Raising Flowers and Skids

Today we decided to step a bit out of Berlin and see a few areas.

We first headed to the concentration camp Sachenhausen. We had been to Dachau outside of Munich with Gabe on his trip a couple of years ago, and it had been a moving experience, so we decided to take the kids to Sachenhausen.

We rented a car and headed off. We had a few problems along the way as we ran into some police baracades. The police officer politely told us we had to go around the center of the town as there was a bomb they were dealing with.

He said it in the calmest, most non-chalant way. We figured it likely must be one of the bombs that we had heard about that are all over Berlin and neighboring cities from WWII that remain undiscovered (Rob came home and did some research and sure enough, the area has quite a history with WWII bombs).

We got a little lost, but enjoyed the scenery:

Just like when we were at Dachau, we took very few pictures, and just listened to the audio guide and read some of the history in my guidebook. Words can not really describe these camps, so I won’t try.

We went back into the small town of Oranienburg, where we had a lovely lunch at an Italian restaurant

We continued down my quest for family history and headed towards some neighborhoods mentioned in Granny’s book.

Over the past couple of days, I have also referred to my Grandmother’s book for information about my Grandfather, Papa or more formally, Wolfgang Friedrich Paul Büsing (he went by Paul).

He was born in Berlin, and there are several sections dedicated to his life in Berlin, especially the time in the early to mid 30’s.

He met my Grandmother while he was studying at University in Tübingen. He began his studies in Bonn, beginning with German literature, and then as he says, “lightning struck” and theology became his passion.

He decided to go to Tübingen in the summer of 1932 and in his words again, “it proved to be the most fateful decision I have ever made in my life”, as it was there that he met and rapidly fell in love with my grandmother (they were engaged in under 6 weeks). Marriage would not come easily to them, as my grandmother was half Jewish (her mother’s parents were both Jewish).

In Papa’s memoires, he writes that in the summer of 1933, he was at Greifswald where he was part of the “confessional theological students’ group”. He tells the story of putting up a poster on the faculty’s notice board protesting the threatened election and having a leader of the Nazi student appear at his door step a few days later demanding the withdrawal of the poster. He writes to my Grandmother (Erika) (who was in Hamburg studying at the time) a postcard that he had , “single handedly thrown a storm trooper down the stairs from my landlady’s apartment.” She was not amused; she was worried.

In the winter of 1933/34 and the following winter, he was back at the University of Berlin. It was there, during a little address he was making that a door on the far end of the room opened and in came Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Papa writes, “I am quite sure that I was not aware to what extent his coming into my life would change it, and to what extent I would be indebted to him from then on.” Later, Papa took full part in the often underground activities of the Confessional Church at the office of Martin Niemöller.

Granny writes how she was in Berlin from October 1935 until March 1936: “That was when we had all these sessions in Niemöller’s house, and since one was forbidden to do anything, we had only Bible studies and there were crowds of people. We were a whole group of young people in Berlin…. There was a great feeling in Berlin with this group that you were fighting together. I never felt that way in Hamburg. Yes, the months I spent in Berlin were in a way very exciting. As I said, we spent some time over at the famous Niemöller’s house, putting cushions on the telephones for fear of being bugged and so on. We were close to Niemöller, who was a very prominent pastor. He had been a U-boat commander, and now was taking a strong stand against the Nazis. There was a lot of enthusiasm and camaraderie. We were quite involved as young people in fighting this horrible system.”

Niemöller was eventually sent to Sachenhausen and Dachau for his opposition to the Nazis’ state control of the churches from 1937-1945, and fortunately he survived both.

We saw a plaque on the wall in a cell in Sachenhausen where he was assigned.

After lunch, we drove to the Dahlem area, where the Bonhoeffer family lived, and where the Niemöller house was. Apparently my Grandfather was ordained at Niemöller’s chuch there too. I wasn’t able to find that (I didn’t have enough info), but we went to Niemöller’s house which was turned into a “Peace Center” in 1982 (unfortunately, it was closed).

