We stayed at Wombats Hostel to keep costs down for our first foray into the hostel scene. We had booked and paid for it before we went on the trip. We found the hostel very well located in every way. The room was a double with ensuite bathroom and balcony and certainly very clean. There was no kitchen in the hostel.
The meals we discovered were good value across the main street to a department store with restaurants on the top floor. At that time, the hostel offered breakfast with a voucher system. Other meals depended on where we were, but another good source of food was just around the corner at Hauptbahnhof or Hauptbahnhof.
We had bought a German rail pass for the week and planned to use it to visit some of the major cities and attractions. The German rail system was excellent, fast, always on time and with comfortable seating. umzugsunternehmen berlin We left the hostel very early one morning to go to Berlin, much to the amazement of the people at the reception! It seems that getting up early isn’t part of the hostel spade’s agenda!
The train to Berlin was one of the ICE trains (Inter City Express) and we photographed the train traveling at 249 km, just amazing. We spent a lot of time chatting with a German lady who told us what to see and do there. She had told us to get off at the station closest to the Brandenburg Gate, certainly the best place to start! The views and scenery through the train windows were magnificent and reminded us of New Zealand in a way.
Through the Brandenburg Gate and there was a hop on hop off bus doing tours so we did just that! Berlin was interesting; We loved the parks and gardens. Who could visit this city without visiting the Berlin Wall, after all the era we lived through belonged to it? The sight of the wall was so sad that it conjured up the terrifying visions we had only read in the newspapers, now here it was before us.
Another church that caught our attention was the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which remained as the war had left it, a reminder of the futility of war and Berlin’s determination to rebuild their beautiful city.
The Holocaust memorial is also a moving experience considering the magnitude of the murder of six million people. The day ended with crossing the Brandenburg Gate and returning to Berlin Central Station. The station had recently reopened after a refurbishment and modernization. We were told that the architects forgot to include more than one toilet! We weren’t there long enough to find out if it was the truth!
Back on the train for our 5+ hour journey back to the hostel in Munich. A truly unforgettable and breathtaking day.
Maman is a liberated woman in her sixties despite having a husband and four children.
She is a registered nurse and remains interested in health issues. Spent many years in farming to gain farm manager qualifications and real insight into animal husbandry. The next career change included a diploma in real estate and business administration with a focus on buildings and their construction.
Leadership lesson from the Berlin Wall
In 1961, the East German government built the Berlin Wall to stop the flow of people into West Germany. Over time, the wall has done more than stop the flow of people. It became a powerful symbol of oppression, stopping the flow of ideas and freedom.
On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell.
This historic shift opened the flow of people and once again became an equally powerful symbol of change, creativity and a return to greater freedoms.
Both building and tearing down the wall are powerful metaphors for leaders. Many leaders erect walls to “protect” or “isolate” themselves from those they lead. While it may not be as intentional as the Berlin Wall, it will likely be as obvious and limiting to those you guide.
Walls you may have erected
- Have you put up walls through your words or actions that reduce or limit any of the following?
- Is confidence in your organization and team where you would like it to be?
- Although communication is always a challenge, do you find yourself able to communicate clearly with your team and do they communicate freely with you?
- Do you feel comfortable sharing your concerns sincerely, and in return do people share them with you?
- creativity/ideas. Do you regularly hear great ideas from your team?
- Are people on board, enrolled and moving towards their goals and the goals of the team?
- Is the organization’s attitude healthy and where do you want to be?
Hopefully your answers to these questions will be very insightful.
If you find gaps in the answers, realize that you, as a leader, have a part to play in each of them. If someone isn’t where you want them to be (or where the organization needs them for maximum success), get feedback from others and create a plan to start tearing down those walls or barriers.
When the walls come down
Its walls are probably less obvious than the Berlin Wall, and the changes that come with demolition may not occur as quickly, but trust me, if you identify your personal walls and start demolishing, you will start making new ones to observe results.
Regardless of the type of wall you built, demolition will result in:
- Improved working relationships
- More respect and credibility for you
- Better problem solving
- Higher organizational and individual productivity
- Increased employee retention
- higher morale
- Better customer service
- Less frustration
- Less organizational stress
Bigger results
When the Berlin Wall fell, the world changed. If you identify and then tear down the walls you have built, your world will change too – and for the better.
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