DAY SIX OF SPRING BREAK: First Day in Germany!

      Well... my first day in Germany was a success! This city is basically the opposite of Dublin in every way shape and form, but I still really like it. It was a great experience today getting to know the city. We decided to do a free tour that our Hostel recommended. It left from the city center of Berlin where the famous TV Tour is located.
      We got to our tour a little early right after our brunch at the Hostel and decided to walk around the famous Alexanderplatz Square. We are lucky enough to be in Berlin at the perfect time... during the Easter Festival. The square was covered with vendors everything from food to carnival rides to souvenirs. Adrian asked one of the vendors how long they are here for and he said just for the rest of the week. They come three times a year; Easter, October and Christmas time. We are lucky we got to see the square so alive!

        The majority of people in Berlin speak English fluently and are very nice and helpful. I have only run into few hostile people and they tended to be of the older generation Overall, the people are really welcoming. Tourism is a big industry here.        
       It did not take long for me to notice economically Berlin is not well off. I was surprised about this because in my European Union class I have been learning Germany is better off than most of the EU nation-states. That does not seem like the case in Berlin though. Everything seems gloomy in Berlin. Empty buildings everywhere and homeless people as well. There is graffiti covering every existing building and our tour guide would talk about that a lot throughout our tour.
     Our tour met in front of the TV tower at 1pm. It was a really packed tour and they ended up splitting it up in two different groups. Our tour guide was from the United States - Maine more particular. I asked him if he knew Bridgton where my Aunt was from and he got all excited because he did. He even knew Shawnee Peak! Our tour guide was a fascinating man. He was in his mid twenties. He knew four languages fluently, switching between German, French, Spanish and English throughout the tour. He was brilliant. Later in the tour I asked him a little about himself. First of all, he graduated from NYU. Second of all, his sister is a current Harvard Med School student and he is considered the messed up child because he went to NYU. He said a few days after his college graduation he packed up and left America for a brief vacation in Berlin, Germany. Five years later he is still here. He is an aspiring artist, despite having majored in Advertising and Marketing at NYU. He now does these free tours (relies on tips) throughout Berlin in order to financially stay here and when he is not giving tours he is doing graffiti art throughout the city. He even showed us some of his work.
    Graffiti Art is what keeps the city of Berlin from completely sinking into the ground. Something I personally never knew. Berlin has MAJOR money problems our tour guide explained. It seems the city really never was able to come back after WWII and the Cold War. The Cold War in particular is still so fresh in the city...it has an eery feel all throughout. In the 1990's Berlin was bankrupt three times. The city that is the size of Paris was built to fit 7.5 million people, but only 3. 5 million people live here. The city, besides Alexanderplatz Square which really is not that busy anyway...is empty. We would walk down streets with tons of shops and restaurants mid-day and not a single other person was in sight. It was so strange. In fact, many Berlin residents are not even German at all. Instead they are second generation non-Germans.
     The people that do live in Berlin are mostly young parents. A small town right outside of the city is actually referred to as "Pregnant Hill" because it has the highest birth rate per capita in all of Europe. When we were walking through the streets of Berlin I felt like the few people I did see were all women pushing strollers. There were little babies everywhere.
   The economy and lack of people in Berlin got so bad that creativity took off. People started finding different ways to profit and make a living hence the reason Graffiti Art is so popular in Berlin. As I said earlier every inch of the city is covered in graffiti besides the occasional corporate building...and even some of those were covered too.
   Our tour guide started the tour off by showing us some famous graffiti art throughout the city...and more importantly famous graffiti artists.
    El Bocho was one of the first artists our tour guide pointed out. He paints a little Czechoslovakian girl name Lucy. The little girl started off as an innocent cute graffiti symbol, but soon she turned evil. Eventually, the artist started painting the little girl differently. Everywhere the little girl could be found so could a dead cat near by. The little girl was constantly plotting different ways to kill her cat. It was very strange, but our tour guide explained he is an extremely well known artist.

     The next graffiti artist he pointed out was Banksy. The highest paid street artist in the entire world. He earns around 300, 000 pounds a piece and actually recently sold a piece to Brad Pitt.  He came to Berlin several times to make art, but eventually stopped because everything he made was taken down and then sold online or auctioned off.
    Next our tour guide took us to another famous square and the richest in Berlin. Here stores that you would see on 5th Ave are located. It was pretty beautiful during the day. Our tour guide explained it might look nice now, but at night it is a different story. Prostitution is legal in Berlin and has been since 2002. The prostitutes at night hang out here because of the  rich clientele they receive, it is Berlin's red light district. The idea is that there is no third party involved in this sort of prostitution, no pimps. Only the prostitute profits off of selling her body. That is how it stays legal. He said the area is not dangerous at night at all and  rather comical instead.

  Next he brought us to a building to show us bullet holes left over from WWII. He explained if you look anywhere closely evidence from WWII remains. 

      Afterwards we made our way through an alleyway with lots of graffiti. He explained several artists here and in particular an artist that has work all over the city. This artist makes a ton of money on his work our tour guide explained. He makes giant beautiful women. In this alleyway in particular a few weeks ago another artist smeared black paint on one of his paintings. Our tour guide explained aspiring artists often get jealous of those who have made it. In retaliation the artist that makes the women made an even bigger mural a few feet away.

     Graffiti in Berlin is not encouraged, but the city tends to look the other way on it. People get away with it because using a certain technique that our guide went into detail about that I had a little difficulty following...the artists use paper that can peel off the wall instead of direct paint from a can. They can spend hours at home making these masterpieces and then plaster them to the city walls. If they are caught doing this sort of graffiti the penalty is simply a 15 dollar fine, but police usually never stop someone making graffiti. The city flourishes on the graffiti art.
    Also located in this alleyway was a famous museum dedicated to Ann Frank. In the building the museum is located in is actually where an artist use to house deaf and blind jews during WWII. He pretended he was using them as slaves for his artwork in order to protect them from going to concentration camps. He insisted they would be no use at concentration camps, but better use for him. Of course, he was actually not enslaving them, but instead saving them. He also began hiding other jewish people in this building and when he started making more money he would buy property throughout Berlin and hide them there as well. It is now a historical memorial for art. The artwork in this alleyway is all completely legal graffiti and commissioned. It is changed every few months.

     You can get away with a lot in Berlin our guide explained. The laws here are very open ended and rarely enforced. That tends to explain the massive amounts of graffiti and why people come from all around the world to see the Berlin graffiti. One thing that is taken very seriously in Berlin is videotaping and surveillance. It is simply not allowed. Our tour guide highly suggested not whipping out a video camera at all during our stay in Berlin. The reason is that during the Cold War many people were being spied on without even knowing it. It was not until after the fall of the wall they found out what had been going on and realized their entire lives were being monitored...some by friends, Uncles, lovers, Brother's, etc. Surveillance in Berlin became very strict in order to protect the people that felt so betrayed by the spying that took place. In fact, it was so strict that Berlin was not even on Google Maps until last year. Even now, a lot of the buildings are blurred out. 

      To demonstrate the desperation of Berlin Government and the great cultural war that is still taking place our guide took us to the former Berlin post office that is now an art gallery. He explained the government is so desperate for money they are turning it into a luxury hotel at the end of the month. Though the government tends to turn a blind eye to graffiti they are starting to crack down on the creative side of Berlin that makes Berlin what it is today. He explained the city is literally in the mist of a political and creative war. He also pointed out WWII bullet holes here as well.

