Walled In Berlin

Life is what we make it

December 15th, 2016

So goes the saying, but according to Tehyi Hsieh

“Life is partly what we make it and partly what is made by the friends whom we choose.”

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

Tags: community, friends, life
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Iconic Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

December 12th, 2016

There are many memorials in Berlin that hark back to the city’s long and colorful history. But none touched me more than the protestant Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtniskirche) in the heart of the former West Berlin. Its damaged church tower is a reminder of the destructiveness of war.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin, Germany, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2014. www.walled-in-berlin. com

History of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was originally built between 1891 and 1895. The last German Emperor and King of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm II, named it in honor of his grandfather Kaiser Wilhelm I. The foundation stone was laid on 22 March 1891, Wilhelm I’s birthday. With its 371-foot spire, the church was the tallest building in Berlin at the time. Inside it was decorated with stained glass windows and a large mosaic portraying the history of Prussia up to Emperor Wilhelm.

In 1943, the Neo-Romanesque church was largely destroyed during a bombing attack and the resulting fire. The subsequent air raids of 1945 leveled it almost completely. By the end of World War II, only the heavily damaged west tower of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was left standing. Berliners dubbed it Hohler Zahn (hollow tooth).

Close-up view of the “Hohler Zahn”, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

However, when the West Berlin government wanted to demolish the hollow spire in the 1950s, the public protested. In the end, the tower was left standing in its crippled state while a new church was constructed around it. The first floor of the damaged tower of the old church is now home to a memorial hall.

Reconstruction of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The entire church stood heavily damaged until a new, octagonal church was built alongside the damaged tower between 1957 and 1963. A freestanding hexagonal bell tower was constructed next to the church, on the site of the former main nave of the destroyed church. Egon Eiermann designed the new construction.

The modern church bears little resemblance to its predecessor. Inside the octagonal nave of the new church, an enormous statue of Jesus, suspended above the altar, catches the eye. But the most striking feature of the new church is the intense blue light that pervades throughout the building, created by 21,000 colored blocks of glass. They were blown by hand in a French workshop. The predominant color is blue with small flecks of ruby red, emerald green and yellow.

21,000 blue glass blocks create an introspective atmosphere inside the reconstructed Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, photo © J. Elke Ertle. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Candles in memory of the victims of the 19 December 2016 terrorist attack in the Christmas Market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: Berlin icon, Egon Eiermann, German Emperor and King of Prussia Kaiser Wilhelm II, Hohler Zahn, Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtniskirche, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
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The Shortest Words

December 8th, 2016

The shortest words, like yes and no, require the most thought.

— Pythagoras

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, “Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom,” click “Download a free excerpt” on the home page of http://www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: choice of words, no, yes
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Schloss Charlottenburg – Urban Gem

December 5th, 2016

Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) is one of the few remaining examples of the grand Hohenzollern palaces in the city of Berlin. The Hohenzollern ruled Prussia for nearly four centuries. During a British air raid in 1943, a bomb caused a fire, and the baroque and rococo palace burned to the ground. Demolition of Schloss Charlottenburg was planned, but after the East German government demolished the Berliner Stadtschloss, the city palace of the Hohenzollern in 1950, http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/berliner-stadtschloss-to-humboldt-forum/ West German authorities decided to rebuild Charlottenburg Palace. The project took more than sixty years to complete.

Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) in Berlin, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2014. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Brief History of Schloss Charlottenburg

Construction of Schloss Charlottenburg started in 1695. At that time it was known as Lietzenburg. The palace was built as a summer residence for Sophie Charlotte, wife of the Elector of Brandenburg, Friedrich III. In 1701, after crowning himself Friedrich I, King of Prussia, the palace saw a significant expansion. After Sophie Charlotte’s death, the palace was renamed Schloss Charlottenburg. Architecture did not interest Friedrich’s son, Friedrich Wilhelm I, so that all construction stopped when he ascended the throne in 1713. In 1740 Friedrich II, also known as Friedrich the Great, commissioned an expansion of the New Wing (east wing) to complement the larger west wing.

Don’t miss when visiting Schloss Charlottenburg

At the entrance to the palace, a large equestrian statue of the Friedrich Wilhelm III, the Great Elector of Brandenburg, greets the visitor. The bronze was originally located on the Kurfuerstenbruecke, a bridge near the city palace. But during World War II, the statue was submerged in Tegeler See, a large lake in Berlin. Upon recovery in 1952, it was moved to the entrance of Schloss Charlottenburg. The four chained warriors at the base of the statue symbolize the four temperaments.

Statue of the Great Elector of Brandenburg, Friedrich Wilhelm III, at the entrance to Schloss Charlottenburg, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2014. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Altes Schloss

The central and oldest part of the palace is the domed Altes Schloss (Old Palace). It is topped with a statue of the goddess Fortuna. Among the treasures inside are the apartments of Friedrich I and Queen Sophie Charlotte, the Oak Gallery with family portraits of members of the House of Hohenzollern and the Porcelain Chamber with over two thousand pieces of Chinese porcelain.

