Netherlands/Berlin Trip - Berlin      31st July:

    We began our day by trying to gain entry into the Reichstag. "You should register for tickets online," was the response, "All full up today," and so on. "Try to see if you can get a cancellation tomorrow," was a cop out from one official.
    Giving up the attempt as a bad job for today, we marched through the Brandenburg Gate into the Pariser Platz and turned off down the Wilhelmstrasse. As we ambled down this broad street, I became aware of a subtle difference introduced since I was last in Berlin eight years ago. All down this street, and indeed all over the city, literally thousands of display boards, around 1.7m tall, containing pictures and text in German and English, describing the history behind the building or feature they were stood in front of. They were even more open about their war track record than they were eight years ago.

Quadriga on Brandenburg Gate

    Speaking of history, Berlin had its beginning in two Wendish villages, Berlin and Kölln, which were chartered in the 13th century and merged in 1307. It assumed importance as a Hanseatic League town in the 14th century. , and became the seat of the electors of Brandenburg in 1486. Berlin suffered severely from the Thirty Years War (1618-48), but Frederick William (reigned 1640-88), the Great Elector, restored and improved the city. Occupied in the Seven Years War by Austrian (1757) and Russian (1760) troops, and in the Napoleonic Wars by the French (1806-8), Berlin emerged from the conflicts as a centre of German national feeling and an increasingly serious rival of Vienna.
    Many of the distinguished monuments and buildings of the city (chiefly by Andreas Schlüter and Karl Friedrich Schinkel) date from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Berlin was the centre of the Revolution of 1848 against King Frederick William IV. The construction of railroads (1840-61) gave it additional importance as an industrial and commercial centre. Berlin also became part of a canal system that linked it to the Oder, Elbe, and Rhine rivers and to the North Sea. In 1866 it became the seat of the North German Confederation and in 1871 it was made the capital of the German Empire. The city prospered and expanded rapidly, becoming one of the great urban centres of the world. Berlin's population had increased from 201,000 in 1819 to 914,000 in 1871; by 1900 it was 2,712,000.
    The German military defeat of 1918 brought on a period of social and political unrest. After the establishment of a Socialist government in November 1918, Berlin was the scene of the abortive uprising of the Communist Spartacus party in January 1919, and of the conservative putsch of 1920. As the capital of the Weimar Republic, Berlin suffered severe economic crises in the 1920s, but it was also a brilliant cultural centre. Throughout the Nazi regime (1933-45) Berlin remained the second largest city of Europe, a notable economic, political, and educational centre, and a huge inland port with a flourishing world trade. It was also the major communications and transportation hub of Central Europe. During World War II, Berlin was repeatedly bombed from the air by the Allies, but the heaviest destruction was caused by a Soviet artillery barrage of unprecedented intensity that preceded the capture of the city by Marshal Zhukov on May 2nd 1945.
    When we reached Niederkirchnerstrasse, we noticed a stretch of the Berlin Wall still standing. The Berlin Wall, which separated the city in an eastern and western part, was the defining symbol of the Cold War. Built by the government of the DDR to prevent East Germans from escaping to the West, most of the Berlin Wall has been demolished since the border between East and West Berlin opened in 1989.
    After the Second World War, defeated Germany was divided up into four parts: an American, British, French and Soviet occupation zone. Berlin itself, which was situated in the Soviet zone, was divided into four sectors. In 1948, the Soviet authorities tried to annex the whole city and started a blockade of the US, British and French sectors. The plans failed due to the Berlin Airlift which carried supplies to the western sectors, and in May 1949 the blockade was lifted. That same year, the Soviet part of Germany became the German Democratic Republic (GDR) with East Berlin as its capital. The other zones became the Federal Republic of Germany with the capital Bonn. The western part of Berlin became a separate enclave surrounded by East Germany.
    Until 1961, East Germans could move freely between the western and eastern parts of Berlin. But many East Berliners were attracted by the more prosperous West, and by 1961 up to 20,000 East Germans a month flocked to West Berlin. On August 12th 1961 the East German authorities decided to close the border around the Western sectors of Berlin in order to prevent people from fleeing. Officially, it was an antifascist protection barrier to defend the East against Western aggression. The next day, early morning August 13th, West Berlin was surrounded by barbed wire. Traffic at the border was halted and the underground and S-bahn connecting the different sides of the city were put out of operation. Houses at the eastern side of the border were evacuated and the windows on the border side were bricked up.
    Over time, the barbed wire was replaced by a 3.6 meter high wall. Along the Wall's east side ran a "death strip", an area controlled by guards. A total of 302 watchtowers and 20 bunkers were built along the 155 kilometre long border. The guards were given the order to shoot at escapees. As a result, during the 28 years of the Wall's existence, 192 people were killed in their attempt to cross the border to the West. One of the first and most well-known was Peter Fechter, an 18-year old who was shot by a guard while he was climbing over the wall. He fell down and despite his cries for help the East German guards ignored him and an hour later he had bled to death. A memorial in the Zimmerstraße now remembers the spot where he died.
    In May 1989, shortly after Soviet President Gorbatchev had abolished the Brezhnev Doctrine, Hungary opened its border with Austria. This allowed East Germans to flock to the West via Hungary. Meanwhile, street protests drawing more and more people put pressure on the GDR government. Finally on November 9th 1989, travel restrictions were lifted. Mere hours later throngs of people gathered at the border gates demanding access. The confused guards, who had not received any new instructions, bowed under the pressure. They opened the gates and people flooded into West Berlin. The Wall had fallen.
    Most of the Wall has been dismantled since, but some sections still stand. Demolished sections have been replaced by a double row of cobblestones. The most famous section of the wall that is still standing is the 1316 meter long East Side Gallery. In 1990 artists were invited to paint this part of the wall, which turned it into one large open-air gallery. It is located along Mühlenstraße between Warschauer Straße and the Ostbahnhof and contains 106 paintings.

