Thursday May 16, 2013
Today was our last day in Berlin, Germany. Even though I am excited to be moving on down South to Munich I will miss Berlin. The day was filled with amazing people that took valuable time out of their day to speak with us.
We started off the day with our typical breakfast, little did we know we would be having a not so typical day. The walk to Axel Springer was a great way to see some sites on the way to the visit. We walked past some more of the great things Berlin has to offer like the Berlin Wall stones on the ground, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Taz Press. The weather was also amazing, which helped with the walk.
Once we arrived to Axel Springer Mr. Porsch greeted us and brought us to the sixth floor of the building, which was home to the Axel Springer Academy. We then learned about some of the students that study at the academy and some of the history behind Axel Springer. Mr. Porsch was so passionate about his career at Axel Springer and just being a journalist in general. His amount of enthusiasm really made the presentation amazing.
We were lucky enough to chat with some of the students that were picked to study at the Axel Springer Academy. The ages of the students varied from 18-mid 30s, which was very surprising to me. They all seemed to be a family. Each of the students came from a very unique background and getting to know them was a great experience.
We also were lucky enough to talk to one of the main employees that works on videos for the Bild. This was a completely different aspect to what Mr. Porsch was talking to us about. It was amazing that Germany has so many laws for video usage.
After lunch, which we got to share with some of the Axel Springer Academy students, we met with Mr. Englaender. Mr. Englaender has a very high up position at Axel Springer and is very passionate about his career, just like Mr. Porsch. Another interesting fact about Mr. Englaender is that he was one of the Jews in a Box. The Jews in a Box made international news. He gave us a lot of information about Jews in Germany that many of us were unaware of. He also informed us about a lot of newspapers that are produced at Axel Springer. My favorite newspaper would probably be the Die Welt Compact.
The tour of the newsroom was also amazing. I love that they used all Apple products. Some of the Axel Springer Academy students showed a few of us the 19th floor of the building, which is a bar and restaurant. There were so many million dollar paintings along with an amazing view, big leather seats, and large wooden fixtures everywhere. It was also interesting to learn that you could smoke and drink on this floor. That floor was also where the Euro was created.
The entrance of Axel Springer was the only location, that our tour guide knew of, that had pieces of the Berlin Wall laying on their sides.
Axel Springer was an amazing experience. We ended the day with some amazing ice cream, my choices were chocolate and chocolate chip.
Tomorrow we will be flying to Munich and our wake up time is at 4:30, so I better get some sleep!
Xoxoxo
Katie
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