I woke up after exactly 8 hours’ worth of sleep. Not because I was overly ‘fleissig’ or diligent, but because I had to use the loo. One should never underestimate the power of a cold toilet seat to wake one up from the sweetest dreams. It being only 5 in the morning, I puttered around the apartment, looking for something to do. Since the sun was already up so early, I went for a walk in the woods nearby, which turned into a jog, because the weather was much too cold to do anything otherwise. I love the forest. It is simply one of the most beautiful things in the world…the soft floor covered by dropped pine needles and cones, the tall, straight trees with the beautiful dark brown bark that makes the woods so mysterious; the budding blackberry bushes which will be wonderfully laden with delicious berries in autumn; the occasional bird or snail which risks giving you a greeting. And the wonderful thing is that they are all under the Landschaftsschutzgebiet, or protected areas. So these will have minimal human interference and will remain so, at least for the next 10 years.
Spring is a lovely season, so lovely that I don’t even mind the cold for once.
After doing some shopping for my poor fingers and for some breakfast (Turkish bread with honey, yum!) I spoke with my landlady regarding the handphone and adaptors. She would bring my HP to charge at her daughter’s house. I read from a guidebook about Dutzendteich, where the Nazis once planned to build monstrosities of buildings as their headquarters, and decided to explore that place.
Dutzendteich means “Dozen-lake”, and it is really a beautiful place, with swans and geese on the lake, places where people can skate-board, jog or ride their bikes, but the history of that place is terrifying, and engrossing. It amazes me, how real and how terrible Hitler’s power was, and I always wonder why have the people been so led by him? I have always thought of the truth behind those words: It is always easier to follow the crowd than to step aside to think differently, but it can’t just be that. The German Nation was a thinking nation then…it couldn’t have been possible for a crazy man to lead everyone astray just like that *snap*. The exhibition at the Dutzendteich Museum chronicles everything clearly and faithfully, and it just occurs to me that Hitler was perhaps the “luckiest” man in the world. He ALWAYS happens to be at the right place, at the right time, so that he could completely twist the popular ideologies then (Fascism, anti-communism, anti-republic) into a totally warped cult, which has the only main aim of making Hitler a god. Everything has the end purpose in glorifying Hitler, in making the individual seem small, and the state seem big, and Hitler, as the Fuehrer of the state and yet at the same time a ‘normal’ working-class man, larger than life and hence everything is a part of Hitler, or plays a part FOR Hitler. The plans the Nazis had for the place were humongous…they built a gigantic stadium to hold Hitler’s rallies, and places to house the people who were going for those rallies. (Nazis love to stage large events that make the individual negligible and the state and Hitler, everything.) The architecture of the building was to be long arched columns, which make the men small, and a large central stage for Hitler and his speeches. Hitler even built a 2 KM long ‘grosse Strasse” or Large Street, especially for the marching of the soldiers. The 2 km long strip was to connect the Reich to the Altstadt’s Castle, (you were supposed to be able to see the castle as you stand on one end of the strip) as to signify that Hitler’s Reich is one that connects back to the old, and would last forever. This still exists today, and all still laden with the granite from those days. Still in wunderbare condition. Amazing. The resources and technology used that time were truly something to be reckoned with.
Learned in the process of touring how to take the S-Bahn and how to navigate. Gar nicht schlecht, muss ich sagen (Not bad at all, I must say.)
Alright, must go to sleep now, will try to load these two entries in Siemens tomorrow. Just in case my family does not know that I can only use my blog, can someone who knows them or my home number just help me give them a call? And dear boon/jie, please post something on the tagboard to show that you all know, ok?
Love ya lots!!
Ting =)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment