall was trying to portray.
Connection to resiliency: In order to
understand the strength of resiliency one must understand Berlin and
Germany's history from the past century. Again we see that it is not the
state or structures that persevered through but it was the resiliency
of the people by the way they lived, their life style and what
they would stand for, that would keep the movement of peace and order
after so much violence and chaos. It was interesting to see the art on
the wall that depicted that idea and movement.
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