Europe 2019 - Day 19

25 May 2019, Saturday

Woke up about 8 a.m., showered and went out. Had breakfast (cappuccino and croissant) at a cafe across the street and we were on our way.

First, to the farthest destination which is the Olympic Stadium of Berlin. This is a stadium built in 1934-1936 with a maximum capacity of 100,000. The special thing about this place is that it is a legacy of Nazi architecture. Of course, it was renovated over the years, most notably for the football world cups in 1974 and 2006 which gave it a roof and reduced its capacity to 74,400.

Then to Potsdamer Platz to see Weinhaus Huth, which, apart from the wall, was the only structure left in the entire area after the Cold War. 2 big corporations were allowed to re-invent the area: Sony and Daimler-Benz. Europe’s first ever traffic light was installed in this area. Today there is only a replica, but it looked cute kind of like a lighthouse for land.

Then to Checkpoint Charlie but before that, a bratwurst (German sausage) for lunch.  On the way to Checkpoint Charlie we happened upon a building which used to be the Prussian House of Representatives from 1904 (building started in 1898) to 1918. Since 1993, it is the seat of the parliament of Berlin. We also stumbled upon the Berlin Wall Memorial, something like an open air museum with pictures and information about the wall. It was a bit disgusting to read. I really cannot understand how normal people can suddenly believe in the words of one man who declares that certain people are genetically inferior (Jews, coloureds, the sick, homosexuals to name a few) and have to be annihilated. Not only believe but actually carry out the killings! Madness? Stupidity? I will never know. 

The Berlin Wall became an international symbol of the division of Germany after WWII, and also of the Cold War between East and West. After WWII, Berlin was divided into 4 sectors and jointly governed by the victorious Allied powers. However, persistent conflicts between the allies led to Berlin being split in 1948, into the Federal Republic of Germany in the west and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the east. The 2 states dealt with its Nazi past in different ways. East Germany regarded itself as the “better Germany” where there were supposedly no Nazi perpetrators. It rejected any responsibility for Nazi crimes, and was to all intents and purposes more of a communist regime.

The construction of the Berlin Wall began on 13 August 1961 by the government of GDR. It is a 150 km long barrier to seal off East Berlin and the rest of the territory of the GDR. The Wall can roughly be divided into 2 parts; a “front wall” and a “hinterland wall”, an inner track with a patrol path, watchtowers and barrier fortifications. By 1989, 136 people had lost their lives at the Wall, 98 of them while trying to flee. Reforms in the Soviet Union and growing protests in the GDR led to the peaceful “fall” of the Wall on 9 November 1989. Germany was reunified in 1990.

I guess history has proven that walls do not work. And yet. 

And then to Checkpoint Charlie. This is a checkpoint allocated to foreigners and members of the Allied forces after 13 August 1961. From there we passed the Holocaust Memorial, or the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe consisting of 2,711 stone slabs to commemorate the 6 million Jews murdered in Europe. Then to the Brandenburger Tor or the Brandenburg Gate. This was built between 1789 and 1791 and is the last remaining gate of a total of 14 in the former city and used to be controlled by guards. Apparently in 1806, Napoleon marched into Berlin through this gate following his victory over the Prussian army. The Wall was also just in front of it.

Nearby was a place called Platz des 18 Marz, named for 18 March 1848 to mark the birth of democratic parliamentarianism in Germany. There was a revolution in 1848 to protest against hard times under the Prussian monarch. It is a place to commemorate freedom fighters and a symbol of freedom and democracy. Then to Reichstag, Germany’s Parliament. 

Then to Unter Den Linden, a place of embassies, posh hotels, government buildings, the Humboldt University, the state opera and a place called Bebelplatz, the square where Nazis first burned books on 10 May 1933. Here I bought 2 used books for 5 Euros. At least now I won’t be so bored on the bus and can read before sleeping as I always do. 

Then to Fernsehturm or the TV Tower, the tallest structure in Berlin. On the way we stopped at a place where there was the City Hall building (quite pretty), a Neptune fountain, and St Mary’s Church which was built in the 13th century, and is still in use today. Near here there was a statue of Martin Luther, who started the Reformation some time in 1517 (to reform the Roman Catholic Church). Martin Luther also translated the bible into German, which formed the basis for the standardisation of the German language. 

Then to the Memorial and Documentation Centre, which is like an open air museum which is on the site of where part of the actual wall was. Here there is a place called the Topography of Terror which has the remaining 200 metres of the Wall which marked the border between the districts of Mitte (East Berlin) and Kreuzberg (West Berlin). And finally to the Wall, a 1.3 km section of the wall which is also and open-air art gallery. 

Then we bought some groceries and headed back to the hostel where we had dinner, a beer (Krombacher) shower, then laundry and finally to sleep.