Group 5 Reflection for Day 6

On day 6 of the Germany Trip, we visited the Cecileinhof Palace in Potsdam. The palace was built from 1914 to 1917 and it was built for Crown Prince William and his wife, Crown Princess Cecile. The prince did not live at the Palace for very long. In 1918, the Kaiser abdicated and the Palace was handed over to the date in 1926.

The 3 Allied powers; Stalin from Russia, Churchill from Britain and Truman from USA met at the Palace for the Potsdam Conference. Their aim was to resolve the problems arising at the end of the war and to discuss what to do with Germany   who had surrendered on 8^th May, nine weeks before the conference. During their stay at the Palace, Stalin overheard the conversation between Truman and Attlee about the use of atomic bomb. Stalin was angry as he was kept in the dark. USA and Britain were democratic countries while USSR was communist. Stalin was afraid that they would use the atomic bomb on them. From then on, Stalin became suspicious of the other two Allied Powers. This was one of the factors that started the Cold War and caused their relationship to strain.

This incident shows the lack of trust among them. Although we must beware of people around us, we should not get too suspicious of them or life will be miserable because we are very cautious about every single thing. It taught us not to trust people too easily as you would not know whether the person who is closets to you might betray you or not.

Next, we had a city tour around Bamberg. Bamberg is located in East Germany. It is a heritage city with many old buildings when compared to the West Germany. It was undamaged during the World War II. The old buildings in Bamberg were conserved and converted into museums. The government actually bothers to keep the buildings to remind its people of past history. From here, we learnt that it is important to conserve the buildings as they can tell us more about the history of the place. We should also take pride in what we have, for instance the buildings, as they were passed down from our forefather who worked very hard to construct them. In short, we must take pride in everything we do, be it for the country, people, family or ourselves.

Group 4 Reflection for Day 5

On the fifth day of the Germany trip, we visited a few interesting places. Our first stop was the Anne Frank museum. Anne Frank was a Jew. During Hitler’s rule, he wanted to exterminate the Jew and Anne Frank was one of them. However, she didn’t give up and persevered to the end. At the age of fifteen, she was sent to the concentration camp and she died there sadly. From the visit, we learnt that we must preserve and never give up. Secondly, we must also have aspirations. Although Anne Frank was young, she had big dreams of becoming a writer. Hence, we should learn from her so that we can work towards our dreams.

Next we went to the Berlin wall. The wall signifies the cold war and separation of Germany. It was erected on 13 August 1961. The East Germans wanted to have a better life and therefore attempted to climb the wall. However, many lost their lives as they were shot by the Eastern border guards. Our learning point is we must live harmoniously together or conflicts will arise.

The third place was the Reichstag building. The building was actually a parliament building. When the old building was burned down, the new one was rebuilt with a dome to provide a better view of the building. The old Reichstag building was believed to be burned by Hitler.

Last but not lest, we visited the Stasi museum. The museum was a place where the secret police worked. They spied on people by placing pin-hole cameras in handbags and clothing. We learnt that we must never judge a book by its cover. We must also respect each other privacy.

Group 3 Reflection for Day 4

On day 4 of the Germany trip, we visited the procession of duke. The painting was first painted with limestone colour but due to war and tear, it faded off after 200 years. The Kaiser who was the king then felt that it was a pity for the mural to loss it’s value so he ordered it to be repainted. This time, he decided to paint the mural on the 35 people were summoned to do the job. From the visit, we learnt that hard work is needed in everything we do in order to succeed. Till today, the mural is still in good condition. If one person had not cooperated with the others, the mural might not have been completed. Hence, we learned that team-work is important as we must work together as one in order to get a job done. It is just like the mural. It was made up of numerous tiles. If one of the tiles had gone missing, the mural would not have been completed.

We also visited the Volkswagen factory. It was started by Hitler. He was able to foresee that cars would be popular among the people and the car industry would improve the country economy and create jobs for the people. His foresight came true. We learnt from here, one needs to have foresight in order to succeed. To conclude, the day’s activities had taught us that a leader must have a vision or foresight and that hard work and teamwork can ensure the successful completion or a task or goal.

Group 2 Reflection for Day 3

On day 3, we went to the concentration camp. From this visit, we learnt how to treasure one’s life. This is because we saw gruesome pictures of how the prisoners were tortured and killed. We also learnt we should appreciate the peace we have in Singapore where all races are treated equally unlike in World War 2, where the Jews were treated with discrimination. We were disturbed by the gruesome pictures and we felt very sorry for the victims. The concentration camp served a warning from history to prevent the holocaust from happening again.

Next, we went to the Nazi Rally Site, we learnt that we should set long term goals. Hitler was a strategic planner. He planned carefully the places to hold his rallies to ensure that it was accessible to all. He connected the train routes to the rally site where all his supporters gathered. He went all out to ensure the success of his plans. He was willing to push the boundaries to achieve greater height. The last place we went to was the Palace of Justice. It was where Hitler sends those who opposed him on trials. This taught us the importance of fair treatment of all races.

To conclude, these visits have taught us that we should have a vision to achieve long-term goals but not to the expense of hurting others. Ambition serves as a motivation to reach our goals. We should accept others for who there are and not to discriminate them.

Group 1 Reflection for Day 2

The ice cave was a great experience for all of us. We took a cable care ride up the mountain. In the cave, we had to endure freezing temperature below 0°C and climb a total of 1,400 steps up and down. It was too cold for some girls and they almost wanted to give up. However, wit h the encouragement of the members in the group, and extra clothing given by the members, they were able to complete the hike. Positive values were displayed throughout the journey. We helped each other to overcome obstacles by showing care and compassion.

Salt was called white gold during the Celtic times. This had brought wealth to the Germany’s economy. From the salt mine visit, we learnt that play can be incorporated into work. We have fun learning as the tour consisted of many approaches, a boat ride, sliding down the tunnel and watching the movie presentation. We learnt the importance of salt and how much effort had been put in to obtain it.

The climb in the ice cave and the experience of the salt mine was a one in a life time experience. We had fun learning and at the same time, the experiences had enabled us to understand the history of salt and ice formation better.