Travels through history - Berlin and beyond

Europe » Germany » Berlin » Berlin
July 15th 2008

Published: March 13th 2012

Edit Blog Post

Backpackermatt

Witness to history

The Reichstag - Germany's house of parliament

I checked out of my high-rise hostel in downtown Copenhagen (Friday 11th July), and took a five hour train ride to Hamburg - which included a ferry crossing from Rodbyhavn in Denmark to Puttgarden in Germany; though unfortunately my credit card was not accepted at the on-board duty-free store! :-( Having arrived in Hamburg I then had to find my way to the hostel - which even with the directions I had been sent by the hostel was neither a straightforward nor an enjoyable trek. After lying around for a couple of hours recovering from my ordeal, I decided it was time to head out and explore the city.

Starting in the centre of town between the majestic Rathaus (town hall) and Cathedral, I first headed past the St.Michaeliskirche and St.Nikolaiskirche - of which only the burnt-out western tower survived the devastating Allied air-raids during the Second World War. From there I headed back into the main square before doing a complete circuit around the perimeter of the city centre, starting between the Binnenalster and Aussenalster (Inner and Outer Alster Lakes) to the north: then following a trail of parks and gardens to the south-west: and returning alongside the Elbe

Modern-day symbol of Berlin

The Fernsehturm t.v.tower in Alexanderplatz

River to the east: which finally brought me back to the hostel at midnight - a five hour trek in all.

The next day brought a two-hour train ride from Hamburg to the historical centre of the universe for the past century - Berlin. Again I struggled to find my hostel despite the directions I had been given; and only then was I informed that not only would I have to come back in a couple of hours to check-in but that I would have to switch rooms the next day - meaning I would have to check out and then back in again. After reading through my Lonely Planet and some of the tourist information I had found, I decided to go on a guided bicycle tour from the base of the nearby Fernsehturm (a 368-metre high television tower in Alexanderplatz) as my introductoin to the city.

So after choosing the coolest bike imaginable, and being christened 'Arseman' by our spunky and highly entertaining American guide Marielle (after I had volunteered to remain at the back of the group so that she could be sure everyone stayed together) we were soon cruising around the streets of Berlin,

Rathausplatz

Town Hall and square in Berlin

passing numerous historical sites and monuments: and stopping for photo opportunities and to allow Marielle to impart her profound knowledge of Berlin's history on us - as well as sharing some really bad one-liners! ;-)

Inevitably though, with a couple of half-litre bottles of the local pilsner (purchased cheaply from the bike shop) and a couple of young American girls - Amy and Casey - for company, it wasn't long before I found myself pleasantly distracted: that is until we reached a beer garden in the Tiergarten (he he he) where I was finally introduced to Germany's greatest attraction of all, and the number one reason I came to Europe: one-litre stein glasses of Kristall Weisse (my favourite type of German beer)!!!

Of course by now there was no way I could be persuaded to stop drinking for the rest of the evening, so having made it back to the bike shop in one piece and swapped phone numbers with the American girls it was time to grab a couple more bottles of beer for the road, head back to the hostel for a shower, and then meet up with the girls for a drink. As I headed

Berliner Dom

Gothic cathedral on the Museumsinsel

into town along the Unter den Linden though, I was soon pre-occupied taking photos of sights along the way - and ended up at the famous Brandenburg Gate which faces out from the city to the massive expanse of the Tiergarten. Next thing you know I had bumped into a group of four Mexican girls who had also been on the bike tour!

Unfortunately though I was unable to persuade any of them to join me for a drink (they were better looking than the American girls!) so I headed off to find Amy and Casey at an Irish bar named after Oscar Wilde. The rest of the evening was spent downing half-litre bottles of kristall weisse (which at three to four euros each were oh-so-cheap compared to Scandinavian prices) at a ramshackle five-storey venue which resembled an abandoned apartment building that had been taken over by squatters and decked out with makeshift bars - some of which were actually old, used kombi vans! Oh well, at least the beer was cheap! And despite getting reasonably drunk (for the first time since I've been in Europe, let me point out), I was still able to find my way home

Brandenburger Tor

The famous Brandenburg Gate

thanks to the ever-present sight of the t.v.tower in nearby Alexanderplatz!

