Cultural experience in Prenzlauerberg

Last week a few other members from the group and myself had an eyeopening experience at a bar in Prenzlauerberg, I cant recall the name, but one thing that struck me was the furniture in the ladies room.

We sat down at a large round table in the corner of the bar each having our own conversations around the table when up came a very, very drunk German man who asked us where we were from. After saying we were from Seattle, and explaining to him where in the world that is, he was delighted to find out that we were American and decided to call his friend over and sit down with us. At first it was all fun and games; we didn't exactly know how to say no to such an adamant, friendly, drunk German and figured nothing bad could come out of it.

Immediately, the man - we never got his name, but lets just call him Jens - struck up a conversation with us about what stereotypes we have of Germans. It was innocent at first; we told them that before we got here, the only ones we had really were that Germans drank a lot of beer but after being here for a month, we noticed that they stare a lot. Then, out of nowhere he started telling us that Americans think that all Germans are Nazis, which was based on an experience he had with a presumably confused and ignorant American. We dismissed this misconception by explaining that we don't believe that (which I thought was a funny coincidence since last week all of our readings had to do with Nazi Germany...). We then asked him what his stereotypes of Americans were and he said that since we have the right to bear arms that everyone in America has a shotgun and will shoot you if you come onto their property.

Needless to say, the conversation went downhill from there and we ended up leaving for lack of drunken understanding but I thought this was still a really interesting experience of clashing cultural stereotypes! Especially since we are from Seattle, one of the most liberal cities in America, and we're studying abroad with the CHID program, one of the most liberal majors at UW. If it weren't for the alcohol, we might've been able to understand each other more thoroughly, but I'm still really glad we got to exchange points of view.

Buchenwald in Weimar

This weekend the group went to Weimar to experience the beautiful quaint little town, drink the delicious beer, see the world famous Bauhaus museum and go to Buchenwald, one of the most notorious concentration camps in Germany. 

I decided to walk it by myself knowing that I wouldn't be able to experience it with anyone else. I started out in the crematorium, walking in unknowingly. Although I had a map, I hadn't yet looked at which buildings were which. The first door I walked through, there was a sink styled operating table with a drain attached to the end. I assumed this was for the cleaning of the dead bodies. Don't know why they would even bother cleaning them though, because in the next room I saw a row of crematory ovens. This wasn't even the worst part. Walking into the dark cellar, I noticed, among plenty of dead flowers, a wooden chute beginning upstairs. Upon reading the little plaque on the wall, I learned that this was where dead bodies were conveniently dumped, out of sight. This was also where they displayed the giant industrial style crate where the dead bodies were hauled around the camp by the other prisoners. In the next room I found hooks hanging toward the ceiling on the wall. This is where the Nazis hung prisoners to be strangled.

The rest of the camp was pretty desolate. All of the barracks were destroyed. Some of them still had traces of the building walls but none of them were fully intact. Instead, their original places had been marked with black rocks, the streets marked with grey rocks. One of my favorite parts of the site was the original fencing. The posts of the fence were still there but they no longer had the barbed wire that towered over the heads of the prisoners. Now they were open so that visitors (and wild animals, I'm guessing) could roam freely between the forest and the fencing.

The best part was meeting this little guy who was lounging in front of one of the art exhibits.

Reconstruction, historical preservation and authenticity

No matter where I go in Berlin there is always some form of (re)construction going on. I'm finding myself altering my photo compositions in order to crop out the ever-present construction sites that loom in the background. The signs of modernity seem to intrude in on the photos creating a juxtaposition of historical preservation and reconstruction; the present attempting to preserve the past. The preserved history we find in monuments and buildings represent the past and the construction represents the present being defined by the past.

In a sense, this is the aesthetic of Berlin in a nutshell: constantly, we are being made aware of the battle between reconstruction and original preservation. It's as if the past is being overshadowed by the present and vice versa.

Whenever I look at a historical monument or building I have to ask myself about authenticity and what can be even considered as such. After all, what could be more authentic about Berlin if not it's history as represented by the architecture? However, with reconstruction in place, can we consider them authentically representative of their time? By attempting to preserve a lost time period, are we impeding on it's relevance?

Behind Schinkel we see the Bauakadamie which has a canvas- facade that has the appearance of the original building.

The East Side gallery

Going to the East Side gallery was truly an unreal experience.

Not being a native to Berlin, or even having been born during the Wall's existence as a barrier, I don't associate it with any memories that I was present for, so in some ways I felt like a tourist walking in on history for a short visit. I've seen many pictures of the Wall in text books but while seeing it in front of me I was able to experience it's intrusive scale. I felt small and overcome by this massive structure. However, what was once a symbol of national separation is now a beautiful canvas of varied compositions, some that I feel evoke unique representations of emotional experience. The whole time I kept thinking what an honor it must've been for the artists to be asked to do a mural on such at such a large scale. I imagine that the memories that the artists had associated with the wall were reclaimed with artistic expression on the perpetrator of the memories: the wall itself. However, similar to the nostalgia tied to the events of the past, each piece of art is open for interpretation. 

Exploration activity: Tacheles Kunsthaus

Group 4: Mariah, Nigel, Natalie, Ryder

Upon returning from our exploration of Tacheles we were surprised to learn just how many layers of history have existed within the space that now houses the artist squat. It started as a Jewish mall, served as a Nazi administrative building and prison, was severely damaged by allied bombing, then became a GDR storage facility. Just before being demolished in 1990, it was taken over by an international group of young artists and shortly thereafter was declared a historical architecture monument because of its special steel construction. The artists even began receiving subsidies from the government for certain projects. In 2008, the lease with the property owner ended and half of the occupants left peacefully in exchange for 1 million Euro in compensation. With that agreement, Tacheles lost its cinema, restaurant, a gallery and much of their open space. Meanwhile, the remaining artists are under constant threat of eviction. They have offered to buy the building from the bank, but were turned down because the bank hopes to sell the building with the adjoining empty lot for 25 million euros. 

On August 9th 50 security guards, in cooperation with the local police, broke into Tacheles and destroyed thousands of euros worth of art. The attack was completely unexpected and has set a new tone for the space, a increasingly grim one. The Tacheles artists may have no idea what the future holds for them, but still hope to uphold their commitment to "freedom of public space, art, and thought."

 Pictures posted in sculpture garden of August 9th raids

In comparison to the use of the ruins for sex-trade discussed in "Life among the Ruins", one could argue that the use of Tacheles is similar because it has created a unified identity among the artists. Eans states that, at the time, "only a limited order could be imposed on these physical spaces through social welfare, policing and the law" which is essentially what the squatter/artists are proving together. Although there have been instances of police interference in the space, for the most part the message of the artists is clear from the patches being sold at the gift shops: "We stay."