Day 14 - Berlin

Dec 27th - Two full days in Berlin - a huge city, tons of history...where to start & what to do? We made a long list of the highlights we would like to see, so we started off at the top and will hit as much as we can.

Brandenburg Gate

First stop for the day was a quick S-Bahn stop away, to Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate). Coming up the steairs from the train stop, the massive monument was in full view. Despite the construction going on in the area, and the tacky-tourist photo ops in front (where you could stand on a podium with a dressed up German & American soldier to get a photo), the monument was impressive. It was built in 1791, and was the only gate to Berlin still standing after World War II. When the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, Brandenburg Gate was within the restricted area, so it was not accessible to the East or the West until the wall came down in 1989...so it is also a major symbol of a reunified Germany. We could not fully walk around all angles as the back of the gate was closed off for construction of the huge stage in preparation for Berlin's big New Year's Eve bash at Brandenburg Gate...now I bet that will be a party! :)

Reichtag

Located directly beside Brandenburg Gate is the Reichtag (German Parliament Building), so we headed over there to take a walk around the grounds ...yet another impressive piece of architecture with a huge glass dome on top. This building has been the seat of Parliament since 1999. The building was constructed in 1894, severly damaged in World War II, but then reconstructed between 1991 and 1998. You can go in to get to the top of the glass dome, but only if you apply in advance for a visit, so we enjoyed the view from the outside.

Markings of the former wall

Next up on the walking tour in this section of the city was to find the Holocaust Memorial. On our way there, we discovered a 2 row path of cobblestones crossing through the street...this path of cobblestone throughout the city, marks the location of where the Berlin Wall had once stood...almost the only reminder of the Wall left in the city. We found the Holocaust Memorial, and walked around the grounds there - it is an area of about 1 city block, and contains 2711 concrete columns (steles), all of the same footprint size (about 5 by 3 feet), but of varying heights (anywhere from 1 to about 10 feet tall), with the shortest around the edges, getting tallest in the center. The paths in between the columns were up & down hilly. The grey color of the columns is in rememberance of the ashes of the Jews who were cremated during the Holocaust and the intended feeling of walking amongst the columns of varying heights & uneven ground is meant to provide visitors with an impression of uneasiness & insecurity - a definite sobering experience.

Holocaust Memorial

I had originally thought I had read that there was nothing much left to see at the sight of Checkpoint Charlie, but we did have the location on the map, so decided that should be next up on our tour. We were glad we did head there, as there definitely is still something to see here. The guard stand is still here along with the sign indicating whether you were entering or leaving the American sector - this famous border crossing was used from 1961 to 1990. The intersetion of streets here is also lined with big panels that give a lot of the history of the border crossing, and what life was like living on either side of the wall. The pictures of families separated by the wall standing on step ladders so that they could wave to each other over the wall particularly struck me.

 After a little further walk through the streets, we found a Lowenbrau Bierrehalle to sit down for a quick lunch before making it onto the next stop on our tour. I was thrilled to find a meal with a salad on on the plate (other than potato salad that is)...these German meals have been very yummy, and the ultimate in hearty comfort food, but I was starting to realize I hadn't seen a veggie in eons :)

On our way to our last stop of the day, we passed by an interesting building at Gendarmarkt square (oh, and it looks like a big christmas Market still going on here!). We went inside the building we thought looked interesting just to see what the inside was like. I think this building is called the Deutscher Dom. We found once we were inside that there was an exhibit of German parliamentary history, so we spent some time doing an audio-tour here. It was dark by the time we left...perfect timing for the market, but I think I can say I was all marketed out, plus this one had a fee to enter...not really worth it for just some browsing.

We figured our original last stop for the day, the Topography of Terror Museum, would likely be closed by now, but when we looked it up found that it was open until 8:00 PM, so we decided to get it in. At the museum location is one of the few still standing porions of the Berlin Wall. It was pretty dark out, so we did not get a really good view of it. We spent a couple of hours reading through the very well laid out displays in the museum which chronicled the history of 'terror' in Germany, from the beginning of the formation of the SS and Gestapo, through the reign of Hitler, the crimes committed by Hitler's regime, to the end of the Third Reich and the war crimes trials. The museum building is located on the site where the former SS and Gestapo headquarters stood.

Tired feet & hungry bellies, we decided to hunt out a place we had seen on Friedrichstrasse earlier in the day for dinner. On our way though, we were tempted by another good looking spot, so we went in and sat down. When we got our menus, low and behold, realized this was the place we searched for last night...the name on the outside "Treffpunkt Berlin" apparently isn't the full name, and the name on TripAdvisor "Alt-Berliner Kneipe" wasn't the full name...but the menu stated "Alt-Berliner Kneipe Treffpunkt Berlin"...whew! All was enjoyed :) Here I had my first Berliner Weisse - always found on the menu in Berlin under "low alcohol" beers and with the option "red" or "green", as traditionally a red or green syrup is added to sweeten the sourness. I asked for mine without any syrup, as I wanted to taste the sourness. We had a good laugh when we saw the glass it came in (almost like a bowl), and a straw. The straw was short lived...the Berliner Weisse sans syrup was good, with just a hint of sour. 

New Beers for the day: Lowenbrau Premium, Berliner Pilsner, Schultheiss Pilsner, Schofferhofer Weizen, Berliner Kindl Weisse (without syrup)