Berlin - The Presence of Absence

So far Berlin might be my favorite city in Europe. Paul and I decided to go there on a whim when our bike ride from Munich to Prague was canceled the week before we were supposed to go (that's another story . . . ). In Europe you can just jump on an airplane for the weekend easily and cheaply. And so we did. We arrived on a Friday afternoon and stayed at the Hotel Am Steinplatz in the Steinplatz neighborhood of formerly West Berlin. The hotel is decorated with a 1920s theme, There are videos playing in the hallway and lobby that were shot in 1920s Berlin in the neighborhood that we stayed in. Our room had a photo of a 1920s Berlin flapper on the wall. Germany had fought in WWI which ended in 1917, but the videos of the city at that time didn't show any effects of the war.

 We walked around the neighborhood and found nice shops and many outdoor restaurants. The neighborhood had a vibrant feel to it and the restaurant our first night was at a tapas bar called Mar Y Sol. The food was tasty and uniquely prepared. In a funny way, we felt like we were home. Berlin is a green city, the vibe was alternative and edgy, and there were bikes and street musicians everywhere. Except for the language difference, it almost felt like we were in Austin, Texas.

And then we noticed 4 inch by 4 inch brass nameplates
in the sidewalks in front of many houses and at the corner of many streets. These plates had the names of the Jewish person that lived in that house prior to being murdered by the Nazis during WWII. There is a concept called the Presence of Absence, introduced by Micha Ullman when Berlin started to be restored. What used to be there, isn't any longer. The people that used to live there had their lives cut short by evil. And the absence - what was lost by war - is noticeably present in the way the city was rebuilt. One monument had the shelves of a library with no books on them. Hitler had a book burning in 1933 in one of the central areas of town that was known for being an academic area. 40,000 people participated and they burned a total of 25,000 books identified by Hitler as being anti-German. Scars of Nazi Germany still exist throughout the city.

The next morning we jumped on the train and got off in the Alexanderplatz - in former East Berlin where we met a group from Fat Tire Bike Tours to tour Berlin. We met under a TV tower that was built by communist Russia who occupied East Berlin, to show off their advanced technology to West Germany. Communist East Germany had to have it's own broadcasting system to restrict the programming that it allowed it's citizens and to show West Germany that it didn't have a monopoly on new technolgoy. We could see in the sunlight that the shape of the ball at the top allowed for a reflection cross to be portrayed onto the ball of the tower. The West Berliners called this the Pope's Revenge. We were fitted with our bikes quickly and we were off.

Fat Tire Bike Tours is based in Austin, Texas and has a shop also in London, Barcelona, and Paris. Neal, our guide was very knowledgeable about the history of the city and was easily able to answer all of our questions on the 3-hour tour. We knew we would be very interested to see how the city has been restored after WWII, both in East and West Berlin and to see the differences between the two parts. We knew the city had been rebuilt after the Russians bombed and pretty much destroyed the entire city at the end the war.

On our ride, it was intriguing to me to see how they rebuilt the city to make it look old. The stone for many building restorations was burnt before it was cemented in place to give it a centuries old look. There were several churches restored after the war, but they were used as museums, not churches in Communist Berlin. Several buildings still had the evidence of artillery fire from the war - 70 years earlier. We saw the area where Hitler's bunker was located. Hitler committed suicide May1, 1945 and he had asked that his body be burned so that it wouldn't be hung in effigy as Mussolini's had been in Italy. There is a dirt parking lot where his burnt body was found. The bunker was later  destroyed and was so thick that it had to be bombed out of the ground.

We visited 2 of the 3 remaining stretches of the Berlin Wall. Like many Americans, I've always just taken freedom for granted.  In Berlin, the concept of freedom,  and how precious it is, permeated just about every block we traveled.  

