Another awesome day in Berlin

Guten tag! This day was incredible. After a wonderful breakfast with my new Australian friends at the hotel, I went on a motor coach tour of the city. It was extremely beautiful. Here are some highlights:

- Under de Linden- This street was once Berlin’s main street and recreational thoroughfare. Of the 64 buildings that once lined the mile long street before the war, only 13 remain (most of which have been dramatically altered). I never completely understood how devastated Germany was after WWII. The guide made a wonderful point during the tour. He noted how Americans tend to take pride in the contributions that women made during the war at home. German women were responsible for cleaning up a devastated city. After the war, there were few men left in Berlin to help undertake the major efforts that were required to begin reconstructing the city. All of this was also done while the country was still occupied (either by Soviets in the East or the Allies in the West). I included a picture of what appears to be white building surrounded by other buildings. Where the building stands was the site of a huge book burning by Hitler in 1933. Over 20,000 books were destroyed at the site.

-Synagogue- This synagogue wasn’t destroyed during The Night of Broken Glass in 1938. I’m not exactly sure why, but somehow it managed to survive the war. I’m not sure if there are Jews in the area that attend service there. Either way, what a tremendous site and idea. The fact that a synagogue exists and is used in Germany today is a miracle after the Nazis and then the Communists (almost 45 years of oppression and discouraged religious freedom.

-Reichstag- This was the site of German Parliament when Hitler came to power. He staged a fire there in 1933 that ultimately allowed him to claim emergency powers that he used to suspend civil liberties. While there, I caught part of a tour in which the docent indicated that he thought the Russians were more responsible for winning World War II than the United States or Great Britain. He made a very convincing argument. I didn’t have my notepad and he wouldn’t let me record him speak, but he based his argument on the idea that the Russians were responsible for pushing an entire front back (after Germany attached them) and that once provided the weapons that they did most of the dirty work (such as the Battle of Berlin).

He also explained the importance of two monuments located near the Reichstag. The first monument he explained was dedicated to the political opponents of Hitler who were killed after he seized power. It consists of a series of plates with the individual’s death date and political party affiliation. The second monument was built by the Russians to commemorate their victory and as a memorial to their fallen. They built this within weeks of the war ending. In building the memorial they were expressing their thoughts about Hitler . The exact spot of the memorial was where Hitler planned his main government building for the “capitol of the world.” This was the Russians way of expressing their distaste for Hitler’s plans.

-Remnants of the Berlin Wall- Not only was there the wall, but right next to the wall there was the museum called Topographie Des Terrors. Rather than go to Potsdam, I elected to walk back to the museum and learn a lot more about how the Nazi government worked and was organized. The site of the museum is where the SS building once stood. There is so much history and minutiae involved with the museum; I cannot begin to describe it. It basically walks individuals through how the Nazi government was setup. Here is the link to their website:http://www.topographie.de/en/topography-of-terror/nc/1/

-Kaiser-Wilhelm Church- I couldn’t help think of what a waste of a beautiful church. The church was bombed out during an Allied bombing raid in 1943. As a monument to what had been an important civic building before the war, the city decided to leave (what was left) of the foyer of the church standing. The people of Berlin (who have a nickname for everything) affectionately refer to it at the “hollow tooth.”

-What to do on a 95 degree day in Berlin? Rent a bike and go for a ride. I had a blast; it seems this the way many people get around here. I saw so many beautiful buildings and corridors, stopped at a grocery store and purchased a small dinner for myself, bought two antique steins from an antique store, met a woman from New York and had a twenty minute conversation with her when I only intended to ask her to take my photo, and just relaxed. My body is still not quite adjusted to the change in time, so it was nice to get a little relaxation in.

Wakeup service is set for 5:45 tomorrow, then off for one very long drive to Warsaw. Danke for reading.