Andrew and I were on the metro, ready to go do some errands or go to a museum, when we noticed that there were a number of football (soccer) tops on show in our S-bahn car. So, we spontaneously decided to follow these people and go see if we could get tickets to a game.
We ended up at the 1936 Olympic stadium to watch Hertha BSC, Berlin's home team.
The crowd was extremely excited, and Hertha BSC ended up winning 4-0. Hertha BSC is on the top of the second league in Germany, and as a result, in the 2011-2012 season, it will return to the premier league.
At half-time, Andrew and I walked around, talking about the history of the stadium, and looking at the pieces that remain. We saw a plaque that noted all of the gold medal winners, and it was cool to see Jesse Owens from the States, and Jack Lovelock from New Zealand on the board. The Olympic bell was still there, and if you look closely, there are two swastikas that have been partially removed along the rim. It is so strange to think that all this was happening not so long ago.
Andrew and I went back to his apartment that night and watched clips of the Leni Riefenstahl film Olympia, and youtube videos of the stadium and Hitler's speech. It makes freedom and peace feel so much more fragile than it seems for me, as someone from New Zealand who has been so fortunate to not have experienced war firsthand. After my very very small experiences in Cambodia, I'm not sure how one can comprehend such atrocities on the kind of scale as the Holocaust and World War II, but as I explore this city, I'm sure to unearth more stories, museums, and memorials. Hopefully I can at least respect and appreciate them, if not comprehend or understand them.
We ended up at the 1936 Olympic stadium to watch Hertha BSC, Berlin's home team.
The crowd was extremely excited, and Hertha BSC ended up winning 4-0. Hertha BSC is on the top of the second league in Germany, and as a result, in the 2011-2012 season, it will return to the premier league.
At half-time, Andrew and I walked around, talking about the history of the stadium, and looking at the pieces that remain. We saw a plaque that noted all of the gold medal winners, and it was cool to see Jesse Owens from the States, and Jack Lovelock from New Zealand on the board. The Olympic bell was still there, and if you look closely, there are two swastikas that have been partially removed along the rim. It is so strange to think that all this was happening not so long ago.
Andrew and I went back to his apartment that night and watched clips of the Leni Riefenstahl film Olympia, and youtube videos of the stadium and Hitler's speech. It makes freedom and peace feel so much more fragile than it seems for me, as someone from New Zealand who has been so fortunate to not have experienced war firsthand. After my very very small experiences in Cambodia, I'm not sure how one can comprehend such atrocities on the kind of scale as the Holocaust and World War II, but as I explore this city, I'm sure to unearth more stories, museums, and memorials. Hopefully I can at least respect and appreciate them, if not comprehend or understand them.
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