There is an imprint of where the entire wall used to surround the city embedded in the streets as we rode along. The remaining sections of wall are almost entirely covered with graffiti, some of it very nice artwork. When Reagan said the famous words "Mr. Gorbechev, Tear down this wall", it was not taken down by government officials or a wrecking crew. It was taken down by the people in the streets who were reclaiming their freedom. My husband Paul thought the graffiti on the wall was a bit disrespectful of something historic, but I saw it an expression of freedom by the people that tore it down. A person affected by Communism, who was walled off from freedom, has the right and privilege to be creative on the very wall that restricted him for 28 years. In riding through Tiergarten, a large park and garden in the center of the city, many men were sunbathing in the nude in the open field. This might be another edgy expression of being free. 

We saw Checkpoint Charlie and the site of a museum that stands where the offices of the Stasi (SS) used to be. It's called the Wall of Terror, and is a memorial explanation of what the Nazi SS did in Warsaw, Poland. It's staggering the evil and destruction of so many lives that were caused by the Nazis. He oversaw the killing of 11 million people, 6 million of those were from Poland. This museum let the horrors be known and felt that were the result of the evil of Hitler's empire.

We rode by the Jewish Memorial. From the outside, it gives the impression of undecorated grave markers. To go into the memorial gives a very different experience. The floor of the park is created in rolling waves, and the stones are very tall. To walk along the rows, you get the feeling of not having sure footing and it's a bit disconcerting to not know what is around the corner as you turn. I felt it was a beautiful way to memorialize the Jewish people that were murdered.  Hitler also killed homosexuals, Roma Gypsies, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses, priests, and ministers of all denominations and the disabled. There are several more memorials throughout the city. I have been in many parts of Germany, but I was deeply impressed in Berlin to see the honor, solemn respect, and apology that is given the victims of the war. In the rest of Germany, it is hardly spoken about.

To visit Berlin is to have hope.

The practice of rebuilding, forgiveness, and healing gives Berlin a very unique soul to be enjoyed when visiting. Healing those wounds in history is the central story in all of Europe. Berliners are acknowledging the evil of the past, but are also letting hope, not the hurt, shape it's future.

Visiting the Ardennes looking for more WWII History

My Dad was in the infantry in WWII, serving in the Africa and Sicily campaign under General George Patton, then in Normandy and finally in Germany, where he was located in the Hurtgen and Ardennes forest during the Battle of the Bulge. Last summer with my sister, we retraced his steps in Normandy and Germany and I have blogged about our experience there. Next summer we are going to find the spot near Mt. Etna in Sicily where he was injured the first of three times during the war. In recreating my Dad's steps in WWII over the last 15 years, I have become extremely interested in learning about the war, and what his experience may have been like when he served, as well as the experience of other soldiers and civilians. (Several blog posts previously posted about my Dad serving in WWII:  WWII blog posts about retracing my Dad's steps in WWII )

When my friends Kate and Lee from Austin came to visit, we took a weekend to visit Luxembourg and Bastogne, Belgium to see the area when the majority of the Battle of the Bulge was fought in the Ardennes forest and also to visit the American Cemetery in Luxembourg where Patton is buried.

We started in Luxembourg City. We had previously booked a bicycle ride in the Moselle Wine region to visit some

wineries. This was cancelled right before our trip, so we ventured in to Luxembourg City to see what we might find there. What a treat it was! Luxembourg was started in the early Middle Ages because it was at the crossroads of two Roman roads. A huge castle was built and over the years, it became an important fortification in early Europe. It has been occupied by the Burgundians, the Spanish, the French, the Spanish again, the Austrians, the French again, and then the Prussians. Germany invaded and headquartered here during WWII and finally after the war,  it was restored as it's own nation. There are tunnels, walls, gardens, an old abbey,  viaducts, and a Catholic church dating back to the 12th century. The topography drops over 230 feet (or 70m) and it is very picturesque. 

Walking through the area, it is a bit like a 3D maze because of the topography of the area. It is possible to look out across the city to see where you want to go, but have no idea how to get there. We climbed and descended the landscape to uncover all the treasures in the city. The best part of the day was finding the elevator and the biggest surprise was hearing the screeching air raid sirens to commemorate the 100 years since the start of WWI in Luxembourg. The noise was ear-splitting and it is always a bit scary to hear air raid sirens. We later enjoyed a typical Luxembourg dinner (passed on getting the pig knuckles) and local brew. A couple of bachelor parties found us and whatever the tradition is, we were given a carrot by the future groom. I am not sure I want to know what that might signify.

