midnight snacks, head colds, and a righteous gentile

Berlin Flat. As we finish up our week in Germany's capital, I realize I have been remiss in providing any information about our flat. It is in the Sony Center, a set of 10+ story buildings around a central courtyard-atrium, with a fountain and seating for several local chain restaurants, and a Starbucks. The location is good, between Potsdamer Platz and Tiergarten. The view from inside our flat into the atrium allows for some people watching as we enjoy breakfast. Owen reports that there were a number of people eating dinner at 1 in the morning.

Mitternachtssnack. As for why he was up at that time, Owen was enjoying his Midnight Snack (TM), a nightly event, not always occurring precisely at midnight, where Owen finds his way to a refrigerator and gathers foodstuffs sufficient to keep him from starving to death overnight. At home, the snack usually consists of a variety of apple products. Last night, Owen ingested a large chocolate bear we got him two days ago. Of course, the only way we know what he ate is because he left the empty packaging in the refrigerator. He has a lot to learn about the destruction of evidence.

Schnupfen. I have been suffering from some type of head cold during our stay in Berlin. The title of this section, schnupfen, is the German word for head cold. I note the onomatopoeic quality of the word, but most German words sound like you are coughing up a lung such that I can't quite credit them on this one. In any event, as I am starting to feel better and the weather was cool on Saturday, I took the opportunity to get in a Tiergarten run. I got slightly lost and ended up going a bit longer than I had planned, but made it back in one piece, and did get to see this lonely figure sitting on a bench.

Otto Weidt. With most of the big ticket items on our list down, Keri said she wanted to go back to the Otto Weidt Museum, a small building in a Hackesher alleyway that we had walked by with Gabe. Weidt was a paperhanger, like his father. In his 50's, as he was losing his eyesight, Weidt started a broom and brush workshop that he moved to the Mitte district. With the Wehrmacht as one of his customers, Weidt was able to get classified in 1940 as integral to the war operations. Using that status, Weidt hired as employees and actively worked to hide as many as 30 blind and deaf Jews between 1940 and 1943. He found apartments and other safe houses for his employees, and hid some himself, including in his shop. Eventually, the Nazi's found and arrested nearly all of those people, as Weidt continued his efforts to help those he could track down at various concentration camps.

Weidt's facility now serves as museum, commemorating his courageous acts. The museum is only five or so rooms, and has some original items -- including some of the sewing machines used in the manufacturing process, letters to and from his employees -- as well as photographs and vignettes about those he saved, and those he tried to save. In 1971, Yad Vashem posthumously recognized Weidt as a righteous gentile. Lovely area and nice little museum.

Hackesher Hof. We had lunch at the Hackesher Hof. a restaurant that can trace it's roots back more than 100 years. After falling into disrepair and neglect through the war and East German years, the restaurant has been restored to its original art deco look. It's front faces a busy street and its back opens onto one of the artsy, tiled alleys in the Hackescher. The food was hit and miss. Keri and I both found the eggs to be a good choice. Owen did not, saying he never thought he would say this, but the eggs I make for him were better than the ones he got here. Lauren had no such complaints about her nutella crepe and ice milk drink.

German History Museum. As suggested in the last post, we ended up back in the history museum. This time, I was able to get from 1848 to 1919 in about 90 minutes. Knowing there were two kids waiting after 1994, I hurried through most of the 20th Century, catching their mother around 1945, as we cruised together through those heady DDR years. I will not bore you further with any of my thoughts on historical events over this time, but do want to share one photo, that of a massive globe that is reported to have belonged to Hitler, which was found by Soviet soldiers, one of whom literally shot Germany off the map. Hard to blame him, given the viciousness which with the war in the east was fought.

Final Thoughts on Berlin. We have had a great visit in Berlin. As I wrote a couple entries ago, no European city has been as important as this one in the 20th century. 30 years after the fall of the wall, Berlin is still a city in transition, and it seems to be headed in the right direction. It is for sure worth a visit. That said, I don't think a return here is in the offing for us, in part because there are so many other cities we want to see, in part because, despite Berlin's progress, there is still, for me, some degree of discomfort here, walking the streets in the place where the planning and oversight of the Holocaust took place. I suspect this is largely a reflection of my age, and my personal connection to people who directly experienced Nazi persecution. With every generation, as that personal connection falls away, the unease will, too. And that is probably a good thing, as long as future generations fulfill Owen's aspirations of taking to heart the lessons of our past.