     Next we were brought to a building now called Tacheles a former department store. In 1908 it was owned by a Jewish family. When they were forced to abandon it the building had odd uses until the 1930's when the Nazi's began using it as a broadcast area. After WWII the building was majorly destroyed. In 1989-1990 it became a illegal live in building referred to here as Squatters. Basically homeless people move into abandoned buildings. There are so many abandoned buildings throughout Berlin apparently this is a common practice even today. Eventually, aspiring artists took over the building and it remains that way now. Literally hundreds of artists come here to graffiti, sell their work, promote their work and add to the creativity of Berlin. The plot of land they are doing this on though is worth 4 million dollars and the government wants it back. A big corporate official bought the land in March and is determined to get the artists out. Just a few weeks ago dozens of police officers were everywhere as the artists and those supporting the artists rioted and refused to leave the building. Eventually, the police were forced to just let the people go. The artists argued if they are forced to leave the creative history of the neighborhood that makes up Berlin will leave with it. We were given twenty minutes to explore the building. Adrian and I both found it uncomfortable. I did not enjoy the building...it was not my scene..but I found the history interesting.

Big companies started to catch onto the fact people come from all around the world to see Berlin's graffiti so they began paying artists to promote their logos. Some artists were upset about this while others did not mind. Our guide showed us a hug mural advertising Nike. 

He also showed us another one later on. It was done by a famous artist who uses the technique of blowing holes in certain parts of the architecture to make people. He had huge murals pop up all over Berlin for a few month time span and it really got the people of Berlin talking. It was revealed later on he was paid millions by Levi Jeans. His launch party for his work was at the end of the summer.

Next we were brought to the East Berlin Wall the biggest part of the Wall still in existence....for those that do not know much about the Berlin Wall as much as I would love to go in detail about the fascinating history it would take up way too much of this Blog post!!! So here is a useful link I found:

http://history1900s.about.com/od/coldwa1/a/berlinwall.htm

     As I was saying we were brought to the East Berlin Wall the biggest remaining part which was restored in 2009 on the 20th Anniversary. 93 of the original 106 graffiti artists returned to the restoration to recreate their artwork in 2009. Some of the artists refused saying it defeats the purpose now...because in the moment it meant so much more than it does now and to restore it would be pointless. Other talented artists were chosen to recreate those artists work exactly. The wall is going to be redone now every 11 years.
    As we were standing by the wall the smell of urine was very poignant. Our tour guide reiterated laws in Berlin are not enforced and public urination is extremely common. In summer months if you go to any of the main parks in Berlin you will see completely naked people, people publicly drinking and people smoking weed. A police officer will never stop someone for any of those things. Weed is decriminalized in Berlin and a person can carry up to 15 grams of weed on them without punishment...even if they had the intention to sell their is no proving that. So, unless it is over 20 grams they will not be punished. The five of us had all noticed everywhere in Berlin smells like weed... and even started to notice people smoking right out in the open as if it was nothing. Apparently, it is not much here. Our guide explained Berlin authorities encourage those smoking in public to be discrete and that is all they ask.
    Next we were brought to the "Man that lives in a Tree House".  A very fascinating story indeed. A great population of Germany is Turkish. A plot of land on the West Germany side of the Berlin Wall was left empty. A Turkish Immigrant man decided to take over the land and make a garden out of it. When his garden became very successful he started making a Tree House out of all of the left over metal and scrap left by the construction of the wall...eventually it formed a house. At the time of his making of a garden he did not know the land actually belonged to East Berlin.  Authorities chose to leave this plot of land on the opposite side of the wall for construction reasons, though it was still East Berlin's land technically. When East Berlin tried to claim their land back from the Turkish man he refused to leave his house.. he actually cemented everything he owned to the ground. For instance, tables, chairs, and furniture...making it very difficult for the government to take it all.  East Berlin was determined to get him out though.
     When record searching the church across the street from the Turkish man's tree house found they actually technically owned the land too even though East Berlin did as well. The law states though that without the Church's permission nothing can be done to this land. In other words, to demolish the house East Berlin needed the churches approval. The church refused. The man was protected by the Church and to this day his house remains. In his old age he has moved directly across the street into a nicer apartment complex, but during the summer he is often found living in the tree house. It is now tended to by the people in this town as well.

