Berlin

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We went on a 4 hour walking tour of Berlin today and the thunder storm held off for the first 3 hours! It was amazing, Berlin is beautiful - far nicer than I imagined it would be. We learnt loads about the history of Berlin, from French invasion by Napoleon, to the wars, division and reunification. Favourite parts were:

Brandenberg Gate - the statue that sits above it was siezed by Napoleon and taken back to France. When the Germans got it back, they renamed it Victoria and renamed the square below it Paris Square to signify that Berlin would always be Victorious over Paris. The hotel on the opposite side of the square is where Michael Jackson dangled his baby from a window.

Car park - yes we stood on a car park for about 15 minutes because it is the location of Hitler's buildings and below it were the bunkers where he killed himself. Learnt lots about his rise to power, reign and death.

Book burning memorial - In the 30's when the Nazis came to power, they drew up a list of books that were not considered to fit in with their ideologs - basically any book written by a Jew or homosexual or a book that encouraged free thinking. In one day, on the orders of the Nazis, the German students took 22,000 copies of books from this list and burned them in the square outside the library. The memorial is a panel of glass in the floor of the square, below which is a brightly lit room with a white floor and walls lines with empty white bookshelves - enough shelves to fit 22,000 books. It was very evocative and definately the part that I will remember the most.

Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe - This was Nat's favourite and again though provoking and evocative. Developed a few years ago on land not far from Brandenberg gate, it is 5 acres of land with 2,700 concrete blocks of different hights in a grid formation. You can walk through and interpret what you want to from it.

Nats bit:

I think (about the Jew memorial place) that they represent tombs and that murdered Jew spirits possesed each one, the more weaker ones possesd the tiles on the ground and the more powerfull ones possesed the concrete blocks. There plan was to elevate and descend the blocks for revenge on the other Germans but the only Jew spirit who didnt want revenge put the spirits to sleep in the blocks and tiles so if they are ever disturbed they will awaken and finish their plan

Mum again:

Last remaining bits of the Wall and Checkpoint Charlie - We learnt more about the division and reunification than I thought would be possible in just a few hours - including that Checkpoint Charlie was removed by the Americans in 1990 and what everyone thinks is Checkpoint Charlie is actually a replica put in place for the tourists! My favourite fact of the day was one of the methods used by East Germans to escape to the West. Some people had themselves stitched into the seat of a car, then were sat on by a West Berliner who had papers to move through the wall and then were unstitched to freedom on the other side.

Amazing architecture and lots of rain, we took shelter at the entrance to the old museum for the last bit of learining while the thunder and lightening raged behind us. Nice meal then back here at the hostel to dry out.

We are staying an extra day as there is so much that we did not get to do today, then getting the night train to Prague tomorrow.

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Photos

Bubbles at Brandenberg Gate
Officially my new favourite photo

German Cathedral
Here Comes The Rain

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
2,711 concrete slabs of varying dimensions on a 5 acre site

Comments

[mum]

I'm back
Keep it coming. I Love it

[Deb & Teddy]

hey intrepid travellers!!!!
hey mandy and nat lucky u ive almost read all your blogs and i really like the photo of nat and that mahoosive bubble!!! cant wait to ask u all about it love ted and deb