In the midst of packing up, I realized something - despite being here for a year in Germany, I still hadn't seen Berlin! Luckily, my birthday present came in the form of tickets via AirBerlin to - you guessed it! - Berlin! Everyone else was busy, but I was able to enlist Emily to come along with me. We barely had two days in Berlin, since we went for just the weekend, but we had a great time!
Now for those of you playing at home, Berlin has a complicated past and most of the history is still fresh. The city of Berlin was first documented in the 13th century and has since served as the capital city for many regimes: the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm I, the Weimar Republic, and the Third Reich. But perhaps the most famous part of the history of Berlin comes after WWII. The downtown was bombed flat during WWII by the Allies and divided into 4 parts amongst the victors - England, France, America, and the USSR. The country was similar divided, leaving Berlin as the sole beacon of democracy and capitalism in a sea of terrible Soviet-ness.
Unsurprisingly, the new East Germans quickly realized that their new regime was just as twisted and evil as the one they had before. After a worker uprising was quashed by a massacre in Berlin, East Germans tried every way, shape, and form to flee the Soviet controlled part. The main borders between the divided parts were armed, but in Berlin - people were free to come and go into the 3 other areas. In the 1950s, East Germans raced to Berlin to escape. It is estimated that 3.5 million East Germans made their way to freedom - that's about 20% of the entire East German populace. The Soviet Union was hemorrhaging Comrades.
In an attempt to staunch the wound, the East Germans erected a wall between the East and West of Berlin literally overnight. At midnight on August 12th, 1961, Soviet troops cut off the border. In less than 6 hours, just as the sun was coming up, Germans woke up to see 124 miles of concrete wall surrounding the borders between East and West.
As the Cold War dragged on, the wall became just as mental as physical. The West bloomed under the support of the Allies, the Marshall Plan, and capitalism. Meanwhile, the East suffered through poverty and oppression.
Finally in 1989, the Wall fell, but not after getting two great speeches featuring two great quotable quotes from two American presidents.
In Kennedy's 1963 speech, (in)he famously told the West Germans
that he was a Berliner - a jelly filled doughnut. But they
go the sentiment anyway.
In 1987, Reagan told the Russians quite
clearly what the Germans wanted.
But we all know who was really responsible for bringing down the Wall:
My housemates have a signed photo of the Hoff that sarcastically
hangs in our kitchen.
The effort to rejoin the two parts of Berlin together is on going. The Germans still speak of the "Mauer in Kopf" - literally "the Wall in the Brain" - between former East and West Germans. But overall, you can say that reunification has been a massive success!
Anyway, here's the photographic rundown of all the things we saw:
The TV Tower in Alexanderplatz
The Neptune Fountain in Alexanderplatz
Vertigo!
Emily photobombs again. This time she had to jump for it, though.
Clouds over the Marienkirche
Behind the fountain, you can see the Berliner Dom (aka the Berlin Cathedral)
The Dom is located on the Museum Island and by the Lustgarten ("Pleasure Garden")
Tourists and citizens of Berlin sun themselves in the gardens.
We made our way down "Unter den Linden", a shady boulevard lined with Linden trees. Following the street down the way, you run smack into the Brandenburger Tor (The Brandenburger Gate).
It was originally built as a tax gate for traders leaving and entering the city.
The chariot is driven by Victoria, the goddess of Victory, who keeps a watchful eye on France.
From the Bradenburger Tor, we moved to a more solemn memorial - The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It's 4.7 acres covered in 2,711 concrete slabs arraigned in a grid pattern. The slabs vary in size and width. The ground underneath rises and falls while the viewer has their peripheral vision cut off. Although the architect has been notoriously quiet about the "meaning" of the memorial, claiming that each individual must experience it for themselves, many have pointed to the Jewish Cemetery in Prague as a source of inspiration.
The Memorial was very moving and even though it seems strange, I would say this is a "Must See" in Berlin.
We then continued our tour of the city, uncovering the layers of history as we went.
A classic example of terrifying Nazi architecture, which was preserved in the war through chance and Soviet interference.
It is the former home to the Nazi Luftwaffe and the Soviet Ministry of Ministries.
Ironically, it now houses the National Tax Office.
Emily photobombs my shot of the remains of the Berlin Wall.
The last remaining section of the Berlin Wall.
Displays of the wall by Checkpoint Charlie.
Berlin is known for its Currywurst, a sausage covered in curry ketchup.
More Wall graffiti
Literally "Wall Street"
The heinously tourist trap-y Checkpoint Charlie
Needless to say, it never looked like this when the wall was up.
A special brick strip throughout the city marks where the Wall once stood.
Emily and I found our way to the DDR Museum (Soviet East German museum). It was a wonderful interactive, although terrifying look into the lives of East Germans and their government after WWII.
Emily inside an East German Trabant, one of the worst cars ever made.
You can rent an improved version to drive around Berlin in, if that's what you're into.
The cars were notoriously unreliable and ran on a simple, two stroke motor.
The same type of motor used to power your lawnmowers.
An Image from children's fitness propaganda. "Think correctly, exercising is important."
A playset for East German children.
The museum plaque was hilariously sassy! "Counting Tanks - Even the children of Kindergarten age were taught to count tanks and soldiers like a real NVA officer. Ten soldiers minus five soldiers makes...But what happened to the other five? They probably sacrificed themselves for their Socialist homeland."
Emily in a Soviet prison - luckily, she made it out alive!
During Day Two, we went West!
Your Humble Blogger!
Tacky, tacky tourist photos.
You can pay to pose with your favorite Comrade or G.I.
We walked through the Gate and to...
...the Reichstag! Aka the German Parliament.
Along the walk...another currywurst stand.
Unfortunately, we weren't allowed in!
At Alexanderplatz - we ate there for lunch - people were Basejumping off one of the skyscrapers.
Terrifying!
After lunch, we went to the Pergamon Museum, which was built to house some of the most amazing things in the world.
My panoramic shot of the amazing Pergamon Altar didn't pan out (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!) so I stole this one from Wikipedia.
The Altar is the first thing you see when you enter the museum. It's indescribably impressive.
The side panels shows the epic battle between the Greek gods and the titans.
Although historians aren't sure if the temple was dedicated to Athena or Zeus, statues of both adorned the Altar.
The museum features lots of floor mosaics
Sitting on the steps of the Altar lets you take it all in.
It's a snake!
Another temple facade in the museum
And more cool mosaics...
Man's best friend.
The Ishtar Gate from Babylon and one of the 7 Wonders of the World!
It was really cool!
The detail and effort it must have taken to make this is simply astounding.
The royal lion is a mythical figure and features strongly on the Gate and the Processional Walk.
A model of the gate and walkway.
More exhibits in the museum:
The coolest exhibit was the one detailing the excavation of the Altar - it was interactive and beautifully laid out. I would definitely see it before you see the Altar!
One of the rooms of the exhibit, showing the family tree of the Greek gods.
It was really interesting, but a little overwhelming.
Our last stop was to go downtown - unfortunately, we were stymied in our attempt to see anything else because almost everything was under construction! I was really sad, especially because the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was covered in scaffolding that made it look like a skyscraper.
It should look like this - it was left bombed out as a memorial to WWII.
But instead, it looked like this.
Overall, I really liked Berlin! I was disappointed because we only had two days there and because a lot of things were under construction. I guess this gives me incentive to return!
UP NEXT: My Ultimate Countdown - Top 10 Things I Will Miss About Germany and My Farewell Post to Tübingen.
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