Warsaw, Part I: Restoration

Warsaw said hi to us with a wide expanse of cloudless skies and cold spring weather. What we were to expect there, we didn’t know just yet…

We knew one thing about Warsaw though, that it was devastated during World War II. The Germans left almost nothing standing in the capital city of Poland, and so we already knew that many of the buildings here were restored after all that destruction. History may not be something we should be seeking in this city.

So what were we seeking? We would have to see it first to believe it. We had brunch at Burger King in a super modern mall beside the main station. It reminded me so much of Kuala Lumpur, with the huge interior and large ‘food court’ with a bunch of fast food chains and levels after levels of shops and boutiques. So far, Warsaw seemed pretty modern, the area had skyscrapers , and there was the Palace of Culture and Science, a giant soviet-era building rising up from the city, resembling the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Empire State Building at the same time. It was a ridiculous sight in the middle of Poland’s capital city. It looked nothing like the buildings around it, and led us to wonder about the purpose of its existence.

The Palace of Culture and Science, a misfit of a building in the middle of Warsaw.

Next up was the old town, we were very curious as to what it would look like after the total destruction of it after World War II. What we witnessed was something extraordinary. It looked pretty much like every other old town we had visited. The buildings were nicely presented, and the castle looked as old and rugged as the one we witnessed in Krakow. But of course we knew. We knew that it was all restored.

The efforts at restoration.

Warsaw Castle! Fully restored after it was 85% destroyed.

There was the Royal Warsaw Castle that made up a large portion of the old town. It wasn’t on a higher altitude, but it was grand all the same. When we stepped inside, we learned that the castle was totally restored. Most of the paintings were relocated before WWII, while the entire complex was destroyed, with only 15% of the original structure remaining. Nevertheless, the rooms were still grand and almost every relic, mural, tapestry, and decoration was still in place, showing how extensive the restoration had been. During the tour, I accidentally sat on one of the chairs on display (there was no sign and the chair looked pretty modern, in my defence). The woman on duty scolded me and kept a close eye on me after that, showing that even though the castle was not the original, the people of Warsaw still commemorated their history regardless.

Lavish interiors that had to be totally replicated.

   

Next up we walked down the street to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was the ruins of the former Saxon Palace that was completely destroyed during World War II, with only a few columns remaining. You could tell because the structure of the columns had bare brick at the side; it used to be connected to a larger structure. It now served as a memorial for Polish soldiers who died in their service for the country, but whose bodies were never identified or found. Two stern looking Polish soldiers stood by the tomb and we were fortunate to be just on time for the change of guard. Very much like the routine we observed at Prague Castle, the soldiers stepped up to their buddies, did some fancy foot drills and played around with the weapon handling before swapping roles. It was nice to see such routines kept up purely to commemorate those that had passed, something done for a higher purpose.

The tomb of the unknown soldier.

Change of guards!

Evidence of past destruction.

   

   

In the end of the day, history is exactly what you should be seeking. The vacant squares and restored buildings should help us to understand how a nation managed to stand up after all the abuse it received. Having the impression that Warsaw was once obliterated and smashed to dust shouldn’t come up in your mind and cloud your vision once you are here. The Warsaw we saw was a totally rebuilt, restored and fresh city. It was admittedly less aged than Prague and less developed than Vienna, but still makes its mark on history. unsurprisingly. Warsaw today is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the efforts of its people during the difficult post war years, one that overcame human brutality and brought to the world the beautiful city that we had seen, one that remembers its past but looks forward to its future.

We will remember those senselessly murdered in World War II.

Munich, Part II: Nazi rule, Swans and Ted Bundy

There are three pivotal attractions in and around Munich that are well worth a visit. They are Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, Nymphenburg Palace and Schloß Neuschwanstein (Neuschwanstein Castle). We had the privilege of visiting these three places in the span of two tiring days.

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial

When we arrived at Dachau Station it was already raining, and the sky was dark and cloudy. The fact that we had a concentration camp to visit added to the sepulchre.

The clean and organised entrance was hardly the sight that greeted prisoners more than 70 years ago.

We waited for the tour guide at the ticket office before embarking on our cold, wet and windy journey through the camp site. The rain got heavier and heavier as the tour guide brought us around and even the hardy Americans were starting to huddle together for warmth. In the cold, we learned of the various methods in which Hitler had managed to deal with political dissidents, criminals, homosexuals, asocials, and most prominently, the Jews.

