Schicksalstag

9 November is a significant day in German history... it's also the day I attended a session of Parliament (Bundestag) at the Reichstag.

Quick German history overview:

1848: Robert Blum was executed in Vienna which was a symbolic end to the revolution of 1848 which sought more democracy and freedoms.
1918: Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated the throne, ending monarchy in Germany and establishing the Weimar Republic.
1923: Adolf Hitler leads a failed coup attempt in Munich (Beer Hall Putsch) that helped establish the Nazi Party as an important player.
1938: Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) occurs where the Nazis lead a pogrom against Jewish businesses, synagogues and homes. First example of radical Nazi anti-semitic beliefs.
1989: The Berlin Wall fell and started the process of Reunification.

My observation of the session of the Bundestag began with the end of debate about creating a public memorial to mark Reunification/German Unity. This debate was closed within a few minutes of arriving in the chamber. The second debate I saw was on the Green Party's proposal to implement speed limits on the Autobahn. The Green's (environmental party) belief is that a speed limit will help reduce harmful emissions that are causing global warming. The controlling CDU/CSU and SPD parties do not support this proposal. Although I obviously couldn't understand more than a handful of words, I got the general gist of the speeches. The best part had to be when the CDU speaker (I believe) made a joke that, especially on a day like today (referencing when the wall fell), how can the Green's propose this--their Trabis can't even go that fast on the Autobahn anyway.

After the session, we went into the dome on top of the Reichstag. The Reichstag was renovated (totally rebuilt inside) during the 1990s (after Reunification for the move of the government back to Berlin from the former West German capital of Bonn). The top of the Reichstag has a huge glass dome that visitors can walk through and see some spectacular views of the city. I'm going to go back at night before I leave... and if you're ever in Berlin, I highly recommend a visit.

Following the Parliament tour, I went with Marion and Jill to the Humboldt Universität Mensa (cafeteria) and had a great hot meal (turkey) for only 2€. Then I went to the DDR Museum for one of my class projects. It's a very fun museum where most of the exhibits are interactive and you're supposed to touch and use the artifacts. I had a lot of fun sitting in the Trabant and playing the driving simulator... of course, the Trabi took several tries to start and broke down pretty quickly after I started "driving". The museum has been designed as a very light-hearted look at the realities of life in the former East Germany and I also recommend going there.