Trabi World - Meryl Pulling Her Hair Out on Learning Rex has Put in a Bid for One

    Opposite the short section on Niederkirchnerstrasse, on the corner of Zimmerstrasse, a patch of wasteland had become home to the Trabi World exhibition, full of brightly decorated Trabants, some in a state of repair, and some on offer for a tour around the city.
    For the uninitiated, a Trabant is a car that was produced in East Germany during cold war times. At a time when people in the UK thought that the Mini was the "in thing", the East Germans and other Eastern Block countries had the Trabant to pose around in, or not as the case was. Like the mini, the Trabant had a long production run, which ceased in the 1990s.
    The Trabant had a massive two cylinder, 600cc two-stroke engine under the bonnet, and the spacious engine compartment was large enough to fit a fuel tank above the power unit. This is all well and good apart from the fact that you have to open the bonnet to put fuel into it. After a run to the petrol station you can guarantee that the engine will be hot, so therefore "ENGINE + FUEL VAPOUR = BANG". Who needs the rush of a sports car when you can watch your life flash before your eyes every time you fill up?
    The majority of the body panels are made from a plastic type substance formed in moulds. As you can imagine the protection offered by such panels is quite minimal, okay let's face it, non-existent. Apparently, during the cold war, Eastern Block citizens who owned Trabants had one aim in life, to get a Lada! At least now they can aspire to other things.

Checkpoint Charlie

    Strolling along Zimmerstrasse, we came to the junction with Friedrichstrasse, and there on our right was Checkpoint Charlie, one of the ultimate symbols of the Cold War, which came to epitomise the separation between east and west. For nearly thirty years, this checkpoint represented not only a divided Germany but a world in political turmoil.
    The Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 by the East German government to prevent its citizens from fleeing to the more prosperous West. Shortly after the wall was built, President John F. Kennedy ordered the U.S. forces to build three checkpoints at different points in the wall through which diplomatic corps and allied forces could enter West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became the most famous. It got its name from the phonetic alphabet. (The others were Alpha and Bravo... a, b, c). By 1962, this checkpoint was the only place at which foreigners visiting Berlin could cross from West to East and back again. Located in the Friedrichstadt neighbourhood in the heart of Berlin, the checkpoint was the subject of many movies and appeared frequently in spy novels penned during the Cold War era.
    In the early years, Checkpoint Charlie was the site of a few stand-offs between East and West, America and the Soviets, most notoriously in 1961 when American and Soviet tanks faced each other at the checkpoint. Both Kennedy and his Soviet nemesis Nikita Khrushchev visited the checkpoint shortly after it was erected. Checkpoint Charlie was removed in June of 1990, when German reunification was almost complete. Removal was not difficult as the Americans never built any permanent structures at the site.
    Today, a line of bricks traces the path where the Berlin Wall once stood and now a replica of the Checkpoint Charlie booth and sign stands at the original site. The original booth is in the Allied Museum in Zehlendorf. The watchtower, also part of the original checkpoint, was removed in 2000 to make way for stores and offices though, currently, no commercial buildings occupy the space.
    Opposite the checkpoint on a small piece of wasteland, an excellent little open-air exhibition was located that recounted the history of the Berlin Wall, escape attempts and other aspects about the Wall.
    We walked up Friedrichstrass a while and then meandered through back streets to the harmonious Gendarmenmarkt, known as one of the most beautiful squares in Europe. It was created at the end of the 17th century as a market place, the Linden Markt. The current name is derived from the Gens d'Armes, an elite Prussian mounted regiment that was quartered here from 1736 to 1773. In 1777, the square was redeveloped after plans by Georg Christian Unger. Gendarmenmarkt is now a quiet place with three landmark buildings: the Französischer Dom (French cathedral), Deutscher Dom (German cathedral) and the Konzerthaus (concert hall). In the middle of the square is a statue of Friedrich Schiller, a famous German poet.