We continued on to an area called “Friedenau” where Granny writes about Papa’s family: “One member of his family built much of the suburb of Friedenau in Berlin, and it was there that Max Büsing lived and worked.”

A very cute area, and we were quickly able to find “Büsingstrasse” where Zach was particularly pleased that he is the first of the next generation of Büsing blood to come to this street.

We made our way back to city center, returned our rental car and headed back to the hotel.

We made our way to have dinner on the waterfront.

It was a fascinating day, one that I will always remember. There is something about immersing yourself in little bits of family history, and seeing where YOU come from. Who YOUR people were (are?). It gives you a sense of belonging and pride of being part of a larger family and knowing who your ancestors are.

I think part of travelling is to see history with your own eyes. To feel that history is more than just words on a page, or scenes in a movie. It is the story of people’s lives. Real people. Real lives. Struggles. Challenges. Joys. Love. Travelling helps you broaden your perspectives and gain a deeper understanding for diversity. It is to help you appreciate what people have lived through in order to give you the world that you have now.

Our visit to Germany has been incredible. It has been intense, it has been overwhelming, and it has been moving. It is a place I want to come back to and spend even more time. Again, I’m glad that I have had the chance to share this with Rob, Zach and Zandra.

We decided to take the train from Hamburg to Berlin. I love European train stations and wanted to get to enjoy taking a high speed train.

We all sort of missed out on a lot of the scenery unfortunately, as we were all catching up on our writing, work (Rob) and sleep:)

I had a bit of a panic moment when I saw a stop for Berlin and we needed to get off the train (it was going on to Munich). Alas, it was not the right stop as we were going to Berlin Central station. Everyone had a good laugh about my panic and it has become the biggest joke that makes us burst out laughing as they imitate me. Luckily, no one filmed it:)) I won’t get into it, but let’s just say that everyone on the train thought I was some crazy Canadian (although likely American) woman!

We arrived and took a cab to our hotel – the NH Berlin, which was super nice! They weren’t ready for us to check in, so we didn’t waste any time and just headed out for the day.

Coming to Berlin, we knew there was a TON to see. Just like Paris, we decided we would take a “sampler” approach. A little bit here, a little bit there. So we squeezed in a lot at surface level, with the intention that one day if anyone wants to return, they know what to return to (and if we never return – we have had a nice taster sample!)

We strolled along looking for somewhere to eat and came across the Berlin Cathedral, which we decided to explore and climb the tower. Gorgeous views of Berlin. A nice introduction.

We found the super cool aquarium in the Radisson Blu, but could only see it from the lobby.

We stopped for lunch and had our first currywurst and it was “yummy” (using that word all trip now after the waitress at our restaurant in Hamburg made fun of me for using it!).

We then stopped for some ice cream while waiting for our tour to start:

We then met up for a 4 hour walking tour of Berlin. We thought it would be great to have someone show us around and give us some history. It was really great, and we got to see a lot in 4 hours. Some highlights:

Now if only I can remember what everything is:

Museum Island:

:

Neue Wache : Sculpture of Mother with her Dead Son

Bebelplatz : Memorial to the nazi book burning May 10, 1933. Heinrich Heine’s famous quote from 1821: “That was only a prelude; where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people” (translated)

Unter den Linden Blvd:

Brandenburg Gate:

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe:

Bundesfinanzministerium: one of the few buildings that survived the war:

Remnants of the Berlin wall outside of Topography of Terror:

Checkpoint Charlie:

Konzerhaus in Gendarmenmarkt

French and German churches in Gendarmenmarkt:

After the tour, we were exhausted to found our way to an outdoor patio for some more sausages and schnitzel. We would have all returned to the hotel gladly, but had our reservations for the Reichstag dome (you need to book it at whatever times they have available).

We went for our tour just as the light was changing, so it was pretty awesome.

