This year’s Modern History tour ventured into some of Western Europe’s darkest moments over the last one hundred years. Beginning in Germany at the site of the former Berlin Wall, Newington history boys were able to witness the disturbingly ordinary site that was once a surveilled stretch of land called the ‘death strip’ that kept residents of East Berlin’s Soviet-controlled ‘Eastern Bloc’ from escaping to the West.

Moving on to Checkpoint Charlie, another historically significant site that has now been converted into a living museum of memorabilia and personal accounts of life on either side of the wall, the boys were able to witness a city still coming to grips with it’s recent history. 

From here on, the Black and White brigade took a seven hour bus ride to Krakow Poland, where the bustling town square with its  Polish Renaissance architecture sat only a short distance from two of the most notorious Concentration Camps during the Nazi Era – Auschwitz Camps I and II. 

Prague was next on the travel itinerary and provided a welcome change of mood. The boys toured the fairy tale-like city paying a visit to the ‘Communist Museum’ near Wenceslas Square to learn about the origins of the ‘Velvet Revolution’  before again boarding the bus to return back to Germany.

In Nuremberg, Munich and Salzburg, our History boys again found themselves in former Nazi occupied land and were able to learn about the Nuremburg Rallies and Trials, the significance of Hitler’s holiday retreat, the famous Eagle’s Nest, and admire some of the extraordinary Ice Caves that exist beneath it all.

Once out of Germany, the boys welcomed the smell of pizza and look of Gelato sold on the street as they arrived in Italy. Venice was the first stop where beyond admiring St Mark’s Basilica and the Piazza san Marco, the boys also tried their hand at busking. In Florence, Senior Prefect Jack Jacobs (11/FL) was not only in awe of the original Renaissance Man, Signor Leonardo Da Vinci, but was reminded of former Newington History Teacher Mr Mark Scali’s description of the city as “rebellious, beautiful and serendipitous.”

With not many more days left on the trip, the tour ended in Rome where the boys toured the Vatican City and admired some of the incredible architecture that exists on each street corner. 

A big thank you to Mr Alex Fisher, Ms Jessica Christian and Mr John Kenny for leading the tour.