Frauenkirche, Dresden
During the rebuilding process of the Saxon city of Dresden, these darker stones were salvaged from the rubble of the original church (destroyed during WWII) and relocated in exactly their original positions.
Category: Blog
Introducing Rosa Luxemburg
This month, let’s discuss Rosa Luxemburg, whose life was cut short by right-wing troops in early 1919. Born in 1871 into a Polish Jewish family, Luxemburg grew up to become a Marxist theorist, peace activist and revolutionary socialist who would go from the SPD (Social Democratic Party) to KPD (Communist Party of Germany). Alongside her Read more about Introducing Rosa Luxemburg[…]
Soviet War Memorial
A detail of the incredible Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park.
Book Recommendation: A Time to Dance, a Time to Die
A break from Nazis and Stasi for this month, to recommend you a book which I devoured in two sittings during my recent trip to Belgrade: John Waller’s ‘A Time to Dance, a Time to Die: The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518‘. During the stiflingly hot summer of that year in Strasbourg Read more about Book Recommendation: A Time to Dance, a Time to Die[…]
Rathaus Schöneberg
I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful area of Berlin! Rathaus Schöneberg is just beautiful.
Introducing Gail Halvorsen
Since this month heralds the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Berlin Airlift (more on that below), the hero has to be Colonel Gail Halvorsen of the US Army Air Forces. On approach to Tempelhof Airport, Halvorsen’s signal of dipped wings was the alert for young Berliners to watch out for handmade parachutes stuffed Read more about Introducing Gail Halvorsen[…]
Haus des Rundfunks
A few months ago, I had a fascinating wander through the Haus des Rundfunks, the world’s oldest broadcasting unit, active since 1929!
Book Recommendation: East West Street
Several of you recommended this title to me in the last few months, so I am especially pleased to suggest our book of the month for June as Philippe Sand’s ‘East West Street’ (2017). A mixture of family memoir with a compelling legal history, the book examines the intertwining destinies of the Jewish lawyers (particularly Hersch Lauterpacht and Read more about Book Recommendation: East West Street[…]
German Resistance Memorial Centre
A detail of a statue at the German Resistance Memorial Centre, formerly the site of the Bendlerblock in Berlin.
Introducing Otto and Else Weidt
Otto Weidt (born on May 2nd, 1883) and his wife Else operated a factory employing blind and deaf craftspeople, many of whom were Jewish, in the Hackescher quarter of central Berlin. As a young man, Otto Weidt’s eyesight declined, though he would serve as a medical orderly during WWI. After becoming blind, he established his broom-making Read more about Introducing Otto and Else Weidt[…]