So I just got done with another research trip. This time I was up north of Berlin in a state called Mecklenburg/Vorpommern to do some refugee interviews.
This is Schwerin castle in the capital of Mecklenburg/Vorpommern, Schwerin...and it's the state's parliament!
Nice....
This is called 'Ritterstrasse' = Knight Street...so yes, John Ritter = John Knight...
I just thought I'd give you a 'look' for Schwerin. My dorm is going to do a trip later on there, so I'll probably have more/better pictures then and more info to give...
Schwerin has a zoo and their 'thing' is the Nashorn (Nas = nose; Horn = horn), did you figure out what a Nosehorn is (that is one of the reasons why I love German, it just says things HOW THEY ARE....) (Just in case, you are still lost, it's a Rhino ;) So the idea is that businesses can 'adopt' one of these Rhinos (money goes to build the habitat in the zoo for the Rhinos, etc.) have it decorated and get a lot of publicity through it. They're just sitting there in the main Market Square.
So back in the day, when Schwerin was a Slavic city, a German/Teuton named 'Heinrich the Lion' came (1160), killed the Slavic king and made the king's son his vassal (oh those were the days :( anyway, so the Lion is a symbol if you will of Schwerin....
There is Schwerin Cathedral in the background (Schwerin, like most of northern Germany, is Protestant).....
A view from the other side....
You see these all over Germany. Tablets to the 'honored dead' who gave their lives for the Fatherland back during WWI.....
What a waste of energy, talent, people...life!
I hate war!
After doing 4 interviews in Schwerin I was driven to a town nearby called Crivitz.
This is a picture of me with Herr and Frau 'H', we shall call them. I met Frau 'H' at a large German refugee meeting about a month ago in Schwerin. She not only agreed to be interviewed, but ALSO offered that I could stay with them in Crivitz AND arranged for a plethora of interviews for me. They fed me and took care of me and I am very thankful for their kindness...
I thought this was interesting...another memorial to the 'fallen dead', but this one is from the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871! Hmm...
This is a view of the Crivitizer See (Crivitz Lake) with the church in the background....
The town was old-style and cute - it reminded me of Colombia, Ireland and Britain mashed together....
Another view of the Church (built in the 1300's!!!)... let's go in, shall we?
The inside has medieval wall paintings (in Anklam (see earlier blog post) they told me that after the Reformation the 'Prods' just whitewashed the churches...now they're finding the early pre-Reformation paintings on the walls - I'm just assuming that this is the case here in Crivitiz Church)...
After an interview I made my way down to the lake and enjoyed a 'sit-down'. Ever since President Monson talked about 'enjoying the journey' I can say that has really been the case in my life - I've 'gotten help' to enjoy the journey more.... ;)
Then I heard a gaggle of geese! And I kept on waiting for them to fly over and waiting and waiting and then FINALLY....in a large V-ish line they were all heading south (I've decided birds that fly south are the smart ones!)...if you count them, I think there are almost 100!
(Click the picture to see better...)
All over Germany people have these little huts and gardens - reminds me of the Russian Dachas I've seen on TV...
This is a memorial in Crivitz to the 'Death March' of concentration camp prisoners from Sachsenhausen (camp near Berlin) and Ravensbruck (women's camp). The Nazis wanted to march the prisoners north and put the concentration camp prisoners on ships and then sink them (it happened with some). And this memorial thanks the Soviet Army for saving people from the death march.
People, don't take this question the wrong way but....if people truly 'believe' something and then act according to that belief, at the very least my brain can say 'they did this because they believed such-and-such'. If the Nazis truly believed in what they were doing, i.e. killing 'sub-humans' into the millions, then why did they go to all the trouble to try to 'cover-up' what they had done? Know what I mean? If they truly believed in it, why were they taking down concentration camps left and right and trying to get rid of the 'witnesses'? To me that equals even more...guilt...does that make sense?
After an interview I saw this house. I saw other houses (but not all) in the area with this kind of roof, making me think it is a 'Mecklenburg' roof (it has a 'dragon' on the end, making me think of the whole Scandinavian/Teutonic Knight history of the area...)
Here is a man..oops, sorry, sexist, human-made lake in Schwerin ;)
There is Schwerin Cathedral in the background...I thought it looked really cool...made me think of a Scandinavian city....
The Cathedral during the last rays of the day...
And then the Cathedral and Pfaffenteich (that is the name of the human-made lake) at night...I'd love to go for a walk around it during the summer...nice....
I said goodbye to Herr and Frau 'H' and goodbye to Crivitz (where I would sleep at night) and then headed off to Schwerin for my last interview.
Herr and Frau 'H' let me know that because I'd have a bit of time to kill I could go take a peek at Schweriner See (Schwerin Lake).
Wunderbar und beautiful, no?
More....
And behind the boats is Schwerin city....
This was my last interview, Herr 'K'. He built this 'Waldschule' (Wald = Forest; Schule = School) near Schweriner See. He lets the kids come and learn about the life of trees, how they grow, animals, etc. I thought it was all very imaginative and cool for the kids!
As Herr 'K' was driving me to the Hauptbahnhof (Haupt - Main; Bahnhof - Train station) I saw this!
BEAUTIFUL VIEW, eh?! Hmm, hmm....
So on my way back to Berlin I came across the windmills...I want one for my house! I'd never have to pay for electricity again! ;)
So, that was another introduction to what I do...I was tired from all the travelling and interviewing, but grateful - I've waited a while for all of this to happen...
