Mitchell Wybenga

Maybe it’s a bad descriptor, but Berlin is just cool. I think the majority of the world’s leather jackets and Dr. Martins belong to this city.
We have done so much exploring since getting here! We have seen the TV tower (but I’m pretty sure it’s the space needle), gotten Döner im brot (successfully ordered in German), been to the zoo, the planetarium, and seen the Festival of Lights!

The Festival of Lights is an event where people from all over the world come to see digital art projected onto some of Berlin’s most recognizable buildings! The show brings out street food vendors, performers, and so much more! The second of the two series photos showing this is the Humboldt University Law Library!

We have also been to many churches which were a central part to the peaceful protest movements that caused the take down of the Berlin Wall. The church pictured here after the Festival of Lights, is the Church of Reconciliation. Unfortunately, this church did not have the chance to help in the peace protests. It’s previous building stood on land which the East German government seized in order to build the Wall. The original church was in the middle of what was known as the “death strip,” and was then torn down for the sake of the border. The photo after the new church building shows lines on the ground where the walls of the church would have stood, and perpendicularly intersecting it are various lines of traps on the border to prevent attempts at crossing over the wall.

It has been amazing to see how this city has and is still working to reconcile with itself and it’s long, dark history. I am blessed to be studying here!Read more