Visit to a Gestapo Prison

We've been to some pretty museums -- l'Orangerie in Paris, the Academy in Florence, the British Museum in London. This was not one of them. Instead, it was ugly and sad, but necessary. 

 At the El-De Haus in Cologne, the above prison cell would hold up to 30 prisoners at a time. Only intended for two or three at a time, their holdings swelled as the Nazi's power and reign grew. On the walls of the cell, you can still see the etchings of prisoners -- messages cataloging who was there and the atrocities committed against them.

The El-De Haus in Cologne is a former gestapo prison that's been converted into a museum to document both what had gone on in that actual building and the actual progression of Nazism in the city of Cologne.

While the two floors in the basement are preserved as the prison, the floors above ground have been converted into space that tells the story of how Nazi Socialism took hold in this area of the Rhineland.


After World War II, this house was used for other civic purposes -- but mainly as an office for pensioners to come and collect their checks. 

This is the El-De Haus. Strangely inconspicuous.

Can you imagine if you had been imprisoned and tortured here, and then years later had to come collect your pension check in the exact same spot? This allegedly happened.

It was not until the 80's that the truth of what went on in this building was revealed and and opened to the public.

Now it houses important pieces of history, such as the above propaganda put forth during World War II.


 Below is one photograph that caught my attention:

 The sign atop of the destroyed bakery quotes Hitler as stating, "Give me five years and you will not recognize Germany again."

Sadly, I'm sure so many saw this as very true.

And We're Back!

MBA and I are back from the Rhineland. We had a great visit to Cologne and Bonn. The Germans in that area are strikingly friendly.  It was so refreshing for people to look me in the eye on the street and return a smile. I loved it! And so many people would just start speaking to us in German. I then had to spit out something that sounds like this: "schpeeken English?" Not only did most people do a great job of responding in English, but they were also a jovial lot and joked around with us. So fun! 

Once my camera cord is returned (it went missing somewhere in Washington Heights, Manhattan), pictures will be posted. In the meantime, here's a brief run down of our visit:

Night 1
Arrive in Cologne
See Dom Cathedral at Night -- brilliant!
Dinner at XII Apostles -- total European ambiance & delish food

Day 1
Tour Dom Cathedral - largest gothic cathedral in central Europe and most visited tourist attraction in Germany
Visit the former Gestapo Prison and Nazi Socialism Museum -- stark, sobering, but very interesting
Stop by bakerie for yummy treats
Wonder Old Town
Dinner of pork, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes at Peter's Brauhaus

Day 2
Catch train to Bonn
Walking tour of beautiful Bonn (see birthplace of Beethoven, University of Bonn, and many other 18th century buildings)
Return to Cologne & wander through the Dom a bit more
Stop for Currywurst -- "God's gift to man" according to the shop owner
Wander Old Town a bit more
Catch flight back to Edinburgh!

Passport Please!

Our bags are packed, and we're headed off to Germany for a weekend away for my birthday. Yesterday was so fun and included: breakfast in bed (french toast), a car hire for running around town, dumplings for lunch at a Polish restaurant, shopping and a coffee date with my husband, dinner out at The Saint, and a stop by Peckhams to pick up dessert for my birthday. Will return Monday with adventures to share!

Munich

After we visited the small Alpine villages in south Bavaria, we headed into Munich for the remainder of the weekend. The city has well-connected public transport and their subway system was easy to navigate.

The heart of Munich

MBA and Scott at Weisses Brauhas

I actually really liked German food! We didn't have one bad meal. Impressive! Here are the establishments we checked out for meals in Munich:

Weisses Brauhaus

Hofbrauhaus

Augustiner Brauhaus
(this one is a bit more out of the center of tourist stuff but the food was incredible! Think dumpling and meat in a mushroom cream sauce. Yum!)

I know Scott's eating a salad in the above picture, but for the most part -- forget about eating green vegetables while in Bavaria. It's just likely not going to happen.

People were also pretty friendly. At Weisses, the lady sitting next to us was in town from Cologne for Church Day. She was ready to chat, but our German wasn't up to par and her English was a bit difficult to decipher. She recommended we visit the new Synagogue in Munich the next morning, but at first we thought she was recommending a church for us to visit. At least we all tried!