    The Konzerthaus or Concert Hall is the most recent building on Gendarmenmarkt. It was built in 1821 as the Schauspielhaus by Berlin's famous architect, Karl-Friedrich Schinkel, who around the same time also remodelled the Berlin Cathedral. The Konzerthaus was built on the ruins of the National Theatre, which was destroyed by fire in 1817. Schinkel reused the columns and some outside walls from this 1802 building. Like the other buildings on Gendarmenmarkt, the Konzerthaus was badly damaged during the Second World War. The reconstruction, which was finished in 1984, turned the theatre into a concert hall. It is now home to the Berlin Symphony Orchestra.

Konzerthaus

    The Französischer Dom and Deutscher Dom are two seemingly identical churches, situated opposite each other on either side of the Konzerthaus. The older of the two is the Französischer Dom (French Cathedral). It was built between 1701 and 1705 by the Huguenots, a religious community. Persecuted in France, they sought refuge in Protestant Berlin. The rather modest church was modelled after the Huguenot church in Charenton, destroyed in 1688. In 1785 the tower and porticoes, designed by Carl von Gontard, were added next to the existing building. This made the church look like a twin sister of the Deutscher Dom across the square. The Deutscher Dom or German Cathedral, on the south side of Gendarmenmarkt, is a pentagonal structure that was designed by Martin Grünberg. It was built in 1708 by Giovanni Simonetti and modified in 1785 after a design by Carl von Gontard, who added the domed tower. The Deutscher Dom was completely destroyed by fire in 1945. It wasn't rebuilt until 1993 and reopened in 1996 as a museum with exhibits on German history.

Französischer Dom

Friedrich Schiller

    The monument in front of the Konzerthaus shows a statue of Friedrich Schiller, one of Germany's most famous poets. He is above all known for providing the lyrics to Beethoven's Ode to Joy, the European anthem. The marble monument was originally created in 1871 by Reinhold Begas as the Schillerbrunnen (Schiller Fountain). It shows the figure of Schiller holding a scroll in his left hand. Below him sit four allegorical female figures that represent Poetry, Drama, History and Philosophy. In 1936 the Gendarmenmarkt was transformed into a parade ground so the fountain was disassembled.
    We climbed the steps up to the Konzerthaus to peer in through the closed doors. The interior was luxurious, and must have been a delight to be in during a concert. However, today, all the chandeliers had been lowered and an army of specialists were cleaning them for a forth-coming concert.
    Although the large square was buzzing with people, I could quite happily have strolled around it for an age, just soaking up the almost tangible cultural atmosphere and history of the place.
    Weaving our way past all manner of modern developments taking place in Werderscher Markt, we finally arrived at the Bauakademie (Academy of Architecture), a work in progress establishment. The "Allgemeine Bauschule" (General Building School) was founded in 1799 as a reaction to the inadequate educational possibilities for architects, who, in the wake of industrialisation, were increasingly faced with new building tasks. It was initially housed in the mint at the Werderscher Markt. Not far from this building, Schinkel later erected the Bauakademie, with which he at the same time concluded his urban developmental new organisation of the old Berlin city centre. According to Schinkel's plans, the ground floor was to contain shops. The classrooms were located on the first main floor, whereas the second floor housed the Oberbaudeputation (Senior Building Commission), of which Schinkel was the director of in 1830, and was also Schinkel's official director's residence. After Schinkel's death, a Schinkel Museum was installed in the study rooms of his apartment. After heavy war damage, the rebuilding of the Bauakademie was begun in 1951. Ten years later, the nearly completed building was knocked down in the context of the "socialist redesign of the city centre" and in its stead the GDR's Department of Foreign Affairs was erected, which in turn was demolished in 1995 in the course of re-establishing the historical centre of Berlin. After this, the north-eastern corner of the Bauakademie was rebuilt using traditional building techniques. The reconstruction of the entire Bauakademie is planned.

    In front of the Bauakademie lay Schinkelplatz. As stated earlier, the Bauakademie on this square was the work of the city architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1836), who intended to create a square encircled by trees in front of the northern facade of the Academy. In 1837 Peter Joseph Lenné created a decorative square here, then called Platz an der Bauakademie (Square at the Academy of Architecture). In the 1860s monuments for Albrecht Daniel Thaer (1860), Christian Peter Wilhelm Beuth (1861) and Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1869) were erected. With the erection of the third monument the name of the place was altered in Schinkelplatz. Honouring these three men in this form was a first in the history of Berlin, an expression of the growing self-consciousness of the urban bourgeoisie. The sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch spoke of the "first hero on a public place without a sword".

Altes Museum

    During the Second World War, the Schinkelplatz and the surrounding buildings suffered severe damage. Schinkel's statue was toppled from its pedestal, the monuments of Beuth and Thaer had suffered bullet and splinter damage. By 1949, the four caryatids from the base of Schinkel's statue and five reliefs of Thaer's statue were stolen. The four caryatids were replaced and represent: Architecture (woman with a Greek temple model), Painting (woman with paintbrush and palette), Science (woman with scroll) and Sculpture (woman with hammer). The Academy of Arts was demolished 1962 to make place for the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic (1966). The statues were placed in the Humboldt University and other locations in town. The ministry building was demolished in 1995/96 and the reconstruction of the Schinkelplatz started. Schinkel's statue returned in 1996, Beuth's in 1999 and a copy of the statue of Thaer in 2000 (the original is in the agricultural faculty of the Humboldt University). Landscaping was finished in 2008.

Dom

    All around this area, large coloured pipes rose out of the ground for 4m before twisting and turning across roads and waterways before disappearing below ground again. Blue pipes carried water, other coloured pipes contained liquidised waste from the huge amount of civil construction work taking place around the city, and pumped into waiting barges to be conveyed outside the city.
    We crossed a tributary of the River Spree via the monumental Schlossbrücke (Palace Bridge), a bridge with a railing decorated with maritime ornaments executed in the then innovative technique of cast iron, which Schinkel valued greatly. The middle arch of today's bridge was originally constructed as a bascule bridge and could be opened to allow for ships passing through. The eight sculpture groups, emulating antique models, set up above the pillars of the bridge, tell the idealised story of a warrior's career from his first training to his elevation to Mount Olympus after his death on the battle field. The warrior is accompanied by Athena, goddess of just war, and Nike, goddess of victory.
    Now we were standing on the Museuminsel (Museum Island), granted UNESCO National Heritage Site status in 1999. Berlin's Museum Island was designed to be "a sanctuary of art and science". The island is home to no less than five of Berlin's major museums, all located on the northern part of the Spreeinsel (Spree Island). Across a large plain of grass, known as the Lustgarten, stood the grand Altes Museum, built to allow the general public to view the royal art treasures of Prussia. It was the first such museum in the country.

St. Marienkirche and Berliner Fernsehturm

    On the eastern side of the Lustgarten towered the Dom, Berlin's main cathedral, which was built at the end of the 18th century as a protestant counterpart of the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
    Proceeding in an easterly direction, we crossed over the Spree and left the island, passing the St. Marienkirche and Berliner Fernsehturm (Berlin T.V. Tower) and walked past inevitable strings of tacky cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops all the way up to Alexanderplatz.

Wilhelm von Humboldt

    At the beginning of the 19th century, Alexanderplatz was one of the busiest squares in Berlin. Its current appearance is mostly the result of the efforts of the former government of East-Germany to use the square as a showpiece of Socialist architecture. Despite recent attempts to make the square more attractive, Alexanderplatz is still a concrete island enclosed by large buildings and to me it came across as rather soulless.
    During the Middle Ages, when the square was at the heart of a network of narrow passageways and streets, it was called the Ochsenmarkt (ox market). In 1805, after a visit by Russian Tzar Alexander I, the square was renamed Alexanderplatz. The locals simply call this large square "Alex". At the time ten streets converged here. The square gained even more importance as a transportation hub in 1882 when a railway station opened in the middle of the square. It was followed in 1913 by a subway station. Most of the buildings on the square were destroyed by allied bombing during the Second World War. After the war Alexanderplatz became the de facto centre of East-Berlin. The square was enlarged and used as a showcase of Socialist architecture. This resulted in some plain, "shoebox-ugly" buildings and a huge television tower, which was the pride of the East German government.

