Day 12: Berlin

Today I really got to see Berlin! I was up early and walked to Hackescher Markt to meet up with Clare and her family, getting lost along the away and walking an extra 1.5km. Once I found the Stokes we joined up with a Berlin walking tour which was one of the best tours I’ve done. The guide was very knowledgeable as she had a degree in modern history and so I learnt heaps about the history in Berlin.

We started down by the river and then headed over to Museum Isle and saw all of the architecture of the different museums. The guide explained that Berlin is a city of construction which was really true. There were buildings being reconstructed to reflect buildings that had once been there prior to an attack/bombing/war and alongside all of the building works were super colourful pipes which remove the water because Berlin is a swamp.

During the tour we saw all the famous sites of Berlin including the second longest remains of the Wall, the dome of the Reichstag Building, some minimal remaining Nazi Architecture, many bridges and Churches, old palaces of past royalty and Checkpoint Charlie. Most of the architecture (80% of the city) has been reconstructed to reflect past architecture due to war damage so it was really interesting to see these buildings that look really old but are in fact recent reconstructed buildings. We also visited the Brandenburg Gate which was exciting except for the fact you couldn’t walk through or see the other side due to being closed for a EuroCup screening and the problem that it had started raining.

We also went to Bebelplatz where the Memorial to the Book Burning is located. The memorial itself is a white room filled with empty bookshelves which I found a bit eerie. What was also a bit creepy was the fact that a philosopher, Heinrich Heine, in the 1800’s had said “Where man burns books, he

will also burn man” which of course was realised in World War II. One of the most sombre parts of the tour was visiting the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe which is a large square block of land covered in grey concrete blocks of various sizes. It felt a bit like they were gravestones and in the middle the blocks were very tall and felt a bit intimidating. There is no plaque naming the memorial which is interesting because it allows people to work out their interpretation without being given the sculptor’s intentions. Another memorial we visited was the memorial to those globally who have suffered persecution which was a huge empty room with a sculpture of a mother holding her dead son in the middle.

After the tour concluded we were outside Rausch Schokoladenhaus so we went in to have a look because they have large sculptures of Berlin monuments such as the Brandenburg Gate made out of chocolate. We also had some yummy cakes in the café before we walked to the German History museum.

The German History Museum was huge and detailed all the history of the area since its first occupation until the present day. I started at the beginning of World War I which was fascinating because it gave me a broader perspective of the war and the fighting countries compared to what I have experienced previously in Australia. I also read about the lead up to World War II and the war itself which was fascinating and very sad. I had not realised how much of Europe German forces had occupied during WWII or which countries had been allied with Germany. The museum was really informative and had lots of relics but unfortunately after 1.5 hours it was closing so we had to leave.

We then caught a taxi to the Stokes’ hotel where we relaxed for a while and then went to an Italian restaurant for dinner followed by an oreo magnum which was amazing! I then headed back to my hostel, taking 4 U-Bahns along the way (which was excessive but I couldn’t work out the train system!) and then headed to bed.