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Big Boys

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

Big Boys is the title of a story that won “Best of Dime Stories” recognition at a recent San Diego Dime Stories reading – an open mic event at which authors present three-minute prose. Big Boys is a touching Big-Guy-Little-Guy story that closes with a provoking quote. Don Ryan is a painter as well. Visit him at Facebook to view some of his work.

BIG BOYS

by Don Ryan

Little boys know there are bigger boys. And that they are not a bigger boy. They are not as fast. They are not as strong. They must be deferential. Or assertive at their peril. That in time they will become bigger boys does not compensate. Even if they get bigger, the bigger boys will also get bigger and the little boys will just be bigger little boys.

We would meet on a grassless lot, strewn with pebbles and glass. A sand-lot. Our uniforms were our after-school street clothes. The game was football, tackle football. No two-hand touch, no flags to grab. The players were a mix of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders.  Two captains were selected by vote-less affirmation.  They threw fingers, odds or evens, for first choice. The order of selection was usually an accurate reflection of how you could play.  Little guys were picked last. I was a little guy.

Plays were scratched in the dirt of the sandlot.  I never got an assignment to run with the ball, or to go out for a pass. I might be told as an afterthought: You stay in and block. I guess our quarterback got tired of repeating himself, telling me to stay in and block, so he told me to go deep for a pass. Of course the other team ignored me and I was five yards in back of the defenders when I looked around. Our quarterback was scrambling and couldn’t find anyone open to pass to. Except me.

What the hell, better an incomplete pass than a loss behind the line of scrimmage. So he let go with a heave of desperation in my direction.

The ball floated in the air like a Goodyear Blimp with laces. It slowed as it rose to its apogee, then accelerated as it arched down at me below. Never had I seen such a majestic flight, then or since. To my own disbelief, my arms cradled it in. I turned and raced to the goal line.

The defense was incredulous and outraged, stomping their feet, pointing their fingers and yelling at each other, and smacking their heads in disgust. I don’t remember how my team reacted. I do remember that after that when sides were picked, I was chosen sooner. And more passes came my way.

So what? There are more ways of becoming a big boy than having birthdays. Was an event that happened to an eight-year-old, so long ago, important? Someone has said:

Greatness, however brief,

Stays with one 

Forever.

Indeed. Decades later, I am still telling the story.

 

Dime Stories is a Meetup Group that learns or shares something http://www.meetup.com/DimeStories/. They meet on the second Friday of every month at 7:30 p.m. at San Diego Writer’s Ink at NTC at Liberty Station, 2730 Decatur Blvd., Barrack 16, Suite 204, San Diego, CA 92106.

 

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 and current events, people, places and 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.

 

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One of the hardest decisions in life

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

One of the hardest decisions you’ll ever face in life is whether to walk away or to try harder.

–Anonymous

That’s my thought of the day for you. What do you usually do?

 

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. Walled-In is a story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War.

 

 

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Hotel Adlon Part 2

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

To read about the history of Berlin’s Hotel Adlon from the time of the German Empire through World War II, visit http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/hotel-adlon-part-1/. Today’s post will bring the reader to the present-day.

Hotel Adlon during the Cold War

In the division of Berlin, the surviving wing of the Hotel Adlon ended up on the east side of the city. In 1952, the East German government demolished the damaged parts of the building along with all the other structures surrounding Pariser Platz. The one remaining Adlon wing was renovated in 1964 but closed to hotel guests in the 1970s. It remained in use until 1984 by providing housing to East German apprentices who were learning the hotel business. Then it was demolished as well.

Hotel Adlon reopens

The new Adlon reopened on 23 August 1997, seven years after German reunification. This new building occupied the original site plus some adjacent land. However, the new Hotel Adlon is not a replica of the old pre-WWII building. The new Hotel Adlon was constructed with lower ceilings and more floors to allow for additional rooms. Operated as Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin, two new wings have been added since reopening. One new wing opened in 2003 and is known as the Adlon Palais; the other opened in 2004 and is known as the Adlon Residenz. Presently, the Hotel Adlon offers 382 rooms including 78 suites. Its 5-room presidential suite includes top security, a personal butler, and limousine service.

The current Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin

The current Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin

Hedda Adlon’s wish

Hedda Adlon, widow of the last owner of the hotel, wrote her memoir in 1955. It is entitled, “Hotel Adlon” and was published in the German language. It has been republished many times, including in several English language versions. Hedda closed by saying “I want to rebuild the Hotel Adlon, but only when East and West are reunited again and only on the spot where it originally stood und where I spent the happiest time of my life: in the heart of Berlin at Unter den Linden 1.” At that time, no one dreamed that reunification would become a reality soon.

Hedda passed away more than 20 years before the Wall tumbled in 1989. Her wish came true with the exception that the address is now Unter den Linden 77, not Unter den Linden 1. That is because the grand boulevard was originally numbered starting at the Brandenburg Gate. In the East German era, it was renumbered, starting from the other end.

 

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.

