Welcome post - Berlin

July 21, 2018 at 8:15 pm

I've wondered for some time where to start my journey through Germany and decided on Berlin. Why? Not because it's our capital. That's just a nice bonus. But rather because Berlin is about as much typical for Germany as Hawaii is typical for the USA - just a tad more seedy and crazy.

Klaus Wowereit, former Governing Mayor of Berlin, best know for his confession: "I'm gay - and that's good so" said about Berlin:

Berlin is poor but sexy

And to quote the social worker and philanthropist Anneliese Bödecker:

The Berliners are unfriendly and reckless, ruff and bossy. Berlin is odious, noisy, dirty, and gray; roadworks and congested streets wherever you go - but I'm sorry for everyone who does not stay here

Enjoy!

With a population of 3.6 million people, 32.5 % of them with a migration background, Berlin is not just Germany's capital and its largest city, but one of the most colorful ones as well. It's name is supposed to have the origin in the Slavonian word berlo (plus the Slavonian suffix for towns -in) which means "swamp"or "quagmire". Go figure!

First mentioned in a document in 1244, it had been a capital of one region or another since 1486.

The Thirty Years' War had been a catastrophy for Berlin. One third of all house were destroyed, the population was cut in half. Frederick William (Elector of Brandenburg) took over the reign in 1640 and started a policy of immigration and religious tolerance. 1671 he invited 50 Yewish families to stay in Berlin, 1685 he offered the French Huguenots a home in the capital. By 1700 20 % of the Berliner population had been French. However, it did not result in all Berliner to switch their language to French nor did they turn into Huguenots... Just saying.

With the German Empire (founded 1871), Germany became a global player and Berlin, as its capital, became a cosmopolitan city, jumping the million-inhabitants'-mark in 1877, the two-million-inhabitants'-mark in 1905.

In WWII, the NS-regime destroyed the Jewish population of around 160,000. Later, the Battle of Berlin lasted for two weeks and left Berlin in ruins - more than 170,000 dead, over 500,000 wounded (and that's just counting the soldiers), half the buildings destroyed and Berlin divided into four quarters.

Berlin stayed a capital - but just of East Germany. West Germany transfered its capital further away from the eastern border to Bonn. After Germany's Reunifaction in 1990, Berlin, once again, became the capital of total Germany.

The Brandenburger Tor is an 18th-century neoclassical monument and was commissioned by Frederick William II of Prussia to represent peace.However, it did not take long for it being abused for military propaganda. Napoleon was the first, but not the last, to use the Brandenburger Gate for a triumphal procession. When the Nazis ascended to power, they used the gate as a party symbol.

Badly damaged with holes from bullets and explosions, the gate survived WWII. It got patched by the governments of East and West Berlin after the war. And until the Berlin Wall was built, traffic could travel through it from one part of Germany to the other. In 1961, the Brandenburger Tor border crossing was closed. Until 22. December 1989, when it was reopened again and Helmut Kohl (chancellor of West Germany) walked through the gate to be greeted by Hans Modrow (East Germany's prime minister). In 1990, the Wall was torn down.

It is really hard to explain to non-Germans the emotional importance of the Brandenburger Tor. It saw demonstrations against the separation of Germany. And it saw the opening of the border and finally the tumbling of the Wall. If you want to get an impression of that time, check YouTube. For example "Westernhagen - Freiheit Livekonzert 1989," which had been the hymn of Germany at that time:

Freedom (M. M. Westernhagen)

The treaties are made

And there had been a lot of laughter

And someting sweet for dessert

Freedom, freedom

The band rumtata

And the pope was already there, too

And my neighbour right in front

Freedom, freedom - is the only one missing!

Unfortunately, man isn't naive

Unfortunately, man is primitive

Freedom, freedom - has been canceled again!

All who are dreaming of freedom

Shall not neglect to party

Shall be dancing even on graves

Freedom, freedom - is the only thing that counts!

The Reichstag was opened in 1894 and housed the Diet until 1933, when it was badly damaged by a fire. This Reichtagsbrand was taken as an excuse by the Nazis to demolish the basic rights granted by the Weimarer Constitution on the very next morning. The statement that the fire had been started by a single communist was seen controversially even at that time.

After WW II, the building fell into disuse being physically within West Berlin but only a few meters from the border of East Berlin

The large glass dome at the very top of the Reichstag looks small from below. It isn't! And it is worth a visit! It not only has a 360-degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape but also one down, inside the dome, at the debating chamber of the parliament below. Thanks to a mirrored funnel in the middle of the dome, natural light from above radiates down to the parliament floor, while warm, used air escapes upwards, through the open center of the funnel. A large sun shield tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct sunlight which would make the chamber too hot and bright.

Construction work at the Reichstag was finished in 1999 and the seat of parliament was transferred to the Bundestag in April of that year.

The dome is open to visitors by prior registration.

The Bundeskanzleramt (Federal Chancellery) is the official seat and residence of the Chancellor of Germany as well as their executive office, the German Chancellery. It was build as part of the new government district in Berlin and was finished in 2001.

Thanks to its slightly bombastic and very disputed architecture, it is, "lovingly" called the "Elefant's Loo", the "Washing mashine" or, since Helmut Kohl had not just been the chancellor during the Reunifaction, but also a ... ehm... pretty portly man, the "Kohllosseum"...

Just "around the corner" of the Bundeskanzleramt is the Carillon. It is located in a freestanding 42m-tall tower in the northeastern part of Berlin's central Tiergarten park. It is a large, manually played concert instrument, comprising 68 bells. Every Sunday at 2 p.m., from May until September, the Berlin Carillonneur plays concerts on it.

Right next to it, in the park, there had been an exhibition of art, fitted into its park surroundings. If the sky had been blue, it would have been perfect!

Another place to visit when being in Berlin is the Museumsinsel (the Museum Island). There you cannot just find the Dome...

... which "old-fashioned" neo High-Renaissance/ Baroque style of 1905 presents a charming-strange contrast to the "real" modern buildings like the Fernsehturm at the "Alex" (Alexanderplatz), ...

... but also five very interesting museums. There is the Bode-Museum, originally called Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, which hosts a fantastic collection of sculptures from the Late Antiquity until the beginning of the 19th century, wonderful Byzantine art from before 1453 and an interesting collection of ancient and more modern coins.

Then we have there the Pergamonmuseum, known for its collection of antique art, Islamic art and its Southwest Asian art. One of its highlights, the Pergamon Altar, cannot be visited until 2020.

The Neues Museum sports, among other displays, the Nefertiti Bust as part of its Egyptian Museum.

The Altes Museum houses the antiquities collection of the Berlin State Museum.

Last but not least, you can find there the Alte Nationalgalerie:

Combining the stairway of a palace, the apsis of a church and the gable and columns of a temple the building was supposed to resemble architecturally the union of nation, art and history.

Inside you can find works of the Neoclassical and of the Romantic movement, of the Biedermeier, French Impressionism and early Modernism. It houses one of the largest collections of 19th-century sculptures and paintings in Germany.

The guy outside, the one on the horse, is Friedrich Wilhelm IV, with the figures of Religion, Art, History and Philiosophy surrounding him. One probably should add Architecture to the mix...

The building crane Friedrich Wilhelm IV frowns upon belongs to the project of reconstructing the Stadtschloss (Berlin Palace). This palace of 1445 got damaged in WW II and then demolished by the East German party SED (the one and only party of East Germany) to make way for a large square for demonstrations, called Marx-Engels'-Square or Palace Square and the Palace of the Republic. Which, for its part, got pulled down 2009 because of asbestos contamination. Since 2013 they are working on a reconstruction of the Berlin palace, using parts of the original building that got saved.

It's a long way to Tipperary...

If you pass through the Brandenburger Tor, your feet will hit the boulevard Unter den Linden, the main east-west-street through Berlin, which happens to link the Museumsinsel to the Brandenburger Tor. As important Berlin street, it houses the Hungarian and the Russian Embassy, the Russian Embassy sporting the nicer entrance of those two:

Several other embassies (like the US and the French one) can be found just one or two streets away. Furthermore, you can find the equestrian statue of Friedrich dem Großen (Frederick the Great) here:

Unveiled in 1851, it marks the transition to a realistical representation in sculpting. It got moved to several different positions during the separation of Berlin and almost melted down. 1980 it was restored to its original place Well, almost its original place: 6 m to the east of it. The pedestal shows 74 coevals of Frederick the Great (aka the "Alte Fritz"), 21 of them as life-sized sculptures in the round:

And then there is the St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale from 1773, even if it got badly damged in WW II and had to be restored 1963:

And the Neue Wache, opened in 1818 as a guardhouse and later used as a memorial for differing causes, which, after the Reunification, was once again rededicated in 1993. This time as the "Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Dictatorship." It houses a statue by Käthe Kollwitz called "Mother With Her Dead Son." Although "houses" is relative: The statue is placed in the middle of the room, directly under the opening in the ceiling and thus not protected from the elements...

Yes, Berlin has many interesting spots. The Gendarmenmarkt, being called one of the most beautiful ones in Berlin, among them. In its center you'll find the Konzerthaus Berlin...

... which had been opened in 1821 as Schauspielhaus Berlin and renamed as Konzerthaus (but still called Schauspielhaus by the most) in 1994. It, too, had been badly damaged in WW II. In front of it is a monument of the German poet Schiller,...

... which got unveiled in 1871 and had been removed from 1936 to 1984, because of severe damage. Nope, not by WW II, but thanks to the brilliant Nazi idea to turn the Gendarmenmarkt into a parade ground. They wanted to move the monument to the Schillerpark - and dropped it!

The statues at the pedestral are the Allegory of Lyric Poetry (facing you), with the Allegory of Philosophy to its left and the Allegory of Tragedy to its right. The Allegory of History being invisible from this point of view.

