Berlin

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Arriving on the West side of Berlin, we decided to walk through the city to our hostel. Our path led us through a lakeside, a university campus, and a very large park. At the end of the park was a World War II memorial and a building we would soon learn was the Reichstag. The Brandenburg Gate stood between the park and the east side of the city. During the ear of the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg Gate was the only structure within the death zone. The death zone was what we understood as the small space between the two layers of the Berlin Wall. It was called this because anyone caught between the wall was considered a traitor and shot on sight. It is hard to believe the path we walked would have warranted our death in a time during our lifetimes. A statue of the Goddess of Victory sitting on a horse-drawn chariot say atop the Brandenburg Gate. Every other building in the vicinity was practically brand new. Many embassies lined the main street along with shops and restaurants.

Our hostel was not far from this plaza. After the 5 mile hike across Berlin we spent the rest of the day resting. The next day we took a tour of the city. The tour started at the Brandenburg Gate where Paolo explained the history of the Gate and post WWI Germany. The statue of the Goddess of Victory had changed hands from the Germans to the French and back again. The face of the Goddess was facing the French Embassy, as if to declare victory over France. So Germans do have a sense of humor! We were led to a very non-descript yet very large memorial. The official name for this memorial was, “The Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe”, though you won’t find this on any signs around the structure. Plaques around the sides explained the rules, but gave no name. The memorial itself was a series of square pillars of varying length. The pillars on the edge were shorter, with some barely higher than the sidewalk, while pillars in the middle towered above. The ground sinks in the middle as well, making the pillars seem to get exponentially taller as you walk through. The memorial takes up about one square city block. Paolo said the artist gave no official interpretation, but intended it to be a mystery. I found the mystery to be a pleasant change of pace from other memorials I’ve found.

The next stop was another very non-descript area. It was the site of the Bunker of the Fuhrer, which is where the Soviets found the body of Hitler. A small sign reads “Bunker of the Fuhrer”, but the area itself is literally a parking lot. The parking lot serves upscale condos in the area. I took it as a sign that Germany does not want to celebrate or remember this part of its history. However, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is an impressive display of a country owning up to its dark past. A few blocks away stood the only remaining section of the Berlin Wall. A simple concrete wall reinforced with rebar and supporting a drain on top. I’m assuming the guards bearing assault rifles made the wall a bit more intimidating during its day.

The tour then led us through key places in East Berlin. We saw buildings from Humboldt University, where Albert Einstein and Vladimir Lenin once studied. A square was at the center of three Protestant Churches. Two of these were almost identical, except one was French and one was German. Hugonauts escaping from France came here to worship back before WWI. However, after WWII, during communist rule of East Germany, the churches were converted to museums. Another square lay next to an Opera house that had been rebuilt three times. Once after burning, and twice after being bombed during the wars. A memorial to the Nazi book burning was in the center. This memorial could only be seen through a window set in the ground. Beneath the window you can see an empty room with empty bookshelves on each side.

From here we were led to the grounds of the old Palace. Most of the history so far surrounded WWI and WWII. Fast-forward to 1989 just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Thousands if not millions of protestors gathered at the base of the TV tower, the tallest structure in the EU, to demonstrate their disproval of the wall. In response politicians formed a plan for allowing citizens to cross the wall. The plan was to require certain documents that were, by design, impossible for anyone to acquire. A press conference was held to let the people know the wall could now be crossed. Though the privilege was illusory, it would buy politicians time. However, they hired a speaker who knew literally nothing of these plans. He was simply handed a review of the minutes about 5 minutes before he was to give his speech. After beating around the bush with talks of economics reporters began hounding him for an announcement about the wall. Frantic, this man began rummaging through his notes when he found the line that said the wall could be crossed. However, he did not read the list of requirements. The room began stirring with excitement, but one final question remained, “When is this effective?” Still frantic, the man searched for any date he could find, and when none could be found except that day’s date on the front of his notes, he replied, “Effective Immediately.” Which is the worst thing he could have said for the government, but a reply that enabled the people to rally at the gates of the Berlin Wall. In less than an hour every gate was packed with people trying to get through the wall, but the guards were not about to let them through. The guards had no idea what was going on, because this wasn’t the plan. At one particular gate, two students who had a day pass to visit East Berlin had come to return to cross the wall into West Berlin. Not only did these students want to get back to their home, they had to, for they were only allowed to spend one day in East Berlin. The guards were forced to open the door to let the students through, and the students were followed by tens of thousands of people running as fast as they could through the wall. This event is known as the official fall of the wall. After word circulated of this breach, all the other gates were opened as well, and the wall became nothing more than a symbol for what once was.

