Gestapo Museum

Yesterday some friends and I went to the Nazism Documentation Center in Köln. It is in EL-DE house, a building that was used by the Gestapo as a Prison, Interrogation and Execution Center.

The upper floors house the usual collection of Photographs, Documents, and assorted Paraphernalia which was interesting but very similar to other Museums. What was most powerful for me was the basement, where the original prison cells still remain.


During the war approx 90% of Cologne was destroyed - The major building left standing was the Kölner Dom, an amazing (even for an Atheist) Gothic Cathedral which was built from 1248, and is one of the largest churches in the world. It was only spared demolition by allied bommers so that they could use it as a landmark for orientiering.


So... where was I...

EL-DE house was somehow spared desctuction and in the years after the war, the cells were used as storage and archive areas until it was turned into a Museum in 1988.

The stone cells are tiny (around 3meters x 2meters), and sometimes held up to 20 people! The walls of most of the cells are still covered with the writing of the people that were held there and a selection were translated on the walls opposite the cells. It was these messages that I found most heart wrenching.

The people writing them had no idea if they would be getting out alive and if they would ever see their families again. Even if the Gestapo didn't execute them, a large number died from diseases from the overcrowding.

There were all sorts of messages, from bewilderment about why they were there, to despair, to rage, to longing for their loved ones or homeland. Some wrote messages so that the world would know what happened there, some expressed regret that they didn't cherish their freedom when they had it, others wrote deeply personal messages that I felt a little intrusive reading - A bit like opening someone elses diary.

That night, I tried to imagine what I would write on my 10cm by 10cm patch of wall if I was in a dark, crowded cell, listening to tortured screams, bombing raids, and the sounds of executions, eating my piece of bread in the morning and wondering whether I would be alive that night.

I could not decide what I would write,

and I wept for the people that had to.

How was the disco?

I'm glad you asked!

Well - I am almost disappointed to confess that the school disco last weekend was a great night. I would much rather regale you with humorous tales of lameness than talk about the 50c beers, the cool music from various parts of the globe and the nice atmosphere. There were even some yummy German snacks - including my favorite... Peanut butter flavored little thingies that are the texture of cheetos! We stayed there till about 2am from what I can remember and then left for a bar that someone recommended. I can assure you that I won't be following his recommendation again! We wandered around the streets looking for the place until some of us got sick of wandering and just went into the next club that we passed - It was OK but I actually prefered the atmosphere at the CDC Disco.

The Disco was organised by Lucas, a 17 yr old who is doing his Zivildienst. In Germany it is compulsary for all males to do 9 months service service in the Military or alternativly, they can elect to do Civil service instead. Most end up working in retirment homes or helping the poor or typical Community service jobs. A few very lucky ones manage to score themselves jobs helping out in places like Language schools. Lucas, who interestingly did an exchange year in Australia a couple of years ago, is in charge of putting together the excursions, sporting events and other extra-curricular activities for us to enjoy when we probably should be studying verb conjugations. It is quite strange in Germany which, from what I have observed, seems obsessed with equality and eliminating discrimination (i guess people can learn from mistakes) that it is only the Men that have to do the service. I have been told that they will be getting rid of the compulsary service and that this will create huge problems for the health/community services industry who have relied for so long on VERY cheap labour.

Pfand and games

I am in love with the word Pfand.

It means security (as in deposit) and, just in case you are wondering, the gender of the word is Neutral.

The Germans are into recycling like nobody I've seen before. My apartment has one bin for plastics/packaging, one for paper and one for regular garbage. I also have a bag for glass bottles which I have to take 30 meters down the road to the communal bins where I separate it into Brown, Green and Clear glass! Next to my glass bottles are my Beer bottles and plastic water and softdrink bottles which get taken back to the shop to get my Pfand back.

When it is written down like that it actually sounds very anally retentive and I bet you are thinking that I have a kitchen full of rubbish bins. I can assure you that only a small portion of the kitchen is devoted to refuse... My bedroom is a different matter!

