June 6-8, 2008This past weekend, we took the train up to Berlin for the first time. The weather was great and we were able to really make tracks, using the extensive U-bahn, S-bahn, and bus systems.
We stayed within a couple of blocks on the
Europa Center shopping district.
Kaufhaus des Westens (nickname KaDeWe
) or "Department Store of the West" claims to be the largest department store in Europe.
First thing on Saturday morning, we hopped on a city bus to see the Western/Central part of Berlin. One of the first places we stopped was the 400-acre
Tiergarten Park that was once royal hunting grounds. Near the entrance to the park is the
Victory Column (shown below), built to commemorate the Prussian defeat of France in 1870. Interestingly, Hitler had this column moved from the
Reichstag (parliament)
building in 1938 to complement his victory parades. The gilded angel at the top (known as the "Goldelse") was in a
U2 video* for the song "Stay."
*Side Note: It's a 5-minute video, so you can just take my word for it, but if you do watch the video, you can also see images of the Brandenburg Gate and the TV tower.Siegessäule (Victory Column)
One of the many sculptures of former rulers in the
Tiergarten Park...
The
Bellevue Palace (German White House) was once a Nazi VIP guest house, but now is home to the federal president.
The Denkmal für die Ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) consists of 2,711 gravestone-like pillars made of hollow cement. Completed in 2005, this is the first German government-sponsored Holocaust memorial. Underneath this memorial, is a museum filled with photos and histories of Jewish families from all over Europe. It was a bit like the Holocaust Museum in D.C., but I was struck by the number of countries from which people were taken- there were 200 different sites of genocide throughout Europe. This was the first time I realized that Jews were taken from places like Norway and Greece.
Throughout the city is a double row of cobblestones (shown below), marking what once was the 100-mile long
Berlin Wall.
The
Brandenburg Tor is the last surviving of 14 gates in the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was built on August 13, 1961 by the communist government, in an effort to "protect" East Berlin from the Western world. Across the street from the gate are memorials to the East Berliners who died trying to cross the Wall.
In the Chariot on top of the gate is the Goddess of Peace. During the French occupation, Napoleon ordered that the statue be dismantled and moved to the Louvre in Paris. It was returned to Berlin in 1814.
As you walk through the gate, you enter into
Pariser Platz (Paris Square), which may as well be called 'Embassy Alley.' Below are pictures of the embassies in this area...
American Embassy
French Embassy
British Embassy
Russian Embassy
The
Unter den Linden S-bahn stop was off-limits for 28 years, but Western trains were still allowed to pass through (money making venture for the East). The station was reopened within days of the Wall coming down, but hasn't been updated since it was built in 1931.
Staatsbibliothek (City Library), built from 1903-1914...
Humboldt University was attended by Marx, Lenin, and the Grimm brothers. Einstein also taught here before transferring to Princeton in 1932.
Berliner Dom (cathedral)
The
Pergamon Museum is located on Museum Island (on the Spree river). This museum is named after its main attraction, the Greek
Pergamon Altar, dating back to the second century B.C. Unfortunately, many of the Roman artifacts in this museum were closed due to renovations, but what we were able to see was interesting and a great preview for our trip to Greece.
Pergamon Altar
The original friezes depicting battle between the gods and the giants...
Zeus is the figure facing forward with no head and robe falling down around his waist. He is in battle with Poryphion, et al.
Athena is the central figure. She is holding on to the son of Gaia (Greek goddess of Earth), who is trying to keep him on Earth. The placement of Athena's serpent around his shoulders indicates that he is out of luck.
This mosaic was moved from the altar, pretty amazing!
Athena statue
Pillars
Fountain
The TV tower (called
telespargel, or toothpick, by locals) is Berlin's tallest structure and the second-tallest structure in Europe (1,197 feet). There is a rotating cafe in the metal sphere, which we did not visit.
Checkpoint Charlie (as in Alpha (A), Beta (B), Charlie (C)...) was the only crossing for foreigners between East and West from 1961-1990.
Segment of the Berlin Wall at the
Checkpoint Charlie Museum
The last standing portion of the original Wall...out in the middle of nowhere!
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (
Gedachtniskirche) was bombed in WWII, and the ruins were left as a memorial to the destruction of Berlin (notice the jagged portion at the top).
Instead of tearing the church down, a competiton was held to design a modern addition (see the tower next to the church above). The winning design is shown below, with 11,000 glass windows gifted by the French as a reconciliation gift.
Chancellory
The Reichstag Building (Parliament Building) was inaugurated in the 1890s, almost burned down in 1933 (Nazis blammed this on a Communist plot, but some believe Hitler planned the fire to grab power), and in 1945 it fell to the Allies. If you click on the picture below, you can see the long line of people waiting to go inside this building. We opted to come back later that night to see the dome...
Dem Deutschen Volke="To the German people"
So after dinner, we returned to the
Reichstag Building and there was still a line (at least it was shorter). After waiting in line for about 30 minutes, we rode an elevator up to the roof of the building. Here are some of the views...
Glass Cupola
We walked up sloped ramps to the top of the cupola
The 360 mirrors reflect light into the legislative chamber below...
This German eagle is situated behind the podium in the central legislative chamber (we were looking down into the chamber)...
These glass doors look into the central legislative chamber. The reflection from light makes it difficult to read the small white signs about each set of doors, but the signs read
Enthaltung (abstain),
Ja (yes), and
Nein (no). For close votes, all 669 members of the parliament will leave through the door of their choice to place their vote.
Brandenburg Gate in moonlight
On Sunday, we took it easy and just visited the
Bröhan-Museum, filled primarily with works by Picasso.
This is the
Charlottenburg Palace, which we only saw from the outside.
To get home, we took the train through Frankfurt and on to Darmstadt. I wasn't really sure what to expect from Berlin, but this felt like one of the most historically relevant trips we've taken. I know this sounds cheesy, but it really made history come alive! We would recommend Berlin to all of you who can get there.
