brother, all living in Germany, and we are visiting all of them). Tante (German Aunt) took us to the summer palace belonging to a good friend of Kaiser Wilhelm II. It is a lovely estate surrounded by lush gardens and outbuildings. The grounds were used for hunting parties for the royals, and the house as political meeting point. In its history, the official function of the estate was much like that of Camp David - a place where the important members of the government would go to relax.Ironically, the estate's chapel was the home of the Red Chapel, a group of young people (20's and 30's) opposed to the Nazis. The members of the group were discovered and executed, including, among others, the granddaughter of the estate's owner. Today, the chapel is a memorial to this brave group.
The estate is now both a tourist site - one can wander the grounds and climb the tower of the church - and a luxury hotel. Lucky for us, one need not be a guest at the hotel to partake of the delicious food, served on a terrace overlooking the grounds. We had a lovely lunch at the main house (hotel), followed by ice cream and coffee at the garden house (an adorable little cottage in its own right).
After our tour of the estate, we returned to Tante's apartment, where we had a lovely time talking and hearing various family stories. All of the family speaks English in varying degrees. The last time I saw Tante, she spoke hardly any English - today, we were able to converse quite nicely mostly in English, and with enough hand gestures that I could follow the German bits.One subject she kept bringing up is how blessed Germany is to be war-free for 60 years. She and my grandmother, as the two older sisters, remember quie clearly the horrors of WWII. As we walked from Tante's apartment back to H and B's (the Aunt and uncle with whom we are staying), she described how the whole street had been fire-bombed and she and my grandmother had to run for shelter with the two little children. Every house on the block holds a memory for her, both for what stands there now, and what stood there before the destruction. As an American, sheltered by two great oceans from the horrors of war all around us (much of it our own doing), I find it hard to imagine living through such horror first-hand. I find myself seriously impressed with the fortitude of my own own family. I hope never have to face such things myself, but I know that I come from tough stock, and hope that I could face them with the same aplomb.
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A month or so ago, I was watching a show on History Channel (I believe) called Cities of the Underworld, and they did Berlin. The guide took the host to a hilly park near the city - can't remember if it was just outside or not. Anyway, the hills of the park were created by the rubble left from the WWII bombing. The rubble is covered by less than a foot of soil in many places.
It seemed interesting that people could so easily touch a piece of such a frightening part of history. Something I want to do if I make it to Berlin some day.
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