Friday, 13 July 2012

A walk through Berlin's History

Today we set out to join a walking tour of Berlin. Armed with directions from the front desk we marched out the front door of the hotel. "Now, did she say turn right or left?" So I marched right back in to make sure. So off we set, down our street, Krausenstrafe, to Stadtmitte U bahn then located the U2 line. We arrived right on 10 am and hooked up with Kenny McLeod, our Scottish guide. He was an engaging and highly informative guide. First we took a short train trip into the former East Berlin. We started near the site of the former fishing village, and learned how it exploded in size when a canal was built to connect for trade with other areas. We stood in the square where Goebels had 20,000 books burned. A glass roof is set into the square. Looking down into it you see a room of empty book cases representing those burned books. We walked past so many incredible buildings. Such beautiful architecture. We saw the only surviving Nazi building. We saw a section of the Berlin wall and learned its history. Peter Cohen, now retired, from Michigan, who taught US politics, had lunch with us. His family came from here but his father got the family out before borders were closed. His grandfather was reluctant, as he had an Iron Cross from World War One and was a respected doctor. But luckily he finally agreed to go. Peter is a gracious and thoughtful person. We even saw hotel Adlon, where Michael Jackson famously dangled his child over the balcony of his suite. The area of Hitler's bunker is now a non-descript car park, deliberately low key to discourage any attempt to glorify him. The new memorial for Jewish Holocaust victims, the Stones of Rembrance, is built on land that once was in the dead zone, empty space between the two barriers that made up the Berlin Wall. 2711 stones are set in a wave like pattern. Even the ground between them is uneven to give a sense of unbalance. A very powerful memorial. We then had to negotiate the various lines - S and U train lines - to return to our hotel. With rugged determination and a pioneering spirit similar to Hume and Hovell, (or with my sore feet, by then HIM AND HOBBLE) we made our way back to the hotel.

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