Unexpected Discovery of the Day

Seizing the opportunity a beautiful, sunny November day presented us, Kelsey and I spent Sunday brunching and wandering somewhat aimlessly through the city. As we meandered down Berlin's most famous boulevard, Unter den Linden, we were stopped in our tracks by an armada of police trucks, fencing and some very intimidating German cops. Something had to be going on.
Naturally, curiosity got the better of us and we joined the queue starring expectantly at the Neue Wache memorial. After eavesdropping on those around us (good practice for our German!) we ascertained that the November 14th is Germany's Volkstrauertag also known as Remembrance Day.
Now I'm going to ask you to bear with me while I digress a bit and put on my German geek hat. It's important to note that Germany doesn't have a Veterans' Day. Volkstrauertag is the closest thing they have and it is officially dedicated to "all victims of war and tyranny". This ambiguity is quite intentionally constructed in an attempt to come to terms with the tragic German history. For that matter, Neue Wache where this ceremony took place, is also dedicated to the victims of war and tyranny and contains the remains of an unidentified World War II soldier and an unidentified Holocaust victim. I think is quite significant that Germany has no memorial to the German soldier or day to remember the service of the German soldier. This speaks to the complicated relationship that Germany has with the military and it's military history.
 

But back to yesterday. Kelsey and I were lucky to stumble upon the ceremony just as it began and were able to catch a glimpse of some of the country's most important politicians. We saw Federal President Christian Wulff, Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, as well as a bunch of other official-looking unidentifiable German political and military big-wigs. I always find the different ways that Germany attempts to come to terms with its difficult past very interesting and it was fascinating to get to personally experience one such instance.