Our students have travelled to Berlin for a variety of reasons over the years. On the anniversary of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, we are reproducing two reports of trips, the first is from the 1990 School Magazine about a school trip to Berlin in October 1989, the second an Arts Award trip in 2018.
Berlin, October 1989
We were some of the last people to see the Berlin of old; the divided city. In retrospect Berlin can never be thought of in the same way, after all the recent
events in Eastern Europe, the Berlin that we saw is now already history.
The biennial Sixth Form school trip to Berlin took place over a week in the Autumn half-term. We flew to Tegel airport and stayed in a youth guest house in Tegel which is a suburb of West Berlin. The week was action packed with hardly a moment for reflection. The sightseeing trips were complemented by lectures given in English and German by many different people ranging from a Communist war resistance worker to a Green Party politician.
The most obvious trip to be made was to the Berlin Wall. Nothing can describe the feeling when confronted by the graffitied monstrosity; East Berlin’s prison walls. Reading the messages, they were both touching and amusing, the funniest being, “Don’t worry DDR, Baldrick has a cunning plan!” Watched by guards in towers it was almost frightening to go up to the Wall knowing that guns were at the ready.
Our trip into East Berlin was also quite an experience. 20 DM had to be changed into East German currency. It had to be spent in East Berlin or returned on the way back. We all thought it would be a great opportunity to spend some money, but alas, on what? The few shops had next to nothing to offer and one can only eat so many sausages! It had been arranged for us to meet university students in East Berlin so that we could talk to them about their thoughts and opinions on their country. Expecting them all to be envious of our capitalist society, we were surprised to find that they all agreed with the
fundamentals of communism: that is they liked the idea of the state providing health care, education, accommodation, jobs and cheap food. They disagreed
only with their lack of freedom and ability to travel.
As far as buildings go, East Berlin got a better deal than West Berlin. Many are very impressive especially the Town Hall, a large red building which dominates
Solioneberg Square. Although we were only allowed to spend one day in the East, some members of the group managed to buy tickets to see the opera, The
Flying Dutchman for that evening which they said was most enjoyable.
Back in West Berlin we visited two museums: one the resistance museum which illustrated many groups’ attempts to go against the war efforts and secondly, ‘Haus am Checkpoint Charlie. This museum had displays of methods used to try and escape from East Berlin. Many of the actual devices used were on display, from suitcases to hide people in to chairs on ropes which were let out of windows. The museum came to life as each escape attempt was well aided by a descriptive account and illustrations of the escape.
West Berlin is a bright lively city with much to offer. The trip was well organised making it a great success, each girl took some part of Berlin’s culture
and vivacity home with her, it is a trip never to be forgotten.
Katya Waiters
L6
Arts Award Berlin Trip 2018
At 7am on a Friday morning, twelve tired but excited girls and staff set off to Berlin for a highly anticipated Gold Arts Award trip.
It proved just as incredible as we had hoped, as we were greeted with lovely weather and an itinerary filled to the brim with engaging tasks and events. A definite highlight was the walking tour of Berlin’s iconic graffiti. From mini portraits of weeping girls spread across the city, representative of the gentrification of Berlin, to pieces stretched across the expanse of entire buildings and walls, this street art surpassed anything we’d ever seen before. A particularly moving moment was, of course, visiting the Holocaust Memorial, as we walked through towering concrete slabs, immersed in an atmosphere of remembrance. We also met inspirational artists, explored beautiful theatres and galleries, as well as going on a much needed boat ride, allowing us to put up our feet and take in the gorgeous weather and architecture surrounding us.
To say the least, none of us wanted this three-day trip to end, not ready to let go of our great historical and artistic experiences. In fact, many of us were thoroughly convinced that Berlin would be a wonderful place to move to, even picking out our future apartments! Both the girls and staff had a fantastic time, and we would like to thank everyone involved in organising such an insightful trip.
