Dachau

Dachau was the first Nazi Concentration camp opened in 1933 for political prisoners in the town of Dachau, about 20 km north-west of Munich.

Dachau served as a prototype and model for the other concentration camps that followed. Its basic organization, camp layout as well as the plan for the buildings were applied to all later camps. He had a separate secure camp near the command center, which consisted of living quarters, administration, and army camps.

The hyper-inflation of the 1920's proved just one of many reasons the Nazi's came to power with Adolf Hitler being appointed Chancellor in 1933. The above inflation makes our current 4% look quite trivial! (imagine paying 150 billion dollars for a glass of beer)

Over 200 000 prisoners entered through these gates

In total, over 200,000 prisoners from more than 30 countries were housed in Dachau of whom two-thirds were political prisoners and nearly one-third were Jews. It is thought 40 000 died.

"Work sets you Free"

The Nazis stated that the camp was a work camp and that they were 're-educating' the prisoners. Hence the propaganda "work sets you free". Many of the political prisoners were there 'for their own protection'.

The Parade Ground

In Summer roll call was at 5 am and could last hours. All had to be accounted for and all remained standing until there were no anomalies.

The Prohibited Zone

The prohibited zone was a strip of grass that ran alongside the camp. Anyone entering in this region was liable to be shot. This was surrounded by a ditch, then razor wire, a razor wire fence and finally a concrete wall. Guard towers were placed periodically along the wall. I must admit, 70 years later, it was quite an eerie thing to walk on the grass.

The concrete footprint of the 34 barracks

34 barracks were constructed with 30 on them housing prisoners. Each barrack was built to hold 200 prisoners, with the entire camp designed for 6000 prisoners. In 1944 the camp held some 30 000 prisoners. The front two barracks have been re-constructed, with a concrete and gravel outline of the other 32 being visible. The photo below is an aerial shot showing how tight the barracks were placed together and can only give a faint idea how cramped the conditions would have been if you imagine 30 000 people in the area.

The barracks from the air

The Memorial installed in 1967

The crematorium

After the war, Dachau was used to house SS prisoners and then German refugees. It remained a camp for almost 20 years, given the post-war refugee situation in Germany. Survivors successfully pushed for it to become a memorial in 1965.

Relaxing in Southern Bohemia

I have four days in Český Krumlov - a town on the southern Czech border. It is a UNESCO protected town, being in a reasonably untouched state. It is a beatiful town with not too many tourists visiting each day - and most of those who do, visit for a day trip from Prague and so by about 4 pm the town becomes very quiet.

The view from where I do my blog (St Vitus Church)

There's lots to do for the adventurously minded - horse riding, mountain bike riding (it's in a valley, so hills everywhere), rafting and hiking. Needless to say, I have done none of these things.

The Castle (built in the side of the river bank cliff top)

The town dates from the late late 13th century at a ford in the Vltava River (the same river that flows through Prague), which was important in trade routes in Bohemia. Most of the architecture of the old town and castle dates from the 14th through 17th centuries; the town's structures are mostly in Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles. The core of the old town is within a horseshoe bend of the river, with the castle on the other side of the Vltava.

The Castle on the left with the Vlatava River, and the town on the right.

The town became part of the Austrian Empire in the early 19th Century and during the Second World War was occupied by German-speaking people as the Nazis annexation of the Sudetenland. After the war it was restored to Czechoslovakia.

Part of the Castle, separating the Main Hall and the Gardens

The Castle has a bear moat, with a real bear in it!

One of the four 15th Century Bells in the Bell Tower

Southern Bohemian dishes mainly revolve around parts of the pig, with roast pork, pork neck and pork knees being traditional fare. Although I did see "Bear Paw with potatoes and garnish" on one menu, but was too afraid to ask...

PostScript: I made inquiries about the bear paw dish and it turns out it is not a bear paw after-all. Apparently its beef - must be for the tourists. Luckily for the poor bear in the bear moat - otherwise, after the fourth dish...

The castle at night

The City of 100 Spires

Prague is a beautiful city, principally undamaged by war in Europe over the last 350 years. Hence it has become popular with tourists...

Everywhere you turn is a picture postcard moment - that's if you can get a quiet moment without someone pushing you out of the way. The streets have that rabbit-warren charm, where you can get lost when only 100 m from your hotel.

There are concerts to be had everywhere in Prague. At some stage I knew I would succumb to the touts, so I went the first night I was in Prague to an organ and trumpet recital in a baroque church. The setting was amazing and the quality of the music, excellent. All over Prague are similar experiences to be had - as there are so many well-preserved building and churches.

This is the church where I heard my recital. The organist and trumpeter were in the balcony at top right. They played some well known stuff, like Handel's Largo and Schubert's Ave Maria, both of which were beautiful and in such a great setting.

That 'out of the way', I was off to explore the following day...

The Old Town Square and Jan Hus Memorial

Hus tried to reform the Bohemian Church and was found to be a heretic and burnt at the stake for his troubles (by the Catholic Church) in 1415. This memorial was built on the site to commemorate the 500th anniversary. Hus had an impact on the Protestant Church and Martin Luther, in particular.

The Mission Band in the Old Town Square

There are concerts everywhere in Prague, some free, some not. In the middle of the day when I was there the military band used to welcome visiting dignitaries and the President struck up. They were pretty good and had a couple of people singing with them and even a marching girl group.

The Astronomical Clock Tower and Town Hall Tower

The Astronomical Clock Tower and Town Hall Tower surround the Old Town Square.

