Ich bin ein Berliner!

By Matt Mislan

          As John F. Kennedy once said, “Ich bin ein Berliner!” Although he actually stated, “I am a jelly donut,” the notion of being one with the people of Berlin still makes its way through time. This is precisely how I felt during the time we were in the historic city. With history being my favorite subject, and World War II being one of my favorite events to study, a three-day trip to Berlin was exactly what I needed to experience. There are so many places to visit and so many sights to take in that I had no idea where I would begin! I could not believe I would be getting the opportunity to walk along the roads where tanks patrolled and where the wall ran through the city. My excitement over what laid ahead was one of the main things that carried me through the trials of a six-hour train ride…and of course a little bit of sleep could not hurt either.

            With the train ride over, the next thing for us was to travel hostel that was actually less than a minute away from a tram stop. As per usual, Jason led us in a circle around our destination and we ended up right where we began. Finally, we arrived at the hostel and my first impression was that it was going to be incredibly difficult to actually leave and experience all that berlin had to offer. With a bar, billiards and foosball tables, basketball court and soccer field outside, how does one expect anyone to leave this place? However, with our guided walking tour beginning soon, we were forced to leave sooner rather than later.

            As I anticipated from the start, walking around the great city of Berlin was breathtaking. Traveling alongside the cobblestone strip that defined where the wall once stood, I truly felt what it must have been like for the Berliners during the Soviet occupation. It was difficult to truly put into perspective what it must have been like for family and friends to be separated by the overnight building of the wall. However, after seeing the cobblestone path where the wall once stood and then the remnants of the wall itself, I began to feel what it would be like for my own town to be separated in two and not be able to associate with some of my best friends and family members. How terrible it must have been for these people to endure this struggle for twenty-eight years. I felt as one with the citizens of Berlin during their time of trouble. This feeling was brought up again following the tour when we went to listen to a German by the name of Rainer Schubert, who for three years smuggled citizens, or prisoners, from the East Berlin side to freedom. His “crime” landed him in prison for nine years, with two of those being in solitary confinement. I was in awe of the way he conducted himself during the daily questionings he received. With a disciplined military background, he knew exactly how to handle himself and keep his spirit from breaking.

            Following a fantastic night of sleep, I was ready to witness all that the Judisches Museum had to offer us. Being world-renowned for its meaning, as well a the architecture, this museum is a must-see for anyone traveling to Berlin. With his family decimated during the Holocaust, architect Daniel Libeskind proudly presented a design for the building to the Berlin Senate and eventually won the opportunity to make it a reality. In Daniel Libeskind’s words, “It thematises and integrates for the first time in post-war Germany the history of the Jews in Germany, the repercussions of the Holocaust and spiritual displacement. It is also just a museum with exhibits on the walls” (Berlin.de). The material spans the time between the Romans until the present, covering over two thousand years of history. As great as the exhibits were inside, my favorite part of the experience was the actual architecture of the building itself. Each of the three passageways, or axial routes, has a specific meaning. No hallway or corner in the museum is there by chance. The first axis leads to the Stair of Continuity and the permanent exhibition; the second leads to the Garden of Exile and Emigration, and the final one leads to a dead end known as the Holocaust void. As I traversed through this architectural masterpiece, each turn I encountered enhanced the experience that much more. I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent there and walked away with newfound knowledge of the Jewish people in Berlin aside from the Holocaust and respect for a modern architectural marvel.

            Of course, this was the just the beginning of my favorite day of the trip to Berlin. And, of course, we were desperate to find a nearby doner place following the tour. Being the home of the doner in Germany, it was necessary to compare one from here to the adaptations we have had in every other German city we had been to. It certainly did not disappoint, and soon enough we were getting off a tram at Alexanderplatz. Jason wanted to meet up with Anja and some of the other girls, as Azalea apparently wanted to do some “base flying” thing from the top of a building in the area. After killing some time walking around, we actually stumbled to the front of the building in which this thrill was taking place. We watched in amazement as one person after another free fell from the peak of this forty-story building. Somewhere during the time we spent watching, I had half-jokingly and half-seriously said that I wanted to do this. No sooner did a woman from the company that sponsored fall come over to talk to us about it. The usual price to participate was out of my price-range, but I guess it was our lucky day because it turned out that they were running a fifty-percent off special that day. At this point, it was beginning to become difficult to say no, and Francisco and his friend decided that we would take part in the thrill of a lifetime.

            It still had not hit me yet about what we were about to endure. Yes, falling off a building sounds scary in itself, but the reality of actually doing it had yet to sink in. Naturally this feeling did not last too much longer once all the paperwork was finished and we had reached the top of the building. Immediately, the scenery around me brought me to that reality that I had been trying to put off in my mind. Many questions of why in the world I was about to fall off a forty-story building rushed into my head. No! I told myself that I was going to do this and I was surely not about to back out now. The anticipation was certainly a killer, so I decided that when it was our turn to go I would be the one to fall first. This time rapidly approached, and before I knew it, I was strapped into my harness and given a preview of my “flying position.” Well, my time of reckoning was now upon us, and I nervously, but proudly, made my way to the ramp that led to the end of the ledge of the building. I mean, I already made it this far, so all I had to do was just do the fall. The cable, or “seat belt” as Kevin called it, was strapped onto the harness and I was raised. My feet were raised up behind me next, and I was now looking down at the city of Berlin. This was the absolutely most terrifying part of the entire experience, and possibly of my life as a whole. After a thumbs-up to my friends watching from the ledge and a deep breath, I was released. The rush was incredible! No drink that could be drunk or drug that could be smoked could ever compare to the feeling I had while traveling through the air at free-fall speed. And then…it was all over. The cable tensed up and my fall was gradually, but also very quickly, subdued. With the aid of the attendant at the bottom, I was once again standing on flat land. It still took a few moments to truly understand what I just did. Never would I have thought that I would have gone through with doing something as incredible, and possibly insane, and free-falling off a building in the middle of Berlin. If not for the event itself, I will never forget this moment as it should show that regardless of how nervous or scared one may be to go through with something, he or she may be missing out on one of the greatest experiences of their life due to fear. Berlin will forever be in my memory for more reasons than one, but this will certainly be the first thing that comes to mind when asked about my time in Berlin, and possibly my entire time in Germany.

Bibliography

Emery, D. JFK: 'I am a Jelly Donut' ('Ich bin ein Berliner'). Retrieved from urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/jfk_berliner.htm

Judisches Museum. Retrieved from www.berlin.de/orte/sehenswuerdigkeiten/juedisches-museum/index.en.php