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Wir sind Berliners - just paraphrasing JFK’s auspicious remarks and with the luxury of time, definitely Berlin is a city to return to. The city is redolent with history of WW2 and simply walking around the places one has heard of rekindles an huge interest into a more in depth study into a dark period of human history. The vestiges of the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, and the eastern block are all so evident in Berlin.
Unfortunately Fiona had a migraine for most of this part of our trip so managed only two short forays into the city. Like most of our hosts, the owners of the apartment were amazingly helpful, this time in getting medical support - within an 1.5 hours of asking for information, a great Doctor arrived on our doorstep. The owners did not speak English so this outcome was the result of Kev, the German dictionary, year 8 mime skills and the good will of the apartment owners. The kindness of others has been a recurrent theme in our travels - the world is full of very good people.
We used the excellent Berlin transport system with ease - underground and overground trains (U Bahn and
S Bahn), a bicycle taxi down the fashionable Unter Den Linden main boulevard of Berlin as well as a water taxi. The latter had a commentary - we’ve noticed that in Germany at least the English summary of the German explanation of what we’re passing is just that, a summary - very frustrating!! The river in this instance is the Spree - reasonably narrow and not like the Danube/Rhine, but much loved by the Berliners who pepper the banks, soaking up the sun and relaxing in deck chairs provided by bistros and bars - very nice.
Berlin’s range of building types reflects its history: early 19th century ornate sandstone buildings (some rebuilt after the war and some still pockmarked with bullet holes), concrete slab Eastern bloc style buildings erected during the cold war/communist era, very stylish new buildings with lots of glass and curves and making fantastic use of open space and green areas.
Despite the destruction and misery caused by the Third Reich and the Germans’ sensitivity to that, there seems to be a subtle determination to confront the dark past and ensure it is never forgotten. For example, Hitler’s famous bunker is now buried under a carpark above
which is a simple but graphic explanation of its construction, purpose and what happened in it. The history of the SS is told through a photographic essay housed below street level in the ruins of its former headquarters. A professional guide is essential to put this part of Germany’s history into perspective.
The Riechstag is a particularly imposing building - both because of its architecture and historical significance. It was the scene of momentous events during the Hitler years - but now looks out over a huge grassy plaza that on the sunny day we visited it was being well used by picnicking Berliners. Opposite the Reichstag is the Chancellory - a fine example of the new stylish Berlin that’s really gorgeous - lots of glass and different shapes (including round holes which locals say represent “holes” in funding, for pensions for example . Just around the corner is the Brandenburg Gate which was once fronted by the Berlin Wall - and further on is the huge holocaust memorial, an area about 200 x 400 metres covered in 2711 concrete slaps of differing heights but in rows. It’s incredibly impressive, the biggest reminder of the destruction of war you can
imagine.
There’s a project in Berlin to maintain the parts of the Wall that are still standing, and to mark where the Wall went in other places. We saw several bill boards explaining how it worked at that particular point of the city. It’s not clear these days whether you are in the former East or West Berlin at any point, except that the little green man at pedestrian crossing lights in the former East Berlin wears a hat and the one in West Berlin doesn’t. The green man has become an icon of the city and is the subject of lots of t shirts and other tourist items. Kevin also visited Checkpoint Charlie which is now set up as a tourist activity, where visitors can get stamps representing entrance into the east and western blocks of the city.
Berlin is a city of fashion - and it’s on display at Ka De We, the German version of Harrods which starts with Vera Wang and other top designers on the ground floor through to the glass eating area on the 7th and views of the city. The food there is exquisitely decorated with displays to die for. It’s near Berlin’s
Kerfurstendam Strasse - the shopping street that’s got all of the labels. We looked a little out of place in our jeans and unironed shirts - the backpack was a sure give away that we weren’t buying. But we did enjoy riding the escalators to see what was on the next floor.
As must be clear from this summary, there was so much that we were unable to see and do. Germany is a wonderful country to travel in - fantastic scenery, great people, lots to learn.....we will be back.
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