Why Germany?

Throughout my lifetime, I have done a lot of traveling. The majority of it has been in the United States, but I had never traveled to a foreign country until after I graduated high school. In the summer of 2013 I traveled to France for about ten days. While there I was able to have the experience of visiting the Louvre, French chateaus, Monet’s house/gardens, and also watched the Tour de France live. I was able to take in a lot of the sights the country had to offer, however, I found it difficult to fully appreciate the culture because my group and I participated in so many “tourist” things. As we spend nearly three weeks traveling throughout Germany, I hope to immerse myself in the culture and effectively put my newly found intercultural skills, learned in SPC 317, to practice so that I can understand and learn everything the nation has to offer.  

There were many reasons why I chose this D-Term trip, but the three most prominent ones were because I wanted to explore the German culture as it may relate to my family’s heritage, I’ve always been interested in the history of WWII and the events that took place during that time frame, and because the topic focuses on the many architectural styles throughout the German National State’s existence.

German Parliament: Reichstag Building in Berlin

While I am no Political Science major, I take a heightened interest in our government system from time to time, especially right now as we draw closer to the general election. However, when I visit the many capitol buildings I tend to spend a lot of my time paying attention to the buildings themselves, especially the intricate domes. As I have walked through their halls, it's almost as if the walls are screaming their stories at me. While in Berlin we will visit the Reichstag building which is the home for the German Parliament. The first thing that I noticed when I saw the image of this building was the dome. It's so much different from the ones I have seen in the U.S. because it's glass and I am excited to see what it looks like on the inside. As we take our time walking through the halls of this building, I hope to learn a great deal about the government system they have in place there and maybe even hear some of the interesting stories this building has been holding in for the last century and a half. 

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Entrance Gate

The next two places I look forward to visiting in Germany is Sachsenhausen and Hohenschönhausen. Both of these two places were used in the WWII era and will help further my understanding about the effect that war had on Germany itself. 

Concentration camps are widely misunderstood for what they were used for. Even though many people don't know much about these camps, it is important they understand that they are actually work camps and there were more than just Jews who were at these locations during WWII. In fact, some of these other groups included Jehovah's Witnesses, criminals, and even Communists.  

Hohenschönhausen Prison and Torture Chamber

One of the things that stood out the most when looking for images was the front gate of the concentration camp. "Arbeit Macht Frei," meaning "Work Sets you Free" is found on the entrances to the work camps and aids the (now) visitors in understanding that they were work camps and not prisons.

Contrary to the initial purpose of concentration camps, Hohenschönhausen was meant to be used as a prison and psychological torture chamber. It will be interesting to compare and contrast the features of the two. I look forward to using those comparisons to learn much more about the concentration camps and the prison, how they were ran, and what effect they had on the German culture. 

I'm excited to see the variety of places we have planned to visit, meet all of you lovely people and enjoy some great food in between!

Word Count: 653