Stasi Museum in Dresden

Last week I had the opportunity to tour the Dresden Stasi Museum and receive an English guided tour, this was the main office for this area. The Eastern part of Germany has been through many, many changes, for example, Dresden was horribly bombed during WWII and after that came the separation of East & West Germany, creating the DDR (Deutsche Demokratiksche Republic) and control by the Russians. The Stasi, or secret police was created to keep people in line and discourage any type of rebellion against the government. Since we arrived here I read an interesting book called, Stasiland, and it really sheds some light on what it was like to live here during that time and how difficult it was.

The first part of our tour was the very lower, basement level, this area was mostly part of the Russian controlled cells, the Stasi section came much later. It was dreadfully cold and damp, and was very unpleasant. We were fortunate because we had on warm clothing and were only below for a short time. When individuals were arrested they basically had the clothing on their back and nothing more. If you were arrested in winter maybe you were lucky because you still had on your coat, others were not so fortunate. There were approximately 150 prisoners there at one time and it was a very small area, so it was crowded.

As we went upstairs we learned that the Stasi really prided themselves on messing with people's minds. That was their best method of torture. Lack of sleep was constant and they used this a lot to get people to confess to things they'd never done, the prisoners were only allowed to sleep on their backs with their heads turned to one side and their arms laying on top of the blankets. The wardens would continuously disrupt them all night long if they didn't keep this position. Most likely the most frustrating and horrible part of this situation is that there were so many spy's that NO one could be trusted for fear you would be reported or arrested. So many false accusations were made and people arrested for virtually nothing, they didn't even know what they were supposed to confess to.

Family members, neighbors & co-workers could all be spies, it is difficult to think that anyone living here during that time could have had any joy, or trust. One story was about a small group of women that would get together and discuss politics over tea. The Stasi found out that one of the women suffered from depression, so they would sneak into her house and move stuff around, take things for days and return them later, switch things out of her mail, hide things, all done to make her think she was totally losing her mind, which she wasn't, they just really messed her up-incidentally, she quit the group and didn't feel up to talking politics anymore. That is exactly what they wanted.

These photos show the Solitary Confinement Room, people were left in there for days, totally in the dark with just one small stool. Also shown, is the horrible showering conditions, the warden would always be there and sometimes after 2 minutes, the warden would cut off the water and the poor prisoner wouldn't be allowed to rinse off the soap. Most cells held 2 people but some had 3, you couldn't even talk to your cellmate because they could potentially be a spy. Also shown, is the Interogation Room, here you would be brought to make your confession, often you would have to wait forever and frequently start to doze off, (which is what they wanted) at that point the warden would say thanks for confessing and your trial be requested. People would be so disoriented and sleep deprived they wouldn't recall what they had had happened. Trials were done in groups and you had the chance to meet with your lawyer the day before, although the lawyer was just there to tell you (already) how long your sentence was going to be. What I find so fascinating is that these things were still going on up until 1990. People would cross the street to the other side so they wouldn't have to walk in front of the building.

Even more interesting is learning about the adjustments that have happened and still need to happen between East & West Germany. Although there is no longer a physical wall many Germans feel like there is still a huge separation between the two sides. Our guide explained that his dream is for the future generations to not know, feel, see or learn of a separation, that Germany is truly one land without any dividers. After reading the Stasiland book and seeing this place first hand, it really makes you stop and think.

Remiss about Munchen, sorry...

It was brought to my attention that I had neglected to write about our adventure to Munchen back in December, so as per request, let me fill you in.



The Taylors are blessed to have amazing friends and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have them come to Germany and provide a chance for us to get together. We learned that the DeBusks were flying over from Pennsylvania and going to be in the Munchen area and we knew that meant nothing but FUN, FUN, FUN. First, a little history, Ron and I met the DeBusks back in the early days of dating in Salt Lake City. We were very lucky to get to stand up for them at their wedding. Since those early days we have shared many interesting events, one being inside of a microburst in the Nevada desert, good laughs, birthdays and yes, even a few somber times. There have been times we have moved and travelled in opposite directions, but somehow we just always pick up right where we left off before. We consider the DeBusk's to be some of our absolute dearest friends.

We had made train reservations and we're scheduled to leave on Friday afternoon and arrive in Munchen around 9 pm in the evening and meet at the hotel. The only one that wasn't "in" on our travel arrangements was Mother Nature. Germany and surrounding areas for about 2 weeks prior were getting slammed with snow storm after snow storm. The day we were to leave it dumped on Dresden again. But, we always say, "the show must go on". We left Dresden 1 hour late and we were to change trains in Leipzig, but as it turned out we spent over 6 hours in the Leipzig train station in frigid temperatures. My family tells me that I was really not nice to be around during that time. I am officially apologizing now. I have never been so chilled to the bone as that night...enough about that. We arrived at our amazing Marriott hotel at 2 a.m. in the morning.