Neuer Fluegel (New Wing)

The Neuer Fluegel contains the private living quarters of Friedrich the Great and the apartments of Friedrich Wilhelm II. The two most striking rooms in the New Wing are the Weisser Saal (White Hall), a magnificent dining room, and the Goldene Galerie (Golden Gallery). The latter is a 138 foot-long ballroom decorated with mirrors and gilded rococo ornaments.

Schlossgarten

The extensive park behind Schloss Charlottenburg was created between 1697 and 1701 and designed by Simeon Godeau who also created the gardens of Versailles.

Belvedere

Towards the northern end of the Schlossgarten, near the river Spree, is Belvedere, originally a teahouse. It was built between 1788 and 1790, destroyed during World War II, reconstructed in the late 1950s and now houses a collection of eighteenth-century porcelain produced by Berlin manufacturers.

Belvedere in the gardens of Schloss Charlottenburg, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2016. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Mausoleum

The Mausoleum is on the western side of the Schlossgarten. It is a Doric temple that was built in 1810 as the burial place for Queen Luise. The mausoleum was later expanded to include the sarcophagi of other members of the royal family, including Frederick William II, Emperor William I and Queen Augusta.

Tags: Berliner Stadtschloss, Charlottenburg Palace, Friedrich the Great, Great Elector of Brandenburg, Hohenzollern, Lietzenburg, Prussia, Schloss Charlottenburg, Sophie Charlotte
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To Hear the Truth

December 1st, 2016

Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.

–Friedrich Nietzsche

Tags: illusions, truth
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Ludwig Erhard and the Economic Miracle

November 28th, 2016

Ludwig Erhard was a West German statesman who is credited with West Germany’s spectacular economic recovery following World War II. The recover is often referred to as the “German economic miracle” http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/west-german-economic-miracle-secret. Erhard advocated a social market economy, combining open market competition with a strong central bank and a social safety net to protect the disadvantaged. He opposed planned economies with price controls and high taxes.

Early Life of Ludwig Erhard

Ludwig Erhard came from modest circumstances. He attended school only to the junior secondary level, entered an apprenticeship program at age 16 and was drafted to serve in World War I. He was seriously wounded in 1918. Following the war, Ludwig Erhard attended college in Nuernberg and studied marketing, management, political economy and sociology at the University of Frankfurt/Main. After obtaining a doctorate, he became a consumer market researcher at the Institute of Restaurant Economics.

Ludwig Erhard becomes known as an economic expert

While the first German democracy collapsed in the aftermath of World War I and the Nazis established themselves, Ludwig Erhard maintained a low profile. But he also wrote a memo in 1944 on war financing and debt consolidation. That memo began with the assumption that Germany would lose the war. The document found its way to the Western Allies who saw in him a man who could help rebuild a democratic Germany. Erhard’s lack of compromising political ties and his reputation as an economic expert got him appointed as the Director of the Economic Council for the joint Anglo-American occupation zone.

At the same moment that the Allies introduced a new German currency, Ludwig Erhard abolished price controls. These were the darkest days of the postwar economic crisis. This decision became the foundation of Germany’s economic rebirth. The Black Market disappeared, shortages ended, and inflation halted.

Ludwig Erhard, “Father of the Economic Miracle”

Ludwig Erhard leads West Germany

When West Germany was established, Ludwig Erhard became Minister of Economics. The “Father of the Economic Miracle” held this post for 14 years and guided the West German economy through a recovery that outpaced the growth of the European countries that had won the war.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/minitext/prof_ludwigerhard.html In 1963, Ludwig Erhard became chancellor. He resigned in 1966 and died in Bonn, West Germany, in 1977.

Tags: Father of the Economic Miracle, Ludwig Erhard, social market economy
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The Importance of the Newspaper

November 24th, 2016

If you don’t read the newspaper, you are uninformed.

If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.

— Mark Twain

The newspaper - yes or no? www.walled-in-berliln.com

The newspaper – yes or no?
www.walled-in-berlin.com

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on the home page of http://www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: information, misinformation, News
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Recreation of Hitler Bunker

November 21st, 2016

In October 2016, more than 71 years after Adolf Hitler committed suicide, Historiale, an organization which runs the Berlin Story Bunker Museum, recreated part of the Hitler Bunker (Fuehrerbunker) for the public’s benefit. The privately funded museum vows that it will not allow the exhibit to become a neo-Nazi shrine. It says it is merely responding to tourist demand. Tourists are curious where the Hitler Bunker was located and what it looked like inside Historiale claims. But the nearby state-funded Topography of Terror Museum, built on the site of the former Gestapo headquarters, blasts the museum’s bunker recreation as a Disneyland-style approach to Berlin’s past. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/berlin-museum-recreates-bunker-where-hitler-committed-suicide/news-story/a793376164c498bf651362b90bbe6c90

History of the Hitler Bunker

The Hitler bunker was the last air raid shelter used by Adolf Hitler during World War II. It was located beneath the garden of the Chancellery (Reichskanzlei) near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. The bunker consisted of about 30 small rooms that were protected by 13 feet of concrete.

