Goodbyes

It’s our last week in Berlin!

We sent the students off with two fun activities: first, a trip to the opera to see Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.”

Then, we wrapped everything up with dinner and dancing at Clärchens Ballhaus, a Berlin institution that’s been around since the 1920s. Niguel and Anna tore up the dance floor with some swing moves!

It’s hard to believe that the program is already over! Ten weeks is not nearly enough time to explore a city as rich and layered as Berlin … but I think we did a pretty good job! The students will be moved out and on their way to new destinations by this weekend – some home to Seattle, and some off to explore more of the world! We hope this experience stays with them …

Student Exhibition night!

On Tuesday we held our exhibition of student work at the Adalbertsrasse apartments. Each student installed his or her work in one of the apartment spaces, along with an artist statement explaining the piece. Then we all wandered around and enjoyed their creations, just like at a real art opening.

Everyone helped out with setup, including a lovely spread …

… and the student projects were inspiring! Each one revealed a unique and interesting response to Berlin. (Shown here: Annie’s audio project and Robert’s flip book.) Several guests joined us for an evening of wandering through the building, listening to a spoken-word and music performance, and enjoying being together!

A tour of Potsdamer Platz with Natalie & Ryna

Our final student-led walk took place this week, with a tour of Potsdamer Platz and its surroundings by Natalie and Ryna.

We started out at the former site of Hitler’s bunker – now hidden under a parking lot and GDR-era apartment buildings.

Our next stop was a huge construction site on Leipziger Platz, just half a block from Postdamer Platz. This plot was once home to Wertheim’s department store, headed by the pioneering and gifted businessman Georg Wertheim. Because he was Jewish, however, he was forced to leave the country in 1937, leaving his wife Ursula in charge of the company, which eventually folded and was re-established under different ownership after the war.

Now a new shopping center is being constructed on the site. Though it’s not owned by the Wertheim family, the idea is to refer to the strong commercial history of the area.

Also on Leipziger Platz, we viewed the brick strip that marks where the Berlin Wall once ran. It’s amazing to think that this whole area was a divided, empty wasteland just twenty years ago!

Potsdamer Platz is also strongly associated with certain technological breakthroughs – it became home to one of Europe’s very first traffic lights in 1924, and it is now also a center of the film industry in Berlin. The Sony Center (right) embodies this with its hi-tech roof design.

Moving from a booming commercial center in the twenties to bombed-out no-man’s-land during the mid-twentieth century, then back to thriving retail hub today, Potsdamer Platz is emblematic of the many recent and violent transformations of Berlin. It’s a fitting end to our student tours!