The REAL Reason We Are In Germany

After 7 months of digging around in federal archives, ceaselessly translating German documents, meeting with local academics, and even hiring Polish and Hungarian "research assistance" to help with translations, Fritz was given an opportunity to tie a pretty bow around his hard work in the form of a 45-minute talk at Goethe Universität in Frankfurt.  This was the longest and most complete presentation Fritz has given on his bold dissertation topic: The Privatization of the Cold War.

Our endlessly kind and generous friends, Johanna and Frederic, hosted us in their apartment for the 2 days we were in town.  

I received a private preview of his presentation in their living room before it was debuted for the German academics.  

I was invited to attend the real thing along 21 other academics; a rather impressive crowd for such a talk.  Professor Plumpe, a well-known German historian and Fritz's sponsoring professor (pictured above) was extremely complimentary of Fritz's project, and said something along the lines of (paraphrased and translated from German), "Fritz has the potential to reorient the field of Cold War history. "

After his talk, the historians in attendance proceeded to ask questions and debate the topic for at least 30 minutes.  They asked their questions in German while Fritz responded in English, clearly understanding everything they were saying.  I couldn't follow any of the German, but Fritz fielded each question beautifully.  It was a very cool dialogue to witness!  

Afterward, the entire group migrated to a traditional German restaurant where Professor Plumpe generously treated the two of us!  The whole day was a complete success for Fritz.  He delivered an excellent talk that succinctly wove together an explanation of how global finance affected the end of the Cold War in Hungary, Poland, and East Germany.

He was brilliant!  And I could not have felt prouder of my handsome and intelligent love who just might change the world's interpretation of the Cold War!  

3 Days in Berlin

There was no time to waste.  3 days in Berlin was going to fly by so we were determined to make the most of it.  Of course our primary mission was to secure a flat for our return in January.  Now seasoned apartment hunters after our run-around in Frankfurt, Fritz had a meeting already lined up with a lovely couple in their rather swanky flat in West Berlin.  I'll save the details on our future apartment for our return since most of our 3-day adventure consisted of seeing the Berlin sights.

Berlin was loaded with Christmas markets.  

One of the more famous markets was right in front of this famous church.  The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was built in the 1890s.  It was badly damaged in a bombing raid during World War II and if you walk around the side of it, you can see gaping holes that were torn through the side of the structure as well as its damaged spire.  Although newer buildings have been built on either side of the church which are used for worship, the original building was not repaired as a reminder of the horrible events of WWII and the futility of war. 

Another lovely Christams Market was right in front of the Charlottenburg Palace. 

We were too busy eating sausages to try the smoked fish, but these fish fires were another neat part of almost every Christmas Market.  

We had lovely weather to hit all the major tourist spots.  Behind me is the Reichstag building, which is the meeting place for the German parliament. 

The Brandenburg Gate was built in 1791 by the Kind of Prussia as a sign of peace.  During the Cold War, the Berlin Wall stood right next to it, and this spot was featured in media coverage from when the Wall was torn down in 1989.  

There are parts of the city that still contain sections of the Berlin Wall. 

Other spots feature a strip embedded in the pavement marking the place where the former wall stood.  

The Holocaust Memorial, also called The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, stretches out over 4 acres with concrete slabs ranging in heights from 8 inches to 15 feet. The ground on which the slabs are placed slopes so when you are standing on the outside of the memorial looking in, they all appear to be of a similar height, but as you walk deeper into the slabs, you find the concrete masses towering over you. 

Peter Eisenman, the designer and architect, intended for the structure to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere.  The whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.  The memorial also bears a resemblance to a cemetery.  The slabs are covered with a graffiti-resistant coating to prevent neo-Nazis from painting swastikas on the sculpture, which happened 5 times in the first year before the special coating was added.  

These two cuties were hanging out by the Brandenburg Gate.

We had to visit Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most iconic spots in Berlin.  This was the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin, the capital of communist East Germany, and West Berlin, part of West Germany, during the Cold War.  The checkpoint was manned by US troops.  It's called Checkpoint "Charlie" because the checkpoints were labeled alphabetically.  There was also a Checkpoint A and B or "Alfa" and "Bravo".  Using the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, C is called "Charlie."  

Today Checkpoint Charlie is pretty much a big old tourist trap.  People take turns standing next to this German guy dressed as an American soldier.  My biggest question is, how long did it take for them to install a McDonalds right behind Checkpoint Charlie after the Berlin Wall fell?