HUMANITIES
BERLIN HISTORY TRIP 12th - 14th February 2018 During the February half term, the Matravers History department, with 27 pupils, visited Germany’s capital, Berlin. After a very early start Monday morning we arrived in Berlin and began our days of sightseeing with a walk along East Side Gallery. The trip had a focus on the Nazi rule of Germany and Germany through the Cold War years. The East Side Gallery is the longest strip of the Berlin Wall left and has been transformed into an open-air gallery, displaying the murals of artists from all around the world. We used Berlin’s underground, overground, tram and bus systems to get around the city, which was wonderfully navigated by Miss Black and the next part of our day consisted of a stop at Checkpoint Charlie. This was followed by a walking tour around a chilly Berlin where our tour guide David explained to us what life was like under the Nazis and later the Soviets in East Berlin. During our tour we stopped by the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe and the Brandenburg Gate, finishing the tour at the Reichstag, home of the German government. We were able to walk to the top of the dome in the centre of the building where we witnessed the beautiful Berlin skyline at sunset.
After some much-needed sleep we started our second day travelling 30km outside Berlin to the House of the Wannsee Conference where Nazi officials decided on the so called ‘Final Solution’ to the Jewish Problem. The house has been turned into a museum which told the story of Nazi Germany leading up to the conference. For the second half of the day we went back to the centre of Berlin to the Topography of Terror which is situated on the site of the old Gestapo headquarters. Inside explained the persecution of groups under the Nazi regime and how they created such terror. We rounded off our second day with something a little more light-hearted, souvenir shopping in Alexanderplaz and a crepe stop (after all it was pancake day)!
On the last day of the trip we spent the morning finding our way to Sachsenhausen memorial and museum, a former Nazi concentration camp which was later used by the Soviets until 1950 as a camp to hold
those thought to be connected to the Nazis. Although it was a labour rather than an extermination camp, around 35,000 lost their lives and many were sent to Auschwitz. Our last stop was Hochenschonhausen Stasi Prison where political prisoners and those caught trying to leave East Berlin were detained and interrogated. We were taught how the Soviets went to extreme measures of psychological manipulation of the prisoners as well as making sure that those working in the prison were staying loyal. The Berlin trip gave us a clear insight into the fears and terror of living in Germany under the Nazis and then the Soviets in East Berlin, which was demonstrated to us within our short stay.
By Anna Clay, Year 13
www.matravers.wilts.sch.uk
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