This was before World War II, and the Weimar Republic had collapsed onto Nazi ideology. One of its ideologies was for a ‘clean’ Germany, devoid of the above mentioned categories of people who would ‘dirty’ the social fabric that Hitler was trying to craft.

These camps were made known to the public, but the horrors that occurred inside were kept within its walls. There were only rumours of brutality and mistreatment, but the German public couldn’t have known more than that.

Once you stepped through the gates, you were greeted by a huge parade square, and it reminded me very much of my army camp back in Singapore. I know it’s a silly comparison, because, to be realistic, whatever we faced in army was nothing compared to the suffering of the prisoners. This square was used for roll calls, and they would stand for hours on end in neat rows as a form of punishment in any season from summer to winter. Just standing there on a chilly spring day wearing thick jackets made me shiver and fidget uncontrollably. You could only imagine the suffering they had gone through without any proper food or winter wear.

The camp “parade square” where torturous roll calls and public executions were carried out.

We were introduced to the registration process, where they shaved their heads and removed all their possessions and gave each of them a number to be identified by. Basically, they took away their identity. Again, I couldn’t help but feel that same feeling on my enlistment day. I know it’s silly to make comparisons, but the same discomfort I felt about losing everything that made me unique must have been magnified indefinitely for these prisoners.

Bone-chilling artwork of a survivor, one that portrays one of the infamous death marches.

There were various torture methods. The basic punishment was 25 whiplashes on the back and buttocks. The prisoner was forced to count every lash, and if he lost count or murmured, the count would start from scratch. That was just one of the many inhumane punishments that were explained to us.

Illustration of one of the various torture methods; this one so painful it could dislocate the prisoner’s shoulder in minutes.

There was an electric fence around the camp, and at times, some prisoners would run to the fence in a desperate bid to either escape or kill himself. Those that made it to the fence would be electrocuted by it, those that didn’t would have been shot down by SS (Security Squad) guards strategically placed on watchtowers. They would make sure they only shot the prisoner in the legs so that he wouldn’t be fatally wounded. The guards would then proceed to drag the prisoner to the main building where he would be slowly and methodically tortured to death. Even the choice to die wasn’t granted to them so easily.

The walk of remembrance, past where the prisoners’ barracks used to stand.

Such was the cruelty of the SS that your mind fails to comprehend how such suffering could be rationally inflicted on these individuals. They were once ordinary men and women with ordinary lives. There are a few memorial plaques and statues commemorating the suffering that had taken place. One stated “To remember the dead, and to warn the living.” while another one warned us, or just humanity in general: “Never again.”

These monuments were put up by survivors and their words meant so much to me. However I guess that deep down they must have known, that no amount of words could ever help them find the people they once were. Having us appreciate their loss was just an attempt to make sense of a moment when humanity perished. It is an attempt to find themselves again.

“To remember the dead, and warn the living.”

Nymphenburg Palace

This palace is also known as “Castle of the Nymph”, a Baroque Palace that was the primary summer residence of the past rulers of the Bavarian Kingdom. They were all from the House of Wittelsbach. If you don’t know what all that means, don’t worry, for I have no clue either. All I know is, the interior of the palace was generously decorated and the swans at the entrance pond were huge.

The impressive facade of Nymphenburg Palace surrounded by a huge pond.

Construction for this palace started in 1664, a cool 340 years ago. It was designed by an Italian architect and was systematically expanded by various kings and emperors in 1701, 1716, 1795 and 1826. The façade of the palace stretches for 700 meters, while the garden around it spans about 200 hectares, which I take to mean really huge because the park seemed to stretch on forever, flowing away from the main palace.

Just some of the ducks that call the surrounding park home.

Enough of the fun facts, and into the palace! Once inside we were greeted by the majestic central pavilion, which had insanely detailed wall paintings and ceiling murals depicting various war scenes featuring Roman Gods. Walking deeper into the compound, there were lavish bedrooms with furniture and accessories like mirrors and lamps that were centuries old. Every room had huge paintings hanging on the walls, and every room had mirrors so you could take a mid-tour mirror shot as and when you liked.

The central pavilion of the palace, lavishly decorated with every detail put into consideration.

The royal family had every little need satisfied, from miniature hand made furniture for the children to Egyptian and Chinese furniture and ornaments that were either gifts, or items procured from their travels. The common man had no place in such a residence.

