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Published: September 20th 2007
Sachsenhausen, Berlin
Front Gate, Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Translated... 'Work Makes You Free', An insult to many who were marched through here...Just a quick post about our stopover in Berlin on the way to Denmark. Well there has been more and more terrible weather! Berlin was freezing and raining nearly the whole time we were there.
After a night on the road, we arrived at our hotel for a 2 nights stay. Did washing in the sink as the laundry service was a per item charge (didn't know we were staying in such a classy place). That night we headed into town and got a look at some of the sights. We had a nice traditional dinner of sausage and schnitzel in a pretty bar/restaurant recommended by the Lonely Planet.
The next day we decided to take the walking tour, even though it was a huge group and the guide was softly spoken, because the weather was good and we didn't know how long it would stay that way. We saw things including the radio tower (Pope's Revenge), the new synagogue roof in the distance (great tour guide), old cathederals, the famous street "Unter Den Linden" where hitler used to march his troops along, the U-Bahn station of the same name that is all original from when Hitler opened it
Berlin Wall
After souvernir hunters have stripped it bare... (as it was closed for 30 years while the wall was up), the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from the balcony, Gendarmenmarkt "the most beautiful square in Berlin" and a remaining part of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Afterwards we went back to read the outdoor exhibitions near Checkpoint Charlie and look at the open air gallery behind the remains of the wall. We found some internet cafes and had takeaway sausages for dinner before heading back for bed.
Our last day was spent on the internet calling home and then at the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp just north of Berlin. It was built as a model concentration camp in 1936 and some really terrible things happened there both through the war as well as afterwards. We hired audio guides and wandered at our own pace through the various buildings remaining standing like the barracks, the infirmary and the prison as well as around the roll call grounds and the incinerators. Pretty amazing to stand on the same ground as thousands of prisoners and try to imagine the horror of only 50 or 60 years ago.
It was pretty late by the time we got out
Bebelplatz
Site of the Nazi book burning in 1933... of there so we had Maccas for dinner on the road and drove on to find a place to sleep closer to Denmark. We are then meeting up with our friends we met in Fiji, Inge and Jesper, which we are looking forward to.
Cheers,
Lew and Holly
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