Remembrance Concert in Dresden
I will be in Dresden the week of Feb. 11 and would love to go to the Remembrance concert in the Frauenkirche Feb. 13 or 14. Of course, tickets were sold out long ago. Any suggestions for sources from which to secure a single ticket? Willing to pay commissions, surcharges, gratuities, etc.
Will
San Francisco, CA 12/2/12
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There is nothing disrespectful in any of these posts. Please leave them posted, James.
Forums are helpful when they assist not only with travel plans but also with information about the countries one is visiting. It doesn't matter what country it is. The more you know about it, the more interesting your trip will be, and then it won't be just about seeing tourist sites, but will offer more insight to the people who live here, their past and yes, their present.
To answer some of Will's questions about travel:
Will - I've only spent enough time in Berlin and Vienna to give recommendations that I really like. I can't imagine skipping all cathedrals, as they are some of my favorite things to see, but that's your prerogative. I would strongly suggest checking out St. Stephan's Dom in Vienna as well as the fascinating catacombs tour there, if only to stand next to the internal organs of the Hapsburgs. I also think the Catchupin (spelling?) crypt in Vienna is worth seeing even if you're not a Hapsburg junkie like me.
Eating in Vienna - you're spending a lot of time there, so I'd suggest treating Vienna like any other major city and getting out of eating traditional Austrian food all the time (which would quickly get boring to me). There's some great Asian food in Vienna, for example. I like Ramien on Gumpendorferstrasse for some nice, affordable pan-asian noodle and rice bowls, and Maschu Maschu has great falafel. For a more traditionally Vienese experience, Cafe Sperl is outside the ring road tourist quarter, but provides a really great atmosphere and tasty food. My favorite wine bar in all of Europe (so far) is Weinquartier right by the Hofburg palace. The Nachtsmarkt is of course fantastic for browsing and great cheap eats. I would definatley suggest not spending all your time in the innerstadt surrounded by the ring road, Vienna has some cool and interesting neighborhoods outside of that worth exploring since you'll have plenty of time.
I absolutely love Vienna, and there's a ton to see and do there, so I'd suggest getting a guidebook just for the city alone to really make the most of your time there.
Berlin -
My other favorite city, and another great food city (except not so great for maybe German food, as unlike many other parts of Germany, the regional cusiene isn't as strong there). Berlin is quite large and doesn't have much of a "center" the way most other european cities do, so it's really great to explore it neighborhood by neighborhood. You won't have any problem finding interesting looking cafes, restaurants, and bars approaching it that way. You don't say how much time you have, but I'd dedicate at least a half-day to just wandering around Prenzlauerberg and Kreuzberg for sure. There are surprises everywhere. You might be surprised (as I was) to how much Berlin "feels" like San Francisco even if it doesn't look anything like it. Parts of Kreuzberg could easily be the Mission!
As far as Jewish history in Berlin, check out the "new" Synagogue, it's in what was formerly a Jewish neighborhood with a lot of Jewish history, including a cemetery. The building itself is beautiful. Be aware you'll have to go through a security check to get in, but it's open for visitors. There's a sort of hipster Jewish deli in the same neighborhood with homemade pastrami.
And please don't be nervous! You'll do great and have a wonderful time. You're from San Francisco so I don't think you'll be shocked by the "coldness" or "rudeness" of people in Vienna or Berlin - like SF they're big working cities with a lot of tourists, so your waitresses might not smile at you, but that doesn't mean they dislike you. If you need assistance or directions I'm sure you'll find people more than willing to help you out, I always have.
This is not a political discussion board.
@ Rosalyn...Your point is well taken, historically accurate, and I agreed with it. I suggest also the book, "The Politics of Rescue " similar to your recommendation.
I've bit my tongue while reading some of these posts. After all, it is a travel forum where we exchange highs and lows of things we've experienced with people all over the World. However, when one equates the suffering Germany experienced after WW1 "the reparations levied against the losers resulted in unimaginable suffering, in addition to the horrors of the four years of war" I have to shake my head. What about the suffering of the Belgium and French people who were invaded to start the war? Entire towns were leveled, and many atrocities were committed against citizens. Who should have paid to rebuild those towns? Their bankrupt governments? Maybe the reparations were too harsh, but Germany was culpable.
As for the Jewish refugees being refused entry into the US prior to WW11: "Those who want to condemn the German people so completely should remember that the U.S. government refused asylum to Jewish refugees, some sitting on boats a few miles off our shores, whose lives could have been saved" is hardly equal to starting a second WW and exterminating 6 million Jews. The German people were culpable. In 1920, there were less than 60 members of the Nazi party. In 1945, there were 8.5 million, or 12% of the population. Unfortuantely the country that gave us Bach, Beethoven, Goethe, and so many others will be remembered for the death and destruction they caused in the 20th Century.
Will - Please go and enjoy the concert. I wish I was going.
Andreas - and yet we're having a political discussion! interesting.
Larry - I think the point is that WWII history in Europe is complicated. It's not as simple, at least for me, as "Germans bad, everyone else was victims" although immediately after the war, every other country attempted to paint it that way. There were fascist movements in every European country at the time who sympathized with Hitler and welcomed the German invasion. The vast majority of Jews who died in the Holocaust were not German Jews (most of whom fled in the decades prior as anti-Semitic laws in Germany were introduced) but rather in countries Germany invaded, and the fact is those people could not have been rounded up and sent off without the complicity of their countrymen. Murderous antisemitism in the 1930s and 40s was not a uniquely German phenomenon, and unfortunately in the aftermath of the war, the antisemtitic and nationalist elements in those surrounding countries were not wiped out as they were in Germany, which is why you still have such a strong element of far-right nationalism and antisemitism in Europe today.
Don't get me wrong, I have no desire to let the Nazis or even the German people off the hook, but the more I learn about European history, the more I'm kind of horrified by all of it, you know what I mean? I'd never known anything about the Ustace fascists in Croatia for example, who in addition to murdering Jews also murdered anyone who wasn't ethnically Croat in collaboration with the Nazis. Many people in Poland, while victims of the Nazis, were more than happy to help carry out the Holocaust. The more I learn the more complicated it all gets.
Speaking of remembrance. Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Time to shift your contempt from Germans to the Japanese.
Interesting topic, and since I have a bad habit of being a "book pusher" in re: Sarah's comment above, I would recommend "Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of WWII" b/c in school here (US) they usually end at V-E and V-J day. Since the Eastern Front is also barely covered I would recommend "Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin" and the excellent "A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army." Sorry for the off topic post.
Sarah -
I agree completely with your point about Europe being complicated in reference to WW11. I doubt if many people realize that of the 38 Waffen SS Divisions employed by Germany (some death squads), quite a few were made up entirely of volunteers from other countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Netherlands, Serbia, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, Albania, Italy). It was not black and white. Yet those who would apologize or rationalize Germany's actions from 1914-1945 are doing a disservice to all those that died resisting or fighting.
Now I'm off my soapbox.
James - Well stated about today.
True, good point on the foreign volunteers. You would be surprised in which country in Western Europe, ie., outside of Germany, was the recruitment the highest, the most numerous, proportion to the general population.
It is sad to see the responses from some of you folks. I am the son of
A German-Amercian father who served in the European Theatre of operations
during WWII. What occurred from the allied side in both the Pacific and
Europe was necessary. For someone to post a reference to Hiroshima ??
That is an insult to anyone who served in the Pacific. The brutalites that
were committed by the axis powers were beyond human comprehension. They
needed to be silenced at all costs. America and its Allies will never
be ashamed of their actions to free the world. This should never even
been brought into this question in the first place.
I think the general point of most of the comments has been this- war sucks, for everyone. There is no such thing a "good war", although there are sometimes "necessary" wars. This doesn't mean that we can not empathize (but not necessarily sympathize) with all those who suffered.
Tom made a very important point to explain why we need this discussion. When I look at those involved in a war as horrible as WWII it is not to "apologize" for any of their actions. My goal is to UNDERSTAND what leads to a war in order to prevent another one to happen and in order to live in peace. And no, the absence of war is not peace, just a necessary condition.
Remembering the suffering that is caused by war is one way to help prevent the next one. I do not want our governments to be involved in a war that is led "at ALL cost", no matter how noble the reason. That's why my government has signed the Geneva convention and the US government as well.
Do we need this discussion on a travel forum? Maybe not. Maybe travel can help us to see the consequences of war in situ and see what other countries have done (or not) in order to prevent war from happening again.
I have to finally weigh on this discussion. Am glad he is going to the Remberance Concert. I am probably more invested than anyone else as I am an American War Orphan. My father was machined gunned to death bailing out of his crippled plane according to eye witness testimony from crew who did survive and became POW's. The OP is going to a concert to Remember a horrible event and I applaud him for doing this. Do I feel sorry for those citizens, I can't honestly say. I guess if we can maybe all think of all the people who were touched by this war, we can hope it will never happen again.
Given the political turn that my original post has taken, all I will say is that now I am doubly proud and humbled to be able to attend the Remembrance Concert in Dresden.
Will,
I am glad you are taking the opportunity to attend this Remembrance Concert, (and rightly so), you'll hear great music played by one of the great symphony orchestras in Germany.
@ Danni...thanks for the references. I am familiar with "Bloodlands"...pretty horrific.
Sarah. Thank you for all the information. I will send you a private message.
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