Germany: Berlin

Saturday morning we woke up early around 6:30 and couldn't go back to sleep.  We both lay there for a while and finally Joe got up and went out to talk with Ted.  Marion kept shutting the door and turning off the light to make me sleep longer but I kept giggling about it and couldn't help but get up.

Joe and Ted went to the corner bakery and came back with some amazing chocolate croissants, pretzels with cheese, and fresh Brotchen (breads and rolls) for breakfast.  Marion had some homemade jam, fresh cheeses and cold cuts, and fruit for us along with soft-boiled eggs, hot chocolate and juice.   It was a traditional German breakfast and it tasted so good.  We got ready for the day, picked up the Aikeles and Oldhams, and loaded into the van to start our tour of Berlin.

A few miles into the drive, it started raining.  Luckily, Marion had packed enough umbrellas for everyone because it continued to rain on and off during the entire day.  We visited all of Berlin's historical sites and it was wonderful having the Nagels as our tour guides.  They shared a lot of personal experiences and stories from living in Germany, and specifically Berlin, during World War II and with the division of the city by the Berlin Wall.  It was amazing to hear their perspectives and I gained a lot of insight into the history of this country.
  

The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches and other defenses. The Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc officially claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany.  However, in practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.  The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement.

Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and crossed over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin, from where they could then travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the wall prevented almost all such emigration.  During this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the wall, with estimates of the resulting death toll varying between 100 and 200.

In 1989, a radical series of political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc, associated with the liberalization of it's authoritarian systems and the erosion of political power in the pro-Soviet governments in nearby Poland and Hungary.  After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin.  Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere.  Over the next few weeks, a euphoric public and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of the rest. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, which was formally concluded on 3 October 1990.

The Freedom Memorial was a memorial to the victims of the Berlin Wall in the vicinity of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.  It opened on October 31, 2004, and was praised by both victims of the GDR communist regime and human rights advocates alike.  The memorial was controversially demolished by the leftist Berlin city government on July 5, 2005, sparking international protests.  The Checkpoint Charlie Museum and its director are currently working to reconstruct the memorial. 

Checkpoint Charlie was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin.  It was the location of the stand-off between the Soviet and American tanks took place at the Berlin Wall.  This is also where many people tried to escape the tyranny of the East for the freedom of the West.  Some succeeded, some failed, and some even died trying.

It is now a tourist attraction with a museum, souvenir shops, and actors dressed as military policemen standing in front of the guard house. 

  
The Brandenberg Gate is a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin and Germany.  It is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered.   It is the monumental entry to the renowned boulevard of linden trees which formerly led directly to the city palace of the Prussian monarchs. It was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and was built from 1788 to 1791.

A lot of Germany's history unfolded at this gate.  Napoleon stole the sculpture on top of the gate.  Hitler conducted rallies in front of the gate.  Bombs hammered the area around the gate in WWII.  The Berlin Wall divided the country right in front of the gate.  And in 1987, Ronald Reagan demanded that Mikhail Gorbachev "Tear down this wall!" at a speech in front of the gate.  Having suffered considerable damage in World War II, the Brandenburg Gate was fully restored from 2000 to 2002.  

The Victory Column is the third most well-known sight in Berlin after Brandenburg Gate and the Wall.  It was designed to commemorate the victories of Prussia in the 19th century.  The red granite base features four reliefs depicting scenes from the Prussian-Franco War, and the column is topped by a 35-ton bronze statue of Victoria, the Goddess of Victory.  There are also bullet holes that batter the column as a reminder of World War II.

The Reichstag building is a historical building constructed to house the Reichstag (parliament of the German Empire).  It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire set by Dutch communist, Marinus van der Lubbe.  During the Nazi era, the few meetings of members of the Reichstag were held in the Kroll Opera House.  After the Second World War the Reichstag building fell into disuse as the parliament of the German Democratic Republic met in the Palace of the Republic in East Berlin and the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany met in the Bundeshaus in Bonn.

The building was made safe against the elements and partially refurbished in the 1960s, but no attempt at full restoration was made until after the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990, when it underwent reconstruction and was completed in 1999.  It then became the meeting place of the modern German parliament, the Bundestag.

The Reichstag as a parliament dates back to the Holy Roman Empire and ceased to act as a true parliament in the years of the Nazi regime (1933–1945).  In today's usage, the German term Reichstag refers to the building, while the term Bundestag refers to the institution.

Here is Jake in front of the Reichstag

This is the Bundestag, Berlin's "Congress" building

We grabbed some lunch at Maredo Restaurant in a shopping plaza with a covered outdoor theater and walked along some of the streets visiting shops and looking at Berlin's architecture. 

These are Berlin Buddy Bears, individually painted life-size fiberglass bears scattered throughout the city.

This looked really fun to me but was a very slow way to go.  These bicycles were made for 6-8 people and all would pedal furiously.  Despite everyone pedaling their weight, it wasn't a very quick way to get around.  I thought it was funny because most of the people that rode them were loud, giggly, and enjoying their beer way too much.  I got a thumbs-up when I snapped the picture.