Flanking the Konzerthaus are two domes, that were constructed to look very similar, the Französische Dom and the Deutsche Dom:

Trust me, you don't want to see my picture of the Franzöische Dom...

The original dome was errected in 1701 - 1708, which got replaced in 1882 by this neobaroque church, because the original threatened to collapse. In 1943 it burnt down during the air raids and it took 13 years, until 1996, to rebuild it once more.

Yes, Berlin has many churches, like the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche (in Berlin - Kreuzberg)...

... which impressed me mostly by its parish's commitment to help the foreigners, the refugees, the poor and the homeless! But one of the best known churches, however, is the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche:

The original church of 1890 got very badly damaged during WW II. The present building was built 1959 - 1963 and combines the damaged spire of the old church with a new church and belfry (here all in orange as a reference to the then celebrated Luther Year 2017). The damaged spire, being responsible for the church's nickname "der Hohle Zahn" (the hollow tooth), has its ground floor made into a memorial hall. By the way, the newer parts are nicknamed Lippenstift und Puderdose" (lipstick and powder box)...

Two things that I'd like to mention here are that one of the former British pilots, who had flown in the air raids in WW II, heard about the need for the Gedächniskirche to be rescued from decay and helped to raise the costs for the repair. And that in December 2016, an Islamic terrorist drove an 18-wheeler into the crowd visiting the Christmas market, killing 11 people plus the Polish truck driver and injuring 55.

This spot on the stairs got turned into a new memorial a few months after I took this photo. The steps now carry the names of the killed people, a "golden" fissure running across the square and up the stairs symbolizes the wound this attack left behind, also the crack through society it created - but also the chance of healing

As you might have figured out by now, the Berliner aren't faint of heart - or polite of mouth. So one Berliner published a wonderful podcast at YouTube, addressed at those who had planned this terror attack. His main point being that it was a really stupid idea to attack a Christmas market at the foot of the Gedächniskirche, because this way the image of the Gedächniskirche, which stands for peace, the hope of healing and the Berliner strength to survive a war that left Berlin's streets literally covered in body parts and blood, was broadcasted all across the world, a symbol of peace straight in the heart of the reporting of a terror attack. If a peace dove could flip a bird, it would be the Hollow Tooth! Kudos to him!

Which leads me to one more church: The Kapelle der Versöhnung (the chapel of reconciliation),...

... a church in the Bernauer Straße that got built 2000 at the site of the original Versöhnungskirche (errected in 1892 and demolished by orders of the DDR government in 1985, when the death strip got, once again, enlarged) and is part of the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (memorial of the Berlin Wall).

The Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer was created in 1998 and shows several aspects of the reality of life in a divided Berlin. The watchtower and the death strip were reconstructed.

For better understanding I'll add the information given at the platform overlooking this part of the memorial:

1: Border area, as of 1989, heavily-monitored and only accessable with special permit

2: Inner wall, in some parts reinforced with barbed wire and signal wire

3: Signal fence. Touching it triggered a hidden alarm at the next watch tower

4: Border lights, illuminating the border strip as bright as day

5: Watchtower, where the stationed soldiers kept surveillance on their rear area, the border strip - and on West Berlin

6: Patrol road

7: Security strip, which was raked so that any refugee would leave tracks that were analysed

8: The 3.6m high concreate border wall

9: The strip at the foot of the Wall, which also belonged to the DDR

But the parts of the Berliner Mauer are original ones, at their original place.

Doesn't look that high, does it?

Oh, well, maybe on the other hand ...

Going through it wasn't really an option ...

Passing over it isn't easy either if there are guys with guns on top of watchtowers waiting for you ...

Tunneling under it was often tried. To make this more complicated, those entrances to the underground, through which the West could have been reached, were closed off, too, the place of the blockade marked here.

Erected in 1961 to keep further East Germans from leaving (until then 3.5 million East Germans had quietly left East Germany by crossing the street and therefore the border in Berlin), the Berliner Mauer became more and more "sophisticated" as the years went on, dividing the city more and more efficiently.

Part of the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer doesn't use the original Wall, but iron rods showing its course ...

... with lines in the grass showing where former buildings stood ...

... that first had their west-facing windows and doors bricked up, before they, like the Versöhnungskirche, got torn down to make room for the death strip.

Can you imagine, watching your realtives in the West - so near but unreachable?

Or your relatives in the East, "protected" from you by an "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart?"

Of estimated 5.000 escapees, about 239 died while trying to cross the Berliner Mauer. Exact numbers are hard to come by, because official numbers vary, depending on their origins (West or East Germany). Furthermore, some deaths were caused by the Wall, but happened not directly during the escape attempt but later. There had been some non-escape-related deaths as well, as is wont to happen if you have a bunch of guys, sworn to high alertness, armed to their teeth and often insecure, sometimes self-righteous or trigger-happy.

So, besides some now left over parts of the Wall ...

... there just isn't enough beer for me ...

... to successfully put on beer googles when it comes to this part of German history, even if it is dressed up Disney-style like today's tourist attraction Checkpoint Charlie: