Red Berlin

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I awoke this morning and looked out the window to the left of my bed at the cloudy skies and rain pelting the window. I slowly made my way downstairs to breakfast. Shortly I was joined by Jeff, who I had met the night before, and Catherine, an Aussie from Sydney who was leaving Berlin soon.

We talked a lot about our travel plans, favorite places and advice. Jeff and I agreed to meet up for a tour I was planning to do this afternoon called Red Berlin. But first I had to take care of something.

I have accumulated quite a few things over the last six weeks - books, maps, tourist guides and beer steins; all of which was starting to weigh me down and wouldn’t make it through airport baggage weight limits. So I inquired about a nearby post office and found a DHL center.

After trucking it through the rain with a bag full of stuff, I reached the post office. Inside they fortunately had all I needed - a box and bubble wrap to care for the beer steins. I successfully shipped everything. It’s crazy how that feels like such a grand accomplishment.

The Red Berlin tour was to start at Brandenberg Gate at 1:00 so I had some time until it began. I decided I should stay close so I’m not late again. The Reichstag is a stone’s throw away so I thought I’d do a tour there.

The Reichstag is the German parliament building. It served in a similar capacity early in the 20th century until a mysterious fire erupted there in 1933. Hitler, serving as chancellor, or second in command, at the time, blamed it on a single communist and used it as leverage to gain emergency control over the German state. He never relinquished that control.

When I arrived, the rain had stopped but the skies were still dark and the temperature had certainly dropped. I was pretty cold even with my light jacket zipped up.

The line outside the building was long and not moving at all. I decided against going in and walked around the area a bit. I came upon a section of the nearby Tiergarten which had two tanks in front of a colonnade. Walking around the area, I discovered it was a Soviet memorial to the Soviets who lost their lives in World War II. The memorial had a number of interesting pictures and facts about the war, but from the Soviet perspective. As much as I have read about the war, I never really heard much from the Soviet perspective. It was fascinating to hear a different point of view.

At 1:00, I met Jeff and we joined the Red Berlin tour. The tour was focused on East Berlin, its formation, Soviet control and the conflicts between East and West Berlin, as well as East and West Germany.

We started out by the Brandenberg Gate on the East Berlin side. The United States, Britain and France all have embassies right by the gate and a block down Under den Linden (the main street that passes through the gate) is the former Soviet (and now Russian) embassy. The buildings aren’t much to look at as they were plainly designed so as not to take attention away from the gate. Except the Russian embassy, which the Soviets built taller than the gate in a Russian wedding cake style (tiered stories).

Next, we headed nearby where our guide, Maria, told us some stories about the Soviet spy organization called the Stasi and some of the double agents that worked within. One was about a man named George Blake, who was second in command of Britain’s MI6. Apparently he disappeared in North Korea, was brainwashed, resurfaced and became a double agent who worked for the Soviets. It was a very interesting story.

The setting in which the story telling took place was very fitting. It was just down the street from the train station with the bridge that Jason Bourne used to escape in The Bourne Supremacy, the second part of the trilogy. In fact, much of the movie was shot in Berlin - even the scenes that allegedly took place in Amsterdam and Naples.

Next, we headed past the bridge to an old, rundown building that was the site of the Palace of Tears. The Palace of Tears was a former customs house in East Berlin used for people coming to and leaving East Berlin from West Berlin by train.

As Germany was divided, many families and friends were split up by the political division. As the two Berlins became more and more segregated and especially after the wall went up, it became increasingly challenging for friends and family to reunite. It got to the point where they were only allowed to see each other once a year for a day. The Palace of Tears served as the site where people would last see each other for another year.

Serving as the custom house, the Palace of Tears also saw many silly Soviet rules about what could and could not be imported and exported. For instance, bananas were not allowed to be imported to East Berlin. Apparently they were seen as too exotic a fruit.

There also was an egregious exchange rate. West Berliners would have to exchange all their money when entering East Berlin and a mandatory 25 Deutschmarks were required to be exchanged each visit. The rate they had to accept was an absurd 1:1 from valuable Western Deutschmarks into worthless Eastern Deutschmarks. Later, when leaving, they couldn’t exchange it back but had to leave it on account for later and still would have the 25 Deutschmark requirement again. Plus, they would have to pay a five Deutschmark customs fee. This certainly served as a money maker for East Germany and East Berlin.

From there, we went to a nearby Ghost Station. Berlin’s Ghost Stations were underground train stations which the Soviets completely eliminated from use when Berlin was divided as they generally had access to the west. The station entrances were enclosed with brick walls and heavily guarded. Their lack of use for 30+ years meant that, while old, they’ve stayed in great condition.

The stations also feature signs in a heavy, Gothic style known as Fraktur font, at Hitler’s demand. He liked the font which was created under Maximilian I of Habsburg, King of the Romans, in the 16th century. Hitler’s attention to pressing matters of state such as the font of the subway station signs certainly shows that he would have made an excellent senior investment banker.

While we were in the middle of the tour, a bum came up to our group and bummed (pun intended) a cigarette from a young Argentinian who was with our tour group. Unbeknownst to the lad, this act of generosity provided him with a new friend. The bum proceeded to try and hold a conversation until the point that a guy in the group from Los Angeles shouted at him. The bum went on to harass others. It was quite the spectacle. I was just waiting to later discover that this was some sort of pickpocketing act and someone in our group was a victim. Fortunately, nothing like that happened.

