Europe2016

The Wuppertal Schwebebahn. I went out to Wuppertal specifically to see and ride this. More detail with subsequent pictures.

Construction on the Schwebebahn began in 1898 and a portion of the railway opened in 1901, with the whole 13km stretch opened by 1903. The various websites I've seen describe it as a suspension railway, though apparently 'schwebe' means 'hover'. I think of it more along the lines of what "Schwebebahn" sounds like in my very poor effort to pronounce German and thus sounds close to "swaying bahn" (the cars do sway).

Much of the line is over the Wuppertal river which forms a fairly narrow valley through the area. Besides being ridden by tourists, it's a key part of the transit system for the area. Midday on a Tuesday the cars were fairly full, and it looked like I was the only tourist.

The line retains much of its original appearance, but many parts of it have been reconstructed. It was heavily damaged in WWII and has been modernized since. The Wikipedia page on it has a good combination of history and pictures: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Suspension_Railway

There are quite a few videos of the Schwebebahn on Youtube. The most comprehensive one that I saw includes historic cars, videos of switching and turning around, a glimpse of the rail yard, and some aerial views (it's in German): www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeLfS7zzRGI

The Memorial to Polish Soldiers and German Anti-Fascists. The following is just a summary of what is found on the Wikipedia page (link below). I could not find another source regarding this memorial. The memorial was built in what was East Berlin in 1972 at a time of improving relations between Poland and East Germany; the monument was rededicated in 1995 after German reunification. The memorial is to both Polish soldiers who died in WWII and to the anti-Nazi resistance during the war. When I visited I had first come to the park (Volkspark Friedrichshain) to visit another site; I found no signs directing me to the memorial. The memorial is described as ‘in the foot of a hill’, which is slightly odd-sounding since the hill is not a natural hills but rubble from the WWII bombings that were covered in dirt and over time have come to look natural. The memorial has a history of being vandalized and the memorial itself was once defaced with neo-Nazi slogans. The Wikipedia page reports that the memorial is often used for skateboarding. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_Polish_Soldiers_and_German_Anti-Fascists

For your and our freedom Za nasza i wasza wolnosc (Polish) Fuer eure und unsere freiheit (German) The two side-by-side white columns, united by a bronze flag, are designed to symbolize the joint struggles of Poles and Germans against fascisim. The saying on the wall, in Polish and German, is the motto of the Polish (and Lithuanian, Belarusian, and American) hero Tadeusz Kościuszko. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_Polish_Soldiers_and_German_Anti-Fascists

Coat of arms of East Germany

Coat of arms of communist-era People's Republic of Poland

A relief of a Polish and Red Army soldier,and of a German resistance fighter.

Entrance fo the Soviet War Memorial in Schönholzer Heide (heath). For some reason I could not find a good map with its location when I started looking for it, but now that I know where it is, I can find it on maps easily! Unfortunately it took a lot of wandering through a large (and pleasant) park before determining that I had started out in the wrong direction. As you can see from this shot, it was very well marked...(I'm being sarcastic).

вечная память героям (Eternal memory to the heroes) Entrance gate to the Soviet War Memorial in Schönholzer Heide

The Soviet War Memorial in Schönholzer Heide is in the Pankow borough of Berlin (formerly East Berlin) and is the largest Russian cemetery in Europe outside of Russia. It was built between 1947 and 1949 as the burial ground for 13,200 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who died in the battle of Berlin. Sources for this and subsequent pictures are: Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_War_Memorial_(Sch%C3%B6nholzer_Heide) Berlin.de: stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/stadtgruen/friedhoefe_begraebnisstaetten/en/sowjet_ehrenmale/schoenholzerheide/index.shtml

The main portal to the cemetery, with the obelisk in the distance. Details of the portal are in nearby photos. Somehow this cemetery, more than other formerly Soviet sites that I have visited, felt very much like a reminder of what life must have been like during the Soviet era. It may have been just the grayness and dampness of the day, but contributing to that feeling was the semi-hidden nature of the entrance to the cemetery and the fact that I saw only two other people on the grounds. One person was the man in this picture who did not acknowledge my presence and walked in a way that suggested he was not a tourist, the other person was an older woman who was some sort of maintenance person and acknowledged me with only the briefest of nods. I felt as though I was in the middle of an old movie about undercover operatives meeting (and like I was being watched by surveillance cameras).

The detailed sculptures on the left side of the portal, depicting a male and a female soldier appearing to enter combat, with a fallen soldier between them. If you look close, you'll see that there is an anatomical impossibility in the sculptures.

I'm assuming this is depicting the working family at home mourning what looks to be news of a death delivered by another soldier. If you look to the upper left, you'll see a hammer and sickle on the flag.

обнажите головы! здесь покоятся вечным сном советские воины герои великой отечественной воины 1941-1945 они отдали свои жизни за ваше счастье This is closer to the translation on the Wikipedia page of: "Uncover your head! Here are Soviet soldiers, heroes from the great war 1941-1945, laid to eternal rest." Here the last line translates to: "They gave their lives for your happiness (or fortune)"

ENTBLÖSST DAS HAUPT HIER SIND SOWJETISCHE SOLDATEN HELDEN DES GROSSEN VATERLANDISCHEN KRIEGES 1941-1945 ZUE EWIGEN RUHE GEBETTTET SIE GABEN IHR LEBEN FUR EURE ZUKUNFT Per the Wikipedia page, this translates to: "Uncover your head! Here are Soviet soldiers, heroes from the great war 1941-1945, laid to eternal rest." This translation drops out the ‘fatherland’ (VATERLANDISCHEN). Also in the Wikipedia page, the last line is missing which translates to: "They gave their lives for your future"