The next day we started early to visit the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, the second largest WWII cemetery in Europe. It is also where Patton was buried after his early death due to a car accident in Luxembourg shortly after the war. In paying respects to the soldiers of the war, I noticed a couple of brothers that were buried near each other, many graves of unknown soldiers, and a ceremony where a family had come to place flowers on the grave of a loved-one. Patton was originally buried among his soldiers, with the tradition that in death officers were buried alongside their troops. However, Patton's body was moved to a special area in the cemetery after nearby graves were trampled because of the traffic due to visiting Patton's grave site. I believe my Dad had seen Patton when Patton was his commander in Africa and Sicily after reading some After Action Reports of my Dad's unit in Africa and Sicily, though I don't know for sure. Patton spent much time in front of his troops to get them ready for battle.

After a short visit, we set off for Bastogne, Belgium to visit the Bastogne War Museum and Mardasson Memorial. It has been recently reopened in March of this year after extensively renovations. It focuses exclusively on the Bulge campaign and the story is told from the viewpoint of 4 characters: an American soldier, a German soldier, a female schoolteacher who was a member of the Belgian resistance, and a Belgian school boy who grew up during the war. It was only at the end of the museum tour that we realized that these characters were not made up - they were true stories about the lives of these four people during the war. I had been a little confused about the Belgian experience of WWII and this museum perfectly explained how Belgium was affected by the war and how they participated though defeated early by the Germans. I saw at the end what I believe to be the gun that my Dad started the war with - a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) machine gun which is a two-person assembly (one for the gun and the another for the stand and water cooling apparatus that is required). The Mardasson Memorial nearby talked specifically about my Dad's unit during the Battle of the Bulge.

We left the Museum to find some original foxholes and to also see the area that was featured in the documentary "The Band of Brothers". My Dad told the story of getting in trouble and reprimanded by an officer because either the manner he dug his foxholes or jumping in the foxhole that was dug for an officer.  While crossing the Meuse River at Hastiere, Belgium, all of my Dad's unit was lost (except my Dad who was in the hospital after he was hit the second time in the war). My Dad arrived in Monschau, Germany after his second hospitalization and integrated new soldiers and officers into his unit. From what we've read of the battle, we believe he was the only veteran soldier left in his unit. Dad must have been devastated to know that his Army buddies of three years were gone. He also must have been affected to know that he would be away from home for his third Christmas.

We don't have the details about the story around the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge, but we have surmised that his officer apparently tried to tell him how to dig a foxhole. My Dad had actual war experience that the officer did not. My Dad dug the foxhole as directed, but also dug another foxhole to HIS specifications. When the air strafing started by the German Luftwaffe, my father jumped in the foxhole that he dug that he thought would better protect himself during the fighting. He faced discipline from his officers for not using the specified foxhole, but he survived the attack by using the one he dug the way he thought it should be done. Also, at one point, my Dad told me that he had a profound belief in God because every time he was hit in WWII, he knew that morning while rising from his foxhole that day, he would be hit that day. It was important for me to see a battle field and some actual foxholes.

As Patton said, "Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory." Living in Europe gives me the opportunity to try to understand the war that took the lives of many and that changed the lives of all.

Belgian Beer Tour - A Pilgrammage to Westvleteren and Saint Sixtus Abbey

It is a small world. We are fortunate enough to actually know people in Europe before we moved here. Our son-in-law is from Belgium and his parents live only 2 hours away from us in Holland.  We love our son-in-law for many reasons, but the added bonus when he joined our family was getting to know his parents, who we consider to be our very good friends.

We really enjoy being with Vera and Joos. Even though we speak different mother tongues, we have similarities that surpass all cultural barriers.  We both value our families very much, we understand the importance of serving God and others, and we are adventure seekers. Our last adventure was to explore a Belgian Trappist brewery and additionally a non-Trappist brewery by bicycle tour.

