GERMANY: Bright Lights in the Big Cities (Part III) Berlin

Berlin dates back to the 13th century. 

Fast forward and in the 1920’s Berlin was the third most populous city in the world!

Since then, Berlin has seen a lot of changes and once again it is the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and by population, with more than 3.85 million people (2023.) 

It is also  the European Union's most populous city.

 

Following World War II the city was split into West Berlin and East Berlin, divided by the Berlin Wall. East Berlin was declared the capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the capital of West Germany. 

Following German reunification in 1990 the wall was removed and Berlin once again became the capital of the unified Germany. There are still some parts of the wall that were left where they stood dividing the city for two decades.

There are billboards telling the story of the division. 

There are brass plates in the ground where the wall used to be. If the letters are facing you then you are on the west side of what was the wall.

The name Checkpoint Charlie comes from the NATO phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie). Checkpoint Charlie was the third checkpoint opened by the Allies in and around Berlin. 

The picture of the soldier on the east side, before you enter the Allied side of Checkpoint Charlie is a former US army tuba player, Jeff Harper. His picture is part of a series of photos taken to commemorate the last Allied soldiers in Berlin in 1994. 

If you are on the Allied side, crossing into East Berlin, the soldier is a former East German soldier. Now Checkpoint Charlie is a tourist destination and people freely walk back and forth with no barrier.

The 18^th century Brandenburg Gate was inspired by the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens.

In 1946, with the post-war division of Germany and Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate was in the Soviet side. When the Berlin Wall went up in 1961, the Gate stood in an exclusion zone in an arc of the Wall, which meant it was inaccessible for both locals and visitors. When the wall came down the Brandenburg Gate symbolized a reunited Berlin.

The statue at the top also has a story. Since I am a story teller... in 1806 when Napoleon’s army captured Berlin, the French Emperor had the statue transported to Paris as a sign of victory. Then in 1814, after Napoleon’s forced abdication, the statue was returned to Berlin to once again sit on the top of the Brandenburg Gate.

The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament. But under Nazi dictatorship the building fell into neglect and it was severely damaged during the Second World War. 

After the war West Germany’s parliament relocated to Bonn and the building itself was in East Berlin.  

After the reunification Berlin became the capital of the united Germany again. The Reichstag was then remodeled in the 1990s. 

There was an addition of a glass dome, which sits directly above the Parliament’s debating chamber and provides free public access to the parliamentary proceedings below. It is so that the government can never act in secrecy and is accountable to the people.

The shape of the dome allows the building to make use of natural lighting and ventilation which makes the building sustainable.

The rooftop also has birds eye views of the city. 

Close to the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag is the Holocaust Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. A place of contemplation, remembrance and warning. The memorial was opened in 2005, 60 years after WWII ended.

There are 2711 concrete stelae of different heights. The memorial is on a slight slope with a wave-like form. The concrete blocks are of different heights. The artist purposely never gave his interpretation so that each person can reflect on it in their own way.

Another nearby memorial commemorates the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism, while a concrete cube containing a video memorializes the homosexuals persecuted under Nazism.

My favourite part of Berlin is the Museum Island in the River Spree. There are 5 museums that were built over 100 years from 1830 to 1930. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Also on the island is Berlin Cathedral, built at the turn of the 20^th century by Emperor William II. It may look like a Roman Catholic Cathedral, similar to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but, it is a Protestant Cathedral. 

To give some balance we did a walking tour of "Alternative Berlin".

We walked a lot and also took public transit. 

With John navigating it is always interesting to see where we'll end up.