War Sucks

Some of you may have noticed that it has been quite some time since I have posted a blog post. I have a reason for lagging on my posts though. Needless to say, Magdeburg is not my cup of tea and I have been a little "lack luster" since moving to Magdeburg. No drive to post about other good things that have been going on because Magdeburg has cast a storm cloud over my normally sunny disposition. Magdeburg is in former East Germany and, let's just say, I have another reason to hate WWII (as if there weren't enough). My reason being that WWII destroyed what Magdeburg used to be. Magdeburg used to be a wonderful, sprawling city that had the most church steeples in its skyline in all of Germany. It is said that Magdeburg would have become Germany's capitol city (instead of Berlin) were it not completely bombed in WWII. The entire city was bombed just a few short months before the war ended. Just think, it almost survived...almost. All the beautiful churches and old buildings were lost...save for a few buildings. One of these buildings just happens to be the Magdeburger Dom (cathedral). The reason this building was not bombed was because it served a purpose. This building was consciously not bombed because pilots needed a large, unmistakeable landmark to let them know what city they were bombing. The Magdeburger Dom served this purpose. So, although it still stands, the reason for its continued existence is a very sad one. Just think, this very old, grand building is only here today because it allowed pilots to know what city they were bombing. The cathedral also happens to be Germany's oldest Gothic cathedral. It is very dark and looming looking with very interesting gargoyles on the outside...some of the best I've seen so far.

Don't be mistaken though, it was THOUGHT that Magdeburg could have become Germany's capitol city a long time ago, but that doesn't mean it has become very large at all. The city is actually very small...really small. When you stand in the city center it seems as though it could be a large city but upon further exploration you find that the main parts of the city actually lay on just two main streets for a stretch of about 2 miles. When you venture past this area, it is difficult to find things of interest. Shops become sparse and all that you see are identical apartment buildings. Magdeburg was rebuilt, after it was bombed, while it was still under Soviet influence so it has very modern, square buildings with extremely wide streets. Sometimes I forget that I am in Germany and think I am in Russia sometimes. Not at all what you picture when you think about Germany...but it is a part of Germany. The problem continues though. Magdeburg has a real problem with shrinking population. Many children of native Magdeburgers will stay in Magdeburg until they are done with their studies and then they leave. This has resulted in Magdeburg having a decreasing population and we all know a city can't exist without inhabitants. So the moral of the story is that war sucks...really sucks. It sucks for many many reasons, one of which being that war can turn a beautiful riverside city like Magdeburg into an empty shell of what it used to be.

****Update. I maintained the original text of this post to serve as a reminder for me...this is also how I honestly felt at the time. The last few months I lived in Magdeburg, however, I really loved it. The city really came alive when spring came and I realized I had to look past the not so "pretty veneer of the city to see what the city had to offer me. I consider myself as one of the luckiest of the 75 2011-2012 CBYX participants because I got to have a truly unique experience in Germany by living in Magdeburg.****