In 1997, eight Trappist abbeys—six from Belgium (Orval, Chimay, Westvleteren, Rochefort, Westmalle and Achel), one from the Netherlands (Koningshoeven) and one from Germany (Mariawald) – founded the International Trappist Association (ITA) to prevent non-Trappist commercial companies from abusing the Trappist name. They have guidelines to be able called a Trappist beer. Only beer brewed in a Trappist monastery under the supervision and responsibility of the monks may be called a 'Trappist beer'. The monastic community must be involved in the brewing, the choices of ingredients to include in the brew such as hops, barley malt and yeast and the water used to brew it, as well the marketing of the beer. The beer is sold only for financial support of the monastery and for other benevolent causes. Usually then, a limited quantity of beer is made - enough only to support the monastery and the monks within it.

We rode our bicycles with Joos and Vera to visit the Westvleteren brewery. It was founded in 1838 inside the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren, not far from the hops-producing town of Poperinge,  and the medieval city of Ieper where Joos and Vera live. We arrived at the abbey in time to join a prayer service with the monks and a few locals who were present.  We walked through the halls of the monastery, through the garden to the chapel. Prayers commenced when a monk rang the bells in the entry way. They interrupt the beer making to have prayer services four times a day. It was a very special experience to be able to observe and participate in the prayers of the monks. They were praying the Psalms and I guess I have picked up enough Dutch - as well as know enough of the Psalms - to be able to follow and sing most of the prayers during that 20 minute service. On our way out of the abbey, we quietly passed the guest rooms that are available for people who would like to make a silent retreat in the monastery.

The brewery currently employs three secular workers for various manual labor tasks, however the primary brewing

is done by the monks only. It is the only Trappist brewery where the monks still do all of the brewing. Of the 26 Cistercians who reside at the abbey, five monks run the brewery, with an additional five who assist during bottling. All of this is to support their prayer life and the buildings they live in.

We walked over to the tasting room to buy lunch and beer - a bruin Westvleteren 12 for me with 10.2 percent alcohol. It is known to be the best beer in the world by a percentage of beer aficionados and judges. It's by far the best beer I've ever tasted. Only a little bit of extra beer is sold outside of the tasting room in small quantities weekly from the doors of the monastery itself, to individual buyers with reservation only. Thanks for our hosts, we were able to come away with six bottles of the world's best beer, which we are securely guarding in an undisclosed location until we can consume it.

After lunch, we then pedaled to another little village in nearby Watou (across the street from the French border) to  St. Bernardus brewery. In 1946, the St. Bernardus brewery was granted a license to brew beer under the St Sixtus name. However, this agreement ended in 1992 and then St. Bernardus re-opened as a non-Trappist brewery. They still brew beers of similar style to Westvleteren, but now under their own name and without the Trappist seal. We miscalculated the time involved to travel from the Abbey to our second brewery, so we rode quickly on our bikes to be able to take in a tour of the brewery at our appointed time. Our tour guide was our son-in-law's Latin teacher from high school. Our guide was gracious to offer the tour in English as well as Dutch so that we could understand the brewing process. We tasted the St. Bernardus beers and also got a souvenir drinking glass with the sampling of beers to take with us. The saddle bags on the bikes were filled to the brim with very good beer - our reward for cycling for over 60km for the day.

Next Up: Aachel is very close to where we live and we have ridden our bikes to the Sint Benedictus Abdij - De Achelse Kluis where the Achel beer is brewed. We are not able to actually visit the abbey there, but the brewery shop is open for tasting. It is a good atmosphere to relax and enjoy a good beer as well as help the monks financially support their monastery, They do have a window to allow viewing of the some of the process. We watched the cleanup one day at the end of brewing.

We have also ridden along the canals to Tilburg in the Netherlands, but missed a visit to the Koningshoeven Abdij, where Trappist monks brew La Trappe beer, the Netherlands only Trappist beer. We will return there to taste the La Trappe beer made by the Trappist monks.