The Astronomical Clock Tower

The Astronomical Clock was built in the late 15th Century. Every hour it chimes and out from little windows pop a procession of the apostles. It really is the biggest let-down in Europe.

The Astronomical Clock

You have to brave the crowd to wait for the hour to chime. It's a very beautiful clock but you can't read the time from it and the figures that pop out are pretty hopeless. But a crowd pleaser anyway! They all cheer and clap.

The Old Town Square

A church at the Old Town Square.

Statue of King Wenceslas in Wenceslas Square. At the time of the "Velvet Revolution" in 1989 Alenxander Dubček (who was the leader of the Czech people at the time of the 'Prague Spring' of 1968 when the Soviet tanks rolled into Prague) appeared on a balcony overlooking Wenceslas Square to hear a sea of protesters below shouting "Dubček to the castle!" As they pushed for him to take his seat as president of the country at Prague Castle, he embraced the crowd as a symbol of democratic freedom. Havel was to ultimately take office as the first President of the new Czech Republic. You may remember scenes of this square being packed with people (300 000) all rattling their keys to indicate to the then Communist Government that it was time to leave power.


The famous astronomer Johannes Kepler lived in Prague in the 16th Century (as did Tycho Brahe).

Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral in the background

Prague Castle was built in the 15th Century and St Vitus Cathedral before that in the 14th Century. Prague Castle is currently the home of the President of the Czech Republic.

A restaurant menu that took my eye.

I was keen on trying the 3 Kingdoms Deal - where you can eat an animal from and 3 of the mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish groups. I wasn't sure on whether to choose to eat bear or Antelope...

Changing of the Guard at Prague Castle.

Huge crowd came to see this - amazingly, cars and even a crane just tried to drive through the crowd rather than wait the 10 minutes for the ceremony to be over! Nevertheless, the pushy Russian, German and Japanese tourists managed to survive.

Dresden

Travelling from Berlin to Prague, I stopped at Dresden for a few hours. Dresden was the capital of Saxony and home to the Kings and Electors of Saxony. The fire-bombing by Allied Forces (1945) reduced the city to almost nothing and then on the back of this was 40 years of East German rule. A great deal of rebuilding has taken place, and recently, the Dresden Frauenkirche was completed in 2005 (on the eve of Dresden's 800th birthday).


The reconstructed buildings along the riverfront.

The Art Gallery.

The townhall. As with the Frauenkirche, I think the dark stones are the originals and the lighter ones new stone to complete the reconstruction.


Martin Luther Statue outside the Frauenkirche.

The Frauenkirche - reconstructed from the rubble left from the bombing in 1945. The original stone are the dark stones - so there wasn't much left!


From Wikipedia:

As far as possible, the church – except for its dome – was rebuilt using original material and plans, with the help of modern technology. The heap of rubble was documented and carried off stone by stone. The approximate original position of each stone could be determined from its position in the heap. Every usable piece was measured and catalogued. A computer imaging program that could move the stones three-dimensionally around the screen in various configurations was used to help architects find where the original stones sat and how they fit together.

Of the millions of stones used in the rebuilding, more than 8,500 original stones were salvaged from the original church and approximately 3,800 reused in the reconstruction. As the older stones are covered with a darker, due to fire damage and weathering, the difference between old and new stones will be clearly visible for a number of years after reconstruction.

Inside the Frauenkirche (a concert was about to be performed)


The Fürstenzug — the Saxon sovereigns walk.

Close up of The Fürstenzug.

In the Fatherland

The Reichstag, Berlin

The Reichstag with the memorial in front. Memorial in front of the Reichstag, Berlin. Each slate plate corresponds to one of the 96 members eliminated by the Nazis after they grasped power in 1933.

The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin.

The Brandenburg Gate consists of twelve doric columns, six to each side, forming five entries to corresponding roadways. Citizens originally were allowed to use only the outer two. Atop the gate is the Quadriga with Viktoria, the goddess of victory driving the Quadriga. The Quadriga currently faces East.

The Holocaust Memorial, consisting of 2711 concrete slabs is a memorial to the murdered jews across Europe by the Nazis. It's a huge installation and a bit weird to walk through it - as it is essentially blind corners - and as I am already developing a phobia about being run over by a cyclist coming out of the blue in Europe - walking between these slabs didn't help.

Marx and Engles (well I was on the eastern side!)

Berliner Dom (with Berlin Tower in the background)

The Humbolt University on Unter den Linden

The Altes Museum (Unter den Linden)

Much building and restoration work is occurring in Berlin. Reunification has left the city quite poor and so restoration work is taking quite a while to be completed. Behind the Altes Museum , the Pergamon and the New Art Gallery are being restored/built - hence the cranes.

Bebelplatz - the site of the book burning in the early days of Nazi ascendancy. The memorial took some time to work out, and see, what it was. Inside the glass cube are empty bookshelves. The people in the middle of the square are looking down into the memorial - probably doing what I did - wondering what on earth it was. It's only easily seen from one side due to glare (I think).



An East German toy with insulators on its head and an electrical plug for a tail - to encourage children to save energy - maybe we need to bring him back!! Also, a marvel of East German engineering - the Trabant (Trebi). Apparently if you ever took one to be repaired you had to supply your own spare parts - hence most people repaired their own on their kitchen tables (they only had a 2 stroke motor). The waiting list was 16 years long to get one!

The path of the Berlin Wall

The following photos are of the remaining largest section of the Berlin Wall. There was about 170 km of this wall enveloping West Berlin at the time. Now this section is an art exhibition. The last photo shows the reinforcing behind the concrete - no tunnelling out of here!

Approximately 100 - 150 people were killed attempting to cross the wall.