East meets West in Berlin

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We spent three days visiting Berlin, the capital of Germany. This is a very important and historic city!

After World War II, in the 1940s, Germany was split into two separate countries, West Germany and East Germany. Berlin was also split into two halves, West Berlin and East Berlin. Many East Germans wanted to go to West Germany, but the East German government in the 1950s built barbed-wire fences and a high wall in the city of Berlin, called the Berlin Wall, to prevent East Germans from leaving the country. Then, in November of 1989, the borders were opened and hundreds of thousands of Germans from both sides were able to meet for the first time in many years! They had a huge celebration in Berlin at the Wall, and used tools to break apart the Wall and tear it down so they would not be separated again. This made many people all over the world very happy. In October of 1990, the two halves of Germany were reunified into a single country. (You can read more about the Berlin Wall, East Germany and East Berlin at Wikipedia.)

We stayed in an apartment in the former East Berlin, and we enjoyed traveling all over both sides of the city with no Wall to get in our way! We saw lots of monuments, memorials and museums. The Museum of the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie taught us a lot about the history of the Berlin Wall. The Topography of Terror museum is all outdoors! We learned a lot there about very tragic things that happened during World War II. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a reminder of some of those things. At the German Resistance Museum, we learned that a small number of Germans did risk their lives to try to do what was right.

At Pariser Platz ("Paris Square") near the Brandenburger Tor ("Brandenburg Gate"), we saw an outdoor photo display showing the history of the square... destruction after the war, then the construction of the Berlin Wall, and finally the demolition of the Wall and the reconstruction of the lovely square for all to enjoy. There is a beautiful street there called the Unter den Linden ("Under the Linden Trees"... a linden tree is a very popular and pretty tree in Europe), with restaurants and shops.

Berlin is a huge city. Even with all its history and tourism, it is still very modern and very busy. We had a lot of fun learning about its history and seeing how it has changed so much in just a few years.

Here is what bsktcase says about Berlin (and lots of pictures):
Ich bin ein Ostberliner!
Starstruck
Standard tourist behavior
Und mit deinem Geiste!

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Photos

Checkpoint Charlie
Behind me is where the Berlin Wall used to be! Checkpoint Charlie was one of three places where people (only with special permission) could cross through. Today, the little white guard shack behind me is all that's left! The large photo of a Soviet soldier represents the American and Soviet soldiers who used to work here (there is a large photo of an American on the other side, facing the other way).

The guard shack
My friend Cheryl and me in front of the Checkpoint Charlie guard shack.

Berlin subway
Here I am buying our tickets to ride the Berlin city trains, called the "S-Bahn" (commuter rail) and the "U-Bahn" (subway). "Fahrkarten" and "Fahrscheine" both mean "tickets". Fortunately, the machine speaks English, not just German!

Waiting
Now I'm waiting for my train. Potsdamer Platz is a very famous square ("Platz" means "square"); the Berlin Wall used to go right through the middle of it, but now that the Wall is gone, there are lots of huge new office buildings, stores and restaurants there. This is the subway station underneath Potsdamer Platz. The square is upstairs!

Eisbecher!
Ice cream sundaes in Germany are called "Eisbecher" and they are delicious! I got this one at an outdoor café on a big, wide street called the Karl-Marx-Allee.