Berlin History Tour 2016
Thirty five history students and six members of staff gathered at the St Colman's College Sports Pavilion at 3:00am on Wednesday October 26th bound for the German capital, Berlin for a four day tour. This was the first trip of this type for many years in the College and there was a definite sense of anticipation among the forty-one travellers. Our flight departed Dublin as scheduled at 7:35am and we arrived on time at Schnefeld airport on the outskirts of the German capital. Our transfer to the city took us past the now defunct Templehopf airport where the Allies had landed their supplies during the Berlin Airlift of 1948/49 and this was an indication of the history which would be all around us on our visit to Berlin. After a break for lunch and an opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the city we commenced our tour proper with a guided bus tour of the city. While all aboard the bus were tired from the journey both students and staff were enthralled by the history all around us and this whetted our appetite for the adventures ahead. After the tour we reached our lodgings for the four days on Koeperniker Strasse, tired and ready for rest and a chance to re-charge the batteries. On Thursday our coach left the accommodation at 9:30am and took us to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum where the students were able to learn of the division of Berlin after WWII and the unique difficulties which faced Berliners as their city was divided. Here there were great photo opportunities and chances to see and sense the effects of the partition of Berlin. Many students commented on the ingenuity of those who felt themselves trapped in the east of the city in trying to escape to the west. Souvenirs were purchased and no doubt these will be visible around the College in the winter months ahead. From here we moved to the Berlin Wall Documentation Centre which was from an historical point of view one of the most impressive sites visited. It gave some heart felt and personal accounts of life behind the iron curtain and a fantastically vivid illustration of the collapse of communism in the Eastern Europe in 1989. After a leisurely lunch we travelled to the Olympic Stadium for a guided tour of the stadium built for the 1936 Summer Games. For some this was the highlight so far of the trip. The stadium is architecturally magnificent, of that there is no doubt, but the history that goes with it cannot be ignored, nor did the guides seek to ignore it. There was a definite coldness to the stadium in spite of its magnificence. On our departure from the stadium one of our S4 students met a long lost relation from Hanover or so it seemed. Thursday evening was concluded with bowling, pool and games not far from the Hostel and a very busy day was concluded. Our departure was very early in Friday leaving the accommodation at 8:00am travelling to the Cecelienhoff at Potsdam the site of the Potsdam Conference in July and August 1945 where Stalin, Churchill (later Atlee) and Truman negotiated the future of Europe. To sit in the rooms where the 'Big Three' had sat to divide the continent was to be present with history and hopefully it brought the subject to life for the students.
From here we travelled to Sachenhausen Concentration camp on the other side of Berlin. With our guide Stefan we received an education in the horrors of the Nazi system and its delivery by the SS (Schutzstaffel) Hitler's 'Protection Squad.' The horrors of the concentration camp system were revealed brilliantly by Stefan on whose every word the students hung. After a return to the city and our Hostel where we dined, we set out for the Reichstag building. We travelled there by train led magnificently by Mr McLoughlin who took charge of the situation applying the logic of the mathematician to the underground system. We arrived to the Reichstag building and ascended to the recently constructed dome on its roof. It afforded us panoramic views of the city and was a very fitting finale to our last full day in Berlin. There is so much history associated with this building relevant to our GCSE and AS studies. From here we decided to take a view of the Brandenberg Gate by night and then to walk the remaining way home - a strategic decision taken by Mr Mussen. It was closing in on 11:30pm when we reached the Hostel, all tired and ready for rest. Our last day dawned on Saturday and only two stops remained. On a beautiful autumnal morning we travelled to the Topography of Terror museum which told the tale of the Nazi and particularly the SS campaign of terror within Germany and throughout continental Europe. Our final stop was appropriately to visit the Holocaust Memorial in central Berlin and afforded some time for quiet reflection on the history we have studied and had been immersed in over the previous four days. We flew out of Schnefeld on Saturday arriving in Dublin at 8:00pm and back to the College at 9:50pm exhausted but able to reflect on a genuinely magnificent experience. It remains only for me to thank those involved. To Mr Goss, without whose encyclopaedic knowledge of History and command of German we would have been lost on many occasions, a huge thank you. To Canon Hackett whose company, good humour and 'craic' added immensely to everyone's enjoyment of the trip. The Canon brought something imperceptible but hugely valuable to this tour, a calmness and assuredness which rubbed off on those around him. To Mr Mussen, Mr MacMahon and Mr McLoughlin who gave of their time freely and with great enthusiasm, myself and the students who travelled owe a huge debt, because without them the trip could not have gone ahead and would certainly not have gone so smoothly without fuss or even the slightest hint of trouble. Finally, to the students who travelled from S2, S3 and S4. Your conduct, good humour and willingness to co-operate with every request was what made this trip such a resounding success. Go raibh cad maith agaibh uilig.
Mr McEvoy