Berlin Trip 2020

The start of Long Leave marked the beginning of the GCSE and A Level, History and Politics trip to Berlin. Meeting on the Park at the early hour of 2.30am, students were glad to catch up on some shut eye en-route, ready for a jam-packed itinerary after touch down in Germany.

From Alexanderplatz, with its prominent landmark, the Berliner Fernsehturm or TV Tower, to the Olympic Stadium, which was home to the 1936 games, on Saturday morning the group explored the city in the glorious winter sun. Students later took the opportunity to consider pertinent questions outside the Reichstag building, as well as honour the members of parliament who fell victim to National Socialist persecution.

The group also made sure to stop at Brandenburg Gate, a backdrop to political changes in Germany; but were most moved by the vast field of nameless tombstones at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, where they reflected and paid respect to countless victims. Sharing their experience of Berlin with their teachers and peers in the first Collect after Long Leave, Year 10 student Adi remarked, “as a group we were all heavily impacted by it.”

Well rested, on the second day of their trip students visited the Bavarian Quarter and, in the afternoon, attended a tour of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The educational, yet harrowing visit covered the establishment of the camp system, conditions, punishments and the use of slave labour, the Kapo system, Station Z and a discussion around medical ethics. Students later enjoyed walking the length of the East Side Gallery, admiring the artwork which largely comments on political changes in Germany, in the late 20th century.

On their penultimate day, students considered the purpose of the Treptow Park Soviet Memorial, followed by visits to the Wannasee Conference House, site of the Potsdam Conference, Glienicke Bridge otherwise known as the ‘Bridge of Spies’ and Berlin Cathedral. To finish the day there was some friendly competition over a few games of bowling, at Schillerpark.

After checking out of their hotel the group made their way to the Stasi Prison, based within the real former HQ of the German Secret Police. Students learnt numerous facts from an informative East German tour guide who showed them secret listening devices and spoke about the network of agents and informers. At the Checkpoint Charlie Museum students received an overview of the history of the divided city from 1945 until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, followed by visits to the Berlin Documentation Centre and the interactive DDR Museum, showing life in former East Germany.

Adi summarised her experience in Berlin, stating “I loved the entire trip, getting to spend time with all my friends and even making new friends with people from other years. I think I was affected the most by the concentration camp as it was difficult to see and learn about, and really showed the truth of what happened during Nazi Germany.”