One room had this strange installment called The Great Gallery of Beauties. Max Emanuel, one of the Bavarian heirs, probably got a little bored one day and decided that he needed to find the definition of beauty. He chose 36 women from various social backgrounds, from princesses to even a cobbler’s daughter. He had portraits of them painted and hung up on the walls of this gallery, 36 self-portraits of beautiful women of his time. His rationale for all this seemed to stem from the idea that beauty was the outward sign of moral perfection. I found this highly disturbing, and very untrue. But shoving all moral insinuations aside, one thing is for certain: this man had decent taste in women.

Introducing the 19th century definition of beauty.

Once we were done with the interior, the outside was no less spectacular. The ponds surrounding the palace were filled with swans, ducks and other strange birds. They would walk up to you for food and will even pose for a quick selfie if you’re lucky. You could see the palace from afar, a majestic sight springing out from the pond. The weather that day was cold and rainy, but as we stepped out of the palace the sun started peeking through the clouds. It was a good conclusion to our visit.

Getting the swan to look over was out of the question, so we settled with this shot.

Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles

 On a fine sunny day, we visited Germany’s most popular tourist destination, at the village of Hohenschwangau, where two majestic castles overlooked the crisp wintry landscape. We arrived to a land covered in snow, from the trees to the roads. The entire village had just awoken, but it was swarming with tourists getting a ticket into the attractions.

The crisp wintry weather that greeted us, with fallen snow clinging on every leaf and branch.

We walked around waiting for our tours to start, and were greeted by a beautiful lakeside view. The waters were clear and ice clung to the trees that surrounded the lake, with the Bavarian Alps overlooking it all. This was just an introduction to the scenery that awaited.

The flowing lakes that surrounded the Bavarian hills.

We went first into Hohenschwangau Castle, the childhood residence of King Ludwig II, but was built by his father, Maximillian II of Bavaria. This was a majestic fortress, but the less scenic of the two castles, for it is situated at a lower altitude. Construction began in 1833, and most of it was built finish in 4 years, which was incredibly quick for its time. We were not allowed to take pictures in the castle, but it didn’t detract from the experience; it was bright and grand in the castle, with the same combination of wall paintings, handmade furniture, handmade gifts to the king and queen made from gold, silver, gems and ivory. If you knocked over and shattered any of the exhibits you were probably not going home anytime soon. Our tour guide was a young and unbelievably attractive German lady who spoke fluent English, and she explained to us the origins and purposes of each of the rooms and items, much to the delight of the crowd.

The yellow bricked Hohenschwangau Castle that was inhabited by King Maximillian II.

We had a quick lunch at the café before heading up to Neuschwanstein Castle. This was the main attraction here, the castle being propped up on the side of a rugged hill. There were two paths up to the castle, and being adventurous we chose the tougher one where snow had covered much of the road. We soon realized that our shoes were not exactly snow-worthy and so struggled up that crazy uphill path. My hardy Doc Martens fared slightly better than Jaspers smooth-soled Puma which saw him basically slipping all the way uphill and having to dodge every single bit of frozen ground. We struggled like this, all the way up through beautiful wintry landscape that had us enveloped in a world so different than what we could ever hope for back home.

Too young to care about the dangers during our alpine expedition. Ok fine, it was just a 20 minute walk.

The kind of path we had to walk through was something out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.

As we reached the castle, its impressive façade greeted us. Neuschwanstein castle was the inspiration for Disney’s Snow White’s Castle, after all, and it is no surprise. The walls of the compound were white and dreamy, the huge fortress almost melting into the Bavarian landscape. Once inside, we had a creepy looking male tour guide that reminded my of Ted Bundy, the notorious serial killer. It didn’t compromise our experience though, the interior of this castle was as grandiose as its exterior, if not more so. The rooms were dim and classy, with the usual combination of paintings, chandeliers and carpets. We entered the Throne hall, which was furnished in gold and had paintings of Saints on the walls and Jesus Christ on the ceiling with the largest chandelier I’ve ever seen in my life hanging above us. It had random gems and was supposed to resemble the crown of the Byzantine emperors. There was even a hall inside for events and a very fancy stage with sweeping views of the Alps and township below.

At the foot of Neuschwanstein Castle, with it’s dreamy white walls.

To conclude our adventure, we hiked about the Alps to find a good vantage point to view the castle. It wasn’t easy with all the snow but by mid-day most of the ice had already melted. Along with some other gung ho tourists, we climbed in very dangerous and cold conditions up to a neighbouring peak and took some of the most breathtaking and magnificent photos of the entire trip.

At one point we just sat there and stared at the castle, the lone human structure amongst the sprawling wilderness of the Alps. It made us feel so small, yet so complete all at the same time. There is a reason, after all, why this is Germany’s number one tourist attraction.