Germany Quick Trip

So many of you may be wondering what in the world are you doing in Berlin, Germany? The slide show may have caught you by surprise. Well, Mrs. Esther ( my mother-in-law) was about to go back to the states for a short tip and needed someone to take her to catch the airport in Frankfurt. I was nominated to do it. It was much less of a cost to stay for four days. I had the time so I planned a trip. I enjoyed taking the train around and visited three cities: Wittenburg, home of the Reformation; Berlin, filled with tons of important history and Frankfurt, a very modern interesting city. The slide show shows mostly Berlin. I tried to include pictures that represented phases in its history beginning with reference to Kaiser Wilhelm, the leader of the Germans in World War I to the present.

The most memorable part of my visit in Berlin was looking at the places where the Berlin Wall had been. Just 19 years ago the city was divided. In fact, Germany was divided into East and West. The West was basically a free democratic government and the East was a Soviet backed communist controlled totalitarian state. The people had no 1st Amendment type freedoms. There was no free speech, press, assembly nor religion. The communists had total control of the people. What made Berlin unique was that it was a city that was wholly in the East-around 100 miles I believe inside East Germany. But, the city became a divided city. The United States was not willing to let the Soviets take all of Berlin, because it was such an important city. So a wall was built and the city divided. More than any other place in the world it represented the Iron Curtain. The reasons were because the western part of the city was sealed off in the middle and all around with a lone road that led to West Germany. It uniquely was a haven for freedom in the middle of a Soviet block country. Many East Berliners tried to escape. Some succeeded and some failed. Many were shot in doing so. The border was well-protected by both sides.

The rest you might say is history. The Soviet Union fell apart and so did the Berlin Wall in 1989. There were huge celebrations the night the wall fell. I remember seeing live the first section falling to the ground. Berliners from both East and West celebrated as the cities united again for good.

Being in Berlin now is amazing. All that's left of the wall is purposely left parts to memorialize the struggle. I enjoyed looking at the outdoor museum with pictures and text of the history of the wall. Particularly I remember the Berlin air-lift crisis when President Kennedy stood down the Soviets and then later went to Berlin and said "I am a Berliner." And then seeing the picture and reading the text of Ronald Regan's great speech when he asked President Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." It has been one of history's greatest struggles for freedom and seeing the city really challenged me about being thankful for the freedom we have in the USA. We should never be complacent about the government of the people that we have in our home nation.

Freedom in Christ: there is nothing like it. Perhaps a great illustration would be the East Berliners who experienced the feeling of freedom back in 1989. We can truly trust the Lord Jesus Christ and believe that His redemptive work has made us free from the chains of sin and certainty of Spiritual death.

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound in sin and nature's night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

Charles Wesley, And Can it Be, 3rd verse