       Right down the street from this is a building that was built in 1848. It used to be a Hospital until 1970 when a group of young students took the building over. They were a group of students questioning the way things are in Berlin and trying to answer questions such as; "Why are people that have family connections to the Holocaust still in governmental power?" and so on. It seemed like a good organization at first until they became violent. They turned into a terrorist movement; murdering government officials, setting cars on fire and even trying to hijack planes. Some may know this as the Red Army Faction. In 1998 the movement was disband, but they are still not completely gone. In both July and August last year every single day in the richest neighbors in Berlin a different government officials car was set on fire. The building is now another art gallery and a music school for the local neighborhood. The history it once possessed though will always be remembered. 

        Our tour ended at the river which on one side is East Berlin and the other West Berlin. The West Berlin side of the river now has a lot of graffiti representing the history of Berlin. Two pieces done by a famous Italian artist who also has really famous YouTube videos he created made two very distinct pieces with specific meanings.
       One is a man straightening his tie...two gold watches chaining him together. Chained to his work? Chained to the government? Chained to the corporate world? The ironic thing is that this piece is directly across the river from East Berlin which is now possessed by Corporate Buildings and big business trying to make their place in Berlin's economy.

     The other image is two people; one making the hand symbol for East Berlin and the other for West Berlin. They are peeling off each others face skin. Possibly revealing a true identity. 

        Our tour guide left us with this....WWII and the Cold War are still very fresh in the eyes of the Berlin people...especially the Cold War. In order to live in Berlin long term it is important to know the history of the city and to understand why it is the way it is today.
    I never realized how fresh this history was and how still distraught the city is over what has taken place over the years.  Dana and Sean decided to head to the city center a little before the tour was concluded so Adrian, Nora and I made our way back to our Hostel which was literally just over the bridge. We stopped at the East Gallery of the Berlin wall though, the opposite side which we were on before (it is a mile long) and just walked some of the wall soaking in its history and what it stands for. The wall is restored of course, but the history is still all there.

The wall is literally feet away from our Hostel - Plus Berlin. I just could not get over the fact I am staying so close to such history. The things that took place just feet from my Hostel changed not only Berlin, but the world. Including, the construction and eventually falling of the Berlin Wall. It amazes me and really caused me to stop and think about those impacted by the Berlin Wall. For instance, the poor people that were forced to succumb to the rule of Communist East Berlin. One morning they woke up and were able to travel freely to the West to see their family, lovers and friends....the next morning wherever they were...West or East side...that is where they would remain for decades. It is just so sad.

      On a positive not, we got a late lunch right by the wall at an authentic Berlin food shop. The three of us all ordered Currywurst with french fries. It was delicious!!! Who would have thought I would LOVE Currywurst!!!! It was nice to get an authentic German meal as well.

     After our late lunch and FOUR hour tour...walking both the East, West and Center of Berlin we were exhausted. We calculated we probably walked around six or seven miles. I learned so much about the city I never knew and it was free nonetheless! We came back to the Hostel and relaxed for awhile. Our Hostel is seriously so nice. It was already about 6pm when we got to the Hostel so around 9pm we got dinner at the restaurant in the Hostel which is excellent as well. It was an early bedtime for everyone, but me...who is once again writing a Blog! I just can't help myself..I love sharing my adventures :)
   Tomorrow we are going to try and go to a Concentration Camp right outside of Berlin. The Metro actually stops there. It will be a very interesting and somber day, but it is something we all really want to do.
    Well, off to bed!! Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more :) As always...

XOXO
Shann

   P.S.  : Sorry it took so long to Blog this post...the internet here is horrific and though this post has been done for awhile now... I could not get the pictures up! I had a lot more pictures, but unfortunately had to leave them out! thanks for your patience :)