Recently, my husband and I spent a week in Berlin, Germany. I was there to participate in an International Les Clefs d’Or Concierge Congress. Our Hosts, who called themselves “Ze Germans,” knocked themselves out preparing every creative detail to highlight their intriguing and beloved city. Of course, there are the spectacular museums containing some of the world’s greatest art treasures, marvelous and sophisticated dining opportunities, and the multitude of historically important monuments such as the Brandenburg Gate, where anyone old enough to remember literally hears Ronald Reagan saying “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
For me, it wasn’t about any of those things particularly. I found the experience hauntingly thought provoking and emotional, as in… I will FEEL it forever. That is because Berlin is more of a “feeling” than any other European City I have ever visited. It most certainly isn’t beautiful like Paris, Prague, Vienna or Venice. Berlin is a whirl of energy and elicited emotions. Berlin leaves an impression and has a distinct vibe.
The quality of the ambiance is a combination of sorrow and optimism. Two seemingly different feelings yet forever connected, interwoven to be the Berlin of today and the future, representing liberty as well as liability.
All of the pieces of the Berlin Wall scattered throughout the city said to me we have broken through, we are one, we are tolerant, we have learned, we have grown and we are born again. A poignant reminder of the past is a trail tracing the actual wall, clearly marked by double rows of cobblestones.
The Reichstag building is a wonderful example of combining the past with the future. To visit the dome, the meeting place of Germany’s national legislature, is an architectural wow. It’s designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster. As I spiraled up the interior ramp to the top of the dome, it inspired introspection.
The entire city reminded me of the powerful Hawaiian healing practice, called Ho’oponopono. It is a prayer technique where the repetition of 4 vivid statements is used to alleviate pain and grief. They are: I’m sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you, I love you.
Everywhere I went in Berlin I could hear these statements in the ever-present memorials. Berlin has so many memorials to the assorted brutal abominations of the past, it would be impossible not to be impacted by their presence. I kept hearing the statements of Ho’oponopono as each memorial would appear. Each evoked strong emotions, whether it was the massive, evocative and indelible Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the serene fountain memorializing the slaughter of the Sinti and Roma, a simple sign outside a subway station with a list of all the concentration camps or a tiny plaque stating the name of a person who used to live on this street and in this house.
I could hear the words in a collective conscience. We’re sorry, please forgive us, we take full responsibility, we’re not pretending it didn’t happen, we’re not sweeping it under the rug. Thank you for being open to forgiving us. We love you.
I am most certainly not some Pollyanna, especially when it comes to this particular country and this singular history. My husband is a child of holocaust survivors and I have been personally affected by Germany’s past actions. I can’t even watch a movie about WWII without getting emotional. When I was 22, I visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and literally fell down the steps as my knees buckled under me.
And yet… There I was, in 2017, clearly hearing the words of an ancient healing practice, I’m sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you, I love you. Maybe it had to do with our Concierge Hospitality Hosts. They signed every correspondence with the salutation “Ze Germans love you.”
May the energy and message of Berlin help each of us accept, learn from, and take responsibility for our past, forgive ourselves and move forward into a free, creative and tolerant future. Sending along my gratitude and love.
Photo credit: Bill Apton
inspired, love this and feel connected to people everywhere in forgiveness and love.
Holly,
Thank you so much for sharing your blog with me! What a powerful expression of what you felt during the Berlin Congress. I wish I could have gone, but it was impossible this year. Some day I will certainly take a trip to Berlin.
I hope you are coming to DC in September!
Hugs,
Ginny
Beautifully expressed, Holly. Thanks so much for your powerful insights and heartfelt writing about your very poignant Berlin experience.
Holly, You hit the nail on the head. These are exactedly the feelings and emotions one feels when visiting Berlin. Thank you for expressing it in such beautiful words.
Awesome story and so very true!
Holly…you captured the emotions so beautifully , even in your moments of vulnerability with your visit to Anne Frank house and relating family connections. Love your authenticity, your relatability, your touching connection to the Hawaiian Healing prayer and as always, your inspiration!
Very well written and insightful. Felt like I was almost there. Thanks for sharing.
Beth
Thank you for sharing Holly, very powerful and true. I grew up on the “wrong side” of the wall in what was then Czechoslovakia, being in Berlin and seeing the reminders of its past and embracing its present and future was incredibly liberating. I could not express it as well as you have, thank you for sharing your feelings. Hana
Excellent and timely. While we will never forget, forgiveness brings us back to the present moment where life can only truly be lived.