Berlin, Germany - The Capitol

Well Berlin is everything you possibly imagine for the Capitol of Germany. It's large, noisy, messy, beautiful and historically sad, terrifying and even inspiring.

I woke up to an overcast day but that didn't matter it was still so exciting to be here and I headed out early to walk the 10 minutes to catch the hop-on-hop-off bus at the Wittenberg Platz or plaza. To go the full tour route took about 3 hours which amazed me because I do think you could walk the whole route faster. Apparently the President of France is visiting so there were detours and blockages and we did sit in traffic for a bit. But when you're on a tour it's great to get extra time to just see the city and watch the people pass by.

It was in incredibly cold day so it was also wonderful to be on a warm bus. Berlin also seems to be under an overwhelming amount of construction and redevelopment. There are cranes everywhere and so many parts of the city are blocked off or barricaded because of the construction sites. But I guess considering Germany is I think has the strongest EU economy it only makes sense that part of what they are doing to keep their citizens employed is to do all the jobs they possibly can including new subway, trams, government buildings and general upkeep work.

After the initial tour I stayed on the bus and got off at Check Point Charlie which is the former checkpoint area under US management when East Berlin was separated by the Berlin Wall. As you can see from the pictures the one side heading into what was Communist East Berlin has a large picture of a German soldier and a sign on the right saying "You are leaving the American Sector" and a larger sign in the left of the picture saying "You are entering the Non-Profit Sector" and both signs are in several languages. And the other side has a man in uniform, an extremely overweight German man dressed in uniform holding the American Flag I guess so people can take pictures with them. It's all a little strange but the Check Point Charlie museum next door is one of the main tourist attractions for the city. From an online search "Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. GDR leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and manoeuvred to get the Soviet Union's permission for the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop Eastern Bloc emigration westward through the Soviet border system, preventing escape across the city sector border from East Berlin to West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west. Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961."

The very sad history of Berlin in the 20th Century would fill pages and pages of this blog. I think most people reading this will remember the history and the struggles the city faced and of course let's not forget World War II and the Holocaust  which greatly changed the landscape of the city through bombings which destroyed 70 percent of the city as well as the horrific human toll. There are several museums in Berlin that provide glimpses into the world of those horrors including an incredible Jewish Museum that is housed in 4 buildings all connected by and underground passage system and leading to a truly moving garden with large cement blocks at various angles with trees growing out of them.

After walking around a bit and going in and out of shops to warm up I was getting hungry so as I walked around East Berlin thinking of it's past and life in general, I was also think I must be crazy to be doing this adventure in Eastern Europe in winter. I am not a cold weather person so really, what was I thinking. Well just as that thought came to mind and I was starting to shiver from the blast of wind I looked across the street and saw an Italian restaurant called "Mala Testa" meaning "bad head" or basically crazy. I thought that was too perfect for what I was just thinking about my being crazy to be doing this in the winter so I walked over and saw they had a two course soup and pasta with fresh Italian bread for just 11.50 euros and not only was it a great deal the place was beautiful and had huge windows overlooking Gendarmenmarkt which is a square with three large buildings two on either side of the larger one that sits majestically in the middle. Information on the three buildings is below but first back to my lunch. 


I went into Mala Testa and warmed up after a quick visit to the very nice bathroom and sneaking a photo from their unused, well appointed dining room upstairs of the French Cathedral in the Market. I sat down and the lunch special doesn't give you much of a choice but fortunately the carrot pepper soup was fabulous, the bread so good I could have eaten the whole basket if I didn't restrain myself and a yummy pasta, veggie dish. But what I loved best besides having time to warm up was hearing the whole staff talking Italian to each other to the customers. It was liking being in Italy and to be exact they're form Sicily, Palermo.

By the time I left the restaurant I was feeling much happier and managed to actually walk for about two hours which amazed me when I realized it. I just kept going and from time to time went into a building like a church to warm up. But back to Gendarmenmarkt so you know what it is. Here is what I found online "The Gendarmenmarkt is a square in Berlin, and the site of the Konzerthaus and the French and German Cathedrals. The centre of the Gendarmenmarkt is crowned by a statue of Germany's poet Friedrich Schiller. The square was created by Johann Arnold Nering at the end of the seventeenth century as the Linden-Markt and reconstructed by Georg Christian Unger in 1773. The Gendarmenmarkt is named after the cuirassier regiment Gens d'Armes, which was deployed at this square until 1773. During World War II, most of the buildings were badly damaged or destroyed. Today all the buildings are restored to their former state.

The French Cathedral (in German: Französischer Dom) the older of the two cathedrals was built by the Huguenot community between 1701 and 1705. The cathedral was modeled after the destroyed Huguenot church in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, France. The tower and porticos, designed by Carl von Gontard, were added to the building in 1785. The French cathedral has a viewing platform, a restaurant and a Huguenot museum.

