Jewish Museum and Reichstag

Syd and I had quite the adventure today going to the Jewish Museum called the "Topography of Terror" and having a private tour of the Reichstag, which is the German congress building. Both were experiences I will never forget.

The "Topography of Terror" is a museum that is dedicated to the History of Jewish people and the main attraction is an exhibit that commemorates the Holocaust. The architecture of the museum is the highlight of the experience. The building is designed to evoke the emotions that the Jews were feeling while being persecuted and the architect hit the nail on the head. There were three hallways that represented different aspects of Jewish history called the Axis of the Holocaust, Axis of Exile, and the Axis of Continuity.

The Axis of Exile was the most memorable of the hallways. The hallway has a list of all the cities that the Jews immigrated to, many of which were unexpected like Mexico City or Shanghai. At the end, a door opens into a courtyard with 25 concrete columns lined up in a square. While they are perfectly aligned the ground is uneven and when you walk through the isles you find yourself stumbling and feeling uncomfortable.

The concrete columns

The entire courtyard is very disorienting and I interpreted it as how your would feel if you were displaced from your entire way of life. It was amazing to me how the architect conveyed that feeling with concrete.

Disoriented

Syd and I both agreed that the museum was incredibly tasteful and portrayed what could have been a bloody German bashing story, clearly and factually. The most bizarre part was the museum was basically empty and it felt a little eerie that on a Saturday the museum didn't have many visitors. I hope this was just some kind of coincidence and not because people are sweeping the importance of the museum under the rug. I strongly recommend going to the Topography of Terror if you are ever in Berlin.

Now, most random story of Berlin. Vanessa's good friend, Flo, who I have met a few times while in Switzerland, currently lives in Berlin. V mentioned that if I was interested Flo would probably be happy to give us a tour. I figured that if we had time, I would email Flo, but I didn't set anything in stone...

Sooo, yesterday while crossing the street in front of our hotel, a guy in a suit said "Claire?" I looked up and turned out it was Flo and he lives in an apartment across from our hotel! What are the odds that the only person in Berlin that I indirectly know, I see in the street?! Small world.

Flo works for a Bavarian member of the parliament and he offered to give us a private tour of the Reichstag, where he works. Of course, we graciously said yes, and both of us are so glad we did. Flo showed us his office building, which is the building that the laws are researched, lobbied, and debated, before they go before the entire congress. It is an incredibly modern building with huge glass windows.

Flo's Building

Next we visited the main Reichstag building and got to see where all the congress people sit in the Parliament chamber by political party. Flo said that they don't have assigned seats, but when an election happens they rearrange the seats so each political party has enough chairs together.

Parliament

On top of the Reichstag is a glass dome, and I though it was the coolest part of the tour. The dome has a spiral walkway leading up to the top and you can see the cityscape of Berlin. The walk up to the top has an audio tour that proved information about the city, the history, the government, and it was all wound together making it a very interesting walk up to the top.

In the center of the dome, there is a huge mirror that reflects the sunlight down into the Parliament so the chamber is almost always lit with natural light. The giant mirror was my favorite part.

The dome's mirrors

Many thanks to Flo for a fantastic tour. We saw part of the government that most Americans, let alone Germans, don't get to see up close and it was fascinating. I was really impressed with the mixture of both modern and old architecture through out the Parliament, and all of Berlin.

Back to Munich tomorrow for one night before going to Italy. Berlin, it's been real.