Berlin…Connection with my Roots

Walking on streets and in parks where my father played as a young boy, looking at stores where my grandparents worked, and seeing buildings where my family lived, all about 58 years before I was there, created surreal feelings for me. During my five-month solo European journey, I visited places where my family had experienced a few years of their lives. And while I know that the stores, buildings, and streets do not look exactly the same today as they did back then, I still had a feeling of connection with my roots.

Main Jewelry Store, 1947

Branch Jewelry Store, 1947

Berlin, Germany was where my father and my grandparents lived from 1946 to 1948, when my father was 7 to 9 years old. My grandfather owned two jewelry stores, a main store and a branch store. Above the branch store was a one-bedroom apartment where my family lived. During my trip, I visited both of these locations. Today, neither of the stores sells jewelry as my family no longer owns them. In fact, the main store now sells clothing accessories, and the branch store now sells Italian ceramics for bathrooms. Also, the buildings where the stores are located have been refurbished, but I was able to still see the four windows of the bedroom and living room of the apartment located above the branch store where my family lived. Even though the stores and buildings are different than they used to be, it was still an awesome feeling for me to be able to visit these places.

Italian Ceramics Store and Four Windows

Apartment Building

I found it interesting to know that the neighborhoods that I was visiting were places where my father attended school and played. My father told me that depending on the weather, he would either walk, or he would take the subway by himself one stop to the school. Also near these neighborhoods is the Tiergarten (zoo) and park, where my father would play as a young boy. Sometimes he would take the subway to the zoo by himself to meet his father there. I even walked through the park during my visit just to see a place of good memories for my father.

Clothing Accessory Store

Building Above Clothing Accessory Store

It was a fascinating experience for me knowing that in the places that I was visiting, 58 years later, were where my grandparents had once walked on the streets, where they had once made their livelihood for a few years, and where my family had slept, eaten, talked, and laughed. These were places where my grandparents raised my father. It was quite an indescribable feeling to think that my father was there at a time not only before I was born, but at a time when he was just a young child himself.

After returning from my European journey, I shared with my father all of the amazing thoughts and feelings I had during my visit, and he continued to share with me more of his memories of his life at that time. It was definitely surreal to experience a connection with my roots.

Sweet Travels!

The more recent photos of the stores and of the buildings were actually taken by my sister, who also experienced this connection with her roots.