As the Easter holidays began, most members of the school community were enjoying a relaxing Sunday with no thought of school the next day. But as the clock struck midnight an intrepid band of students from Year 10 to 12 gathered on the Newmarket Road to travel to Berlin. 

As we sat at Gatwick nursing coffees wondering how anyone eats Wagamamas at 4.30am in the morning, we readied ourselves for the visit ahead. Landing in Berlin we enjoyed a very scenic bus tour to the hostel with a driver who appeared to be on his first visit to the city. From now on it would be public transport and it was good to see there was an S-Bahn station next to the hostel to this effect. 

The first day involved a river boat tour where many, some staff included, succumbed to the warmth and gentle rocking of the River Spree. To awaken ourselves we headed to the Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s primary shopping district. Not before stopping at the Kaiser Wilhelm Church, a bomb damaged structure which has been carefully preserved in its damaged state to keep the beautiful mosaics inside whilst a highly original new church has been erected to the side. The new Church is bathed in blue light through many stained glass windows and contains an arresting exhibition on the current conflict in Ukraine. This was followed by some time for shopping and, if you were efficient, a chance to head to KaDeWe, the historic, premier apartment store in Berlin. This preceded the first of several visits to the hub of Ostberlin the Alexanderplatz and dinner at a traditional German restaurant. There was no problem getting the students to go to sleep on the first night.

After breakfast on Tuesday we emerged into an increasingly bright, if cold, Berlin morning. We joined early morning runners in the park for some impromptu artistic sketching and the first of many stops for pretzels and pastries. Our first destination of the day was the historic Brandenburg Gate where students were given a short talk and some time to explore this monument synonymous with so many historic moments in Berlin’s history. We walked from here to the Berlin Story Bunker, an incredibly in-depth exhibit which has repurposed a wartime bunker to tell a highly comprehensive story of the rise and fall of the Nazi regime. It included an array of arresting and original images, engagement with myths, movies, cultural reference points from this period and a recreation of Hitler’s own bunker. As with any such exhibit there was some challenging content for the students to digest. We emerged into bright sunshine as we headed for the Reichstag, the German Parliament building. This historic building famous for images of its burning and liberation has become a symbol of German political unity and Norman Foster’s iconic dome provided the students with an excellent orientation of Berlin’s major landmarks. One of which is the iconic Jewish Museum. The work of the architect Daniel Lieberskind, the building is part historic reference point, part architectural wonder, part artistic exhibition. In the memorial on the lowest floor the intention is to create an empathetic feeling of isolation, confusion, detachment and ultimately empathy in an experiential reflection space regarding the persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust. It is a highly effective and affecting blend of historical events expressed through an artistic medium such as sloping floors, confusing corridor layouts, empty dark rooms, standing on clanking iron faces and gardens of disorientating pillars. It is hard not to be moved by the experience. 

Wednesday would focus largely on artistic ventures with the New National Gallery our first stop. This was a fascinating blend of different artists such as Gerhard Richter, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Hannah Hoch, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, many of whom had engaged with Germany’s complex past through the medium of art. Students carried sketchbooks and used the images for inspiration for their own artistic works and reflections. After a stop at the iconic Checkpoint Charlie where many photos were taken and souvenirs purchased we found lunch at an Easter Market in Potsdamer Platz where many students indulged in the traditional German Bratwurst mit Brot and plenty of slightly less traditional Churros. Next stop was the Hamburger Bahnhof Gallery; a train station converted into a space for modern art and experimental art. This included Fred Sandbach’s Simple Facts exhibition where whole rooms were filled with acrylic wool to create various two and three dimensional illusions. There was also an exhibition by various artists called Broken Music Vol. 2 of 700 vinyl records. The exhibition charted the development of the record as an art form accompanied by a soundscape of pop, punk and club. There were also live action performances as people emerged from the shadows to dance in bars and inhabit sets in Zineb Sedira’s ‘Dreams Have No Titles’ exhibition charting the unfulfilled dreams of equality and emancipation. From here we travelled to Bernauer Strasse to visit an exhibit recreating the wall and an observation tower which gives you a real sense of perspective. It was interesting to hear students discussing more recent political events in Europe and considering how these related to these historic challenges. Being in Berlin gave them a chance to voice some of their questions and concerns about the way the world is going and it was important to engage with them. Our day ended with a banquet at an Indian restaurant as students shared dishes and welcomed the calories after another busy day on foot.

We returned to the UK with that tiredness which comes from being busy. Having had many interesting experiences and conversations in our walks around the city of Berlin which, considering the many steps taken, is fortunately even flatter than Norwich. The students had navigated public transport with increasing confidence. The many journeys shook the group around a lot as we bundled onto underground trains, trams and buses and made for many amusing and enjoyable conversations for students to get to know one another better and similarly between students and staff. It is for these moments of relationship-building and shared experience that as a staff member you realise the incredible value of trips and why we missed them so badly during the pandemic. The students were brilliant throughout: well-behaved, on-time for meet-ups and relentlessly interested and cheerful. Popping out restorative supplies of mini-eggs and apple-flavoured sweets when staff began to flag. They had certainly mastered enough German to spot when we made the occasional wrong turn; obtain a range of drinks and baked goods; and to navigate shops selling makeup; this is certainly a strong launching point for further adventures. We hope in our short hop to Berlin we provided an enriching cultural insight into one of the world’s most historically dramatic cities, which has acted as an inspiration for incredible art to process these experiences for the German people. Germany as a nation is a similar age to Norwich High School for Girls and a united Berlin and Germany is still only around thirty years old, which I increasingly feel is very young indeed! It remains one of the most influential nations in the world with world leading industries, politically leading the EU-bloc and yet remains off many travel itineraries. Not so for students at Norwich High School for Girls who, I hope, will remember this demanding, interesting and enjoyable visit and one day return to this uniquely fascinating and welcoming city and country.