Tag Archives: Germany

Berlin Love Padlocks…. not as viral as I’d imagined

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That’s a title that could conjure up something interesting particularly if you frequent the more exotic Berlin attractions (I’d imagine).

Well actually it’s quite sweet and innocent.

Love padlocks are a tradition that involves placing a padlock on a piece of municipal iron work, usually a bridge railing, and throwing the key into the river below. It’s a symbol of your never-ending love for your partner and should be inscribed with your names and an important date to add significance to the event. I wrote about the practice in Florence, Italy in 2011.

Apparently it started in Florence when soldiers who were being transferred from the local army barracks would put the padlocks from their kit lockers onto the Florence bridges and throws the keys into the River Arno below. A romantic gesture, symbolising love and commitment.

The practice has gone viral, spreading to 30 countries across the world. There is plenty of material about love padlocks on the Internet including details of the battles between sweethearts placing the padlocks and officials who want to remove them. If you are interested there are even businesses that will provide an inscribed padlock of your choice.

Here is the example I saw recently in Berlin. That’s Berlin Cathedral in the background and the River Spree below.  This surprised me a bit. The extent of the love padlocks was a bit restrained in comparison with those I’d seen in Florence. Given the scale of other forms of self expression I’d seen in Berlin, particularly graffiti (which is everywhere) and things like the Love Parade, I’d have thought love padlocks would have taken off and gone viral. Perhaps love padlocks are a bit too tame and mainstream for the Berliners?

I suppose it goes to show, you can’t predict human behavior and what will go viral.

By the way, as far as I’m aware there is no evidence yet of love padlocks taking off in Cardiff, or anywhere else in Wales (excellent locations in Cardiff Bay, probably). You could however argue that the Welsh love spoon is a sophisticated demonstration of love. Love spoons are unfortunately quite expensive and not that practical for attaching to bridges as public expressions of love.

So, what’s the PONT?

  1. Public expressions of emotion do seem to vary hugely between countries and cultures.
  2. Human emotions are complex and it’s incredibly difficult to predict what people might do, and what might go viral.
  3. Perhaps the Italians really are the most romantic people in Europe. I’ve just come back from Italy. There are plenty of love padlocks dotted around Florence, Venice and even popping up in places like Volterra.

Why us Welsh make the best guides at German Museums

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Recently I visited 3 Berlin museums in a single day, impressive I know, 6 hours of intensive learning and culture. These were all good learning experiences; however the best one was delivered by someone Welsh, Shaun from Aberystwyth!  I’m not being biased here, there are good reasons I’ll explain. I’m not going to give you a ‘Trip Advisor’ review, these are my personal criteria for deciding what makes a good experience at a museum, here goes:

1. Attendant Interaction. Did the museum attendants engage with me? Did they make me think or did they intimidate and make me want to leave?

2. Go backwards factor. Did I find myself going back to things I‘d already seen, for a second look? Zig-zagging my way around museums is an annoying personality trait, but the more I retrace my steps the better my experience.

3. Boring my family later. The more facts I can remember, to regurgitate to the family after the visit, the better the museum. Poor Geof, my cycling companion suffered this time.

Here are the scores for each of the establishments I visited:

Deutsches Historisches Museum The DHM is a traditional state run museum with free entry. It felt like most of the museums I’ve ever visited; lots of interesting things in glass cases with explanation cards for you to read. I visited the section covering 1918 to the present day and to be honest, by the time I’d made it to the Berlin Wall display I’d had enough.

Attendants: Impeccably dressed in smart uniforms. However there was no interaction. They just stood by with that intimidating “touch anything and you get thrown out” expression.

The tour: Very linear. Start at the beginning and dutifully “read” your way to the end, wasn’t tempted to retrace my steps once.

Remembering facts: One key fact about the Trümmerfrau, the ‘rubble women’ who helped reconstruct German cities after the war.

Overall score, a solid 6 out of 10. Most memorable thing, the intimidating attendants.

DDR Museum This was about the years of Soviet occupation in East Germany from 1945 until 1989. It is privately funded and claims to be one of the most interactive museums in the world. I won’t argue with that, it was fantastic, well worth the 6€ entry fee.

Attendants: If there were any I didn’t notice them. I was too busy opening doors, listening to covert recordings and sitting in the Trabant honking the horn. The place was packed, and everyone was so involved, I’d argue that you didn’t need Attendants.

The tour: This was ‘zig-zag’ heaven for me. There was no obvious linear path and I retraced my steps on several occasions. At the final door I headed back in for another view of a typical East German sitting room. I must admit it looked pretty similar a South Wales Valleys sitting room circa 1970’s……..

Remembering Facts:  Plenty to ponder on here. Strange things keep coming back to me like how long it took for your Trabant to arrive (16 years) and the impact of lignite (brown coal) opencast mining.

Overall score, an 8.5 out of 10. The museum shop at the end was a bit too earnest.

Flak Tower Walking Tour  This was a tour of one of the partly demolished Flak Towers built to deter bombers in 1941. You know it’s going to be serious stuff when they insist upon checking you have sensible shoes before they will sell you a ticket and recommend a warm coat because it will be cold. This cost 10€, was run by a ‘not for profit’ organisation and couldn’t have been more professional.

Remembering facts:  Unfortunately poor Geof now knows more about the Flak Towers than he ever wanted to. I soaked it up like a sponge (3m thick walls, 100,000 cubic meters of concrete etc etc) and regurgitated it all to him, and my wife, kids, colleagues and complete strangers since I’ve got back home.

The tour: I did stay in line for this one. The environment was quite scary and it was very reassuring to have a Health and Safety Attendant at the back making sure nobody got lost.

Attendants: Absolutely brilliant and I’m not just saying that because he was Welsh. This was someone who loved the job. He was passionate about the subject, knew it in incredible detail and was happy telling you all about it. This was knowledge exchange and learning at its best.

Overall score, 11 out of 10. It was that good. All German museums should have a Welsh attendant.

So what’s the PONT?

1. The contrast between what I learnt from listening to and interacting with Shaun at the Flak Tower and reading cards in glass cases at the DHM was huge.

2. The acts of looking and reading feels much harder to do than listening to someone explaining and asking questions. 90 minutes at the Flak Tower flew past, even in the cold and dark.

3. People make a massive difference. An engaged and passionate guide at the Flak Tower turned a good experience into a fantastic one I’ll not forget for a long time, thanks Shaun.