Cities | Der Deutscher Wald

My flatmate, Elliott, and I went to have Vietnamese food, which sounds strange for Berlin, but because we are in the former East Berlin there are dozens of Vietnamese restaurants that have been here since the 60s. On the way back, we found this small cemetery around the corner from our apartment on Kleine Rosenthaler Straße. It was our first cemetery here, and was a good introduction to the beauty and natural serenity of the German model for a final resting place. Cemeteries are everywhere and are treated like parks and greenspace by they community. People picnic in them, have lunch, meet with friends, take walks, even go there on dates. The cemeteries are always filled with people tending the graves and planting flowers.

Alter Garnisonsfriedhof, Berlin. Photo by Scarlett Messenger

My search for the Bremen Town Musicians statue was thwarted because a refugee rally was taking place in the town square. I returned the next day and was able to locate my statue. I did get the chance to explore St. Petri cathedral and much of the architecture of the square. Bremen is known as a blue collar town, and in the modern day has some fairly obvious issues with drugs, alcohol, and homelessness. Someone tried to pick my pocket in the train station, and I encountered several people who were clearly either mentally ill or intoxicated who were aggressively panhandeling. I also encountered an elderly man loudly and endlessly singing a song about cuckoos on a park bench.

It is interesting to note that all 5 of Germany’s veterinary schools have a statue of the Bremen Town Musicians in front of them.