Bombs, Walls and Power. The fall and rise of Berlin

Berlin is one of the places in Europe that is full of history. Throughout time, Berlin has faced many wars, battles and conflicts. However, there was one war that really affected Berlin, World War II. While many people think of all the battles that occurred, not many people think about what happened in Berlin during WWII. Berlin, like the rest of Europe was under attack as well. There were constant bombing threats, men were at war and women were left to clean up. People also spent many hours seeking refuge in bomb shelters. The biggest of these shelters could protect around 65,000 people. They also converted subway stations into bomb shelters. They also enacted evacuations for non-essential people and children during this time. The bombings took place over several years and were mostly ineffective at destroying important targets. However, the bombings served to harm both Berlin’s civilian morale and economy. Theoretically, by destroying both their morale and the economy, Germany would surrender. However, Berliners proved themselves to be quite resilient.

            With the eventual complete military defeat of Germany’s army and the surrender of Berlin, the allied forces took over the city. The Soviet Union controlled the Eastern sector of the country while the French, British and American controlled the Western sectors. During this occupation the allies changed the currency to help regrow the German economy. The Soviets however did not agree with this and enacted a blockade which would stop food, fuel and other essential goods from entering Berlin. In response to this, the Allied forces used a constant airlift that brought essential goods to the blocked area. During this time, there were planes landing or taking off every 90 seconds. This went on for over a year and ended in 1949.

This shows the common path that over 200,000 flights would take to deliver supplies.

            There were several distinct differences between East Germany and West Germany. One was political ties. The West was considered a free democratic state while the East imposed a strict Communist rule. While Berlin was in East Germany, half of the city was a democratic zone whose freedom attracted refugees from East Berlin. This became a problem to East Germany because people were rapidly leaving the communist state for freedom. The Soviets saw one option to keep the population from leaving; build a wall. This wall separated West Berlin and East Berlin, thus separated families, friends and a nation for decades. People would gather around the wall with binoculars and telescopes trying to get a glimpse of their loved ones. The wall went up overnight when people had no warning. People were separated for a total of 28 years. One night in 1989, the borders were thrown open. Berliners from both East and West Berlin were celebrating, chanting, drinking and taking pieces of the wall. This came after the government of East Germany finally changed its travel regulations. On November 9^th, 1989 Berlin was physically reunified. A year later, in October 1990, the official reunification of Germany was stated. 

This is President Regan's famous quote that recommended the destruction of the Berlin Wall.

This image, taken from the ISS, shows the invisible wall that seperates Germany. The Telegraph states that there is more commercial activity in West Berlin than in East Berlin. A result of the Berlin wall.

            But what do these events symbolize for Berlin? The morale of Berliners during the war helped set the tone for the next couple of decades of political turmoil. It shows that Germany would not go down easily. While the wars and occupancy, Germany was ready to start again. When the wall was built, People were separated. While some people went to extremes to get back together with their loved ones, others were resilient kept hope that one day the wall would fall. Berlin was more than just a city during these times. Berlin was an idea that life can be rebuilt and improved. These events made Berlin what it is today.

Berlin's past will always show if you look hard enough. This image shows the Brandenburg Gate with the wall and in present day.

Martin Luther. The voice of the outspoken.

After Martin Luther published his infamous 95 thesis, German-speaking lands began to change. The changes affected everyone religiously, culturally and politically in Europe and, eventually, the rest of the world.

Let’s discuss the religious changes first. Martin Luther is well known for his 95 thesis which criticizing the unbiblical acts of the Roman Catholic Church, the religious power of the time, for abusing indulgences, the act of selling redemption of sins. For Example, the church would offer time out of purgatory if charitable acts were done. The Church responded with the eventual excommunication of Luther.

This image depicts the act of selling indulgences. (A woodcut by Jörg Breu the Elder of Augsburg c1500)

However, this act did not stop Luther. He continued to publish his beliefs and created a large following. He went on to translate the Bible from Greek and Hebrew to German so that anyone could read it. This was one of the biggest points in the reformation because it enabled faith to become personal. This ultimately led to the formation of the Protestant church’s formation and the inspiration of Calvinism.

This is the cover of Martin Luther's translated bible. Printed around 1545

Another way that Luther affected German-speaking lands was through the culture. With the reformation, society began to function on its own, without instruction from the church. Welfare systems started as people started to divert the money that they would give to the church to programs to help the poor.

During the Reformation, several influences came into place. This is called the counter-reformation. This brought the influences of southern Europe into Catholic Germany where theatre, painting and architecture began to flourish. To the north, Protestant Germany began to focus on music, language and literature. Many of these influences are still present today!

Finally, the reformation affected the politics of German-speaking lands. People began to question the place of religion in Politics. Eventually kingdoms grew after taking full control of their lands as the church often acted to stop absolute control. This enabled Europe to become fragmented with kingdoms that identified as catholic or protestant. Within those kingdoms, capitalism, science and democratic ideals were growing into what would become the modern day Democracy.

This map shows how fragmented Europe was during the Reformation.

Overall, Martin Luther played a very major role in what made German-speaking lands what they are today. His works affected religion, politics and the very culture of the lands that it reached. Without Luther, the world would be predominately Catholic today. We can thank Luther for setting in motion for what made Europe, and consequently the rest of the world, what it is today.

A big moment of German History: The Black Plague

The Black plague is a major part event in European history. Over the 5 year peak of the disease, about 1/3 of all Europe was wiped out. The black death was spread through rats, fleas and contact with the infected. The disease also became airborne that allowed people to contract the infection without being in direct contact with an infected person. 

The infected often lasted less than a week before dying. This image from the Toggenburg Bible depicts the infected. 

The disease was ruthless. It had over a 50% mortality rate. An infected person would experience headaches, back aches, fever, chills, vomiting and the appearance of sores on the body which might grow to the size of an orange. These sores would often burst and cause external bleeding, internal bleeding and the excrement of pus. Most infected would only survive about a week.

The plague had an interesting effect on Germany. Like many towns and cities in Europe, there was a shortage of food which caused the uprisings of rebellions and political turmoil. Overall, the aftermath of the plague led to the use of modern medicine and changes in public health. 

Religiously, the plague changed the way people saw their faith. After the plague many people turned their back on God based on the belief that God turned his back on them. However, not all lost faith. Those who remained in their faith took their faith more personally. The church was also changed because there were younger, less knowledgeable priests in the places of the priests who had perished in the plague.

In Germany particularly, the Plague was believed to have been caused by Jews poisoning the wells of Christians. By the time this plague was over, only a few Jews lived in that country. This is interesting because it shows the hostility that is aimed towards Jews which is also seen in WWII. 

 

This image is from the Friese Chronicles which depicts the massacre of Jews who were blamed for the Black Death

 

I am interested in this as I prepare to travel to Germany. I hope to contrast the culture from what I know of the middle ages to the present.