The German Cathedral (in German: Deutscher Dom) is located in the south of the Gendarmenmarkt. It has a pentagonal structure which was designed by Martin Grünberg and built in 1708 by Giovanni Simonetti. In 1785 it was modified by Carl von Gontard, who build the domed tower. The German cathedral was completely destroyed during World War II through fire in 1945. After the German reunification the cathedral was rebuilt, finished in 1993 and re-opened in 1996 as a museum of German history.

The Konzerthaus Berlin is the most recent building on the Gendarmenmarkt. It was built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1821 as the Schauspielhaus. It was based on the ruins of the National Theatre, which was destroyed by fire in 1817. Parts of the building contain columns and some outside walls from the destroyed National Theatre. Like the other buildings on this square, it was also badly damaged during World War II. The reconstruction, finished in 1984, turned the theatre into a concert hall. Today, it is the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin."

So after leaving the market I headed to St. Hedwig's Cathedral the largest of the Catholic churches in Berlin and a very spectacular combination of the old architecture from the 1800's mixed with a very modern circular interior with an alter that almost seems suspended with the pews around all but one side and with there being an ornate staircase directly in front of the alter leading down to many more pews. I've never seen a church quite like it and I've included here a picture of the facade with a little of the green dome showing and also a picture I found online of the church in 1946 after horrible bombings almost entirely destroyed it.

From the church I walked across the plaza now under major construction to part of the Humboldt University grounds. What an impressive university with massive old buildings along a main avenue now also a mess with construction and large cranes all around.

I walked to the largest Protestant church in Germany, or the Berlin Dom (Cathedral) with it's magnificent ornate facade overlooking a beautiful park now with a pristine blanket of snow covering it. The Cathedral during the day is a museum so I couldn't go in and just take a quick peak but I did get to walk around the front a bit and admire the details and the sculptures, some now lying on the ground waiting to be placed back or possibly waiting to be incorporated into the exhibit.

Of the many wonderful things about Berlin and most every German town/city I've been to, they love public art and have works everywhere including at the top of the steps of this cathedral. The women looks like she is huddled with her knees into her chest and with the snow accumulated on her you get the feeling she's oppressed yet the expression on her face and her hands covering her ears seem to tell another story more of a young girl just not wanting to listen to her mother or father. Or maybe she is trying to express the idea of "hear no evil." I couldn't find a plaque about the work so I have no idea what the title is or who the artist is for that matter.

From the church you walk past some more magnificent, impressive buildings, these of red brick and also museums and come to a pedestrian bridge to cross a large canal. On the other side I walked along the canal and admired the back view of the cathedral and more of the public art this collection titled "Three Girls and a Boy" by Wilfried Fitzenreiter. I just loved the way the sculptures portray four children at rest contemplating life by the swiftly moving river and looking out at the impressive cathedral. It's a great use of space having them perched on the canal wall.

I walked back toward the university to where the tour bus had a stop and came across a small building that looked like a Greek temple and as I got closer I could see one lone sculpture in the center covered by snow. I got closer and then went right into the open space and saw the black marble sculpture was placed under an circular opening in the roof with only two spot lights facing the walls on either side. You instantly get the feeling of isolation, fear, cold, hunger and oppression and with the snow covering parts it was even more effective as a memorial to the victims of war. The sculpture is Kathe Köllwitz's famous Pietà sculpture - Mother and her Dead Son. "The building is called Neue Wache "The New Guard" and is the building of the former main and Royal Guard next to the City Palace and now serves as a central memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Tyranny . The building is located in the Berlin district of Mitte in the street Unter den Linden ."

I also stopped in the German history museum momentarily to warm up and took a picture of the large statue of Lady Victory. It's an impressive piece and the museum itself is housed in a stunning brick building across from the canal and near the Dom.

After riding on the tour bus for about an hour, me being the last person on board the driver explained that because of all the excessive traffic due to the French President's visit he wouldn't be able to finish the tour back but he would be happy to take me as close to my hotel since he had to go through town anyway and he did. He dropped me off where I actually picked up the bus so I could walk around the shops and such which was so nice of him and I got my own private tour of Berlin for a half hour. Traffic really was so miserable and the French president was going to the Philharmonic tonight and I couldn't help but think when it took us 10 minutes to just go a block or so, why couldn't he just go to the symphony in Paris, I'm sure it's equally, if not more incredible there.

So after getting some cheese and crackers at the grocery store which is at the top of the a fabulous department store called KaDeWe short for Kaufhaus des Westens. Th grocery is one large floor and has seperate areas for cheese, fish, meat, etc. and you can order dishes like pasta or a sausage and eat at the counters in each section. I just got a little cheese and Wasa crackers to go but I can see why the place was packed everything looked great. And it really is a regular gorcery as well with even an American section selling everything from Kraft cereals to marshmallow fluff and also Betty Crocker baking mixes. It was so strange to see this pretty large area with all the American packaging and people actually buying stuff.

Back at the hotel I just had my cheese dinner and did lots of computer work and now I get to go to bed and start fresh tomorrow exploring this amazing city.