Museums, Palaces, and Comedy

Upon completion of our tour on Thursday, we toured the Jewish Museum of Berlin. An interesting museum, I suppose, but nothing terribly special other than the obligatory holocaust exhibit (which was very powerful, but not nearly as powerful as the memorial we had seen earlier that day). The Jewish museum basically told the story of Jewish culture in Germany until, including, and after the Second World War. After this museum, though, things got interesting: Checkpoint Charlie.

For those who don't know, Checkpoint Charlie was one of a few border crossings between East and West Berlin, and is significant as the primary focal point between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1961, tanks squared off across a 100 yard distance at the checkpoint over a minor dispute, and nearly opened fire to start World War III. Fortunately, this didn't happen, and Checkpoint Charlie went on to be the one crossing between East and West that was most used by the film and media industries to symbolize the Cold War (Kalte Krieg).

At Checkpoint Charlie, we went to the private museum "Haus am Checkpoint Charlie," wherein is chronicled a vast treasure trove of information about the wall, the cold war, escape attempts/successes, and what happened during "Die Wende" (literally "the change," refers to when the wall fell and east/west Germany began to open borders and reunite). It was pretty incredible to discover both the ingenious ways people escaped and the horrifying repercussions for those who did not succeed.

The following day we visited Potsdam, a small city on the outskirts of Berlin in the state of Brandenburg. Potsdam is famous as the site of the 1945 conference between Truman, Churchill (later Clement Atlee), and Stalin where the victors divided the world after the Second World War. Our object of interest in Potsdam was not conference, but rather a Stasi prison and the palace of Friedrich der Grosse (Frederick the Great of Prussia), Schloss Sansoucci.

The prison was nondescript - basically what you'd expect, a bunch of cells. This was not the official Stasi museum, that is in Berlin. The palace was really cool. Friedrich was absolutely obsessed with french culture, and his palace is made in the style of Versailles but about 1/8 the size. Unfortunately, we couldn't take pictures inside the Schloss - undoubtedly a ploy to force us to buy postcards. I do not approve. Here is what it looks like from the outside.


The Schloss is in the middle of a giant park, through which many of us had to run in order to catch the tour on time - we thought it was a much quicker walk from the center of Potsdam to the Schloss than it actually was. Oh well. Another note is that the Schloss is unheated - Fredrich meant for this to be his summer Schloss, so us seeing it on a bitterly cold, gray February afternoon is not us seeing it as it was meant to be used. If you are curious, google "schloss sansoucci" and check out the inside - it is absolutely gorgeous.

Upon returning to Berlin we enjoyed an early dinner and set off to go to a stand up comedy show at a comedy club somewhere in the ehemaliger Ost (former east). His name is Murat Topal, and the show was called "Multitool". What I could understand was, for the most part, HILARIOUS. I was able to understand probably 65% of what he said, which I consider a monumental success.

Now, I believe I shall end my postings for tonight and continue telling you the story of Berlin tomorrow - I'm tired of typing and need to do dishes from dinner. Fun times, I know. Highlights to come: the Reichstag (german parliament building), Pergamon Museum (antiquities and Islamic art), and Berlinale films. Bis Spaeter!