Berlin!
Birthday in Berlin!
We decided to go away to celebrate my birthday and being a museum enthusiast, I chose Berlin! This city is on the move. From Checkpoint Charlie to the evocative Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the oft-photographed Brandenburg Gate, there is just so much to see in Berlin. Crane silhouettes in the sky everywhere are proof that this city is constantly changing.
You can’t help but enjoy a city that looks back and acknowledges its undisputed, awful past with great reflection, no more denial, and respect for the tragic events that either took place or were rooted here. At the same time Berliners are also sprinting toward the future with bold ideas and striking architecture.
90% of Berlin was destroyed during WWII and then it became a virtual island in a sea of communist East Germany and thus split in two for nearly thirty years by a big concrete wall. Here's some of the highlights of the infamous sights.
The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin's only remaining city gate from the 1700's, is the true symbol of the city. Because it was situated in the no man's land just behind the wall it also became symbolic of the division of the city. After the Fall of the Wall, the Gate was reopened in 1989.
An old photo showing the gate when it was situated in the death strip.
Ironically, the remaining sections of the Wall still standing are surrounded by a protective fence to keep tourists from taking pieces of it.
Another thought-provoking memorial recalling the infamous Nazi book burning in 1933. A plaque there reminds us of the prophetic quote by the German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine a hundred years earlier- "When you start by burning books, you'll end by burning people."
Can you make out the empty bookshelves?
My most favorite highlight was visiting the Pergamon Museum, which is possibly one of the most unique museums in Europe. First you come to the colossal room housing the monumentally reconstructed Pergamon Altar. The altar was built around 180 – 160 B.C in the ancient Greek city of Pergamon and it is huge! Running along the base of it is the original, marble frieze, depicting the struggle between the Greek Gods and the Giants.
In another room, they have a beautiful Babylonian Gate from 575 BC. The original tiles are gorgeous shades of blue and yellow.
This is just small section of what is on display- its an amazing, majestic piece of ancient architecture.
One of the many museums in Berlin has an installation on the outside that reads 'All Art Has Been Contemporary.' I love that!
Let her eat birthday cake!
Sunday Brunch in Berlin
I wasn't kidding about the cranes...
Berlin has taken the opportunity to reinvent itself and has done so in amazing ways. The city is full of impressive glass architecture. One of the most striking examples is their federal gov't building- the Reichstag. It played a pivotal role in Nazi Germany and then was ignored until 1999. A glass dome was built on top with spiral ramps that can be walked. The glass allows you to look directly down on their legislative chamber and to me it's moving- it says there will be no secrets in government.
Berlin is a testament to one of the great truths of traveling: The world will always surprise you. Even knowing some of the history of Berlin before the trip, we were still surprised by it's beauty, open and welcoming environment, and sheer determination to reinvent it's future both in spite of and enabled by it's past.
Till next time...
We decided to go away to celebrate my birthday and being a museum enthusiast, I chose Berlin! This city is on the move. From Checkpoint Charlie to the evocative Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the oft-photographed Brandenburg Gate, there is just so much to see in Berlin. Crane silhouettes in the sky everywhere are proof that this city is constantly changing.
You can’t help but enjoy a city that looks back and acknowledges its undisputed, awful past with great reflection, no more denial, and respect for the tragic events that either took place or were rooted here. At the same time Berliners are also sprinting toward the future with bold ideas and striking architecture.
90% of Berlin was destroyed during WWII and then it became a virtual island in a sea of communist East Germany and thus split in two for nearly thirty years by a big concrete wall. Here's some of the highlights of the infamous sights.
The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin's only remaining city gate from the 1700's, is the true symbol of the city. Because it was situated in the no man's land just behind the wall it also became symbolic of the division of the city. After the Fall of the Wall, the Gate was reopened in 1989.
An old photo showing the gate when it was situated in the death strip.A City Divided
As you know, the 100-mile “Anti-Fascist Protective Rampart” (as it was called by the East German gov't) was erected almost overnight in 1961 to stop the outward flow of people into West Berlin as 3 million people poured out between 1949 and 1961.
The Wall was 13-feet high and had a 16-foot tank ditch. It was a no-man’s-land also known as the death strip with 300 watch towers. During its 28 years standing there were 5,043 documented successful escapes (565 of these were East German guards). In its progressive way of looking ahead but acknowledging the past, Berlin has laid down a double line of bricks all around the city marking the former site of the wall.
Ironically, the remaining sections of the Wall still standing are surrounded by a protective fence to keep tourists from taking pieces of it.The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is the central place for remembrance and a place of warning. 2,711 concrete blocks of different heights, structured in a grid pattern cover nearly 19,000 m2 of gently sloping ground. Since it is entirely open to all sides, the Memorial can be entered anywhere and as we walked through it the blocks seemed to form different wave-like patterns.
Another thought-provoking memorial recalling the infamous Nazi book burning in 1933. A plaque there reminds us of the prophetic quote by the German Jewish poet Heinrich Heine a hundred years earlier- "When you start by burning books, you'll end by burning people."
Can you make out the empty bookshelves?
In another room, they have a beautiful Babylonian Gate from 575 BC. The original tiles are gorgeous shades of blue and yellow.
This is just small section of what is on display- its an amazing, majestic piece of ancient architecture.
One of the many museums in Berlin has an installation on the outside that reads 'All Art Has Been Contemporary.' I love that!
Let her eat birthday cake!
The is the Ampelmännchen "the little traffic light man'. It was used in the former East Germany and is a beloved symbol, being one of the sole features of communist East Germany to have survived the end of the Iron Curtain. After the fall of the Wall, the Ampelmännchen acquired cult status. I love his perky hat!
Sunday Brunch in Berlin
I wasn't kidding about the cranes...
Berlin has taken the opportunity to reinvent itself and has done so in amazing ways. The city is full of impressive glass architecture. One of the most striking examples is their federal gov't building- the Reichstag. It played a pivotal role in Nazi Germany and then was ignored until 1999. A glass dome was built on top with spiral ramps that can be walked. The glass allows you to look directly down on their legislative chamber and to me it's moving- it says there will be no secrets in government.Berlin is a testament to one of the great truths of traveling: The world will always surprise you. Even knowing some of the history of Berlin before the trip, we were still surprised by it's beauty, open and welcoming environment, and sheer determination to reinvent it's future both in spite of and enabled by it's past.
Till next time...
Comments
You sold me on going to Berlin someday!
Love you guys,
Bonnie