Alone in Berlin

Blog 2


Alone in Berlin


It’s amazing to me just how much one city can undergo in only a century. Within 100 years Germany (specifically East Berlin) has seen a monarchy, democracy, dictatorship, and communism. That’s quite a lot of history, and Germany bares reminisces of all of them. While exploring Berlin, I stumbled upon a statue of Karl Marx. It struck me as odd, seeing this figure head in the middle of an intersection in the sprawling greater Alexanderplatz area. Just north of the Strausbergerplatz U outlet, this statue isn’t hard to miss yet it represents a vital part of East Berlin’s history.
This figure head was located next to a large round-a-bout, in a small park. After jotting down some information about the statue, I sat on the grass and read. It was a peaceful and beautiful oasis in a large city. I love these little spots where one can almost escape the bustling of a city. But, as talked about in previous blogs, Germany’s history is nearly never out of sight. I picked this statue just for that reason; the monuments and museums around Berlin create a kind of quilt of all different historical periods in Germany’s history, with communism seeming the most unusual to me.
Born in Trier in the year 1818, Marx was a revolutionary communist. It’s fascinating to think that there could be a Karl Marx statue in a country once under the Nazi choke hold, where communists were among the very first groups of people persecuted. No doubt, this is evidence of East Berlin’s occupation by the communist Soviet Republic. Just imagine, what would Hitler possibly think of the successor of his prized Aryan homeland being a communist state?
Another aspect of being alone in Berlin is how it felt to be alone. I wouldn’t say I’m paranoid, but I don’t like to be alone somewhere that I’m not totally familiar with. Not knowing much, if any, German makes me a little unsure about my own abilities to navigate this city. The first time I went to do my alone in Berlin, I cheated. I brought someone along because I didn’t feel safe. When we got back, I realized that I missed out on feeling independent and using my own wits. So I gave it another chance, this time on my own. I went to Alexanderplatz and walked around, just looking for something unusual. Before I knew it, I was far away from where I started, staring at this statue.
I am very glad that I did this project correctly, because now I feel so much more confident and assured that I can take care of myself. I don’t spend a lot of time in cities and it feels nice to be able to rely on myself for a change and not to look for others to help me.