London Fischery: Berlin

During the Autumn months, we were able to take a bit of a holiday to Berlin. Berlin was truly an odd place to visit. The city felt very cold and formal compared to the chaotic mess that London seems to be. The streets were so very straight, the buildings so perfectly square and everywhere we went, the people were missing. Turns out the city is not living up to expectations and only 3 million people live there. The city has capacity for quite a lot more apparently. Also, with the whole Nazi thing, they did a lot of rebuilding of the city to make streets straight and buildings to fit the "Nazi" scheme.

Since the Wall came down, there has been a second resurgence of building (now that all this prime real estate is open) so the buildings are getting more interesting. They seem to be finding a nice balance between the old and new in the architecture scheme.

Skyline

Reichstag (the Parliament Building) offers a perfect example of the new complimenting the old.

The language has some interesting words that made me giggle.

I did find the German people kind of rude though. They were not helpful at all in helping us get around the city. I think it must be some inside joke to the Berliners to watch tourist maneuver their transit system. There are very few (if any) signs to help people figure out where to get off and how much to pay for fares. We did get quite lost the first day just finding our way from the airport to the hotel (and I became a very grumpy Fischer).

Another time, Shea managed to get on the train and I did not. He had to get off at the next station and come back to meet me. Again, not a happy Fischer I was.

Like all places in Europe, there is a lot of history in each city. For Berlin, some of the history is not that happy. As the centerpiece of Nazi power in the mid 1930's and then a Cold War battle ground during the 1960's, there is a lot to take in. The city does a wonderful job in stating the facts of it's history and stating it's mistakes.

In relation to WWII, we visited the Reichstag (a fire at this site in 1933 allowed Hitler to blame the communists and grab power in Germany, eventually making it illegal to oppose the Nazi Government. In 1945, the Soviets raised their flag here to signal the defeat of the Nazis). We visited the Holocaust Memorial where 2711 differently shaped columns stand. It gives a very solemn feeling as you walk along the uneven ground: one of being trapped and confused about where to go.

The Holocaust Memorial

We also visited The Topographie des Terrors which is a very graphic and eye-opening collection of text and images from WWII mounted on the ruins of the Gestapo and SS headquarters. The museum walks you through the rise and fall of the Nazis and tells the stories of many of the victims.

The Topographie of Terrors

Some of the other sights included Brandenburg Gate (a former city gate, rebuilt in the late 18th century as a triumphal arch), Berlin Cathedral (a very beautiful surprise for me), the Fernsehturm TV Tower (a tv tower that is kind of stupid) and the German Historical Museum (where I say Napoleon`s hat).

Brandenburg Gate (I am beginning to think every European city has one of these)

The Cathedral and that stupid TV Tower

Me in the Parliament House

A piece of the Berlin Wall (or where the German`s put their chewed gum)

Checkpoint Charlie

I think the best part of the trip was a day trip to where the Prussian Royals used to spend their summers: Potsdam. It seems to be a place of palaces. It is also where the Allies went to divide Germany and Berlin. It is really too bad Germany suffered for so long economically because you can see the effects on these palaces. They are slowly being brought back to their glory and were worth a visit.