I missed blogging about 9 November and the Berlin Wall on that day, but thought I would combine it with today, formerly called Martinmass. This was the feast of St Martin of Tours, sometimes called Old Halloween. It is not really observed in England anymore, but when I was in Berlin one winter, I noticed publicity about Martinmass and the ‘Martin Goose’ or Martinsgans which was served roasted in restaurants with red cabbage and dumplings. A nice custom. There is an entry on Wikipedia about St Martin. (We can’t vouch for the contents, but it makes interesting reading. ) Find more about saints on Intute in the Religion and Theology section.
Intute has many resources about the amazing fall of the Berlin Wall, twenty years ago. A few examples – newspapers ran special reports, including The Guardian and New York Times. Not everyone thinks it has been a complete success though – see the BBC World Service Poll, indicating wide dissatisfaction with capitalism. There are some great museums dealing with the Berlin Wall and Germany in the 20th century and they have websites you can access – the Checkpoint Charlie Museum is one. My personal favourite is the DDR Museum (East Germany Museum) in Berlin. A very hands-on place. Apart from the Wall, Berlin is a fascinating city and Intute has many other resources about it, including Politics, Art, History and European Studies. A few suggestions:
Bauhaus Museum Berlin – wonderful photos. Marlene Dietrich website – great for Dietrich researchers. Berlin Airlift – interesting site about the blockade and airlift of supplies to non-Soviet parts of Berlin. Intute also has a wide range of resources about Germany in general, in our Modern Languages and Area Studies section.
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