In February half-term a group of A level History students visited Berlin with their teachers, Alastair Barnett and Andy Latcham.
We enjoyed a fascinating and action-packed two days of intensive visits and sight-seeing. Crisp winter sunshine and snow added to the atmosphere as we explored Berlin's 20th century history.
Starting with a stroll past the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall (now a gallery of high-quality political and satirical graffiti), we went on to visit Check Point Charlie Museum, with its exhibits of heroic escape attempts over and under the wall. The human reality of the era was brought home to us by our guide, who had actually been born in a post-war Soviet prison camp in East Germany and had experienced the entire history of the rise and fall of the wall first-hand.
After lunching in Potsdamer Platz – the symbol of modern, capitalist Berlin under reconstruction – we passed the site of Hitler's bunker and visited the Holocaust memorial and were very moved by the powerful stories of individual lives and families affected by the tragedy. On a more uplifting note, we were able to visit the Reichstag, representing a revived and successfully functioning democracy, where a visit to its Dome provided rooftop views of the city and some impressive modern architecture designed by Norman Foster.
The second day involved some sombre but moving and thought-provoking visits: first to Sachsenhausen Concentration camp, just outside Berlin, and then to the headquarters of the Stasi – the East German secret police, which were even more numerous and intrusive than the more notorious Gestapo of the Nazi era. Both provided fascinating but sobering insights into the harsh realities of two totalitarian regimes – which still live in the memories and experiences of many German citizens today.
All in all, a very instructive visit which students and staff alike found really worthwhile. We are already working to plan our next A level-related excursion – hopefully to the USA in 2011!
Words and photos by Alastair Barnett, Head of History
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