Having stayed out until four o'clock (by which time the sun was coming up), it came as no surprise when I slept until midday on the sunday, after which I headed back to the bicycle shop at the foot of the t.v.tower to drop my clothes off to be washed while I hired a bike for the next day-and-a-half. Soon I was off to explore the city, again passing most of the sights that I had seen on the guided tour, as well as a number of places that I hadn't already seen. Starting with the Berliner Dom (Cathedral) on the so-called Museum Island in the middle of the Spree River, I took a detour south to the French-influenced Gendarmenmarkt Square, then back along the Unter den Linden through the Brandenburg Gate and onto the Siegesaulle victory column in the centre of the Tiergarten; where the view from the top was most impressive.

After a quick stop at Burger King to refuel, I then rode past the remnants of the Gednachtniskirch which was largely destroyed during the war, but like the ruined church tower in Hamburg has

Soviet War memorial

Stalin's subtle reminder to the Germans of who won the war

been left standing as a testament to the devastation of war; before following the Landwehrkanal until I had gotten myself completely lost! Not even knowing which direction I was heading, I had no choice but to backtrack for ten minutes until I finally caught sight of the t.v.tower again and was able to make it back to the hostel.

Of course with the shocking run of bad luck I've had with rented bikes in both Visby and Copenhagen, I really shouldn't have been surprised when I returned to my bike later on for a night-time ride and found the front tyre as flat as a tack - although at least this time I couldn't blame the shop I had rented it from. So it was on foot that I set out once again to see a few of the sights in a different light, though by far the best shot I got all night was of the t.v.tower directly across the road from my hostel!

I was out of bed early on monday to swap my bicycle for one with air in both tyres, which I then took on the train to Potsdam - a town to the

Siegesaulle victory column

Berlin's version of the Arc de Triomphe... roundabout and all

south-west of Berlin - in an attempt to redeem myself for missing the guided bicycle tour of Potsdam that I had originally hoped to do the previous day. First stop was Sanssouci Park, which is dotted with palaces, monuments and fountains from the eighteenth century; after which I visited Schloss Cecilienhof, where Churchill, Stalin and Truman attended the Potsdam Conference in 1945 to decide how to divide up post-war Germany - which set in motion the divisions that would exist within the country for the next forty-five years. (I guess at this point you can tell I'm kind of interested in European history).

Back in Berlin I headed to the former site of Checkpoint Charlie - the most important and heavily guarded border crossing between East and West Berlin during the divided years - which apart from the excellent open-air exhibit tracing the history of both the wall and the checkpoint itself, is now little more than a tacky tourist trap where pretend U.S. soldiers stamp pretend West German visas into pretend passports underneath the old sign that still reads 'you are now entering the American sector'.

I swear to god I wanted to punch those arseholes almost

View from Siegesaulle

Looking back towards the Brandenburg Gate and Fernsehturm

as much as I wanted to slap the disgusting women that are constantly doing the rounds of Berlin's major tourist sights asking people "do you speak English?" and then handing them a folded letter asking for money to buy food... some of whom have their kids in tow, who are often incorporated into the well-rehearsed begging routine. I must admit I lost my patience when I was asked that question for the second time in less than an hour and responded with "yeah I speak English - I told your friend to f#ck off an hour ago!" Oh well, at least I got my point across.

Around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie is a stretch of the Berlin Wall that still stands (as a reminder of the hardship that the people of Berlin had to endure at the hands of the Cold War participants) and is now protected from the people by a steel fence - which is pretty funny (and completely absurd) if you think about it. Not far away is the former site of Hitler's Bunker, which the Soviet's tried unsuccessfully to blow up, before giving up and building a parking lot on top of it instead!

View from top of Siegesaulle

The magnificent green canopy of the Tiergarten

And a block away from that is the controversial 'Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe' which consists of over two and a half thousand concrete blocks of varying heights scattered across a block of land that undulates from one row to the next; a design that was created to disorient people in much the same way as the Jews were made to feel through the Nazi's brutal regime of oppression.

A quick visit to the futuristic Sony Center and a leisurely ride through the Tiergarten later, it was time to return my bike to the shop at the base of the t.v.tower; at which point I took the lift up to the observation deck two hundred metres above the ground for a spectacular view of Berlin at night.

That's all for now.

Additional photos below

Photos: 31, Displayed: 29