Hitler moved into the Fuehrerbunker in January 1945. By 19 April 1945, the Soviets began to encircle the city. On 20 April, Hitler made his last trip to the surface. As fierce street fighting raged outside, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony inside the bunker. On 30 April, the day following the wedding, he is said to have shot himself while Braun took cyanide.

The Hitler bunker was discovered by Red Army and Allied troops in the spring of 1945. The Soviets leveled both Chancellery buildings between 1945 and 1949, but the underground bunker complex largely survived until 1988–89 when the East German government ripped out the interior and filled the site with rubble.

What does the actual Hitler Bunker site look like today?

To keep the Hitler Bunker site from attracting attention, the government of the reunited Germany built apartment buildings and a parking lot where the emergency exit for the Fuehrerbunker was once located. In 2006, an information board was installed to mark the location of the former Hitler Bunker. The board is located at the corner of In den Ministergaerten and Gertrud-Kolmar-Strasse near Potsdamer Platz.

Site of former Hitler Bunker in 2014, photo © J. Elke Ertle, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Information Board at the formerl Hitler Bunker site in 2014, photo © J. Elke Ertle, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Where is the recreated Hitler Bunker located?

The recreated Hitler Bunker is located in a former underground air raid bunker at the Anhalter Bahnhof, about one mile from the actual bunker site. The permanent exhibit contains a life-sized recreation of Hitler’s underground living and workrooms (although the furniture is not original). There is a picture of Friedrich der Grosse (Frederick the Great) on the wall, a grandfather clock in one corner and an oxygen canister in the other. The bunker is filled with black and white photographs of Hitler and his entourage.

Tags: Adolf Hitler, Berlin Story Bunker Museum, Brandenburg Gate, Chancellery, Eva Braun, Fuehrerbunker, Hitler Bunker, Potsdamer Platz, Topography of Terror Museum
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Three Things are Needed

November 17th, 2016

We need three things when we wake up in the morning: something to do, somewhere to do it and someone to do it with.

–Anonymous

We need three things when we wake up in the morning: Something to do, somewhere to do it and someone to do it with, photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2016, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Tags: abundance, comfort, contentment, enrichment, happiness
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West German Economic Miracle Secret

November 14th, 2016

Less than ten years after World War II, people began talking about a German economic miracle (Wirtschaftswunder). Twenty years after the war, Germany’s economy was envied by much of the world. What was the secret behind this so-called Wirtschaftswunder?

At the end of the war in 1945, 20% of Germany’s buildings were destroyed; in Berlin, the capital, 40% were destroyed. Factories and railroad tracks that had survived the war were dismantled and shipped east and west to pay for war reparations. Power, sewage, transportation systems no longer functioned. Food production per capita in 1947 was only one-third of its 1938 level. Then how did Germany get back on its feet so quickly?

The Marshall Plan and the West German economic miracle

The US-sponsored Marshall Plan (European Recovery Aid) immediately comes to mind. Between 1948 and 1951, the U.S. paid out 12 million dollars in recovery aid. The top two recipients were Great Britain (26%) and France (18%). West Germany was third with a little over 11%. The Soviet Union, its allies and East Germany did not take advantage of the Marshall Plan, which might explain the different rate of post-war growth and reconstruction between East and West Germany. Many economists now say that the Marshall Plan was not the main reason for the West German economic miracle. But if the Marshall Plan was not the driving force, then what was?

The currency reform and the West German economic miracle

Many economists today feel that what looked like a West German economic miracle was really the result of policies that ended inflation, price controls, a high marginal tax rate and ration tickets. These policies promoted a “social market economy”, which unleashed a hefty increase in productivity. Germany’s currency reform of 1948 replaced the highly inflated Reichsmark (RM) with a much smaller number of Deutsche Mark (DM). http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GermanEconomicMiracle.html At the same time, many prices were decontrolled, taxes were cut and ration tickets were completed eliminated. A proponent of the currency reform, West German Finance Minister Ludwig Erhard said, “The only ration ticket the German people will need is the Deutsche Mark. And they will work hard to get these marks.”

Schools behind the free market economy

The school of economic thought, called the Soziale Markwirtschaft (social free market) was based at Germany’s University of Freiburg. Its founder was Walter Eucken. Among its members were Wilhelm Roepke and Ludwig Erhard. (http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/ludwig-erhard-and-the-economic-miracle/) The Freiburg school was similar to the Chicago school based at the University of Chicago with Milton Friedman and George Stigler. Members of both schools believed in free markets, along with some slight degree of progression in the income tax system and government action to limit monopolies.

Tags: currency reform, free market, George Stigler, German Economic Miracle, Ludwig Erhard, Marshall Plan, Milton Friedman, Soziale Marktlwirtschaft, WalterEucken, Wilhelm Roepke, Wirtschaftswunder
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