Days 93-97: Adventures in Berlin

We loved Berlin so much that we decided to add an extra night to our stay while we were there.  We stayed in the former West Berlin near Savignyplatz, which is a great area due to its proximity to loads of restaurants, shopping and unique design boutiques - including clothing, jewelry and home.  I'd highly recommend visiting this area to anyone who designs jewelry or interiors.  

After many successive stays in hotels with uncomfortable European style mattresses, we broke down and booked ourselves at the good old Hampton Inn (incidentally, rated the #16 hotel in Berlin on TripAdvisor!).  It ended up being a good choice, as the beds were comfortable, the internet fast and the A/C cold.  This triple threat is a very tough score in Europe. 

Our first morning in Berlin, we had, of course, booked ourselves on a bike tour of the city.  This particular tour was a Fat Tire tour on one of their new e-bikes.  An e-bike operates like a regular bike, but has an electric motor that gives a turbo boost to your pedaling effort.  Therefore, you can accelerate uphill and zip around the city all day without breaking a sweat.  This was great, as it allowed us to cover a lot of ground in this massive city. 

Chris on his e-bike

The bike tour was fantastic. Our guide, a British expat named Neil, was extremely knowledgable about the city's complex history.  Berlin is a fairly young city by European standards, and Germany is a very young country. Until the late 1800's, Berlin was the capital of Prussia, at which point Prussia merged with several other states to become the German Empire.  Most of our tour, therefore, was focused on the events of the twentieth century.  Here are some of the sites we visited along  our tour and during our next couple of days in town.

This TV tower is the tallest building in Germany and is located in the center of former East Berlin. It was built by the communist government to demonstrate their technological prowess. What no one knew at the time was that they had run into construction challenges and had to smuggle in a team of Swedish engineers to finish the job.

The communist government actively discouraged organized religion and disbanded many churches upon coming to power. When this tower was unveiled, the sun ironically created a huge shiny cross on the side of the sphere, as shown here, resulting in the tower's nickname: The Pope's Revenge.

Our tour guide, Neil, giving us an impromptu geography lesson of Germany post WWII.

Berlin Wall

Behind one of the remaining sections of the Berlin Wall is the Topography of Terror museum, built on the remains of the basement of the Nazi secret police headquarters where political enemies were tortured and killed. This free museum was excellent and describes the history of the Nazi rise to power and the many atrocities committed during this period.

The line of the former Berlin Wall running throughout the city. The inscriptions are always legible from the perspective of former West Berlin.

Chris crossing over the line into former East Berlin.

The old sign posted at Checkpoint Charlie. This was the only place that anyone who was not a resident of West Berlin could cross from East to West.

Today it's Checkpoint Cheesy

Chris is pointing at the spot where Hitler's Fuhrerbunker once stood. This was where Hitler hid out during the final days of the Battle of Berlin. It was here where he and his wife (whom he married the previous day in the bunker) killed themselves. He ordered his guard to immediately burn his body as he was afraid it would be dragged through the streets of Berlin. Today it's a parking lot. The buildings in the background were some of the nicest homes in communist East Germany, where high-ranking government workers lived. These were erected near the wall to show anyone looking in from the West that things 'weren't so bad'. Of course, most East Berlin buildings did not look like this.

This is the Reichstag building, which famously burned down during the early days of Hitler's rule. Hitler used the fire, which he claimed was started by a member of a rival faction, as justification for the outlawing of other political groups and consolidation of all governing power under him. It later turned out that the guy accused of starting the fire, and ultimately executed, suffered from mental disabilities. However, today many people suspect he was actually innocent and that the fire was an inside job to help the Nazis make their case for single-party government.

On the runway at Tempelhof airport in southern Berlin. This was Berlin's major airport for a long time. Shortly after West Berlin was cut off from East Germany, this airport was the primary way supplies were brought into the city. The airport was closed in 2008 and today serves as a large park. We had fun testing our our e-bikes' top speed on the old runways!

The "New" Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The old church was bombed during the war and its remains still stand today. Next door is the modern new church which is nothing spectacular from the outside. But the inside is definitely worth a look! All the walls are covered in blue glass from the floor to the ceiling.

This plaque is located in Bebelplatz, where the Nazi book burning occurred in 1933. Young Nazi students (many of whom attended the nearby Humboldt University) gathered here and burned "undesirable" books including those of Einstein.

Humboldt University. Einstein was a professor here before leaving for New York when his teachings, books and theories were disallowed because he was Jewish. Interestingly, it was Einstein's theories that led to the development of the atomic bomb via his participation in the Manhattan Project. Had the Nazi's not shunned all Jewish ideas, the war might have ended differently. Humboldt sits on Babelplatz, so named because it was the site of Hitler's massive book-burning. Today, there is a daily book sale in front of the university where books that were burned by the Nazis are sold.

The 'French' church. This was built for French settlers who came to Berlin in the 1800's. The building was entirely destroyed during the Berlin bombings in WWII and subsequently rebuilt. However, the statues survived, as Hitler had them removed and hidden in the river prior to the war. They were re-installed on the rebuilt church.

"Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe" designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold. The designers left the sculpture open for interpretation, but many say it looks like a cemetery. It reminded me of a lost city.

Einstein?

The Brandenburg Gate. This was the old city entrance from the 19th century. This actually survived the bombings of the city during the war, and during the cold war the gate was located in the 'no man's land' zone between the two Berlin walls.

Hotel Adlon - Berlin's most famous hotel. We know it best as the hotel where Michael Jackson famously dangled his youngest son, Blanket, out the window.

Berlin has a very large Turkish population - we were told it's the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey. You can always tell a Turkish apartment building by the satellite dishes, which they use to watch Turkish TV stations

They decorate their satellite dishes with pictures of their kids or other interesting designs.

There are lots of 'beaches' in Berlin. These consist of sandy areas on the banks of the river or a canal where someone has built an outdoor bar or club. While you can't swim here due to the pollution, you can have a lot of fun at the clubs, some of which get crazy at night.

Another beach bar

We also enjoyed a wide variety of food in Berlin.  In Savignyplatz alone, we had Vietnamese, Spanish, Mexican and Mediterranean meals.   You can find just about anything within a few blocks.  This was a nice break from non-stop German fare for several weeks.  

Aside from the sight seeing and the food, we had a lot of fun exploring different neighborhoods throughout the city.  It's a very diverse city that is changing and growing rapidly as the East continues to evolve following the fall of the wall.  There are lots of fun and interesting neighborhoods to explore and many different types of people to meet.  This city really does have something for everyone.  We had an awesome time in Berlin and can't wait to come back.