We were fortunate to visit Berlin on the weekend before the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. Berlin is a strange but interesting city. As Ian put it "lots of cars, lots of people, great train system, not a lot of color, but the people were sure nice!". That pretty much sums it up. We arrived by ICE train on the 6th. Once we figured out the S bahn and Ubahn system it was easy to use. All trains seem to go through Friedriechstrasse, which has a history all its own. We arrived at out hotel-Movenpick, around 330. Great hotel, friendly staff. They actually became our tour guides since my guide book was poorly done and the map was wrong. We got a package with the hotel that included a meal and 72 hours of public transportation. We immediately went to visit the Duetsches Tecknik museum. What a great place. We arrived at 4pm and they close at 6 but for 4,50 euro (the kids were free up to 18 years) I have to say its the best museum we've been too while in Europe. They had one of the planes from the Berlin Airlift along with all kinds of other planes from burned and destroyed to complete. We also saw the ships and the trains, computers, and textiles. We didn't get to see half the museum-science, photography, wind, brewery and a bunch of other exhibits.
The next morning started early with Check point Charlie and the museum. I could have spent more time in the museum but since the kids don't like to read much it was a quick pass through. They enjoyed the different ways people were smuggled across the border. I enjoyed reading about the astronaut that was a successful people smuggler across the wall before he became a astronaunt. There are some amazing stories in the museum. You are required to check strollers and large bags. You get your 2 E deposit back so it wasn't a problem. The buildings are all hot in Berlin so it was wise to stow our coats. We jumped on the Ubahn to the east side and Alexander Platz. Religion wasn't allowed in most eastern bloc nations but for some reason they allowed Germany to keep their churches and to gather. Thus the churches became very popular. The GDR didn't put a lot of money into the the infrastructure of their city. Any buildings they did build, and there were not many, were plain box like. They did build the TV tower which if popular today. The lines were long, there is restaurant on top and those people get priority, so we decided to move on go back on Sunday.
So we hopped on The Sbahn to Brandenburger Tor. This of course, was in no man's land between the east side wall and the west side wall. We couldn't get anywhere near it because they were setting up for the official celebration on the 9th. There were tons of people every where which made it hard to see anything. There isn't much of the wall left but they do have cobble stones to mark its placement. Ian walked on the wall when he could. The dominoes for Monday took up most of the space. We followed the wall to the Reichstag, the German Congress. The wall passed right behind this building. The courtyard in front is very busy now but it wasn't always the case. Not until the wall came down did anyone start to visit the building and its grounds. They attached a new dome now that is suppose to allow you to view the city and the parliamentary procedures going on inside. Its free and open to the public but the lines are long so get there early. We wandered around this area a while then headed down to Potsdamer Platz. During the wall years Potsdamer Platz was a field. The wall ran right through it and there wasn't any reason to build up the area. You would never know that now. The high rise buildings are beautiful. Here we visited Lego Discovery Land. Just a reason to play with Legos. Plenty of other things to do as well in this area. After the wall came down larger companies decided that this was the place to rebuild, lots of land and cheap. So you'll find all the larger corporations from Germany and the world here. We took a quick trip to Templehof hoping to see some of the airport. However, it appears the Sbahn stop isn't really close to the airport. We did see the field and thats about all.
The next day we headed out to the TV tower but it was so foggy there wasn't anything to see. The tickets are timed to the top so if you are interested in going get there early. Fro there we headed to the East Side Gallery. The largest section of the wall still standing. This of course, was the east side wall. When the gates were opened those living in the GDR were amazed at how colorful or the amount of graphite on the wall. The east side was pure white. Therefore they began to paint their side of the wall. The murals were touched up for the celebration on this particular weekend. We headed back to the Jewish Memorial and Brandenburger Tor to catch some things we missed the day before like the watch tower. Later we caught an S bahn to the Olympic Stadium. We walked up Jesse Owen Str. right to the stadium. This stadium is in complete contrast to the stadium in Munich. It is said the Berlin stadium was very closed with the avenue leading up to the stadium to seem larger than life. Berlin was of course the games to showcase the Arayan race however, Jesse Owens showed otherwise. While we got a good look at the outside it was closed to visitors. When there is an event tours are not available. We then headed back to the city center. On the way I caught glimpse of the Memorial church of Wilhelm. I never got a good picture but this church was built to honor King Wilhelm. It was destroyed during WWII and never rebuilt. Only the bell tower stands today. A stop later I saw the Victory tower in the middle of Tiergardens. I hustled the kids off the train and we walked to the tower. My youngest wanted to climb it. By now the visibility was a bit better than it was in the morning but still not great. Doesn't matter though she wanted to hike it so we did. My legs were shaking when we got down but she was proud of herself especially since she wasn't feeling well. By the time we finished walking through the gardens we were pretty tired. We headed back to our hotel by way of Potsdamer Platz to take one more look at the dominoes. We stop for icecream and then caught the train.
The entire time I strolled through Berlin I couldn't help but think I was missing something. It seemed like this city was burying its past. Then I came home and happened to have a moment to chat with my son's teacher. Berlin really wasn't interested in rebuilding after the war. They wanted a place to live and to fulfill the needs of everyday life. With the division in the city all the industry moved to Munich so the money to rebuild the monuments wasn't available either. Most of this city, 80%, has been rebuilt and most of that was done after the fall of the wall. So in 20 years this city is really in its infancy. After the wall fell the west pumped a lot of money into the east to rebuild its infrastructure like roads. Most of the people were living in poverty and their houses were falling apart. The money of course came at a price for the west and their roads fell into disrepair. One would think they would memorialize part of the wall so as not to forget. However, to do that would separate the city in the minds of the people. They did keep some parts but for the most part this is a city that is ready to move on. The celebration on 9 November was very nice even though we watched it on TV. The citizens seems thrilled with the dominoes falling. I couldn't help but think that Germany was a country with a very violent past. They often tried and succeeded at dominating their neighbors. However, it is now a country that stabilizes Europe. Its peaceful.
