Dear friends,
we hope this newsletter finds you well and in good health. We are working very much this season because more than 90% of our clients come by referrals and our clients multiply. So we are busier from year to year. One word about that: You are welcome to also recommend us to your non-jewish friends, we also do secular tours. So we would be pleased.
Nevertheless, we wanted to catch up with our latest news about Berlin and certainly hope to meet you (again) in this wonderful city. Berlin is absolutely booming - not only because it is such a beautiful city full of art and culture - it is also because most of the Berliners behave friendly and cosmopolitan!
About our privat life
As every 4 years, we replaced our Mercedes Van in June. In order to offer more comfort the seats we have now are 4 individual and spacious captain chairs. This is the reason why we can only accomodate a maximum of 4 clients. Above and beside each set of captain chairs our new van also has a sunroof and individual climate control vents. This way the view at higher buildings is possible for all passengers.
At the same time we started improving our quality with an individual audioguide-system: It provides more freedom to our clients to move around and take pictures while listening wireless to Sue's explanations.
Our new Mercedes Viano Van and us (Sue with the Audio-Guide-Sender)
Stumbling blocks for our family
On March 23 we had Gunter Demnig, the artist who started this wonderful art and commemoration project, laying 3 more stumbling blocks for our relatives:
My grandmother Margarete Aronhold and the sisters of my grandfather Gertrud and Elise Aronhold.
We plan to lay 4 more stumbling-blocks for some more relatives we found - they lived next door to my grandparents. We'll have to wait until 2015 since Gunter Demnig is fully-booked months in advance. It's just him and a few helpers doing this wonderful work, he refuses to work in an "industrialized" way, this being the opposite to what the Nazis did to Jewish people.
In the meantime there are around 48.000 stumbling blocks over the country and in some other European cities like Prague, Vienna, Budapest. 6.000 are to be found in Berlin, increasing daily!
Reuters-UK had an article on Gunter Demnig for this wonderful project he is leading since 1996 - read here. For those of you who understand German (or Jiddish) here is a video of Gunter Demnig talking in June 2013 about his project in Cologne. Watch it on Youtube.
And here you find a helpful app showing all Berlin Stumbling Blocks on a map. Sorry, but we are Apple-users, so this is an iPhone-app. And it's free of charge.
Stumbling-Blocks for my grandmother, grandfather and my mother
Gunter Demnig lays down the Stumbling Block for Gertrud Hoffmann (née Aronhold)
Commemoration of the burned books on Bebelplatz
As every year on May 10 the anniversary of the bookburning in 1933 was commemorated by many Berliners who came together to read those books that once were burned in that awful bookburning. There were many chairs all over Bebelplatz each of them with one of the burned books. Everybody could join the event and/or come to the special public readings that took place by some well known people.
The memorial-site at Bebelplatz
People reading and commemorating books that where burned in 1933
Commemoration of the end of the Berlin Blockade in 1949
On June 24, 1948 the Soviets started a blockade to Berlins British, American and French sector hoping to get all of Berlin into their hands. The Americans and namely General Lucius D. Clay started the famous „Berlin Air Lift“. More than 2 million Berliners were supported through the Air Lift until more than 11 months later the Soviets gave up and the countryroads into the Western sectors of Berlin were re-opened.
This special day is always and still celebrated by the (West-)Berliners. I am always moved when I see this every year „Thank you General Clay“ at the city hall of Schöneberg.
City Hall Schöneberg is where President Kennedy held his famous speech in June 1963 and where we keep a copy of the famous Liberty Bell in Philadelphia which was handed over to Berlin by General Clay. This bell was donated by 17 million Americans to West-Berlin in October 1950. The bell rings daily, punctual and accurate at noon and was heard and broadcasted on German radio and TV at the German unification on October 3, 1990.
Wanna listen? Here is our Liberty Bell
Lost Jewish Art
In Berlin the government and administration of museums has been dealing with this issue throughout the last years. Art historians research on paintings and art with a „not 100% clear provenience“. Luckily, in the Gemäldegalerie the first part of 450 paintings was found to be „o.k.“.
Here is an English site for further information. Some books were just found to be of Jewish property in our Staatsbibliothek Unter den Linden and will be given back. So far about the Berlin research on lost Jewish property.
Going to Potsdam on a nice summer day
Berlin is just beautiful but has also its tender and romantic aspects - I took this picture while crossing the Bridge of Glienicke (where the spies were exchanged during the Cold War) with our clients on our way to Potsdam:
The same day while walking with our clients through the Garden of Sanssouci in Potsdam I ran into this lady who was just performing on a harp and enjoying the wonderful weather - this are the very special moments when I love living here:
Chronology of the Jewish people
Recently I found this very interesting link with an overview of a few thousand years of Jewish history.
Last but not least
We are all sad and very concerned about the political situation in Israel and all of those horrible daily news. It gives me a bit of hope that the Germans are organizing 3 big demonstrations AGAINST antisemitism in 3 major cities: Berlin, Frankfurt and Cologne with organized shuttle-busses for the people who want to join from the suburbs. The demonstrations are next Sunday, Aug. 31, Sept. 06 and 13. We all wish peace and freedom for our Israeli brothers and sisters and for all of us!
Wishing you a healthy and sweet new year 5775 and happy holidays we wish you
Shabbat Shalom
We hope to see you soon in our beautiful city!
On August 21st, 2014 we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary
Sue and Eckart Aaron Arns
your Berlin Dream-Team
August 29, 2014
You got this newsletter because you are a customer of ours or requested our services. At any time you can subscribe or unsubscribe to our newsletter on my websites www.sue-arns.de or www.jewish-touring-berlin.com.
If you run into problems reading this newsletter, here you can open it online: http://www.sue-arns.de/newsletter/nl201403.html - the archive of our newsletter is to be found at: http://www.sue-arns.de/newsletter/archive.html
Our address is:
Sue Arns
Landshuter Str. 28
10779 Berlin
Germany
tel: +49 (0)30 214 76 881
mobile: +49 (0)179 591 27 75
sue@arns.de
www.sue-arns.de www.jewish-touring-berlin.com www.aronhold.de