Day 7 Leipzig to Wittenberg to Berlin

Has it really been a week? It is hard to believe the trip is already 1/7 completed. Yet, it feels like we have seen far too much to have been squeezed into seven days. The boys are really opening up to German culture in a way that only travel can bring. They are speaking German phrases to bus drivers, museum docents, and restaurant waitstaff. They have been noticing signs and advertisements and connecting new words to previously learned words and even to English. Their hyperalertness and Germany's more liberal culture of nudity and sex has led to some interesting conversations. Today we explained to Nicky what products DildoKing sold.

Our morning began in Leipzig. We checked out of our AirBnB apartment. It was located in a low rise, communist era apartment building. It gave us a sense of life during the DDR. Two days was long enough to sense we were happy for unification.
Here is a picture of the building that housed our apartment and then also a picture of typical East German buildings nearby.

We checked our luggage at the train station and headed into town to see one more museum. Like most museums in Germany, it is closed on Mondays, so this morning was our chance to see it. Signs outside the museum warned that, "History can lead to insights and cause awareness."

Perhaps a motto in the making for BBA social studies department? The museum focused on the differences in lifestyle between East and West Germany. It was interesting to see canisters and their contents from the Berlin Airlift. Film from August 13, 1961 when the barbwire border, that would eventually become the wall, first went up was especially compelling. Seeing people race for the border within minutes of realizing what was happening strained our empathy. I don't think we can ever truly understand what it meant to make such a final decision with so little preparation. Equally gripping were the people saying goodbye to loved ones, seeking one last embrace as the barbwire divider was raised.

I was particularly intrigued by the display of ballots which the citizens of Karl-Marx Stadt used to return their city name to Chemnitz. Naming is a peculiar form of cultural ownership.

The film of August 9, 1989 of people dancing, seemingly carefree, along the wall was equally emotional. Though most of the former Ossi's (East Germans) we spoke with, now remember the time of the DDR as mildly uncomfortable, that doesn't match up with the level of risk undertaken to bring about the Peaceful Revolution. It certainly doesn't explain the sheer joy of those early border crossers. Perhaps it is best explained by the disappointments of unification. The socialists were not responsible for all of the pain that life brings. Nor were they so bad as to prevent people from experiencing life's great joys.

We finished up at the museum and barely made our train. It was one of those great dashes through town and onto the train platform that makes travel exhilarating. We stepped out of the train in Wittenberg, eager to see the sights of Lutherstadt. 2017 will be the 500 year anniversary of Luther's birthday. The city is cloaked in scaffolding as it gears up for the celebration. Unfortunately for those arriving early, there is not much to see. We were able to visit St. Mary's Church, the church of the common people where Luther did most of his preaching and praying. The most interesting part was the baptismal font with a drain pipe exiting through the bottom so the water which washed away the Original Sin could proceed directly to Hell.

In these pictures, you can see the steeples of St. Mary's church behind the buildings in Marktplatz, the freshly painted pews of the church (part of the renovations in preparation for the 2017 celebration) and the baptismal font.

We made the trip to the other end of town for the more Schlosskirche where Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door. This church was closed to us much like it was closed to the common people during Luther's days. They at least got to visit it on special feast days, which Luther took advantage of by nailing his theses up on the prior evening. We unfortunately were kept away by chain link fencing. I did manage a picture of the door - which is just as well since it turns out to be a replica as the door and most of the church had been destroyed in one of the wars between Catholics and protestants.

I wonder what Luther would have thought of the millions of Euro being collected in his name from those who make pilgrimages to this holy site, where they purchase souvenirs adorned with his image. If the Catholics had controlled this coffer they would have never needed to sell indulgences in the first place.

Back on the train for another hour and we reached Berlin. The journey went smoothly, with the boys managing their own luggage, reading signs, and anticipating train transfers. We arrived safely at the site of our next AirBnB apartment in the highly sought after Prenzlauerberg district in the former East Berlin. The apartment is magnificent and is managed by a couple who manages several places throughout the city. Unlike our hosts in Leipzig, these people have anticipated our needs and the apartment is fully stocked with utensils, spices, tourist information, etc. The district was largely missed during the bombing of Berlin and maintains much of its centuries old charm. We are eager to begin exploring Berlin and appreciative of this luxurious space to return to each night.