Germany - Part 2

Week 8 – 23^rd to 29^th July

We arrived into Northern Germany from Denmark, this time the plan is to work our way down the East side to the South.

Berlin

Our first main stop is Berlin and we really enjoyed this city; we took a walking tour and it turned our to be a great way to see the main sites and learn about the history. We were surprised by the amount of renovation that has occurred since the wall came down, given between the war and that happening, East Germany remained a bombsite with no regeneration whatsoever. What is particularly nice is that they have kept the new buildings in tact with the old, meaning that wherever there used to be a building before it was bombed, they have to build on the same site.

This is the view from East Berlin of the Brandenburger Tor which was in no mans land and the wall was situated just beyond this gate. Hard to believe that before the wall came down, no one could stand within a mile of this gate on the East without risk of being shot. The monument on the top was destroyed during the war, however a cast of the original was held in West Berlin and they created a new one. The monument was returned to East Berlin as a sign that the people were not forgotten but at this time relations between Russia and West Germany were so bad that they literally placed it over the wall overnight for the Russians to re-instate. See what you can learn from a walking tour!

The square that precedes this wall has now been rebuilt and what is nice is that they have to build a new building in the exact same place that the old building used to be and they also have to keep the design in tact with what it used to be. Evidence of this is all over East Berlin.

Part of the wall that is still in situ.

Checkpoint Charlie – well a replica of it but in the original location. As we arrived in Berlin and drove to the camper stop we did in fact drive through here, the Lunar just gets everywhere!

Below is the holacaust memorial which consists of 2711 concrete slabs to make an abstract cemetery in memory of the murdered European jews. Ironically, whilst excavating the site they found Himlers bunker (head of the SS) and there were discussions as to whether they should cease with the project and change site but decided it was too far developed and so should be completed.

At first it perhaps doesn’t look anything too special, but the artist made the slabs of various heights and size and his intention was that you should walk amongst the slabs and experience the confusion and disorientation that represents the loss to the Jewish people. It works and is quite a surreal experience.

Gendarmenmarkt, said to be Berlins most graceful square

The TV tower is Berlins tallest structure. In sunlight the steel sphere below the antennae produces a reflection of a giant cross (as can be seen in the photo). For the Russians this was a cause for embarrassment since they removed all crosses from East Berlin. This then became known by the local people as the pope’s revenge.