We had a really wonderful day exploring the sights and history of Berlin with a 5 hour walking with a young American guide, Jim, who has two degrees specialising in German history. His enthusiasm for his subject was well conveyed to the tour participants and he made his tour so interesting with his knowledgeable insights. We enjoyed the tour very much and learned so much as well as Jim was a very entertaining guide.
He started off with a summary of German history so he could put in context the sights he was to show us. We looked at the lovely old buildings of Museum Island, where the Hohenzollerns, the dominant ruling family in earlier centuries, once had their palace before it was destroyed by the war. The exterior of many of these buildings remained largely intact while fire and bombs destroyed the interiors.
We went down into the Unter den Linden train station, “ghost station” through which trains passed from one part of the western sector to the other. The station was blocked off during communist times to prevent East Berliners from entering and escaping to the west. The trains travelled through this area at 10 mph so the East Berliners above could not hear them – bizarre. Therefore when communism fell, the blockades were removed and a perfectly preserved pre-war station is now seen and used.
We saw the site of the “bookburning” in 1933 outside the Humboldt University, where 20,000 books were burned. They have an interesting memorial to this – a glass cover on the ground, with a library beneath with empty shelves. Many prominent scholars studied at Humboldt University including Albert Einstein.
We passed by the Russian Embassy and arrived at the iconic Brandenburg Gate, which looked magnificent. During communist times, it was in the “death zone” or “no man's land” and you would be shot for being there. Now it is abuzz with tourists and activity. We continued on to the site of the Berlin Wall on the other side of the Gate and to a remnant of the wall left for tourists to see. It is ironic that now this remaining part of the wall is protected by an outer fence to prevent souvenir hunters taking pieces of it. We saw the site of Checkpoint Charlie which has been “recreated” for tourists.
We walked through the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, which is an abstract art piece covering several hectares, comprising about 1200 different size stone blocks. It was quite controversial when first put in.
We were taken to the site of Hitler's bunker. In the 1980s the communists built several large “luxury” apartment blocks and could not get rid of the bunker – it was so well built. So they did as much damage as possible without being able to remove it entirely and covered it with a car park.
An interesting legacy from the communist past is the WALK/DON'T WALK lights. Jim told us that in the 1990s when one of the lights needed replacing, the new German government wanted to bring in the common icons used everywhere else around the world. However, the former East Berliners protested and insisted on keeping their “traffic man” on their pedestrian lights and they prevailed. They are quite distinctive and interesting, not like our “common” traffic man. The DON'T WALK has the “traffic man” with his arms straight out, hat on, and the WALK “traffic man” wears his hat as he strides out. The souvenir shops sell T-shirts with the East Berlin “traffic man”.
When our tour ended, which was the best guided tour we've been on, we walked back to the Reichstag which Jim had told us was worth having a closer look at. It is now the house of the German parliament, Bundestag, and was restored and had a glass dome added, which is very popular with tourists. We queued for 45 mins to get in and it was worth the security check and the wait. The flat sloping walk spirals to the top for magnificent views of Berlin.
We walked back to our hotel and had another huge and delicious meal at the Kartoffel Kellar nearby.
He started off with a summary of German history so he could put in context the sights he was to show us. We looked at the lovely old buildings of Museum Island, where the Hohenzollerns, the dominant ruling family in earlier centuries, once had their palace before it was destroyed by the war. The exterior of many of these buildings remained largely intact while fire and bombs destroyed the interiors.
We went down into the Unter den Linden train station, “ghost station” through which trains passed from one part of the western sector to the other. The station was blocked off during communist times to prevent East Berliners from entering and escaping to the west. The trains travelled through this area at 10 mph so the East Berliners above could not hear them – bizarre. Therefore when communism fell, the blockades were removed and a perfectly preserved pre-war station is now seen and used.
We saw the site of the “bookburning” in 1933 outside the Humboldt University, where 20,000 books were burned. They have an interesting memorial to this – a glass cover on the ground, with a library beneath with empty shelves. Many prominent scholars studied at Humboldt University including Albert Einstein.
We passed by the Russian Embassy and arrived at the iconic Brandenburg Gate, which looked magnificent. During communist times, it was in the “death zone” or “no man's land” and you would be shot for being there. Now it is abuzz with tourists and activity. We continued on to the site of the Berlin Wall on the other side of the Gate and to a remnant of the wall left for tourists to see. It is ironic that now this remaining part of the wall is protected by an outer fence to prevent souvenir hunters taking pieces of it. We saw the site of Checkpoint Charlie which has been “recreated” for tourists.
We walked through the Jewish Holocaust Memorial, which is an abstract art piece covering several hectares, comprising about 1200 different size stone blocks. It was quite controversial when first put in.
We were taken to the site of Hitler's bunker. In the 1980s the communists built several large “luxury” apartment blocks and could not get rid of the bunker – it was so well built. So they did as much damage as possible without being able to remove it entirely and covered it with a car park.
An interesting legacy from the communist past is the WALK/DON'T WALK lights. Jim told us that in the 1990s when one of the lights needed replacing, the new German government wanted to bring in the common icons used everywhere else around the world. However, the former East Berliners protested and insisted on keeping their “traffic man” on their pedestrian lights and they prevailed. They are quite distinctive and interesting, not like our “common” traffic man. The DON'T WALK has the “traffic man” with his arms straight out, hat on, and the WALK “traffic man” wears his hat as he strides out. The souvenir shops sell T-shirts with the East Berlin “traffic man”.
When our tour ended, which was the best guided tour we've been on, we walked back to the Reichstag which Jim had told us was worth having a closer look at. It is now the house of the German parliament, Bundestag, and was restored and had a glass dome added, which is very popular with tourists. We queued for 45 mins to get in and it was worth the security check and the wait. The flat sloping walk spirals to the top for magnificent views of Berlin.
We walked back to our hotel and had another huge and delicious meal at the Kartoffel Kellar nearby.
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