"Tear down this wall!"

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” That was the recurring phrase from our weekend in Berlin. We arrived late Friday night just in time to walk to the hotel, snuggle into bed and catch some z’s to prepare us for a full day of adventuring.

We woke early on Saturday jazzed to see the city. We had a 10am walking tour, so we grabbed some breakfast then made our way to the Brandenburg Gate. We began the tour in the Pariser Platz where we learned about how Napoleon’s soldiers stole the Quadriga (the giant sculpture of the goddess of victory that sits on top of the Brandenburg Gate) and took the sculpture to France in the 1800s. However, after Napolean was defeated, the Quadriga was returned to Berlin and placed back on the gate to provide an endless reminder of the “victory” over “Paris" square (Pairiser Platz). And that’s not all… The goddess of victory, coincidently, is staring directly at the French Embassy, one last reminder of this historic event. The German’s do have a sense of humor!

 

We continued on our way, stopping at the incredible Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The memorial is lined with 2,711 cement slabs, used as a place of remembrance and commemoration of the six million Jews who were victims of the Holocaust. There is no direct interpretation of what the memorial represents, Peter Eisenman, the designer, intentionally left the meaning of the memorial open to allow each admirer to interpret what they wish. On our first glimpse of the memorial, we felt it resembled a cemetery as it is made up of large concrete blocks that almost look like burial tombs. The blocks are the same dimensions but all different heights. They sit low to the ground on the surrounding edges and continue to grow in height, reaching 15 feet tall in the middle of the memorial. The different heights of the blocks, in a sense, provide a reminder of the various ages of those who were killed, both young and old. The paths between the pillars are uneven, providing a feeling of unease, much of what the individual’s themselves must have felt. There are a few spaces left open where a concrete block is missing, is that for those who were not counted but who still lost their lives? There are so many different interpretations of the memorial, so many reminders of what happened during this horrific time. It’s a part of history that we find horrific yet fascinating, one that is unbelievable and hard to comprehend, and one that is worth remembering.

Following the memorial, we walked a couple blocks over to a random parking lot. Our tour guide gathered us around and told us that under the parking lot was the location of Hitler’s bunker, the one where he took his life and his wife’s life (kudos for Jeff for knowing the answers to all of the tour guide’s questions!). The bunker is not accessible and the only way you would know it was there is by a small sign on the edge of the parking lot.

We continued our tour, stopping in the Mohrenstraße Metro to take a peek at the red marble lining the walls and to catch our first glimpse of the Berlin Wall (the marble is supposedly from Hitler's New Reich Chancellery and was recovered after the war). Here, we learned about one man's successful escape from Eastern Germany as he jumped out of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus (originally the location of the Reich Aviation Ministry and later became the Soviet's central headquarters during the Cold War) using a sock to zipline down a wire into the freedom of West Germany. We also learned that on the East Germany side, there were really two walls... the main wall, then the "death strip" (up to 160 yards wide, with guards, watch tours, and several traps), then the second wall. We learned that the wall was essentially built overnight (barbed wire fencing was installed during the night, and the wall itself was constructed soon after), because of this, there were no warnings, and as a result, several families were forced to live apart for 30 years. We learned about how Günter Schabowski's mistake of missing a morning meeting, ultimately caused the fall of the Berlin Wall. Because he missed the meeting and was not prepared for the press conference, he fumbled through the journalist's questions and the meeting's minutes, and declared that the wall was coming down immediately... what a day to be late for work!

Zip-lining to freedom!

We continued our tour, stopping at Checkpoint Charlie to snap a couple photos (the most famous crossing point between East and West Germany during the Cold War), the Gendarmenmarkt to admire the Berlin concert hall as well as the twin French and German churches, and completed the tour at Bebelplatz square. Bebelplatz houses St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, the State Opera House (the reconstruction from the war just finished), Ates Palais, which is now part of Humboldt University, and most remarkably, an underground memorial set as a reminder of the Nazi book burning that occurred on May 10, 1933. The memorial is an underground library, consisting of empty bookshelves for the 20,000 books lost in the fire. There’s a small window you can look in and a plaque nearby. It was one heck of a tour and exactly what we wanted. We were hoping to learn more about the city and its incredible history, and that’s definitely what we got.

Checkpoint Charlie

Gendarmenmarkt square

St. Hedwig's Cathedral

Bebelplatz and the window where you can see the bookshelves (bottom left)

After the tour, we caught the bus to Charité hospital in search of the Denkmal Albrecht von Graefe memorial. Graefe is credited with advancing the field of ophthalmology, and he is our friend’s great great great grandfather, so of course, we had to stop by! We wandered around the neighborhood and found a delicious Italian restaurant where we stopped for lunch and from there, caught a bus to the Berlin Wall Memorial. Although we had seen a piece of the wall, this portion provided a more realistic feel. It was surreal to see the death strip and the distance between the two walls and to learn more about the wall itself and the individuals who attempted to escape Eastern Germany.

Denkmal Albrecht von Graefe

View from one wall to the other including the death strip.

By the time we finished at the wall, the sun had finally come out, and there was no longer a need for pants. So, we made a quick stop at the hotel, changed into shorts, and continued our Berlin tour by walking to Alexanderplatz (the Time Square of Berlin). Along the walk, we stopped to admire the Berlin Dome atop of the Berlin Cathedral, the radio tower, the famous World Clock, and loads of people… Apparently, this is where everyone hangs out on a Saturday!

Schlossbrücke (Castle Bridge) 

Berlin Cathedral

Berlin Radio Tower

World Clock

At this point in the day, we were ready for a break. We knew we wouldn’t find it in Alexanderplatz, so we jumped on a bus and made our way to the Tiergarten park, stopping to admire the Berlin Victory Column and giant golden angel on top. Once at the park, we found exactly what we were looking for, a relaxing Biergarten! This little gem was in the middle of the park, located next to a pond surrounded by trees and picnic tables. There were rowboats for rent, which provided terrific entertainment while we sat, relaxed, and enjoyed our beverages, pretzel, and cherry crumble. Mmm!

Victory Column

Café am Neuen See Biergarten

Following our perfect afternoon break, we continued our journey through the park, caught the bus, and headed to the Kreuzberg neighborhood for dinner (a recommendation from our tour guide). We found a fantastic Thai restaurant called Umami where we enjoyed a delicious dinner surrounded by the locals.

Once we finished dinner, it was finally dark out, so we wandered back over to the Brandenburg Gate to check out the night view and ended the day with one last stop at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Here we admired the memorial in a different atmosphere as compared to the morning visit. We added a few more steps to our count as we walked back to the hotel, completing our first day in Berlin with a grand total of 34,000 steps and an incredible set of memories.

 

 
We had a much lazier day on Sunday. We slept in to avoid the morning rain and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast (complete with “Berliners”) and yummy coffee from a local shop. We wandered the streets of Berlin and made our way to the Topography of Terror museum. The museum focuses on the Gestapo, SS and Reich Security during the Third Reich and the crimes they committed throughout Europe. The exhibit concluded with postwar information, where we were blown away in learning about the trials (or lack of trials) completed for the Nazi affiliates. Did you know that one trial didn’t end until 2004?! There’s just so much to learn!

Following this heavy exhibit, we needed a break and decided to wander the streets of Berlin, checking out the local’s territory and eventually ending back in the Kreuzberg neighborhood where we enjoyed Indian cuisine for lunch complete with one of Jeff's favorites, Naan bread.

After lunch, we made our way to the hotel, packed our bags and caught a bus back to the Tiergarten park where we could enjoy one last drink at our new favorite beer garden in the woods. The perfect ending to yet another great adventure!

Can you spot the hidden face?

One of Berlin's many bears!