From there we caught a tram to our next stop, a remaining section of the Berlin Wall where we could see the inner and outer walls, as well as the interior death strip. The section’s death strip looked to be about 50 meters wide. Its surface was covered in gravel and sand. Near the south wall, which had cracks that we could see through, there were electrical boxes which were used to support the electric fence that once stood inside.

A half block away is the remains of a church that once stood within the death strip. It was demolished and its remains were used to build a small memorial nearby, serving as a reminder to the horrid past.

We had a half hour break to warm up and grab food and drinks at a café en route. While on the break, Jeff and I spoke more with our tour guide, the Argentinian kid and another guy from Canada. The guy from Canada, whose name I never did get, was originally from the Black Forest in southwest Germany but had moved to Saskatchewan and actually, relatively speaking for that part of the world, lives near Jeff’s parents home.

Jeff revealed he’s been living in Taiwan for four years and teaches kids English. I’ve heard of people doing this but never knew much about it. I always figured they’d have someone fluent in both the native language and English teaching such a course (like a high school or college course) but apparently in many countries they only require a fluent English speaker with some sort of degree in higher education. And the pay is good enough that living comfortably in a very affordable country like Taiwan is easily achievable. While it sounds intriguing, I doubt I’d want to be away for the six months to a year minimum commitment to take on such a task.

After the break, we proceeded to the Stasi interrogation center. The Stasi was allegedly the largest spy organization in the world. It came about in 1950 since East German leaders feared that people were conspiring against them and against East Germany. The Stasi supposedly had one spy for every 63 people.

The interrogation center was housed in a brown brick building that looks a lot like a mental hospital from the movies. It was used to interrogate people suspected of conspiracy by various measures of torture, such as Chinese water torture, making someone hunch over in a tiny brick room for hours on end, sleep deprivation and solitary confinement, among others. The people would eventually break and confess to whatever charges were brought against them.

Finally, after some brief stops at a couple statues, we proceeded to the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is almost a mile long section of the Berlin Wall. Paintings by artists from all over the world were created on the wall. One hundred six paintings cover the wall, making it the largest open air gallery in the world.

The paintings were originally done after the fall of the wall. They were then redone in the late 1990s after graffiti artists and natural wear affected them. Now they are being redone once again, just in time to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall this November. Of all the artists that originally did the works, only three have not returned to redo their own works. The three who did not return have passed away.

The bulk of the paintings have already been redone and others are works in process. So what we were able to see were the recently recreated works and even some whose artists were there painting as we looked on.

That’s where our tour ended but Jeff, the other guy from Canada and I walked down a portion of the gallery together. We strolled along the row of paintings for a good half hour. The paintings’ styles and subjects ranged from abstract works with objects that looked like human brains and vacuums to renditions of famous actual scenes caught on camera to symbolic works with chains and doves.

We stood and watched one artist working on a portion of his painting that would eventually be a depiction of the Berlin Wall. Most of his work was incomplete so I have no idea what it will look like when finished.

Once we arrived at the Ostbanhof (east train station), Jeff split off to go see the Jewish museum while the other guy and I went up to the kebab place near my hostel that was recommended by James, the tour guide from yesterday. I didn’t remember the name of it but the kebab place was supposed to have some sort of red neon sign out front. We found one place that sort of fit that description and each bought a kebab. It was good but didn’t compare to my kebab guy, Sebah, in Salzburg. He’s still champion.

The other guy and I sat outside while we dined on our tasty sandwiches. Conversation ranged from my travels and career past to his trip to visit a one-of-a-kind eye doctor to his plans to possibly move to Scotland to continue his career in forestry to his view on the state of affairs between former East and West Germans today. After we finished, we parted ways and I took the short walk back to the hostel.

The Phillies game was starting soon. As much as I’ve complained about the afternoon playoff games in the past, this year they’re serving a purpose. For the second straight night I’d have a chance to see my favorite team in the playoffs.

Around game time, Jeff got back and Mustafa showed up to watch the game. While mostly watching the game, we continued our conversations from the night before. Towards the end of the game, some of Mustafa’s friends from his university showed up. They were all planning on heading out somewhere later on.

We watched a bit of the second game and they decided to go out and paint the town red. They invited me and Jeff to go along. He accepted for one drink. I declined. Bedtime. I have plenty more touring to do tomorrow.

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Photos

Reichstag
The Reichstag from the front.

Soviet Memorial
Two tanks mark the entrance to the Soviet Memorial. They were allegedly the first two tanks to enter Berlin in WWII.

Soviet Memorial
The main portion of the memorial.

Soviet/Russian Embassy
The grandest embassy (by far) in former East Berlin.

Bridge from Bourne Supremacy
I would have tried to recreate the escape if I had a hook on the end of my umbrella.

Palace of Tears
This dilapidated building was once the Palace of Tears. It is apparently being turned into a museum on its past.

Death strip
Looking through the outer wall across the death strip at the inner wall.

Stasi interrogation center
The place where many East Germans were tortured by the East German secret police.

Me at the East Side Gallery
Here I am in front of one of the works.

Recreating the East Side Gallery
An artist recreates his work for the second time to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall.

Kiss of Death
A painting of the photo of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev kissing his East German counterpart Erich Honecker.