Berlin, once a city literally divided in two by a wall, is a city whose rich history stares you in the face at every turn. Lesley visited Berlin 48 years ago when she was a 15 year old wide-eyed teenager. All that she can recall is visiting the small one-story (now much larger) museum at Check Point Charlie and actually getting to cross over Check Point Charlie and visiting East Berlin. At the time, it was quite depressing. In some respects, there is an overwhelming sadness that consumes you when you visit today. On Wednesday, we took a 5 1/2 hour tour of the highlights of Berlin. It is a city that staged a revolution, was headquartered by Nazis, bombed to bits, divided in two and finally reunited. . . and that was just in the 20th century! The city has a very industrial look about it. We read, with great surprise, that it is actually nine times the physical size of Paris; however, there really isn’t a “downtown” area per se.
There are many tourists in Berlin, although there doesn’t appear to be many Americans. Unfortunately, tourism is the most significant industry and the locals complain that all of the government money is spent to enhance the tourist experience. For instance, the city is spending about a billion euros on the re-creation of a huge palace, strictly for tourism, near Museum Island. We did note that there are many young people living here (Berlin is considered a very cheap place in which to live) and bicycles are very common in this very flat city that sits on a marsh. (We don’t think the city is that inexpensive; but, of course we are tourists.) It is also important to remember that 90% of the city was destroyed by Allied bombings during WWII. The great historical buildings and sites were all recreated after the war. There are buildings that survived as you can see (pictures below) the bullet holes and other markings on the stone sides of the buildings.
One of the many places we visited was the Gendarmenmarkt which is the most beautiful square in Berlin. It is a wonderful example of an architectural harmony; as, both the French and the German cathedrals are opposite each other and reflect many stunning similarities. Our guide mentioned that the Concert House at Gendarmenmarkt has the reputation for having the 5th best acoustics in the world.
We visited the bunker area were Hitler took up residence in January 1945 and it became the center of the Nazi regime. Hitler rarely left the bunker until he committed suicide. The site is fenced off with some small, rusty metal fences with weeds, grass and dirt within this small area. Obviously, the Germans do not want to commemorate this site; however, there was an unobtrusive sign acknowledging its historical significance.
The Holocaust Memorial is a city block of concrete “boxes”, every one different than the other. As you wander through the narrow passageways between the boxes, you are reminded of graves and yet each being different, you think that these were individuals that were murdered. It is very sobering. Another holocaust memorial are the brass name plates (about 4-5 inches square) that are randomly placed into the sidewalks throughout the city (and now all over Europe). These plates show the name, birth date and other information (i.e. at what concentration camp they were murdered) about these victims. Often they are grouped with other family members name plates.
One of the most important landmarks in Berlin is the Brandenburg gate which dates back to the 1700’s. It is the only remaining gate in the city formerly used to represent the separation of the city between East and West Berlin. We were told that the gate symbolizes unity. The gate is located in the Pariser Platz where all the government building and embassies are located. We were surprised that the current U.S. embassy was completed and opened in 2008.
Overall, Berlin is a very nice, clean city but its history and all that is memorialized (which is good) adds a sobering tone to the otherwise very active, “young” city.