Saturday night in Munich

City Hall

The Jewish Museum and Synagogue

The exterior of the museum was covered in English and German quotations. The selection of transcripts they picked was quite odd. I expected their to be an element of remorse and sorrow ... or perhaps information about the gravity and severity of the Holocaust. I imagine its still difficult waters to wade though for Munich.

The Synagogue

Any of my friends that read Hebrew care to translate? Start from the right and go left. 

City Hall

Probably similar to Kilt Shops, but these storefronts were everywhere!

My favorite Munich door.

Ludwig's Residenz

While cold and not very populated, biergartens were everywhere.

 Gardens at the Residenz

 Although I already mentioned these guys to you, one more picture couldn't hurt anything. This escapade really perked up our visit to Munich.

Strangely, this is one of the things to see while in Munich. It's a massive alien. Hmmm....

The Isar River - it originates in the Alps

Parliament Building

A square that hosted quite a bit of Nazi activity

Overall, Munich was enjoyable but it's not a place I'm in a rush to go back to. There was nothing overwhelmingly alluring about the city. Instead, I'd want to get out into the countryside and explore more of the small Alpine towns and then head into Austria. Now that sounds like a plan!

What I'm Reading

Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt

The Bavarian Alps Part 1

Recently, MBA and I have had a dear friend visiting. This dear friend also wanted to do a bit of traveling outside the UK. Since he happens to speak German, we thought: what better place to go for a weekend away than Bavaria?!?!?

Last Friday we flew into Memmingen, Germany and hit the ground running!

Our first stop was Ottobeuren to see a basilica:

Interior of the Basilica

Late Baroque Altar

And the creepy part of the basilica. There were six of these! Weird huh?

This is a picture of the Ottobueren's city center. We picked up a pretzel here!

This was the kind of view we had as we drove through Bavaria. Gorgeous!

It was a bit cloudy that weekend, so we never saw the tops of the Alps. It was MBA's first time to the Alps, so that kind of stunk for him. However, it was still beautiful!!!

That first evening we stayed in a small Alpine village called Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Now that's a mouthful!

It was a charming little village nestled in between two very large mountains. That evening I was introduced to Swabian Noodles, also referred to as Spatzle. If you're ever headed to Bavaria, make sure to take a taste of these noodles. They were delicious!

After a hearty breakfast the next morning, we headed out to explore the area. Our first stop was Ettal:

The Ettal Abbey

Isn't this beautiful?

The interior was stunning. No picture will replicate anything close to its splendor.

 During the winter of 1940-1941, Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived at this monastery. Like Bonhoeffer, many of those at the Ettal community were involved in the conspiracy to kill Hitler. It's also alleged that Bonhoeffer wrote Ethics while at this monastery.

Next, I had the guys drive me through Oberamaggau. Only 4 kilometers from Ettal, this small town is world-known for its production of the Passion Play put on every ten years since 1635 (more or less!). We just so happened to drive through this little town on the opening day of its months-long season of the Passion Play.

Next, we headed off to see Ludwig II of Bavaria's extravagant castles. This was his vacation home. 

The Herrenchiemsee:

The style of the building was to mimic Versaille.

Ludwig supposedly never received guests at this home. It was only him and his servants at this castle.

 Our friend Scott

Grounds of Ludwig's Vacation Home

 We then headed off for Schloss Neuschwanstein.

 We drove along this gorge on our way and just had to get out and take a look. 

Enjoying the view!

The Neuschwanstein Castle

Then, we were headed up that mountain! The officials at the castle said it would take 40 minutes to walk up it, and the guys decided we should see if we could beat the time. 20 minutes later and soaked in sweat, we proved to the officials that their time could be beaten.

From the parking lot, we also saw this castle.

Here's a close-up. As it was really foggy and started raining pretty hard, I unfortunately don't have many pictures of the castle that don't include my hand in them (an attempt to keep the water off the lens!).

Fun fact about this castle: it was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle.