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The German Language Berlin Trip 2007

At the end of the Easter break 24 staff and students from the Upper School and the Pre spent 6 sun-drenched days in the city which won the 2006 UNESCO City of Design award and which is a UN designated Global Creative City - 'Jawohl - wir sind nach Berlin gefahren!' – Germany's intriguing, pulsating, culturally and historically significant capital city!

This was a language learning trip that gave a boost to the students' German speaking skills before the important Summer oral exams. Written (diary) work was another key feature of the trip and helped to ensure that students progressed in terms of grammar and vocabulary. Conducting, recording and then playing back interviews with native Germans was yet another method used to practise language skills.

As with last year's successful trip to the 'Rheinland' - language work didn’t prevent us from being fully immersed in the history and the culture of Germany or simply from having great fun! Our packed itinerary included visits to the iconic Reichstagsgebäude the parliament building whose cupola was designed by Lord Norman Foster and whose architectural marriage of old and ultra-modern is so typical of Berlin today; the ‘Berlin’ and the ‘German’ cathedrals.

The highly symbolic Brandenburger Tor; the Holocaustdenkmal - a memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe; the Jüdisches Museum designed by Daniel Liebeskind to look like a huge Star of David which has been torn apart; the museum at the famous east-west border crossing Haus am Checkpoint Charlie; the Olympia Stadion - the stadium which Hitler built to host the famous 1936 Olympic Games and which was refurbished for the 2006 world cup.

The Fernsehturm (visible in the photo of the Berliner Dom to the right) the TV tower which is Germany’s and one of Europe’s tallest buildings...and so very much more.

One whole day was spent out of Berlin in Halle - the birthplace of George Frideric Handel and also of last year’s German Assistant Stefan Weißhampel! Stefan picked up and gave a personal flavour to some of the main historical themes of the trip, namely the cold war division of Germany, the events leading up to the fall of the wall and German re-unification.

During the trip the students gained an overview of Berlin/German history from the period of Prussias kings and Germany's Emperors, through to the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, post war division and re-unification and even explored some contemporary views such as how Germans view their recent history and how they feel about current issues like the protection of the environment.

The evenings during the trip were spent strolling along Berlin’s premier shopping street the Ku'damm, going out to eat pizza and kebab and disco-bowling. By way of light relief in Halle we also went on a chocolate and kebab-eating marathon as the town boasts Germany’s oldest chocolate factory Halloren and also the country’s top Kebab Imbiss! (well who knows!)

This was a very full and successful trip, much enjoyed by the students and we hope to return to Berlin again soon. My personal thanks to the students for being such great company and being so keen to learn despite the exhausting programme and to Ms Nina Herzberg and Mr Bobby Trivic for invaluable help with every aspect of planning and carrying out this trip.

Vielen Dank!

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