FRANKFURT, GERMANY

Hi Everyone!

Germany has been a pleasant surprise! We landed in Frankfurt at 6:00 a.m.  It was still dark outside, since the sun was not up until 8:30 a.m., but by the time we got through customs, got our bags and made our way to the train station, daylight had broke and I was IN LOVE! This place is such a beautiful blend of very old and new and innovative buildings, it's amazing.  You will see buildings that were obviously built several hundred years ago, with intricate details, right next to tall skyscrapers with very cool and hip designs. Here are some pictures:

This tall building is 1/2 a circle! Very cool.

I felt like I took a picture every 5 minutes because it was so pretty with all the snow on the ground it was "gorgeous view" after "gorgeous view".  (And believe it or not, it wasn't as cold as New York! ) Yay!
We are only here for 10 hours, so we stayed in "Frankfurt am Main", which has plenty of museums and cathedrals to see.  As a matter of fact, all the buildings were so cool, I felt like we were walking through a movie set. Here are some pictures of our walk:

Speaking of that, I had an epiphany this afternoon... God Loves Germans too!! I know you are saying, "Duh"!! but I was moved to tears today walking around Frankfurt thinking about the fact that their history will always haunt them. Even after 65 years, they are still living under (and always will) the reputation of an "evil ruler".  And after admiring the "old" and "new" buildings right next to each other, it occurred to us that the probable reason is the fact that bombings took place in this city and half of their old buildings were destroyed. As we walked around, I looked at the faces of these beautiful German souls and wondered whether or not we should be talking about their history "out loud" and/or whether they even talk about it still.  I later found out that it is REQUIRED learning in schools so the generations to come will never forget and make the same mistakes again. How cool is that?! If only the US would do that too.

I must admit without even knowing it, I too had "stigmatized" the Germans in my mind as "Nazis".  I realized that all we ever see in movies and read about are stories about World World II and Hitler, yet we rarely see movies about the people from here who have contributed something good to our society and theirs.  I think it's so sad that the "good guys" go down in flames with the "bad guys". God in His mercy has forgiven us ALL, no matter how horrible we "rate" the crime or sin to be. It's all the same to Him. I'm so glad that He keeps no records of MY wrongs, and I'm sure he keeps no records of theirs either.

Here are pictures of the famous St. Paul’s Church. It was first consecrated in 1833 as the main Evangelical Lutheran church in the city of Frankfurt am Main.  In 1944, St. Paul’s Church was completely destroyed. Its reconstruction began shortly after the end of the war. It was consecrated again on May 18, 1948. We read that building this church up again was a priority for them.  It was beautiful on the outside and inside.



St. Paul's Church

And in the basement, they featured different art exhibits. The one today: "Honoring some of the victims of the Holocaust!" WOW! Did you get that? HONORING!  Even though the whole thing was in German, I was still so moved and touched by the whole experience.  And that answered my question about whether or not the Germans were in denial! No, Michelle, they are not.  But can they get past this sort of stigma as the "bad guys"?  Don't get me wrong, I don't believe that we should EVER downplay the holocaust because to do so would be dishonoring to all the victims and their families.  Reminds me of the story of Corrie Ten Boom who lost her whole family in the holocaust but still managed to preach about forgiveness when the war was over... even when she was face to face with someone who had been a guard in her concentration camp.  MIND BLOWING! So as we went into the next church, we stopped and said a prayer that this country would no longer be only categorized as Nazi's and instead they would also be seen as God's forgiven children in the hearts of the people in the rest of the world....and ours too.

Blessings to each of you!
Two Kisses,
Michelle.