 

 

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the three R’s

Monday, January 20th, 2014

Follow the three R’s: Respect for self; respect for others, and responsibility for all your actions.

–Dali Lama

 

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

 

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Hotel Adlon Part 1

Thursday, January 16th, 2014

The palatial Hotel Adlon, located only steps east of the famous Brandenburg Gate in the heart of Berlin, Germany, has a fascinating history. Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) – Second German Television – aired a three-part family saga early last year about the hotel, its owners, and its guests (some fictional characters are also included). The series covers the period between the last German Empire and the Berlin Wall.

Hotel Adlon’s beginnings

In 1905, Lorenz Adlon, a successful wine merchant and coffee shop owner, purchased a prime piece of land in the heart of Berlin. The property was located next to the British Embassy in the Wilhelmstrasse and faced the French and American Embassies on Pariser Platz. Important government offices stood only blocks away. Lorenz Adlon chose this desirable location to build an opulent hotel. It opened on 23 October 1907. Its address was Unter den Linden 1. Hotel Adlon soon became one of Europe’s most renowned establishments.

Hotel Adlon’s famous guests

The Adlon quickly became the social center of Berlin. Inside, its accommodations were the most up-to-date in all of Germany at the time. The hotel offered hot and cold running water and had its own electricity-generating power plant. In the hotel’s early years, many of the rich and famous, including Emperor Willhem II, the Tsar of Russia, the Maharajah of Patiala, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Herbert Hoover, John D. Rockefeller, Enrico Caruso, Marlene Dietrich, Josephine Baker, Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo frequented it.

Hotel Adlon, 1927(Bundesarchiv photo)

Hotel Adlon, 1926
(Bundesarchiv photo)

Hotel Adlon during World War II

But when Hitler came to power in 1933, the Adlon gradually lost its international clientele. It continued to operate throughout World War II, having added a bomb shelter and a brick wall to protect its guest from flying debris. During the final days of the Battle for Berlin, parts of the hotel were converted to a field hospital. However, on the night of 2 May 1945, after all fighting had ceased already, a fire engulfed the Hotel Adlon. Intoxicated Russian soldiers had started the fire in the hotel’s wine cellar. The inferno destroyed most of the building. Only one wing survived.

Also read about the post World War II history of the Hotel Adlon at http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/hotel-adlon-part-2/

 

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.

 

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One in a million

Monday, January 13th, 2014

Food for thought:

Everyone tells us to be one in a million… What they don’t tell us is that being one in a million also means being one against a million.

–Saahil Prem

 

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. Walled-In is a story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War.

 

 

 

 

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Berlin’s Museum Island

Thursday, January 9th, 2014

 

Berlin’s Museum Island – Museumsinsel – is one of the city’s most visited attractions. Smack in the center of the German capital, it is located in the northern half of an island in the Spree River. In fact, Museum Island occupies the site of Berlin’s former sister city, Coelln. In 1307 Berlin and Coelln merged into a single town and retained only the name of the former. Today, Museum Island forms a complex of five internationally known museums. During World War II, close to 70% of the museum buildings were destroyed. Following the war, the Allies removed some of the collections. The remainder was split between East and West Berlin. Restoration and modernization of the five museums began following German reunification. In 1999, Museum Island was designed a UNESCO National Heritage site.

Pergamon Altar at the Pergamon Museum on Berlin's Museum Island

Pergamon Altar at the Pergamon Museum on Berlin’s Museum Island

Together the five museums on Berlin’s Museum Island cover 6,000 years of culture and history. Artifacts stretch from civilizations of the Ancient Egyptians and the Ancient Middle East to Greek and Roman Antiquity. On exhibit is also Christian and Islamic art of the Middle Ages and European art of the 19th century. The museums house the following treasures:

— Altes Museum (Old Museum) – Greek and Roman art objects on the first floor. Exhibitions held on the second floor.

— Neues Museum (New Museum) – archaeological objects and Egyptian and Etruscan sculptures. They include the bust of Queen Nefertiti.

— Alte Nationalgallerie (Old National Gallery) – 19th century paintings. Upon completion of the restoration program, it is anticipated that the gallery’s painting collection will be moved to the Bode Museum.

— Bode Museum – sculpture collections and late Antique and Byzantine art.

— Pergamon Museum – ancient architecture. It houses a collection of Greek and Babylonian antiquities, including the 6th century BC Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the 2nd century BC Pergamon Altar, and the 2nd century AD Roman Market Gate of Miletus.

 

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.

 

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Mind versus Heart

Monday, January 6th, 2014

Mind versus heart – intellect versus emotion. Powerful players in the human struggle. Sometimes these two forces collaborate. Sometimes they compete. We’d like to think that we have full control over the outcome of these battles when, in fact, we are often quite oblivious to the influences that wrestle within us. The nature of the conflict and of the bias of the individual determine the winner.

One of my favorite quotes–author unknown–goes like this:

“The Mind replays what the heart can’t delete.”

