Recently I visited one of the many concentration camps that were used during World War II. There was a lot of history to a place like that. Each students was given an audio tour and I spent my time just standing in the middle of the camp and listening to all of the stories that were there to be heard. Throughout the trip I constantly questioned how anyone could ever justify the evil actions that were done in concentration camps, even if they thought that it could be beneficial to their country. Continue reading “Reflections on The Concentration Camp at Sachsenhausen”
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East Side Gallery
The East Side Gallery is a large preserved stretch of the Berlin Wall. They got multiple painters to decorate the wall with their idea of what freedom meant. I think that it is a great idea to turn what was once a symbol of oppression into a work of art celebrating their freedom. There are dozens of styles ranging from abstract to realistic and all of them are beautiful.
Reflections on Sachsenhausen
When we went to the Holocaust memorial in downtown Berlin, I was left wanting more. For me, at least, it was difficult to truly be affected emotionally by digitized pictures of notes written by the victims. Something concrete, I felt, would aide in understanding.
As they say, be careful what you wish for, as you just might get it. Continue reading “Reflections on Sachsenhausen”
Reflections on Köln
It’s no wonder to me that there are warnings to watch out for pickpockets at the Köln train station. Because the very moment you walk out of the station, the beautifully monstrous cathedral is there staring you down. I lost just about all sense of self and situational awareness upon seeing the cathedral because it was simply that stunning. Not only did we see this amazing stunning structure, but we also attended high mass there that Sunday. Continue reading “Reflections on Köln”
Adventures in Deutschland
We went to the Deutsches Technikmuseum as a group, and we enjoyed our time there! On the top floor there was a plane suspended from the outside of the building. They had both life-size and scale models of various boats, an exhibit on energy, a flight simulator, and many other cool exhibits.
High Mass at the Kölner Dom
I really enjoyed worshipping in the Köln Cathedral. The organ playing was incredible. I could not believe how beautiful it sounded! I loved listening to the music throughout the service. I also enjoyed the choral singing, both the choir’s singing and singing with the congregation. Continue reading “High Mass at the Kölner Dom”
When Words Aren’t Enough
We have all been updating this blog with descriptions of our adventures in Deutschland over the past couple weeks. While this is very informative to you, the reader, and us in the future, something has been missing from this blog: pictures. Sometimes it is better to show something than it is to simply talk about it. Over the past weekend, I experienced three things in which this is just the case.
Köln
Worshiping in Köln was a very interesting but cool experience. This church is much older, much more beautiful but much more formal then my church at home. Having said this I still very much enjoyed this experience. To be able to worship our God in such a grand and ginormous building built for this sole purpose was incomprehensible let alone to add in the fact that the building was built in the middle ages. Though the service was in German, it was still easy to see the longing worship of the church. Incense was something I had never experienced in church and it was fun to have the added mist and smells to the church service. It was weird first going into the church in the middle of the service as tourists and just standing in the back of the hall admiring the architecture which a service goes on in front of us. It felt slightly dishonoring like we shouldn’t be there, and yet at the same time, It gives others a chance to experience church without having to to go to church, which is a positive way to look at it. Over all this was the most grand and high church that I have ever been to and it was an honor to worship here.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Word
Facebook so far has been the main way I have contacted my friends and family back home to show what I have been doing so far in my time in Germany. Many of these pictures though only show the sightseeing part of this program. Many of the everyday activities are left out of my picture dumps, so here is a quick update in all I have been doing as seen in a few pictures.
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp
When we were in school, we all learned about the horrible events that occurred during the Holocaust. We learned of Hitler and his hatred for Jews. We learned that millions of innocent people were slaughtered for no good reason.
But these are Just facts.
To fully (or at most partially) understand the events that took place during that period means taking a visit to one of the locations where it all happened. Continue reading “Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp”