Aarron Walter

Every year Berlin throws one of the most amazing all weekend parties on the planet called the Love Parade. On a one mile plus boulevard called Strasse de 17 Juni that runs from the German Parliament building (the Reichstag) past the Column of Victory, 40 semi trucks loaded with a DJ, massive sound systems, and a truck load of costumed partiers roll by slowly shaking a crowd of 2 million with techno beats. DJs are also stationed at various static locations including inside the Column of Victory itself.

The trucks move both directions down the road, and when they pass by one another their blaring beats compete for attention, sandwiching parts of the crowd between them. The sound waves shake your clothes, and kind of tickle. Even with plugs stuffed in my ears, the music was loud and clear.

Throughout the weekend clubs throw huge parties featuring world famous DJs like Paul Van Dyke starting their sets at around 2AM. People party all night, then head to the parade for more techno and dancing the following day without missing a beat (bad pun there).

Get a taste of the fun in these video clips, which in no way do it justice!

As campaigning is going full tilt in the US, so too is the case here in Germany as candidates prepare for upcoming democratic elections. Persuading the populous to vote for you seems to happen in a much different fashion in Germany than it does in the States. In the US, campaign signs only come in red white and/or blue (evidently better if you include all three), with plenty of stars and stripes, and often the obligatory patriotic b.s. statement that convinces all voters that you are a true, red-blooded American. If a picture is shown, the politician often has some very professional, maybe over-produced shot with stiff hair and a perma-grin. The over all impression it leaves is impersonal, distant, slick, and disconnected to the general population.

Here in Berlin I have been surprised to find most of the political posters to be more human, better designed (using design principles more effectively), and seem to inspire more confidence in the candidate. The photos look human, sometimes a bit unattractive, sometimes in more of a snapshot style setting, but always more like regular people. The designs are simple, and lack the dripping patriotism we see in the US, often opting for colors other than the ones seen in the national flag.

US citizens are as jaded about government now as ever before. I don’t anticipate a miraculous, political reconnection with the needs of voters any time soon, but our politicians would be well served to look abroad in order to understand themselves better.

I did a little shopping today at Hackesche H??fe here in Berlin today. Hackesche H??fe is a group of ultra-hip shops in a series of small, interconnecting courtyards featuring the latest fashion and design from up-and-coming designers. You’ll find fashionistas stitching together couture clothing before your eyes as you shop, funky toyshops, house wares, and amazing shoe stores. I am a big fan of cool shoes that are comfortable, and unique. I find a pair maybe once every two years, and wear the hell out of them. Today I visited Trippen, master cobblers. They make all of their shoes by hand, and tan their own elk, buffalo, and deer leather with vegetable oil using an environmentally concious process. The design is simple and elegant, and the fit is like your childhood baseball mitt.

Wednesday afternoon I caught a flight to Krakow, a city I have been curious about for some time. It maintains an old world feel with its castle, Medieval cathedrals, and the remnants of a city wall with a looming turret. About 1 and a half hour bus ride from Krakow through a primarily agricultural countryside peppered with little villages are Auschwitz and Birkenau in the towns of Oswiecim and Brzeziuka. Though thousands of Poles, Russian POWs, Gypsies, and handicapped people were murdered in these two concentration camps, the greatest number of victims were European Jews from as far as Norway. 75% of Jews who arrived in Auschwitz and Berkenau were killed immediately in the gas chambers. I have always felt it important that I visit these places, maybe to pay my respects or to learn so I might do my part to make sure others don’t forget what happened.

The primary camp is Auschwitz, famous for the cynical sign above its primary entrance that reads “Arbeit Macht Frei” or “Work Makes Freedom”. It was first a military camp before World War I for the Polish army, but after the Nazi invasion of Poland was appropriated and converted into a concentration camp. The irony of this place is it is actually quite beautiful, with its two story barracks of brick (originally 1 story, second floor added by Nazis in preperation for more prisoners), and slender trees (added after liberation of the camp). Its history is anything but beautiful. We learned of stories of maniacal medical experiments on inmates, the initial tests of the killing gas Cyclon B, starvation, hangings, humiliation, and torture. Birkenau is the massive, 425 acre camp that we think of when we hear the word Auschwitz. This is where most of the murders took place, where the trains unloaded thousands, sending nearly all Jews directly to the gas chambers and crematoria on either side of the tracks. The killing chambers famously disguised as showers were dynamited in the last days of World War II by the Nazis who wanted to cover their crimes as the Russian army rapidly advanced and ultimately liberated the camps. There were 40 other camps in the area as well that served the “Final Solution“.

People from around the world were visiting the camps, but it seems for different reasons. Some were there to pay respects, others were satisfying curiosity as if gawking at a car wreck. I saw some snapping photos of their grinning, travel mates in front of the entrance gate or the ominous halt signs with their warnings of death as if they were at Disney world posing with Mickey Mouse. For me this was as hurtful to witness as the relics of mass murder as it defiles the memory victims and their suffering. In the remaining crematoria where thousands of lives were erased visitors were talking casually, even chuckling at their unrelated conversations rather than being present to reflect on what happened in the space.

What I take from the experience is not only the imperative to remember, but also to learn from our past. I couldn’t help but consider Darfur, and Bosnia and wonder how the hell mass genocide could happen yet again. The moral of the story is respect and tolerance for all. To some degree it has inspired some pride in my home country of the USA where millions of immigrants melt into one big pot daily and somehow find common ground in disparate cultures. I also feel shame for our failures and equally dark past in slavery, and racism that persists today.

I sign off with a much repeated statement that sticks with me more now than ever.

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

- George Santayana

It is hard to ignore the history of World War II here, a history that is much more layered and multi-sided than we normally consider. My wife Jamie and I have been combing Berlin for Stolpersteine, literally “Stumbling Stone”. Stolpersteine are the work of artist Gunter Demnig who installs small brass stumbling stones throughout Germany telling the story of Jews who were taken by the Nazis and their final destiny (i.e. murdered in Auschwitz, survived, etc.). The project is brilliant as it causes one to pause daily life when a stumbling stone is encountered at the scene of the crime. You stop to consider the people who once lived here, and the fear they must have felt as they were taken from their homes. The scale of the story of the Holocaust down to a size that you can wrap your head around; one person, one family, one story.

I stood atop Hitler’s bunker today. It’s now a small parking lot flanked by high-rise apartment buildings. There is a sign that indicates the significance of the site, but nothing more. A site like this is strange, because it should not be memorialized, but at the same time it cannot be forgotten. It felt wrong to put a living space here. It should really be just nothing, uninhabitable, or perhaps a big hole.

This week Jamie and I are heading to Krakow, Poland. The city is apparently very unchanged from its old world past, and not quite as overrun with tourists and commercial chains as Prague. Friday we will visit Auschwitz and Berkenau to continue our World War II education.

This past week has been filled with amazing experiences, and such little time to record them. On Thursday afternoon I took 15 of my students to the Germany State Library here in Berlin, which has a massive collections of rare books. We had the pleasure of a private talk on the history and evolution of Bible manuscripts from the 9th century to Gutenberg. We were shown a series of books created by monks and professional scribes with meticulous precision, many of which were amazingly illuminated at the beginning of each chapter. Almost all of them were written on parchment, some of them still retained their original bindings, and all of them were clear and well preserved despite their age (550 – 1000 years). We were able to get up very close to these books, and even touched a few, a treat that I will probably never be lucky enough to experience again. The scale of the books changed as more people needed access to them. The first and oldest book presented was huge; maybe 25 pounds with a thick covers and straps to hold it shut. The books got smaller and smaller, finally reaching pocket size around 1300 (it would be a big pocket though). The Bibles were often chained to a lectern to prevent theft, and many of the books had rust stains on the back page from the hardware. It occurred to me that the evolution of these early manuscripts follows a similar pattern as the evolution of computer technology, which started very large and scaled down to allow more people to use it and carry it with them as needed.

The icing on the cake was a parchment printed Gutenberg Bible. There are a number of paper printed Bibles, but just 5 parchment copies in existence, and we got close enough to breath on it! The amazing thing about this Bible is the quality of the printing, despite the fact that Gutenberg had little experience (no one in Europe did, he was the first European printer). He had done some initial printing samples prior to printing his Bibles, but none of them survived to reveal his learning process. The pages are even in color, the ink does not bleed, and the registration does not seem to shift. Gutenberg sold them with no binding, just in folded choirs so the patron could have the book bound to their specifications by another craftsperson. The books were not illuminated via printing, but did leave space for the patron to hire an artist to render illuminations if they could afford it.

We saw so many beautiful books that day, but when our paleographic guide plopped Gutenberg on the table I literally sang. The entire narrative can be listened to here. The presentation was easily the most exciting thing on the trip so far. Gutenberg changed the way we think and communicate. It was such an honor to see the document that made it all happen.

Students on the Berlin study abroad trip are posting their photos on a Flickr photo group. I have one of my own too.

Yesterday morning our group visited Meta Design on the West side of Berlin. Meta is best known for their design of the Adobe Creative Suite identity campaign, all of the Volkswagen design for the past decade, work for Audi, and so many other major brands. They are located in a great building that used to serve as the electrical control station for the entire city many years ago. The space is industrial with modern design, featuring some of the original electrical exchange systems. The presentation was fascinating. There was much talk of how branding works, their design process (quite organized, logical, and brilliant), and case studies. Evidently sound branding is now one of the biggest areas of focus for Meta, and they say smell branding is on the horizon. The idea of branding to more than sight makes a great deal of sense, as we have all experienced the power of smell or sound to bring us back to our past.

After Meta Design I ended up at the Gemaldegalerie (Painting Gallery), which houses an amazing collection. I was going specifically to see Caravaggio’s Love Conquers All, one of my personal favorites, but was surprised by two amazing Vermeers, and an amazing Albrecht Durer show featuring his drawings, printed books, etchings, and paintings.

As I travel from place to place throughout the city, I encounter buildings with shrapnel and bullet holes in facades of buildings. The frightening past of Berlin is still very present.