May 10

Written by:
10 May 2016 

During this year's February mid- term over forty students from second to fifth year, along with six teachers travelled to the historic German capital of Berlin for four days .The trip was organised by Ms. Dillon, who had spent much of her own personal time ensuring that the trip would run smoothly. An additional five teachers of Ms. Dawson, Mr Maxwell, Mr. Morris, Mr Stapleton and Ms. Nolan also came on the trip.

We arrived in Berlin Schonefield Airport for what would be a busy week to say the least. Upon arriving we immediately went on a guided coach tour of the city, seeing some of the city's famous landmarks such as the Berlin Wall, Berliner Dom (city cathedral), Berliner Rathaus city hall) and the stupendous  Brandenburg Gate. Then after lunch, having had our first taste of currywurst (curried sausage) a    famous delicacy in Berlin, we visited the Check Point Charlie museum. The museum stands in the place of a former monitoring tower used to patrol the Berlin Wall and was well worth a visit. We then concluded the first day of our visit with a walking tour of the 26 metre high Brandenburg Gate before checking into our hotel for the night.

The next day we visited  Sachsenhausen concentration camp, which was the second major   German camp after Dachau and was later used by the Soviets. Here we witnessed the punishment cells, execution grounds, dire living conditions, and the pathology laboratory, which were used to inhumanly brutalise Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and   political opponents of the Nazi  regime. Following our tour of the camp we visited the story of Berlin museum and a fully preserved  nuclear bunker which was in use until 1994. To relax for the evening we then went bowling.
On the third day of our visit we went to see the Reichstag - the  German house of parliament since 1894.  Here we made our way up through the impressive glass dome structure for an excellent panoramic view of the city.
We then proceeded to visit the   science centre museum which housed some classic vintage cars of the  ages, from the Jaguar E type to the first ever Mercedes Benz. As well as exhibiting some interesting displays of science technology, and           surveillance equipment. Then to   finish off the day in style we went to the colossal tropical islands     resort and water theme park.
For our final day we visited the "Topography of terror” museum, built upon the remains of the secret Gestapo police headquaters, the eyes and ears of the Nazi regime. It was a great experience and we got a great insight into the methods of         surveillance and administration used to censor the German population. Before going home we went shopping in the Alexa Shopping Mall   consisting of stores like   Footlocker, JD, Hollister, Superdry and much more.
The trip was an enjoyable holiday and educational experience for   everyone. It was of great benefit to the German students especially to improve their language skills and for history students as it provided them with a further insight into Nazi  Germany and Cold War history. I'd like to thank Ms Dillon and all  involved in organising the trip. We had a great time and got a taste of the local food and culture and as the Germans say Andere Läder,   andere Sitten (when in Rome do as the  Romans do).