We finally stumbled home, checked in and the crashed with exhaustion (in our really nice and roomy room! This is the kids’ area:)

What a day. I’m exhausted just writing about it! What an amazing city!

Rise and shine! Isn’t getting up at 4:30 in the morning what you want to do on vacation? It seems many of our vacations include that!

We were up early, as we had to catch an early flight to Hamburg, Germany, where my Grandmother was born. I was really excited to go, so getting up wasn’t so bad; Zach and Zandra are pretty non-complainy kids (except when Zach complains that we all walk to slow for him), so all was well.

We landed in Hamburg, and were greeted by my grandmother’s cousin’s son. So what does that make him to me? Not really sure (I will find out, but I’m too tired to think!) but, family!

He took us to his home where his wife had prepared a beautiful, traditional German brunch – much like I remember having at Granny and Papa’s: meats, cheese, different breads, fruit, hard boiled eggs and pastry. I had been reminiscing in the morning with Zach (he tolerated my walk down memory lane) and telling him how I always sat with Papa, and he would always give me a faint nod when he knew I was done eating (for whatever reason – but I was often a picky eater) and then wiggle his ears to make me laugh. He always let me have dessert (because your stomach has a separate compartment for it…)

Anyhow, Thomas’s son and grandson (a cutie) also joined us, along with his sister, Sabina. We had a lovely visit, before heading out to the Ohlsdorf cemetery where the Wohlwill and some Warburg family plots were. I was sad to hear that the plot of Momi (my great grandmother Helene Danckwardt, as well as Granny’s sister Anneliese Danckwardt no longer had a stone, nbut apparently are still buried there (??) I was especially sad as I know that Granny had so carefully preserved her history for us, and I had spent years talking to my kids about that history. I was excited (I know, it sounds strange) to see the graves of Momi and Anneliese.

Anneliese had passed away in the summer of 1935. Granny writes, “Anneliese had been working in various positions in the childcare field. Before she died she was in a holiday home for children in Bavaria. That is where she became ill with strep throat, and it got out of control….there was a cremation and she was buried in Hamburg, in the Wohlwill family plot in Ohlsdorf Cemetery “

I am prone to strep throat, and I remember falling very ill with it in the winter of 2007. So ill, that I had to pull over on the side of a highway and call for an ambulance. But of course, in this day and age, it is easily treated. I remember my Grandmother calling me; she always called me when she heard I had strep throat, but this time was particularly concerned that I was not taking care of myself (I was a single mom with my two young boys). Zach is also a strep magnet, so Granny was always concerned. My kids know very well the story of Anneliese, and we have all talked about how a simple illness, one that we have had so often in our house, could take such a young life.

Momi, is a name that was often heard in my house growing up and I have talked frequently about the stories I heard about her. My mother was very close to her, and what little German she speaks, she learned from Momi.

So not to see the stones for Momi and Anneliese was sad for me:( But, “Do not stand at the grave and weep, I am not there, I do not sleep…” They are there in spirit…

The cemetery itself is simply beautiful, so I was happy to have a chance to see the grounds and feel that peaceful feeling, and still see some family plots.

These guys were troopers:

We got one picture as a group:

Following the cemetery walk, we headed to Hamburg’s Miniatur Wunderland, which was super cool:

Everything is miniature -countries from around the world. It goes dark every 15 minutes.  There is an airport and everything!

We then walked the port:

Thomas also drove us around the port for a bit, then took us to see “Wohlwill Strasse” (Wohlwill was my great grandmothers surname):

By then ,we were completely exhausted! We headed in for a nap and Zach wanted to watch the soccer game too.

We squeezed in an awesome traditional dinner at “Old Commercial Room”, where we tried the famous Labskaus, and then we had some mains: schnitzel for me, fish for Zach and Rob, and curry for Zandra.

It was so delicious! We laughed so hard at the portion size of my plate and Zach’s!

We raced back to the hotel so Zach could watch more soccer and the rest of us just chilled! What a great day!