AHHH, Berlin. Usually not what people say, but how could you not? Berlin has a history of being a divided city, first in WWII and then with the Wall. The photo above is the Reichstag, which was almost completely ruined by allied bombs in 1945. The entire top (the "Cuppola"), along with most of the main building, has all been rebuilt.
There
are so many thing I could say about Berlin, and one of the most important
and famous things is the Berlin Wall. Erected by the Russians in 1961 to keep
the people inside, it lasted for 28 years. This plaque is seen on the ground
all over Berlin, and a cobblestone line represents where the wall once stood.
We
were lucky enough (lucky, that it wasn't a German holiday) to be able to see
the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. This museum is on the exact spot where Checkpoint
Charlie was after the war. You can see exactly what it was like then, from
photos, and the changes that have taken place.The wall line circled around
this area.
The
Gedächtnis-Kirche is a vivid reminder of how ugly and horrible war can
be. It was almost completely destroyed by bombs in WWII, and what is left
has been made into a memorial. A beautiful church destroyed for no apparent
reason. The name literally means "thinking, thoughtful church" for
everyone to keep in it in our minds. Once again, the old comes together with
the new (left photo).
There
is only 2 places in Berlin where the Wall is still standing. One of these
places is called "The Art Gallery", because many people have painted
"inspirational" things on the Wall.
It's truly amazing that we can walk freely on both sides of this placeholder, when only 14 years ago, in our lifetimes, people were dying for trying to cross it. Near this wall is a river, and people swam the river to try to escape, hiding from the sharpshooters and avoiding the spikes in the water.
Another
famous sight in Berlin is the Brandenburg Tor. This was one of the gates to
the city when it was occupied by the Prussians. Long before Hitler, the Americans,
or the Russians, the Prussians were building the city and bringing lots of
education and culture. The wall put this on the East side, but the Reichstag
was on the West; they are only a few feet away.
Another
thought provoking site, as I am demonstrating here :), is the Topography of
Terrors. This is the site of the Nazi Headquarters building.. The entire building
was demolished, completely to rubble, in the war. However, the city has excavated
and restored whats left of the basement to a "museum", a walking
tour with an audio guide (in English). It has photos and explanations of all
the horrors that happened in the building, and the people that were terrorized
by the Nazi party.
One
of the most intri
guing things about Berlin is the two biggest pieces of history, the Nazi regieme and the Wall, have nothing to do with each other. This is the one place in Berlin where the two come together. Look closely at the photo, and you can see another part of the Wall that is still standing. This site was abandoned the entire time the Communist party was in charge. The museum has only been recently put together, in the past 5 years.
A
creepy reminder of what happened here is this guard tower, overlooking the
Wall and the Potsdamer Platz. The Potsdamer Platz was once known as "no
man's land", because it was the one place that wasn't controlled by anyone.
In the metro station here you had to pass your passport through a window,
in which you could not see through, and walk through a door into a room. When
told, you could then continue to the other side and could retrieve your passport
on the other side of the wall. You never saw who was behind the window. Now,
Diamond Chrysler and Sony have gotten together to make the Potsdamer Platz
one of the most high tech places in Europe. A huge Center, loaded with monster
screen TV's, video games, and the latest in gadgets stands at the Potsdamer
Platz. So much money has been put into the East, and the West has had no imporvements.
Seems Berlin is a city destined to always be divided.
There
are, of course, other things to see in Berlin that aren't so depressing. The
Berliner Dom, the largest and most prevelant Catholic Church in Berlin, is
one of those. Unfortunately, we only had time to walk pass and see the outside.
The other thing in Berlin that was not depressing was the Bear exhibit. Some of you may have heard of it, supposedly it is big news. I must have been living in a cave, because I had never heard of this. Anyway, in a huge semicircle are about 50 bears, representing many countries all over the world. Most of them were designed according to something relevant to their country, and some were a bit abstract. We stood at the entrance to look for the American one. At first, we couldn't see it for some reason. I can't imagine why. At the same time, both Jen and I said "Oh....oh my - oh I see it!" Click here to see the innovative representation of our country with an exhibit that was traveling the world.