Only a better understanding of the power of these forces leads to control over them. Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom shows us an example of the mind versus heart struggle. Which one, do you think, wins in this memoir?

 

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. Walled-In is a story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War.

 

 

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Germanys Unite through Treuhandanstalt

Tuesday, December 31st, 2013

How did the two Germanys unite economically after the fall of the Wall? Through a Treuhandanstalt. West Germany was built on a free market system. East Germany was based on a state planned economy. In order for the two Germanys to reunite after the collapse of East Germany in 1989, a common system had to be created.

Creation of a Treuhandanstalt

In mid-1990, East Germany’s legislature created a trust agency, called Treuhandanstalt, which was to become the legal owner of all state-owned property of the former East Germany. On 3 October 1990, the date of the formal German Unification, this holding company was put in charge of privatizing and restructuring around 14,000 state-owned companies, agricultural lands and forests, public housing, property of the former Ministry for State Security (Stasi), and holdings of the former National People’s Army.

Problems facing the Treuhandanstalt

Most of the factories in East Germany had never been modernized so that their productivity was on par with that of developing countries. Following unification, East Germany products simply were no longer in demand. Only high tech enterprises, such as Jenoptik in Jena, Opel in Eisenach, the steelworks EKO, and the Baltic shipyards were considered profitable enough to be restructured. (www.kalenderblatt.de)

Treuhandanstalt is criticized

The operations of the Treuhandanstalt quickly drew criticism. The agency was accused of unnecessarily closing profitable businesses, misusing or wasting funds, and unnecessarily laying off workers (approximately two-and-a-half million employees in state-owned enterprises were laid off in the early 1990s). Affected workforces protested. Supporters of Treuhandanstalt operations argued that not placing these former state-owned enterprises into private hands would cause the loss of even more jobs and slow down economic recovery.

Treuhandanstalt is disbanded

In the end, the trust agency left debts amounting to 137 billion Euros. On this day in history, on 31 December 1994 the Treuhandanstalt was disbanded.

 

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.

 

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Silent Night – a favorite since 1818

Tuesday, December 24th, 2013

The Christmas carol, Silent Night, has been a favorite since 1818. Originally written and sung in German (Stille Nacht – Heilige Nacht), the popular hymn has been translated into nearly 140 languages. It is now heard all over the world and was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO In 2011.

First Introduced

Silent Night was first sung at the St. Nicholas parish in the small Austrian village of Oberndorf near Salzburg. At that time, Oberndorf was a poor community along the Salzach River. Their young parish priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had written the lyrics to Stille Nacht two years earlier in nearby Mariapfarr where he had worked as an assistant. Then, on Christmas Eve in 1818, just hours before the Christmas mass, Father Mohr found himself in a pickle. His plans for the evening service lay in shambles. In the aftermath of a flooding of the Salzach, the church organ no longer worked. Distraught, Father Mohr grabbed his old poem and set off to find Franz Xaver Gruber, the church organist. He prayed fervently that Gruber would be able to create a melody and guitar accompaniment for his poem in time for Christmas mass. Indeed, the organist is said to have composed the melody within a few short hours, and Stille Nacht was sung that night. Gruber had composed a lively tune in 6/8 time. http://www.kalenderblatt.de

Then Forgotten

Thereafter, Silent Night was forgotten. Six years later, an organ builder found the score again and took it home. But it wasn’t until 1831, that Stille Nacht quickly gained in popularity. After it was sung in Leipzig, Germany, the German Kaiser, Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, had the hymn sung in his castle every year and instructed the royal court orchestra to include it in its repertoire.

Silent Night during the Christmas truce of 1914

In 1859, the Episcopalian bishop, John Freeman Young, published the English translation, although today, we sing only three of the original six verses. Silent Night was sung simultaneously in French, English and German by the troops during the Christmas truce of 1914 during World War I. It was the only carol that soldiers on both sides of the front line knew.

Silent night, Holy night! – Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!

All is calm, all is bright – Alles schlaeft, einsam wacht

Round yon virgin, mother and child – Nur das traute hochheilige Paar

Holy infant so tender and mild – Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar

Sleep in heavenly peace – Schlaf in seliger Ruh!

Sleep in heavenly peace – Schlaf in seliger Ruh!

 

Silent night, Holy night! – Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!

Shepherds quake at the sight. -Hirten erst kundgemacht

Silent night, Holy night! – Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!

Glories stream from Heaven afar – Durch der Engel halleluja

Heavenly hosts sing hallelujah – Toent es laut von fern und nah

Christ the Savior is born – Christ, der Retter is da!

Christ the Savior is born – Christ, der Retter is da!

 

Silent night, Holy night! – Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!

Son of God, love’s pure light – Gottes Sohn o wie lacht

Radiant beams from thy holy face – Lieb aus deinem goettlichen Mund

With the dawn of redeeming grace – Da uns schlaegt die rettende Stund’

Jesus, Lord at thy birth – Christ in deiner Geburt

Jesus, Lord at thy birth – Christ in deiner Geburt

 

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.

 

 

 

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