Tag: Deutschland

I climbed to the top of the Berlin Siegessäule (Victory Monument) with my new friend Annette. The monument was originally built to commemorate the Danish-Prussian War, but by the time it was erected in 1873, it was also used to commemorate the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. It was smaller and located closer to the German parliament, but the Nazi’s moved it further away and lengthened it by 7.5 m in 1939. The French wanted to dynamite the monument in 1945, but thankfully they were prevented from doing that and we were still able to enjoy the (windy) view of Berlin from the top.

I visited the “Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe” in Berlin, a collection of huge concrete slabs. Not far from there is the “Sinti and Roma memorials”, containing a peaceful garden and a small pond.

I visited the Brandenburg gate in Berlin. This is a huge concrete monolith built in 1791. It is has been used for political statements by Napoleon and Hitler and was made off-limits during much of the communist reign in East Germany to avoid it being used for political purposes. This situation changed after reunification in 1990, and now anyone can wander underneath it’s huge arches.

The history of the Berlin wall is fascinating. The wall itself … not so much. It’s just a concrete/wire mesh fence really. Not much to see.

What has surprised me the most about the Berlin wall, is how many people I know who don’t know anything about it. They know that it existed, but not why or how it came to be. If you are in that camp, then I recommend doing some reading up on the subject. I’m not going to attempt to explain it here myself, as there are others who are far more knowledgeable about such things than I and can explain it much better.

I visited the Nazi party rally grounds (Reichsparteitagsgelände) in Nürnberg (Nuremberg). This area is where the German Nazi party held their huge party rallies between 1933 and 1938. ~150,000 people could assemble to celebrate the German Nazi party, alongside Adolf Hitler and other prominent national socialists.

After World War 2, the huge swastikas and eagles were blown off of the top of the main section via explosives. The blast marks are still present.

Unfortunately, years of decay resulted in a lot of the front facade being removed due to it being considered too hazardous, but the primary section in the middle is still present. It sure is creepy standing up there and looking out at what would have been a sea of fans adoring their Führer.

Scroll to the bottom to see some photos of what the area looked like during the 1930’s.

I visited the Nazi Congress Hall (Kongresshalle) in Nürnberg (Nuremberg) in Germany. The building was intended as a congress center for promoting the German Nazi party. It is a huge facility and is modeled on the Rome Colosseum, but on a much larger scale. It was meant to have a self-supporting roof, and would have provided seating for up to 50,000 people. Following World War 2, construction of the building was abandoned and it has been left by the city of Nürnburg as a reminder of the dangers of national socialism.

Standing inside the Colosseum area is a creepy feeling. Had history taken a different path, this building may have been one of the most prominent political buildings in the world. As it stands today, it is a rather pathetic reminder of a sad piece of history.

I stayed in a nice little hostel in Nürnberg (Nuremburg) called the “Five Reasons”. It was cheap and very nice. It is situated right beside the Nürnberg city wall, a relic going back to the 12th and 16th centuries. About 4 km of the original 5 km wall is still standing. The moat surrounding the wall was never filled with water and is now a nice walking path.

I did a flying visit of Stuttgart whilst enroute to Tübingen in Germany. I didn’t stay long, but had time to do a quick tour around the city center and took the following snaps on my way through.

Deep beneath this rather boring looking car park is the location where Adolf Hitler married his wife, then promptly blew his brains out with a pistol on the 30th April 1945. He was then dragged up to ground level, doused with fuel and set on fire inside an impact hole from Soviet artillery shelling. I farted a little, then moved on.

This was going to be a series of posts regarding my visit to the Dachau concentration camp near München in Germany. But when I began writing it, I realised I simply don’t have enough knowledge of the history and events which occurred in this very sad location in world history. So all I’m going to do is post a dump of photos I took during my visit, and suggest that if you are interested in the camp, then do some research and look into the reports on what occurred here during World War 2.