Taylorian 2020

75 W hat immediately struck me about Munich was how compact the city was. Marienplatz, the square which is the lifeblood of the Bavarian capital, is dominatedby the stunningNeuesRathaus. Surprisingly, the building escaped serious war damage, unlike the other 90 per cent of the city, which did suffer tremendously. Our tour guide, Aileen, took us to visit many sites and invited us to consider the significance of Munich in the rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party. These included the place the Munich Putsch of 1923 occurred and the Hofbräuhaus beer hall. We ended the day with an ultra-Bavarian dinner of pork knuckle. The next day started with a journey to the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s mountaintop retreat near the alpine ski town of Berchtesgaden, built as a mark of autocratic power and to emphasise the connection between Germany and Hitler’s birthplace, Austria. Today, the Eagle’s Nest serves a very different purpose by opening its doors to visitors and thereby attempting to reconcile its place in German history. Central to this educational mission is the Documentation Centre, a museum built upon the remains of what used to be the second centre of Nazi administration, which seeks to celebrate democracy and deference to the rights of the individual through fostering a deeper engagement with the Nazi period. With the weather doing us a favour, the panorama at the top of the Eagle’s Nest was truly incredible, literally at eye level with the Alps, looking at both Austria and Germany. The day ended with dinner in the Hofbräuhaus beer hall, one of the principal sites of the Nazi Party’s foundation. The night was a demonstration of Bavarian culture at its zenith with noise, bonhomie, music, and, Mr Hale’s favourite, traditional Bavarian whip-cracking. We then visited Nuremberg, the site of the terrifying Nuremberg rallies as well as the post-war Nuremberg Trials for genocide. These trials created the precedent for much of the international law that guides our judiciaries to this day. On our final day we visited Dachau, the first concentration camp. Dachau was initially a place for political prisoners but became a place in which thousands of Jews and others deemed undesirable by the evil regime died from overwork and disease. Needless to say, the atmosphere was sombre but Ralph, our guide, was able to strike a delicate and sensitive balance between respecting this and enlightening us as to the camp’s historical significance. He told us that there is an obligation for all German children above the age of twelve to visit a concentration camp with their school, another indication of Germany’s attempt to remember and learn from this era of its history. Munich proved to be a fascinating city, whose image dwells in the memory of man; in his dark history and his prosperous present. An invaluable lesson we learned from this trip is that, as Disraeli once said, “without tact you can learn nothing.” A huge thank you is owed to Mr Hale, Mr Hawkes, and in particular to Mr Herring, without whom this trip would not have been possible. Kardo Beck (5ths) Trips Trips History trip to Munich