On Friday afternoon, in the early evening sunshine, a group of Year 12 and Year 13 A-Level history students left school to travel to Berlin. This trip is an important one in their studies where they will see first had such sights as The Brandenburg Gate, the house of the Wannsee Conference, what is left of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie amongst others.
The Wannsee Conference was held on 20 January 1942, in a villa owned by the SS-Nordhav Foundation in the attractive Berlin lakeside suburb of Wannsee. It was presided over by SS-Lieutenant General Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Security Police and Security Service. Heydrich summoned fourteen men representing the governmental and military branches most involved in implementing the practical aspects of the Final Solution.
Whilst The Brandenburg Gate was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II and completed in 1791, when Berlin was partitioned after the 2nd World War it was in the Soviet Sector.
This should be a fascinating visit for the students and they will find it particularly interesting that they will be in Berlin when England play Germany in the next stage of the World Cup.
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