OptionsA Level Visit to Berlin
In July 2008 a group of eight A level pupils and two teachers visited Berlin, the capital of Germany, as part of their studies.
We stayed in a youth hostel near the centre of Berlin, where we met lots of German teenagers (we were the only British school group there). After a typical German breakfast each morning we went out and spent each day busily exploring the city. We visited the Brandenburg Gate, the most famous landmark in Berlin. We visited the Reichstag the famous German parliament building. We went to the top of the television tower on the Alexanderplatz, a famous square in Berlin. From the top we had a fantastic view over Berlin.
We visited a couple of museums. The museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, told the story of the building of the Berlin wall and explained what life was like in East and West Berlin between 1961, when the Berlin Wall was built, and 1989 when the wall came down. In the museum we saw how many people had tried to escape from the East to the West. It was very moving. On the same day half the group cycled along the route of the former Berlin Wall while the other half walked along a section of the Berlin Wall.
On another day we visited the former Stasi Headquarters in the former East Berlin. The Stasi were the secret police in East Germany (Stasi stands for Staatssicherheitsdienst, which means State Security Service). It was interesting to see the devious ways used to spy on fellow citizens e.g. cameras in button holes and in pens.
We visited another museum called The Story of Berlin which told the whole history of Berlin from Medieval times to the present day.
One afternoon we visited a mosque. Berlin has a large Turkish community and the Turkish Muslims, as well as Muslims from other countries living in Berlin, worship at this mosque. Andy, a young Muslim man, who was born and brought up in Berlin, told us all about the mosque, which was very interesting. The mosque was beautiful. Berlin has a large Turkish community and we visited a Turkish market, where we did some shopping.
We were able to do some shopping on the famous Kudamm and Friedrichstraße. We went to the Kadewe, the famous Berlin Department store. We went out every evening. Evening activities included bowling and the cinema.
The visit was brilliant. We really experienced life in this wonderful German city. We spoke lots of German and were pleased about how much we could say and understand.
We'll never forget what a wonderful experience it was to visit Berlin.
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