At Berlin-Hohen schonhausen, people arrested by the Stasi, East Germany’s secret police, were detained and interrogated. Some prisoners were physically abused, but it was the psychological torture that got to many prisoners. Sleep deprived and living in cramped, windowless cells – where the lights were never turned off […]
During the years of communist dictatorship in East Germany, the government headquarters, foreign ministry, and the headquarters of the Socialist Unity Party (SED) were all located in the vicinity of Schlossplatz in East Berlin. As official celebrations were held on October 7th 1989 to mark the 40th anniversary […]
There was heavy security at the official Berlin Wall Memorial at the weekend as Angela Merkel and other European leaders paid their respects to the 140 killed trying to cross the border from East to West Berlin. “No wall that keeps people out and restricts freedom is so […]
The East Side Gallery in one of the most famous sights in Germany’s capital. Painted on a mile-long stretch of sections of the former Berlin Wall are colourful murals by 118 artists from 21 countries. Planning for the East Side Gallery started just a week after the Wall […]
For the past week 30,000 messages, written on colourful streamers by Berliners and others from around the world with their memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall and their hopes for the future, have floated in the air near Brandenburg Gate in the German capital. Last night, […]
Toronto may need to play second fiddle to New York in the North American financial centre stakes. But with a population approaching three million, Canada’s biggest city is still a force to be reckoned with. And it makes for, at the very least, a few days of interesting […]
There are many great institutions around the world telling the story of cities, but the main history museum in Montreal is particularly special. Musee d’Archeolgie et d’Histoire Pointe-a-Calliere is housed in a network of interconnected underground archaeological sites, and above ground modern structures, at the very spot where […]
For a fun night out in Budapest, you could do worse than head to the city’s Jewish quarter. In crumbling old buildings and hidden courtyards, you find the famous ruin bars. These lively drinking spots started out as temporary, pop-up venues in abandoned apartment blocks and other structures, […]
Taking a slow lift ride into the basement of 60 Andrassy Avenue, Hungary’s tragic recent past quickly becomes apparent. Once the doors close, black and white footage on a TV shows a man vividly describing what happened to those that opposed the government – and the role played […]
In a Soviet era sanatorium set in a sprawling park in western Georgia, elderly patients wander long marble corridors in white dressing gowns as they await their next treatment. Most are here to bathe in the radon-carbonate thermal springs in private bathtubs and enjoy a hydro massage whereby […]
Past In The Present 