How many of you in Australia would carry an empty coke bottle in your bag so that you could put recycle it when you got home? My guess is....None. But here, I do it all the time. A bottle of coke costs around 1.20 Euro. But, the Pfand on these bottles is around .15 Euro (which at the moment is about AU$5!). It is a similiar story with Beer bottles and with large coke bottles except with these the pfand is .25 Euro! Brilliant! As far as i'm aware the only paid domestic recycling sytem in Australia is the 5c per aluminium can you get in South Australia which is pretty stingy in comparison.

If you can't be bothered taking the bottles down to the shop that is fine, you can put them in the bin or leave your beer bottles next to the bin and let the homeless or unemployed collect them! Beats begging! I was at a park where maybe 200 people were sitting around drinking and there were 3 guys who each had a section and were loading the beer bottles into shopping trolleys - one guy was onto his 2nd trolley! He could probably make 100Euro doing that, and at the same time, rids the park of beer bottles that the drunk youths certainly wouldn't be taking to the bin!

I also encountered the Pfand system at the Ping Pong place I went to (see previous blog: Dr Pong). I bought a glass of Mineral water was charged a a whopping 3 Euro! The barstaff must have noticed my confused gazing at my change filled hand because they explaned that the drink was 1.50 but there is a 2.50 Pfand! They also gave me a token which I was to return with the Glass when I was finished. This was to stop people stealing the glasses to return them for the cash. Only if you return the glass and the token will you receive your money back. Brilliant. Not only do they stop people stealing glasses (At 2.50 Euro you could buy them plenty cheaper!), but they also reduce the instance of broken glass around the floor!

The other handy thing is if you run out of change for the bus, all you need to do is grab some empty bottles from the kitchen on your way out and take them back to the kiosk on the way!

Germans - Gotta love em!

besser spät als nie!

It has been a while since my last post - Apologies everyone.

I have now been in Köln for about 3 weeks. I am living in a suburb called Nippes - which still makes me giggle on the inside every time I see written somewhere. Its only about a 7 min bike ride or 20ish min walk to the centre of town which is very handy indeed. My apartment is small but nice. I bought all the furnishings and appliances from Abe who was living in this apartment last year, which made moving to Germany soooooo much easier as I didn't have to look for somewhere to live and then buy everything (usually in German apartments you even have to bring your own kitchen - all that is there are the pipes coming out of the wall)

I am nearly at the end of my second week of the second block of classes. I'm studying at the Carl Duisberg Centrum and I'm the only Australian here! I don't think there is even a New Zealander! I am really enjoying the mix of cultures and nationalities. My German is improving quite noticably but I am still struggling with the grammar. I think the Australian education systems choice to not teach grammar during my generation has done me a disservice as I have to learn grammar terms and concepts at the same time as the German application (this results in much frustration)

I got a tour of my new Opera House by my new Boss Herr Rupert Burleigh. The original was destroyed, along with almost everything in Köln except the Cathedral, and the replacement is not what I would describe as beautiful but it does have some charm and is quite interesting inside.

Tomorrow night there is a "Disco" at the language school - I'm having some serious flashbacks to my high school days which is the last time that I have used the word without referring to a genre of music. I am picturing a mirror ball and some cellophane covered fluro lights, perhaps some carrot sticks and french onion dip on a trestle in the corner. I really hope it isn't lame.

I will let you know in a few days!

Strawberries

Strawberries are in season now in Germany and they are really yummy. The best ones I have tasted so far were ones that Abe and I picked ourselves while I was visiting him in Nordhausen on the weekend. Near where he lives is a strawberry field and you can go and pick your own for 2 Euro a kilo.

We hand selected only the reddest juiciest ones and soon had a 2.5 kg box full.

When we got home we cut them up and drizzled some balsamic vinegar and sprinkled some suger over half of them and then put them aside for our dessert. We put the other half in a pot and made some jam.

I thought I would test the macro capabilites of my camera on my favorite Strawberry...

Unfortunatly everything doesn't always go to plan and the following morning while I was supposed to be looking after the simmering Jam I started to watch The curious case of Benjamin Button. I think you can work out the rest - It is still to painful for me to put into words...

I did love the movie though.