The Travelers--Jake and Amber Oldham, Joe, Me, Marquessa and Sam Aikele

It started to downpour so we raced back to the van.  Ted drove us to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), a Protestant church that was finally inaugurated in 1905.

 In 1940 the blast waves of Allied bombing blew part of the windows away. On May 24, 1944, a bomb of combustible liquids entered the dome.  The fire could not be extinguished at that unreachable section of the dome.  So the dome burnt out, part of it collapsed into the main floor. Between 1949 and 1953 a temporary roof was built to enclose the building.  On May 9, 1967 the then still undivided Evangelical Church of the Union decided a committee for the reconstruction of the Supreme Parish and Cathedral Church, then located in East Berlin.  The government of the Eastern German Democratic Republic did not oppose the work of the committee due to the concomitant inflow of Deutsche Marks.   In 1975 reconstruction started, simplifying the building's original design and tearing down the northern wing (the memorial hall).  In 1980 the baptistery and wedding church was reopened for services. The restoration of the main prayer hall was begun in 1984. On 6 June 1993 the big prayer hall was reinaugurated in an event attended by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and televised nationwide in Germany.

The differences in the colored stones show the old pieces that were bombed in World War II and the newly restored pieces.

The pipe organ, built by Wilhelm Sauer, was fully restored during reconstruction. It has 113 stops, including three ranks of 32' pipes on the pedal division, played by a 4-manual console.

Marion, Joe, and I went into the Cathedral and a choir was practicing for an upcoming concert.  They would move around the room to find the better sound.  Everywhere they stood was amazing.  It was beautiful to hear them sing.

This is Schloss Bellevue, which is basically Berlin's White House.  It was erected in 1786 as a summer residence for Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia.  It then was the first Neoclassical building in Germany, characterized by its Corinthian pilasters, with wings on either side. The upper floor features a ball room and the palace is surrounded by a park.  In 1843 Bellevue was acquired by King Frederick William IV of Prussia and in 1865 became the residence of his niece and her new husband.  It served the royal and imperial princes of the Hohenzollern dynasty until the German Revolution of 1918.

In the mid-1930s, it was used as a museum of ethnography, before being renovated as a guest house for the Nazi government in 1938.  During World War II it was severely damaged by strategic bombing and the 1945 Battle of Berlin.  It was then refurbished in the 1950s and served as the secondary residence of the West German president, to supplement his primary residence in Bonn. The palace was refurbished again in 1986-87, and after German reunification, it became the primary residence for  President Richard von Weizsäcker in 1994. 

President Roman Herzog remained the only office holder, who actually lived at Bellevue during his incumbency 1994-1999. The palace was reconstructed again in 2004-05 to remedy defects in earlier renovations.  Bellevue became the president's primary official seat again in January 2006, but since this reconstruction has not included living quarters. The Federal President now lives in a government-owned villa in a suburban district of southwestern Berlin.

Here is Olympiastadion (Olympic Stadium) that was originally built for the 1936 Summer Olympics. During World War II, the area suffered little damage. After the war, the British military occupation used the northern part of the Reichssportfeld as its headquarters until 1994. From 1951 to 2005, the Olympischer Platz had a giant antenna transmitting for all the portable radios in Berlin.

Aside from its use as an Olympic stadium, the Olympiastadion has a strong footballing tradition.  Historically, it is the ground of club Hertha BSC. It was also used for 3 matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. It hosted six matches, including the final, in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and was renovated for that reason. The German Cup final match is held each year at the Olympiastadion. The stadium sees use in other sports as well; at one point it held the world record for the attendance of a baseball game, thought to be over 110,000.

The ladies:  Amber, Marquessa, Kristen

As we were driving through town, Sam spotted a dealership showcasing a Bugatti Veyron.  We had to get a picture so Ted dropped us off while stopped at a red light and we bolted across the street to check it out.  We took some pictures and spoke with the security guard.  It had already sold for $1.4 million so there was no chance of even touching the outside.  Beautiful car and lots of cash!  Sam was in heaven!

After gawking at the amazing and expensive cars on display, we ran outside in the rain.  Ted flipped a u-turn at the intersection and we all piled in quickly to head to our next stop, KaDeWe.  This is a huge department store that is 6 stories high with an amazing food department on the top floor.  It was fun to see everything there from toys and clothes to bratwurst and Nestle Quik.  We then hit a backerei (bakery) to pick out some dessert to take back to Ted and Marion's.  We had a great evening there looking at slide shows of their "holidays" to the United States and eating dessert.  They were wonderful hosts and a pleasure to be around.  All of us grew to love them and appreciate them and they were very accommodating and sweet. 

Which do we choose?  So delicious

Due to the over-sized vehicle we had rented to drive all over the country and the teeny tiny hotel parking lots with limited spots available, it was quite the adventure to park our van every night.  This was our closest call but I'm happy to say that we did not hit one obstacle the entire trip. 

Sam had to climb through the passenger side to get out of this one