A historical tour

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Geo: 52.5236, 13.367

This morning started with a quick coffee to go in the train station, we had too much to see to stop and enjoy it. We then walked to a park which had a beautiful water sculpture in it. Continuing on we got to the Berlin Wall Memorial. This was a fantastic place to visit as there were large segments of the wall, as well as lots of information and pictures of what it used to look than. This Memorial would have been situated in between the wall, and would of been no man's land.

We then hopped onto the tube and went to visit the Brandenburg Gate. This was an impressive archway and is one of the most famous landmarks in Germany. We walked through the gate to attempt to visit a Soviet War Memorial and found a lot of fences had been erected (Simon said that's typical of Germans building a wall to stop you...). The Memorial was closed so this was disappointing. Instead we walked on and saw the Reichstag Building. This is the home of German Government and had been rebuilt in sections following the war when it was badly damaged.

We then wrongly walked to the Palace of Tears - this was the site of a train station which was where relatives of the opposing sides of the wall were allowed to met, if permission granted, and it was aptly called this as there was a lot of tears shed. This detour had taken us off our intended route so we hopped on the tube and got back on track.

Next on our list was the Holocaust Memorial. This was hundreds of concrete slabs of varying sizes. We made a quick stop to see the Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism, this was a little disappointing as it was a large square with a small screen with a video playing.

Next it was to the Fuhrers Bunker - this was just a car park as the Soviets destroyed the bunker. But it was the air-raid bunker used by Hitler in World War 2 and is said to be where he committed suicide. After a quick stop for a drink it was onwards to the Topography of Terror. This was the former site of the home of the Gestapo and although we didn't go into the main museum we visited the story of Germany through the uprising of Nazis all through the war which was very interesting.

Then it was onto Checkpoint Charlie - this was only a replica but was still pretty cool to see and had lots of information about the purpose and the many people who attempted escape through this checkpoint. We then walked into the Gerdarmenmarkt which was a 17th century square which housed the French Cathedral, the German Cathedral and the Konzerthaus which is a concert hall.

More walking now to the Bebelplatz which was located in the central Mitte district. This square held the State opera building, Humboldt University and St Hedwigs Cathedral, which was the first Catholic Church built in Prussia after the Reformation. Then we walked down Unter den Linden Boulevard to view the New Guard House as is war memorial to victims of war and dictatorship, but this was closed sadly.

After a small pit stop for a drink (it is very warm here and both of us have slight sunburn), we hopped on the tube down to Treptower Park. This is home to the Soviet War Memorial, which was vast War Memorial to commemorate 5,000 of the 80,000 Soviet soldiers who fell in the Battle of Berlin. We then walked onto the Schlesischer Busch Watchtower, this was an actual watch tower which had been transformed into art gallery but was covered in graffiti. Then we walked across Oberbaumbruke bridge, this was a double storey bridge, which was closed while the wall was up, as it joined the west to the east. This lead us to the East Side Gallery, which is the largest still-standing section of the wall. This has now been transformed into art gallery which had paintings on the east side of the wall.

By now the sun was starting to set and we were beat with rumbling tummies. So we got on the tube back into centre of Berlin and grabbed some food and drinks, finished with an ice cream to eat on journey home and then off to bed to recover from the walking.

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