Amazing Berlin

Wow where to start! So last tuesday our school took us to Berlin for four nights and packed us full with things to do and see everyday.
 Wednesday: We started the week off by going to a memorial for the Berlin Wall, and hearing about the crazy stuff that went on only 20+ years ago. It still baffles me that these people were being treated the way they were, and no one could do anything about it. Our tour guide told us about how people would dig tunnels or try and find various ways to escape the GDR and get to the west side of the wall. The GDR were so crazy about their wall that they even dug up some graves that were in the way of the wall and moved them elsewhere. After the Berlin wall memorial we went to the Parliament building which was kinda boring but was really pretty!We also got to wander and go see the Brandenburg gate and one of the WWII memorial statues that was also built. After the parliament building we took a boat tour and got to see some of the beautiful german museums and other buildings that were along the Spree river in Berlin. And lastly before heading back to the hostel, we stopped by check point charlie, which is where you would cross into the American sector of Berlin, back when the wall was up.

Area in between the wall

Pieces of the mall that were moved by the people of the cemetery, to show they weren't happy with the graves that were moved.

Watch tower between the walls

Brandenburg Gate

Outside the Parliament Building

Thursday: Thursday wasn't as exciting as Wednesday but still fun. We went to the Chancellery building (not as pretty as the Parliament building) and then went and sat in on a meeting at the Deutsche Bahn. It was pretty much as exciting as it sounded. But afterwards a few of us branched off and went to the Berlin Zoo, which was so much fun. Unfortunately we got there too late to see the Pandas and Lions but I would say it was still a successful visit!
Friday: Our last full day in Berlin we went to one of the German television studios in the heart of Berlin and got to tour the studios and also talked with one of the journalists that worked there. Later we went to the East side of Berlin and visited an old prison that was controlled by the Stasi police during the time of the wall. In this prison the Stasi put east Berliners into prison if they found out they had a plan for escaping, tried to contact someone outside Berlin to try and share info or escape or just did anything that wasn't in line with the GDR. They used psychological tactics to get information out of people, even if they hadn't done anything wrong. They used prisoners to get information about their families and friends because maybe they were trying to escape or living in a way that wasn't align with the GDR. The stasi were also under 24 hour surveillance so that no guard or interrogator could help prisoners or even help themselves escape. It was so crazy to me to see just how much the GDR wanted to find people to put in jail or punish. They couldn't even trust their own stasi!

Saturday: Before heading out and headin back to Bad Mergentheim, we stopped by the Charlottenburg Palace, where the Prussian kings used to live back in the day. It would have been awesome to go inside, but it cost a ton for some reason so we just admired it from the outside.