Lisa and I have been able to walk around the neighborhoods of Prenzlauer Berg and Pankow several evenings. I love coming across historic buildings- many of which hold plaques that denote the history of the building or the tragic death in WWII of one of the inhabitants.
This building was most notably used as a dormitory for the SS in WWII and then by the Stasi in East Germany, where suspects were first taken after an arrest. It is currently used as a women's jail.
Other plaques we have seen surrounding our neighborhood denote the passing of Jewish, communist, and (if I remember correctly) Roma peoples killed outright or taken to a death camp by Nazis.
In other news, having finished Rosetta Stone German disk 1 and being without other disks, I am immersing myself in the German language. I will enroll in a local college for more formal and rigorous language study later this month but for the time being, analyzing German t.v. is a popular pastime.
Television in Germany consists entirely of news, documentaries, Schlager music, talent shows and a few American and Indian shows that are dubbed into German. There aren't any shows in English (with or without subtitles), so I am using my Iphone to translate words I see scrolling at the bottom of the t.v. news.
Here are a few:
erschossen- shot/shoot dead
Krawalle- rioting
die Steuern - taxes
verklagen - to sue
schaden- damage
die Hungersnot- famine
das Urteil- verdict
eintauchen- plunge (related to stock market)
Maybe this is in particular a tense news cycle....
Finally, a blog about Berlin I have really enjoyed reading is: Abandoned Berlin.
Lisa and I also hope to visit a couple of these places, including the abandoned amusement park featured in the movie Hanna.
This building was most notably used as a dormitory for the SS in WWII and then by the Stasi in East Germany, where suspects were first taken after an arrest. It is currently used as a women's jail.
Other plaques we have seen surrounding our neighborhood denote the passing of Jewish, communist, and (if I remember correctly) Roma peoples killed outright or taken to a death camp by Nazis.
In other news, having finished Rosetta Stone German disk 1 and being without other disks, I am immersing myself in the German language. I will enroll in a local college for more formal and rigorous language study later this month but for the time being, analyzing German t.v. is a popular pastime.
Television in Germany consists entirely of news, documentaries, Schlager music, talent shows and a few American and Indian shows that are dubbed into German. There aren't any shows in English (with or without subtitles), so I am using my Iphone to translate words I see scrolling at the bottom of the t.v. news.
Here are a few:
erschossen- shot/shoot dead
Krawalle- rioting
die Steuern - taxes
verklagen - to sue
schaden- damage
die Hungersnot- famine
das Urteil- verdict
eintauchen- plunge (related to stock market)
Maybe this is in particular a tense news cycle....
Finally, a blog about Berlin I have really enjoyed reading is: Abandoned Berlin.
Lisa and I also hope to visit a couple of these places, including the abandoned amusement park featured in the movie Hanna.
