We spent the day doing just that, and we found two museums to go to as well, the Jewish museum and the Currywurst museum!
The Jewish museum was actually not at all what we were expecting, there were the usual facts and horrific stories about the persecution of the Jewish people during and before the war, but the majority of the museum was large-scale, simple art, designed to make you think about the space left behind by the Jewish people killed. It was absolutely amazing, and really made me think. This was my favorite exhibit, it was a giant chamber with a dark corner, and the floor was covered in 10,000 metal faces. It was encouraged that we walk on the art, which made loud, eerie clanging noises even when you tried to walk super quietly.
After that, we both were pretty done with the depressing history museum vibe, so we headed to check out checkpoint Charlie, which was much too touristy and honestly rather bland.
However, a block away was a Currywurst museum, with a sample included in the price of the ticket. So now I know more about Currywurst than I ever will need to, and I can say with confidence that if you want to eat a Currywurst you might as well save your money and put ketchup & curry powder on a hot dog.
After this, we went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which was another very large-scale but simple art piece. It took up an entire city block, and consisted of 2,711 blocks of concrete of varying sizes. From the outside, it looks pretty cool, but once you actually walk into it, the ground slopes down and you can’t see out of the blocks. It was very thought-provoking.
Overall, it was a great first day in Berlin, and I’m excited for the first day of class tomorrow!
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