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Published: September 11th 2005
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Berliner Mauer
Indicating the spot where the Wall ran right in fron of my hotel PSA: technical difficulties with pictures. This was typed last night. I'll be back up to date on Monday.
Okay it is no longer East Berlin. But, I don't know which is more amazing: me walking through the Brandenberg Tor onto Unter den Linden into the heart of the old East Berlin; or, me now sitting in my hotel room typing this note whilst I listen to the Illinois football game over the Internet! A game that is happening 4000+ miles away...!!!
And, it is equally amazing that our children (well, speaking with respect to us youngish parents...) will grow up with DDR meaning nothing more than a cool dance device. These are the same kids that hear Rhapsody in Blue and think it is the music from United Airlines commercials.
Anyway...
I slept 13 hours Friday night! Not sure when that has happened in years. But, boy, did I feel good.
After a few cups of coffee, I was out quickly.
Back to the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe. It simply is a glimpse into the heart of darkness. Vaguely based upon the famous Jewish Cemetery in Prague, it consists of 2,700 concrete slabs
Memorial to Murdered Jews
The picture does not do justice. that cover four football fields in the heart of Mitte. The slabs (all with razor sharp edges) along the perimeter start at about six inches high, growing steadily and ominously up to a height of probably 20 feet in the middle. As a result, you wade in and find yourself first knee deep, then waist deep, and eventually in over your head. In the darkest, deepest section, I have to tell you my heart was racing - I was vaguely disoriented, nervous, and just a little bit afraid. One can only imagine the reality. No, one can most certainly not.
What does it mean? I suspect there are thousands of theories. My interpretation is that it indicates the slow but unstoppable march of National Socialism and its ultimate solution. It is impossible to pass anybody in the narrow passageways between the slabs. You are going it alone. You can easily lose sight of whomever you are with, maybe never finding him/her again. Whilst the middle of the Memorial is deep, dark, and terrifying, I think the designer knew what he was doing by making it symmetrical: there is a way out. Unfortunately, in the real world, the way out
Unter Den Linden
Adlon in the background took too long and was too unthinkable in its toll.
As I was headed off to Unter den Linden, I heard a tour guide talking about the competition to select the winner for the Memorial. Amongst the submissions were a giant oven that would burn non-stop as an eternal flame, and a giant Ferris Wheel with the cars made out of the train cars that carried Jews to the concentration camps. I just stared. I just shook my head. Berlin will do that to you.
Unter den Linden. The most famous street in Berlin; Germany for that matter. It starts in the west at Brandenburg Tor. Sorry for the repetition, but the act of walking through that gate and onto that street gave me chills: I was IN East Berlin! I was immediately in front of the famous Hotel Adlon - well, the rebuilt Adlon. The original was destroyed in the Allied bombings of 1945. The old Adlon hosted Caruso, Garbo, and Chaplin, amongst others. The new one is spectacular.
Heading east, I immediately came across the old Soviet Embassy. Now the Russian Embassy. A giant, ornate, innately Soviet style edifice.
Which brings me to Unter
For Nick Mattar
Hold your position! Next to Russian Embassy on UDL. den Linden. A beautiful, tree lined way that in the old days rivaled the great boulevards of Europe. Literally translated as Under the Lime Tree - so named when said trees were first planted there in the 17th century. No, there are no longer Lime Trees lining UdL.
Prior to the German megalomania of the first half of the 20th century, UdL rivaled anything Paris, London, or Vienna had to offer. I probably spent two hours looking at the amazing architecture and taking in the atmosphere. Breathtaking.
I moved deeper into the eastern part of the city. The Berliner Dom (church) is sublime as you can see from the picture. I find myself wondering why the Soviets did not destroy such a religious gem. Then it hit me - note the infamous Fernsehturm behind the Berliner Dom. It is the one thing I remember from TV reports from the old East Berlin. Built as a TV transmission tower, it is exactly 666 feet tall... Don't destroy it and risk the wrath of the religious world (are you listening Taliban remnants?); just loom over it with a 666 foot monstrosity!
Berliners call the tower the Telespargel, or toothpick!
Russian Embassy
on UDL. Classic Soviet style architecture. The tower is on a square called Alezanderplatz. What a grim, sad area. It is lined by the famous Soviet style block housing/office structures. The original plan upon reunification was to restore the square to its 19th century glory, but the massive construction in Potsdamer Platz has depressed the commercial and residential real estate market in the old East Berlin.
Getting hungry, and wanting to get out of Alexanderplatz, I decided to head to Kreuzberg - a funky little area that is home to Checkpoint Charlie, and at one point home of three of the Nazi's most feared departments. More on that in a minute. Checkpoint Charlie might as well be in the middle of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Very disconcerting, and almost American in its commercialization. I had lunch, and a few biers, in a cafe right across from the checkpoint. "Ein grosse bier, bitte" seems to roll easily off of my tongue already. After a couple of grosse biers it occured to me that I was sitting at the literal western edge of an empire that once stretched from where I was sitting all the way back to Vladavostok. And 16 years later it does not exist.
Berliner Dom
With "The Toothpick" looming over it. You may truly rest in peace, Ronald Reagan.
Walking back towards the hotel, I walked down Prinz-Albert-Strasse: home in the late 30's and early 40's to the SD, the SS, and the Gestapo. The buildings are gone, but as you'll see in the picture the basements are being excavated to become an exhibition of Nazi horrors. Unfortunately, right now the temporary exhibit is exclusively in German. But, the pictures they have up are certainly easy to comprehend. My sense at this point, is that the Germans have overcome their trepidation with reconciliation and are airing all the ugly dirty laundry, no matter how brutal it may be.
Back to the hotel for a quick nap. Then time for the Illini game. Slingbox (the most amazing little box in the history of the world - well, at least for me for this trip) is of no use since the game is not televised. Screw you Ron Turner for making my beloved not even TV worthy of ESPN+.
Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy. We'll see. Think I'm scrapping the daytrip to Dresden.
Gute Nacht!
-g
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Berlin tour
Hi, Interesting. Pictures turned out very good. Stupit Bears lost but Redskins could not score a touchdown. Score 9-7. Love, DAD