Where did last week go? o.0 I thought, what with language class ending, that I'd have a bit more free time, but a sudden realization that it was my cleaning weekend
and I'd signed up for a "How to study in Germany" workshop which lasted all Saturday suddenly made the time seem very short indeed... This week, I'm technically free, but tomorrow will be completely dedicated to university stuff, since we have our introduction events for both the department and all international students. The other days are also a bit booked with various tours - of library, mediothek etc, which I think I will all need to visit because hot damn if the Humboldt university ain't a quagmire of rules!! Just getting into the library is approaching airport securty controls.
( Some whining re school )
Leaving behind the woes of a student (for the moment), I do have some little free time this week and I intend to use it well!
Today I went with three classmates from the language group (I'll miss them soooo much! Even though we've got a Fb group, it won't be the same thing! And we we were such a nice, well-matched group, nevermind our obsession with whether the teacher waxed his chest or not... Ahem, moving on) to the museum
Haus am Checkpoint Charlie.
It's dedicated to the Berlin Wall; it's history, the victims, the escapes and the art it inspired. It also has a pretty substantial department which covers peaceful protests against human rights abuse and, more generally, the different protests in the Soviet area.
Text-intensive, quite "heavy" museum, but super interesting if you take the time to read it all.
That it's actually located right at (the rebuilt) Checkpoint Charlie and is quite agitatory about the themes covered, makes it even more of an experience. Since it's inside an old office building (bigger on the inside! but not by much!) and a first stop for many tourists, there are heavy crowds and not much oxygen.
Anyway, in we went and spent an informative couple of hours. I've visited once, but it was ten years ago and it was interesting to return. This time, I could also appreciate some of the art pieces a bit more, although most of my mental energy was expanded on reading the many signs.
You really, REALLY need to be willing to take your time with the (many) signs on the walls here. They, and the photos they accompany of course, are the meat of the museum - the actual exhibit pieces are mostly items used in escapes and some rather kitschy bits of clothing (uniforms and whatnot). Due to the somewhat erratic spelling/grammar in the English signs, it also helps to have a good grasp of German. I think this is (one of) the reason(s) for several negative reviews I found online.
The other is the somewhat mistaken impression one easily gets from the name of the museum. This ain't a pedagogic look at the "how and why" of the Iron Curtain, but more a grand collection of eye-witness accounts. And if you're not familiar with at least a bit background structure, you won't be able to understand much of what's happening.
Despite the crowds and weird layout, I would still recommend the Haus am Maur ten times more than the GDR museum (located near the Berlin Dome, by the water) which really is a kitschy tourist trap. That ones full of "everyday items from the GRD" and, uh yeah, while it is a kid-friendly museum it was a bit too much Ostalgie and not enough information for me.
Aaaanyway, back to Checkpoint Charlie. Since I'm the kind of geek that likes reading signs, I quite like the Wall House, even if I would have wished the company of slightly fewer visitors.
What did baffle me quite a bit were the two rooms dedicated to Ronald Reagan and
Axel Springer. Not that they existed as such, considering how both of them said and did things that are quite relevant in a look at the political themes surrounding the wall, but that the informationed semed about 110% positive. While Reagan's timeline included the tax cuts and his firing of the air traffic controllers, it was mentioned in one line. I think even his cowboy stuff got a sign of it's own, but not this.
And Springer? Who is definitely a debated figure in German history, especially if you're a museum dedicated to human rights issues, protests and freedom... Now, admittedly, I didn't read everything in that room as we were all getting quite tired, but the overall tone seemed very pro Springer-company. Since this is a privately owned museum, they are of course free to exhibit whatever they want, but it made me quite curious about 1) who actually owns the place, these days and 2) what else are they leaving out?
Anyway - if you're in Berlin, you could do worse than come to this museum. Just get up earlier than we did, so you don't have to push through quite as many crowds.
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