Willkommen in Berlin

The last time I was in Berlin, I was 18 years old--that was over 40 years ago.  The city was divided by the Wall into East and West, and Checkpoint Charlie stations were posted along the wall. When my family and I visited East Berlin, it was like taking a trip through a time machine.  The area near the checkpoint site was littered with piles of rubble.  It looked like the war had just ended instead of 28 years earlier.

Flashforward 40 years, and ... I didn't recognize the city.

The Hotel Ansbach where we were staying was located near the embassy area of the city

near the Berlin Zoo

and the famous Tiergarten. 

On our first day there we really didn't have an agenda, so we just set off walking.  We made our way to the Victory Tower.  We walked along Klingelhoferstrasse alongside a number of the aforementioned embassies.  One of the first sights we encountered was this guy:

I learned that  the word "Berlin" derives "traditionally by folk-etymology from German Bär 'bear,' but likely from a Slavic source, cf. old Polabian berl-, birl- 'swamp,' in reference to the old city's location on low, marshy ground along the River Spree".  Regardless, someone decided the bear would be the symbol of Berlin, just as the flying pig is the symbol of Cincinnati and the Peanuts characters are the symbols of the Twin Cities.

The weather was drizzly, but we were reasonably comfortable.  We made it to the Victory Column and took a leisurely turn around the tower, taking photos of the Column itself, as well as the numerous statues of Prussian generals.

The German name is Siegessäule. The monument is 230 feet high and commemorates Prussia’s victory over France in 1871. The golden statue of goddess Victoria on top of the column is referred to as Goldelse ("Golden Elsi").  The Nazis moved the Victory Column from its original location in what is now the Platz der Republik to this venue, the Grosser Stern (Great Star).  If the column had remained in its original place it would have been destroyed by the American air raids.

On one side of the area surrounding the Siegessäule you can see a number of statues honoring Prussian dignitaries. 

This statue is of Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke,  a German Field Marshal and chief of staff of the Prussian Army for t30 years. 

The grandest statue (also listed on one website as Hideousbismarckmemorial.JPG) was of Otto van Bismarck.

Beneath the great man himself, from left to right:  Sibyl reading the book of history; Kneeling Atlas; Germania suppressing discord and rebellion.

The third statue is of Albrecht Theodor Emil Graf von Roon who, together with Bismarck and Moltke, made up the three great Prussiain generals of the 19th century.

We looked up after taking our photos and saw an "on/off" bus.  Since, as previously mentioned, we didn't really have an agenda, we made a dash for it and got on board--and just in time.  The rain started and didn't seem likely to stop any time in the near future.  This bus was enclosed (in contrast to the open-bus we rode in London) and offered a recorded tour.  We actually covered a lot of ground.

One site identifies the Charlottenburg Palace as the most magnificent palace in Berlin.  This would be a site I'd like to visit upon my return to Berlin.

The Kaufhaus des Westens (English "Department Store of the West"), is the second-largest department store in Europe; trumped only by Harrods in London.  This is not at the top of my list.  I'm not much of a shopper, and I've taken a vow of being tschotske free.

There were many interesting sculptures throughout the city which seemed very modern.

 When we saw Checkpoint Charlie, we decided to get off the bus and check out the museum.

The museum reminded me of Schindler's Factory.  It was jam-packed with exhibits.  The lower level had a display on Raoul Wallenberg, the great Swedish statesman who worked so hard to rescue Hungarian Jews.  The display recounted the mystery behind Wallenberg's detainment by, and death at the hands of, the Soviets.  Wallenberg is someone I'd like to focus on in a future Holocaust commemoration.  Most of the exhibits dealt with escapes from the east to the west.  There were so many exhibits with stories showing trunks, suitcases, and other means of leaving the east, it became a bit repetitious.

We had hoped to meet up with a friend from Duluth at the end of the afternoon, but we weren't able to connect with him.  We walked over to the Jewish museum, and then realized it was too much museum for the time we had available.  We ended up getting back on the on/off bus, which we rode until it quit, near the Brandenburg Gate.

The Brandenburg Gate was a former city gate, rebuilt in the 18th century in the neoclassical style. 

It is on the western side of the city very near the Tiergarten.  As we approached, we encountered two young men dressed in the uniforms of the Soviet Union and the U.S. selling photo ops.  We saw similar set-ups throughout the city, particularly by segments of the "Wall".  We had a couple of snaps with them and then proceeded through the park. 

Looking at the map we collected from our on/off bus tour, it seemed like a manageable walk to our hotel.  However, as is evident in the shot above, it was dark.  We didn't get too far in to the park before we realized that it was a little too dark, and more than a little scary.  We started looking for a way out of the park to a busier street.  Unfortunately, we hit a few dead ends.  Finally, we found a path by a busy street and started breathing a little easier.

Along the way, we saw the Richard Wagner monument in the Tiergarten.

By the time we made it back to our hotel, Cindy's "dogs" were barking!  She made it very clear that she was NOT interested in walking any distance for dinner.  Fortunately for us, there was a Thai restaurant right next to our hotel. 

We noticed that there were a great many "locals" coming in to the restaurant, so we saw that as a good sign.  The food was beautifully presented and very tasty.
It was nice to be able to head just next door after we finished.

Unfortunately, I got sooooooo sick about 90 minutes after we finished.  I had managed to stay pretty healthy through most of my time in Europe (two bad colds notwithstanding), but I had managed to avoid stomach distress until this moment.  I had forgotten the sage advice of my Worcester friend Luciana, who had warned me not to eat prawns on the continent.  Believe me, I should have LISTENED!