I first met M... about 5 years ago when she was working at the sandwich shop where I often shop when working in town. She was not long out of high school, which, in Germany, ends when the student is about 19 or 20. In fact, she turned 20 not long after starting at the shop. Sydney was a stop on her around-Australia journey, and like lots of young Europeans, she found employment in the food industry. In fact, not long before she continued her travels, an Italian girl doing the same started working in the same shop.
Because I speak some German, we chatted when I came in, and became friendly. I found M... sweet-natured, open and direct. When she was leaving we exchanged contact details and, every few months, would have a brief e-chat, often about her university studies.
I heard from her about 12 months ago, and understood that she was about to finish her degree. I also noticed a Facebook post calling for anyone who might like to take over her flat in a Berlin suburb. I heard nothing more and assumed that she had finished her course and moved back to her home town closer to the French border. However, I wrote an e-mail to say I planned to come to Berlin and asking if she had any suggestions about things to see. Later, when I had a travel phone number, I sent her that number as well. I admit that I was hoping to catch up during my visit.
She replied quickly. She was still in Berlin, still at the same address, still doing final courses for her degree, working not far outside the city, and more than keen to catch up.
Neither of us was able to contact the other, and eventually I concluded that she had not been able to change her arrangements, so I went for a pizza and a beer. This time I chatted a bit more with the owners, who turned out to be Iraqi Kurds.
View of the street through the café window
Café interior
After eating I decided to walk, with one hand on my mobile phone ("Handy" in German) and the other on my camera.
I noticed a laneway which I hadn't seen before, and went into it. Here I found something remarkable. It had been the location of a major Synagogue destroyed during the war -- a quite hidden, but touching, memorial.
Historical photograph of the interior of the synagogue.
Concrete benches constructed at the locations of benches in the original synagogue.
Samuel Anmann, Cantor (Chasan) of the Synagogue, managed to escape
early in the war to Hong Kong, and eventually reached Melbourne, Australia,
where he was Chasan in the Elwood Synagogue for many years.
The light coloured shape (like an inverted question mark)
is the new development; note the location of the benches.
The laneway by which I accessed the site is at the left in this diagram.
Another view.
I then moved back into Axel-Springer-Straße and walked down to Kommandantenstraße. Arriving there, I heard church bells. They sounded enticing, and (to my Australian ears) unusual, particularly on a Wednesday night around 6 pm. So I decided to check. I walked to Waldeckpark in Oranienstraße, where I could see a church tower in a Romanesque style. I assumed it would be a Roman Catholic Church, but continued to the church, which turned out to be an evangelical church, Evangelische Jakobikirche. There were a few people on the porch area when I arrived. I passed them but they said nothing, so I looked around and took photos and then returned, this time deciding to go through the Waldeckpark.
Residential development in Kommandantenstraße
Waldeckpark
Jakobikirche and tower
Gate into church garden
The church has many social programs, particularly for the housebound and ill.
Waldeckpark
I hadn't gone far when my phone rang. M... had tried several times, as I had, to contact me and say that she would be free that evening. Like me, she had eventually had her dinner, but could we meet at 8 for Beer and Brezel (Berlin German for pretzel). She would meet me at Leopoldplatz on the U-Bahn (underground line).
This was to be my first encounter with U-Bahn.
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