The funny thing to me is that the Berlin Wall surrounded West Berlin, which was half of a city. Now the point was, once you got into West Berlin you could take a plane across the Iron Curtain and escape communism into the West. However, when I hear stories about the fall of the wall and people escaping communism I envision people confined within a wall and escaping to freedom outside the wall. I have to remind myself that the wall confined people outside of a small area, and that when the wall fell, the people “escaped” to within the wall, within half of a city. The visual kind of loses its emphasis and becomes kind of comical when I think of it correctly.

Anyway, the tour ended there, and that was enough history lesson for me. The next day was May 1, or Mayday. Now I understand that most of Europe celebrates around this time. In Amsterdam we heard of the big party on April 30 for Queen’s Day, for example. There were a few key areas in Berlin where festivities were being held. We went to the biggest gathering, around Kortbusser Tor, called Myfest. We entered a sea of people gathered in the streets of Berlin for music, food, and bier . At least 10 stages featuring over 100 bands were distributed through an area of maybe 10 square blocks. It was like Rockfest, but completely free. Each stage was home to a different genre of music. One stage was dedicated to rock and metal. An 80s metal cover band was playing when we arrived. Sure enough, they were playing the Scorpions, Rock you like a Hurricane as we approached. Black leather and brightly-colored Mohawks surrounded this stage. I enjoyed listening to old school Metallica among other covers throughout their performance. After they were done we explored the rest of party. The stages each had very different crowds in front of them from old to young, rich to poor, conformist to non-conformist, etc. There were so many different kinds of food being sold at tables lining the streets. The crowd became so packed at the major intersections that I couldn’t see any asphalt or concrete. Upon returning to the metal stage we watched a band speak out against fascism and Nazi’s. This reiterated an interesting point. Present-day Germans seem to hate Nazis. A Nazi demonstration is always interrupted by a counter-demonstration outnumbering the Nazis 20:1. When the violence breaks out, and apparently it usually does, the Nazis aren’t the ones who start it. Later that day the police came out in full riot gear. However, they weren’t doing anything but standing alongside the entrance. The entrance closest to the major metro stop had been blocked, but people seemed to just go around to another entrance. Part of me was hoping I’d get to see something go down, but then it started to rain, which drove away most of the people, including us.

The last day we took a tour through the Reichstag, home of the German Parliament. Most of the building was a castle leftover from the days of Kaiser Wilhelm, but with a very modern glass dome at the top. The original dome had burned during Hitler’s reign, and Parliament moved to Bahn shortly after the war. Upon entering we were taken by elevator straight to the top floor. There you could see the whole city of Berlin from all sides. A spiral walkway runs along the inside of the glass dome, and an audio guide explains the different buildings which can be seen. Beneath the dome is a window where you can see straight into the main Parliament Chamber. This was of symbolic design to demonstrate who held the power in a democracy. Should members of Parliament forget who they are working for, they can simply look up through the glass ceiling and see …a bunch of American tourists 😉 Pictures of pre-WWI Germany were displayed in a circle around the inside of the dome, which was the first bit of pre-WWI history that we had seen yet. However, I guess when 90% of the city is built in the last 50 years, not much is left to reflect upon from the times before.

Berlin will always be remembered as the city of Myfest, the best party I’ve been to. I can’t even imagine something like that happening, or being allowed to happen anywhere else I’ve been. Maybe I’ll be surprised someday though. Berlin is surprisingly cheap too. The first day we got a two course lunch with a drink for 7.50 EUR! We definitely didn’t find deals like that in Paris. Today we are taking a bus to Prague, and changing currency for the first time since we got to Europe. XE.com says roughly 20 CZK to 1 USD. Sounds like we’re not going to starve here.

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Photos

Berlin Wall
The only remaining portion left standing

Old Palace Lawn
The park where the Palace used to be.

Myfest
80s Metal Cover Band

Police
In Riot Gear, but doing nothing.

TV Tower
at night

Reichstag
German Parliament

Comments

[Luanne]

love love love it!
I'm really loving your travel blog, Adam! You have such good writing talent and I love the way you share your experiences. The pictures are great and the memorial of the murdered Jews was quite awe-/thought-inspiring. Myfest did sound like a huge and wonderful party! Keep having fun!

[david miller]

99 red balloons
old school metallica being sung in german, now thats a party!!!