I have finally had the opportunity to start to take in Berlin in person, which I plan to do in a series of visits, and I still can’t wrap my mind around it. Berlin is the Hauptstadt of Europe’s economic powerhouse, a centuries-old city, but also a brand new city, reborn again and again through some of modern history’s worst clashes.
Most know that the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, but I was shocked when I realized that its occupiers, including the Russians, did not leave until 1994. 1994!
First Impressions
I was already grappling with the concept of Berlin before my trip (see “Pre-Trip Reading: Berlin & St. Petersburg”), and while I had studied maps, German, and historical novels, I had avoided photos to go in without visual expectations of the city. Here’s what I found:
- The newish (2008), surely state-of-the-art Mercedes Benz stadium sits in the former East Berlin, directly across the street from the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall that is still ceremonially standing. I found the sterile stadium that holds willing fans inside to be a sharp contrast to the art covered concrete walls that physically divided Berlin’s people.
- We met a gentleman who had been born on the East side of the wall. I think he was in his late thirties, early forties, and he grew up with maps that showed West Berlin as a white space, learned that Reagan was the enemy, etc.
- The Soviet destruction, and the money Germany is still spending to rebuild it, was numbing.
- In addition to rebuilding, the German efforts for redemption, from the Holocaust Memorial to donations to rebuilding the Amber Room in St. Petersburg, one of our upcoming destinations.
- Checkpoint Charlie was too commercialized, but the recreated sign gave a slight sense of what it might have been like.
Instant Favorites
The Reichstag Building was beautiful, and my current favorite building in the city (how very democratic of me). Next time I’m in Berlin, I plan to make an appointment in advance to go up in the dome on the top of the building.
Brandenburger Tor had its fair share of pillages. While the brainchild of a rather disgusting Frederick William II, it is a stately monument. Napoleon then took Victoria back to Paris until he was defeated in 1814. The gate was badly damaged in World War II, and then within the no man’s land of the walls.
Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt: Something other than sausage for lunch on a September day on the brink of Oktoberfest was not an option. Augustiner, just behind the opera house, was perfect for a late lunch. Mmmm bratwurst and kartoffelpuree!
Next Time
- Touring the inside of the Reichstag
- Museum island
- Tempelhofer Park
- Nightlife
Photos: my Nikon D3200
anchored & adrift 