So, up bright an early, we had sights to see and places to visit. First stop, the Glockenspiel at Marienplatz. This being the 3rd largest city in Germany and Christmas season with all sorts of Christmas Markets, made it very crowded but also very festive. Christmas markets provide another opportunity for Germans to build cute little sheds with decorative trim, sell wurst and drink bier or gluhwein, all this while walking around outdoors in freezing temperatures. It is awesome, this was Linda & Damon's first time to taste gluhwein, it took their breath away-literally. There was a market right on Marienplatz so we could sip warm drinks while we waited for the mechanical muscians, jousting knights and dancers to perform. The Glockenspiel is in the tower of the Gothic style Rathaus built in the late 1800's. All that time in the crisp outdoors will make you hungry, it was time to head over to the nearby Hofbrauhaus.





Hofbrauhaus is well-known for it's delicious food and outstanding bier. Guess what, it's also well known because back in 1920 Mr. Hitler launched his National Socialist Party at a meeting at this restaurant. Judging from the crowd inside this place they didn't let that bother them. Ruby loved the authentic Bavarian style pretzels and we were entertained with a traditional "Oom Pah Pah" band. Munchen is also the location for the annual Oktoberfest, by German "law" only about 6 brewers are permitted to provide bier for this festival. Hofbrau being one the main ones.







Strolling through Munich is very fun and especially during the Christmas Holiday, there is something going on everywhere, it is also a very pretty city to walk around.




We took the metro and strolled over to Olympia Park, where the ill-fated Olympics were held in 1972, this is the site of the Israeli atheletes that were taken hostage and died in a tragic shoot out. The architecture of many of the facilities was very unique and it appears that many of the buildings were undergoing improvements and upgrades as this area is a large hotspot for recreation. It was nice to see people out using the facilities, in fact, while we were there we saw runners for a nearby race come through the park. The Olympics created a great opportunity for Munchen to expand their public transportation systems and plan out the city with better access to certain areas. Prior to the Olympics they had huge expansions to get around town with city buses, underground metro, street trams all make it a snap. That is a big advantage Munchen has over some other large cities, it is very accessible.




We made reservations for an all-day bus tour to the edge of Bavaria's forest. We left first thing in the morning on a wintery day with snow covering the ground. This made for a fantastic backdrop of the mountains. We stopped in Oberammergau which is known the world over for it's Passion Play, all about Christ. This play was originally performed in 1633 after villagers had been spared the ravages of the plague; the play now takes place every 10 years, the cast of 1,700 performs to over 500,000 people. Competition for major parts is serious as you must be from Oberammergau, the men grow long hair and beards and rumor has it, the Virgin Mary part has some very strict restrictions. The small city itself is charming and has fairy tales painted on the exterior of the homes. I think we saw Hansel and Gretal walking down a nearby street.





Schloss Linderhof, one of the most appealing castles of frustrated King Ludwig II was up next. From the looks and sounds of it, he really would have been more suited for working in the design industry instead of being a royal. All this man wanted to do was build more castles and he basically bankrupt the country doing so. When you see his castles it is understandable because surely there is no more gold or marble left anywhere in the world. Some of the tapestry's had gold thread woven into it, stunning is a good word to describe it. Schloss Linderhof was completed in 1878 and is completely isolated by surrounding forest, it was his favorite castle.





Schloss Neuschwanstein, another of mad King Ludwig II's castles started construction in 1869, and this is the castle Disney modeled the Cinderella castle after. The interiors are filled with murals of sagas & dramas of Wagner's Operas, one of Ludwig's favorite past times. He unfortunately never saw the completion of this castle as he died of a mysterious drowning in a nearby lake and to this day there is no explanation, can you imagine? Because of the snow, this castle was breathtaking perched on the top of a hill with huge mountains surrounding it. It was simply gorgeous. Ironically, he built his castle to tower above his parents' castle, which you will see in the photos is a cheerful yellow castle, makes me think of weekend cottage...












On Monday morning we decided to visit the Deustsches Museum, it is rated the world's foremost museum of science and technology, this has everything from chemistry experiments, hydraulics & bridges, cars, locomotives, computers, telecommunications, space and aircraft, all under one very large roof. There was even an entire area with computer chip manufacturing and several tools from fabs. It was fun for Ron & Damon to share what they had worked with for the last 20-30 years. You could spend days inside this museum we were disappointed we didn't have that much time.







Alas, time to head back to the train station and work our way back home to Dresden after a fast weekend with our friends. It was tough saying goodbye but we'd already started planning our next get together in New York and we know that time flies when you're having fun. We'll be hanging out with the DeBusk's again soon.

POLAND - Gorlitz & Krakow Weekend

How often will we have the opportunity to say, "Hey, let's drive over to Poland for the weekend." So, last Friday the girls had a free day from school, so we hopped in the car and headed southeast. Our first stop was Gorlitz, a city that lays on the German/Poland border with half the city on each side. Our cultural trainer recommended this city and we really enjoyed our brief stop there. The city is ancient and has many medieval buildings, crooked & narrow streets, and the lower market square has a fine collection of Renaissance and baroque buildings. One house from 1570 features bas relief scenes from the Old & New Testaments. It was very interesting.











After a short lunch we continued our drive to the city of Krakow. It is one of Poland's oldest, best preserved and most cosmopolitan cities, dating back to the 7th century. The city survived WWII unscathed and with it's wealth of medieval churches, baroque architecture, and stunning Wawel Castle & Cathedral - it is Poland's biggest tourist draw.

We had to rely on our "German" GPS to get us there and that was comical because we had to keep looking up words in our mini German dictionary to figure out what to punch in. But, we made it with little problems and found our hotel, the girls were treated to stuffed animals at check-in and discovered an X-BOX right around the corner in the lobby, which proved to be worth double the price-more details to follow on that later.

It was dinner time. We found a quaint restaurant in "Old Town" recommended by our hotel and sampled some typical Polish fare, pierogies, beer with fruit preserves and slaw. Apparently by Polish standards, Krakow is a food paradise. There is lots of variety available but we really worked at getting to try local cuisine. One of the famous restaurants in town opened in 1364 and was attended by five kings and nine princes. We skipped that one but we did eat at U Babci Maliny which formerly housed a cafe that was the post-day job meeting point for high-ranking Nazis. An outdoor plaque commemorates a heroic attack on the cafe by Jewish resistance fighters. Ruby sweet-talked the musician into letting her play a song on his guitar, while the restaurant diners watched on. I believe the next guide book for future visitors will state that Ruby Taylor played at U Babci Maliny in 2011.





Enough about the food. Our big adventure starting out on Saturday morning was to visit the Wawel Hill Cathedral & Castle, conveniently located near our hotel. We saw the church literally from top to bottom as we climbed one of the bell towers and explored the crypts below. We learned that Augustus the Great, King of Saxony (DRESDEN) was buried here. One highlight is the large Dragon Bones chained up outside the main entrance of the cathedral, it is believed they provide magical properties in protecting the city from destruction, particularly during WWII when almost every other major city in Poland got flattened, these bones have remained untouched for centuries. For the castle we viewed the Crown Treasury and Armory. You could spend hours here but we were eager to head to our next stop via bus, the Wieliczka Salt Mines.








We saw only 1% of this enormous mine, it is so large that it features an actual church, everything is carved out of salt. (They have regular services every weekend.) Construction of this church took more than 30 years. This mine also has ballrooms you can rent out, plenty of room for weddings and we also saw 4 other chapels. It is unbelievable how enormous this place is. We were inside this mine for around 3 hours. I put a suggestion in the "idea" box, get a bigger elevator (I was sweating bullets, way too tiny for my liking of an elevator.)









In Old Town at St. Mary's Basilica (which is stunning) you can enjoy listening to a fascinating tradition. It is called the hejnal mariacki - a short bugle call played every hour from 4 sides of the church tower. It is played by a trumpeter that started playing in 2006, only after taking the role over from his father, who had been playing since 1971. The song stops abruptly keeping in tradition with the legend of the original trumpeter who was shot in the neck while playing back in 1241.







We had a small tour of the Jewish Quarter, called Kazimierz & Podgorze. We learned from our guide that unfortunately this part of town is frequently overlooked and so the money for remodeling goes to the "old town" area. It is very evident that much history lies in this area and we were able to see some prominent buildings & synagogues. We saw Schindler's Factory and a piece of the remaining wall that created the "ghetto" built by the Nazi's to contain the Jews. A sobering memorial to those Jewish people lost in Krakow is also in this neighborhood, it shows empty chairs on a square of town where the Jewish people from Kazimirez were marched across and taken to the Ghetto. Across the street is the ONLY pharmacy for Jewish people, run by a non-Jew living in the Ghetto, he managed to convince the Germans to allow the pharmacy to operate round the clock. It was a secret meeting point and he saved messages for families.







Our original plan was to leave Krakow on Sunday around lunchtime, but things changed when we went to our rental car and found a flat tire. Because Krakow is very Pope-friendly (everyone goes to church), there was no place that could repair our nail-challenged tire. Avis, our rental car company, wanted 900 euros to swap out cars. We opted to stay another night in Krakow. That meant another evening of venturing around Old Town and more delicious pierogies to sample. That is also why we were so tickled that the hotel had an X-BOX, it completely entertained the girls while the grown-ups decided what to do about the car (and while Ron sampled the Polish Vodka). By 11 am Monday morning we had a newly repaired tire and 5 hours ahead of us on the road.







There is something really captivating about this city, several people we spoke to that had traveled there before us said the precisely the same thing. You can't really put your finger on what it is exactly. Maybe it is because it is so very old, or the overwhelming sadness in certain parts of the area that remind us of the devastating wrongs that took place there, perhaps the little streets & city center or the warm people we met. Or possibly seeing things like a book shop that had been open for 400 years. It's interesting, even though this place has been through so much you still feel like maybe something or someone is really watching over Krakow, even a dragon or two. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and we would recommend it on our top cities to visit in East Europe. The following photos are just some random shots that either amused us or we found them very unique. Hope you enjoy as well.