LOCATION:
Berlin, Germany
In addition to learning about Hitler and WWII, I was excited to learn about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall. The wall was built in 1961 and divided the Soviet controlled East from the allied controlled West. One of our first stops was checkpoint Charlie, where certain approved people could pass from West to East. Now it is much more a tourist destination than a place of remembrance, complete with "soldiers" in various uniforms offering to pose for pictures, or selling fake East and West Germany passport stamps. I couldn't help myself though, so got a good picture along with the rest of the tourists.
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| What checkpoint Charlie used to look like... |
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| How it looks today, with a McDonald's in the background. |
One of my favorite exhibits was a panorama, showing what it was like living next to the wall. Though the artist said the images were reenactments, the 360 degree image really helped me visualize what it might have been like in a separated Berlin. The images are seen from the West, with colorful graffiti and tourists posing for pictures. Just beyond the wall though, is the "dead zone" heavily guarded and almost void of life.
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| Just across the wall is the "dead zone." |
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| Another view highlighting the differences between West and East Berlin. |
Evidence of the wall can be seen all around Berlin, from pieces of the wall on display in various locations, to a brick trail marking its path, to actual stretches of the wall that still remain in tact.
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| This brick path marked the entire course of the wall. |
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| Several wall pieces have commissioned art work on them. This was one of my favorites. |
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| A stretch of original wall. |
One of the highlights of the Berlin visit was a museum of the Kennedy's. Though I didn't take any pictures, I was impressed with the photography the museum had to offer, and learned how much of an important figure JFK was in West Berlin. The focal point of the museum featured his early 1963 visit to Germany, and his infamous speech criticizing communism. One of the funnier parts to learn though, was that his famous line "ich bin ein Berliner" translates literally to "I am a jelly doughnut" rather than "I am a Berliner" because of language differences. JFK visited many of the same landmarks we saw, just months before he was assassinated in Dallas.
The Brandenburg Gate was also a great landmark to see - it too served as a checkpoint between East and West Berlin. It was also the site where Ronald Reagan, in 1987, said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall". The wall fell a few years later in 1989, finally reuniting East and West Germany.
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| The Brandenburg Gate. |
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| A sidewalk plaque commemorating Reagan's famous words. |
One of the things that impressed me the most about Berlin was its resiliency and tendency to rebuild after destruction. The Berlin cathedral was a great example, and the beautiful Berliner Dome was stunningly restored, inside and out.
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| The outside. |
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| Beautiful pipe organ inside. |
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| A view of the TV Tower from the top of the dome! |
Berlin has a wonderful mix of old and new architecture, and it was really on display at the Reichstag. The building, which was destroyed just before the end of the war, is now the home to the German Parliament. We toured the glass dome one evening, and learned that while visitors appreciate the architecture and views, Germans like the building because the glass symbolically represents the transparency of a new government.
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| The Reichstag, during the day. |
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| The interior of the glass dome. |
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| Spectacular views of the Brandenburg Gate from inside the dome. |
Though it would be easy to fill a Berlin tourist itinerary with historical locations, we managed to see some other famous landmarks as well. We saw the Hotel Adlon, located just past the Brandenburg Gate, where Michael Jackson held his baby out the window in 2002. Another highlight was the US Embassy, where we had a VIP tour! Pictures to come from that visit!
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| The Hotel Adlon |
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| Remember this? What a weirdo! |
And though I know we will be in the presence of more pretzels and beer as our German experience continues in Munich in a few days, I was excited to sample some of what Berlin had to offer. Now we continue on, detouring out of Germany to the Czech Republic, Poland, and Austria before circling back next week to explore Bavaria.
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| Mmmmmmm. Salty pretzels and beer! |
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