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Visiting Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Berlin, Germany: Part 3
On one of my days in Berlin, I had signed up to visit a concentration camp: Sachsenhausen. While far from a "fun" tour, I felt that, as the Nazi history is so prominent in Germany's history, it would be a very interesting visit. Sachsenhausen was the first concentration camp built, just outside of Berlin, to house political prisoners. It later served as a camp for both Jewish and gay prisoners. As Sachsenhausen is in Germany, it was considered a work camp, rather than a death camp, although many deaths still occurred within the walls. The visit was quite incredible, bringing us as close to what it must have been like in those years despite the fact that we will never quite understand how it felt without having gone through it.
Visiting Berlin, Germany: Part 1
Berlin was amazing, let's just start with that. Despite having five days in the city, by the end I wished I'd stayed longer. On my first day there though, I had the complete opposite feeling. I flew in from Frankfurt, which should have been a quick flight. But because it was delayed by more than an hour, I didn't get into Berlin until the late afternoon, so that by the end of the day I really didn't have the opportunity to see much. I stayed in East Berlin by Alexaderplatz, where many of the buildings are reminiscent of soviet architecture, practical and ugly, many of which are abandoned. However, because I took the bus from the airport, we had passed through Museum Island, and I got my first glimpse of the Berliner Dom.
Starting Off an Adventure in Frankfurt, Germany
It's a little surreal to think that I've started on a two month trek across Europe. I've been planning and dreaming of this for so long, that I know it will just fly by. It feels like I'm still in planning mode, even though the first city has already come and gone! Since I've been terrible at sharing lately, and still haven't finished posting about my Australia trip, I figured I'd try to record what I do in Europe as I wrap up each city. So, for the first one, Frankfurt!