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Published: August 21st 2013
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Berlin
A section of the largest remaining segment of the Wall. The train journey from Warsaw to Berlin on Monday went without a hitch. Hallelujah! Longish journey, just under six hours, but we are finding the train trips quite restful. Clive finds them particularly restful, in fact so restful that I had to nudge him a few times to stop him snoring. A delightful young German man struck up conversation with us during the journey. He is an architect who lives in Kelsterbach but works in neighbouring Frankfurt. He was returning from four days of studying the architecture of Warsaw. It was his first train journey in first class and he was very excited. Not sure why as it was just a normal EC train and not all that spectacular! Granted plenty of leg room and that counts for something on those long journeys. He gave us some insight on Berlin and his recommendations on what to see. There was also a Polish woman in our cabin with her two young sons. Again, delightful. She could understand, but not speak, English. She could, however, speak German so she would speak with the young German and he would translate to us in English. I was able to pick up the odd word in
Berlin
Original Sign at Checkpoint Charlie. German that was similar in Dutch so got the general gist of what was being said on occasion. It was an interesting few hours of conversation in our cabin! I enjoyed it but there were a few moments I think Clive thought he was in outer space.
The hotel in Berlin is again a good one. We haven't had a hotel that we have been disappointed with to date so here's hoping that continues! We took a short walk around when we arrived for what was left of the day and were able to determine that our hotel is situated in Charlottenburg, West Berlin. The part of Charlottenburg the hotel is located is what was previously the hub, or city centre, of West Berlin. There was a festival of sorts happening in the main square, an array of different stalls and musicians playing a variety of music. A hive of activity!
As we had only few days in Berlin we decided that on our first full day there we would take a small group city tour. Just three couples in a very, very comfortable Mercedes. It really was the only way we were going to be able to
Berlin
What remains of Checkpoint Charlie. see all the significant sights and landmarks in the short time we were here. Too many to mention but the highlights were Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, ruins of the Gestapo and SS Headquarters, Goering's Air Ministry, Goebbels Propaganda Ministry, the sight of Hitler's bunker, Checkpoint Charlie, Rathaus Schoneberg, the Holocaust Memorial and of course the Wall!
The steps of the Rauthaus Schoneberg (City Hall) is where President Kennedy delivered his famous 1963 speech in front of a crowd of 450,000 in which he made the statement, "All free men, wherever they live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words, Ich bin ein Berliner." The anecdote accompanying this statement is that President Kennedy made the mistake of saying 'ein Berliner' instead of just 'Berliner'. It is said that he was effectively saying 'I am a jelly donut'. The use of the article 'ein' was, apparently, an error in translation. There is much conjecture amongst historians about whether or not it was an error in translation or if, as he was not literally from Berlin but just declaring his solidarity with its citizens, it was in fact correct. The debate continues to this
Berlin
Brandenburg Gate day. How's that for a bit of useless trivia!
It was absolutely amazing to see these famous landmarks and we learn't many interesting facts about them all such as the fact that the quadriga on top of the Brandenburg Gate is not the original chariot and four horses. The original was destroyed by Allied Forces at the end of WWII but the original mould was found and a replacement quadriga made when the Gate was restored. Again, useless trivia but we found it all fascinating.
We expected East Berlin to be far less attractive than West Berlin but this isn't the case. At the end of WWII France, Britain and The United States demolished the buildings in West Berlin that had been damaged when it was bombed. Over the following decades they erected buildings in that architectural style that was unique to 60's and 70's. Horrible! The Soviets on the other hand couldn't afford to rebuild so left everything as is or at best carried out some cheap restoration so that the buildings were functional . . . just. With the fall of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany the German Government poured money into the
Berlin
Reichstag restoration of the pre WWII buildings in East Berlin. Apparently they have spent billions and billions of dollars restoring these buildings to their former glory. Wherever possible they have reused materials from the original building to retain its authenticity and all restorations have been done on the basis of historical documents. When Germans do something they do it properly! So now you have a somewhat cold and boring West Berlin and an absolutely magnificent and much more interesting East Berlin. How ironic!
On a number of recommendations we visited the German History Museum which is housed in old armoury building in East Berlin. It was built in the late 17th Century and restored in the 1990's. It is devoted to German history and Germany's relationship with the rest of Europe over the ages. The exhibits are beautifully displayed. You could spend an entire day there but we had to do our best in just over 2 hours!
Our final day in Berlin included, amongst sending another parcel back home and Clive getting what could only be called a 'German' haircut, a visit to one of the largest Jewish Museums in Europe. It is a building designed by architect
Berlin
Germany History Museum - Original SS And Gestapo uniforms. Daniel Libeskind to reflect the three realities of Jewish life in Germany; continuity with German life, emigration from Germany and the Holocaust. It is a really unusual concept and we learnt a great deal about Jewish history, the religion and way of life of orthodox and reformist Jews. All fascinating.
We also paid an extra visit to Checkpoint Charlie and an area where large segments of the Wall stand. We had had only had a brief look the previous day and we wanted to get a little closer and linger a little longer so we could take it all in and absorb it without feeling rushed. There is no forgetting for the German people the atrocities committed by the Nazis during WWII or the division of Germany at the end of the war. There are reminders everywhere, which we are told, is intentional. Interestingly the German Department of Defence recently moved into the building occupied by the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht during WWII. The move apparently raised a few eyebrows!
We enjoyed our time in Berlin. It's not a particularly beautiful city but it has its own appeal. Quite different to any other European city we have visited to date. Well worth a visit if for no other reason than its recent history.
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Glenys
non-member comment
Checkpoint Charlie
I notice MacDonalds behind Checkpoint Charlie! You can't escape the big 'M' anywhere in the world can you? At least it is somewhere to use the loo as they are hard to find in Europe....:)