Mother with her Dead Son

    We retraced our steps back down along Karl Liebknecht Strasse, pausing a while to gaze at the main campus of the Humboldt University. It was built in 1753 by Johan Bouman as a palace for Prince Henry, a brother of King Frederick II of Prussia. After the prince's death the building was handed over to the Berlin University, which in 1949 was renamed Humboldt University in honour of its founder Wilhelm von Humboldt. Former students include Karl Marx and physicist Max Planck.
    Close to the university was the Neue Wache. Completed in 1818, it was Schinkel's first major executed building. The building housed the guards for the Royal Palace opposite it, where Frederick William III resided since he became crown prince. Furthermore, the building was designed as a monument to the Wars of the Sixth Coalition (1813-15). Schinkel gave expression to this double function by planning the building following the model of a Roman castrum, which he outfitted with a representative Greek temple front. In 1930, the architect Heinrich Tessenow converted the Neue Wache into a cenotaph commemorating the soldiers who were killed in action during the First World War. Today, the Neue Wache serves as the Federal Republic of Germany's central memorial for the victims of war and despotism. For this purpose, the repeatedly reconverted interior, which was ultimately destroyed during the Second World War, was reconstructed in 1993 in the reduced, subdued design by Tessenow, whereas the exterior remains almost unchanged. In the centre of the inner room, beneath an oculus, is a bronze replica of Käthe Kollwitz's sculpture "Mother with her Dead Son". To this day, this installation invites controversies, but I found the peaceful setting quite moving.

Cranes Everywhere

    Karl Liebknecht Strasse naturally led into Unter den Linden, a main east-west thoroughfare through the city of Berlin, which earned its name from the rows of Linden trees that were first planted there more than three-and-a-half centuries ago. This prestigious boulevard leads from the Palace Bridge near Museum Island to the Brandenburg Gate at Pariser Platz, and stretches 1.5km long and is 60m wide. It is planted with four rows of Linden trees, about one thousand in total. Duke Frederick William, also known as The Great Elector, was dedicated to the development and beautification of Berlin during his reign in the mid-1600s. In order to spruce up the route from his castle home to the Tiergarten hunting ground, it is said that Frederick ordered the planting of long rows of Linden trees, which would also serve to keep the route more shady and comfortable for his travels. That means his carriage ride would have him traveling "unter den Linden"; literally, under the Lindens.
    Nearly a century later, King Frederick II expanded the boulevard by adding his collection of cultural buildings to the area, including the national opera house and the national library, making Unter den Linden larger and more popular. By the 19th century, it was one of the most visited streets in the city and served as a central gathering place for many Berlin citizens. After the victory over Napoleon, the street was furnished with a plethora of statues standing in homage to the great generals of the German army and a guardhouse was built as a memorial to the victory in the Wars of Liberation (against Napoleon).

Statues Everywhere

    By the end of World War II, Unter den Linden had been reduced to little more than rubble and the magnificent Linden trees had been cut down. The East German Government did little to rebuild the area and after they erected the Berlin Wall in 1961 Unter den Linden was closed off right before the Brandenburg Gate. The street lost its central function and became deserted. After the fall of the wall in 1989, the street quickly revitalised and one by one all buildings along the boulevard were either restored or rebuilt.
    Before crossing the River Spree near the hotel, we stopped off for a coffee at a bend in the river, plonking ourselves on deckchairs amongst a horde of other likeminded folk who just wanted to sit in the sun by the river, drink and chat. We selected our beverages, for me rhubarb juice which was really delicious, and waved at the endless stream of passing pleasure cruises. It was an idyllic moment to while away the time and rest our feet; I felt as though I had perhaps over-stretched my shipmates on this little tour of the city.
    On our return back into the city centre in the evening, we passed a free open-air concert in Pariser Platz; a Korean orchestra with dancers. We arrived just as a woman, beautifully dressed in a multi-coloured costume, was delicately twirling whilst simultaneously beating out a rhythm on a drum hanging from her neck. The background of squeaks and bangs of unseen instruments, seemingly all out of tune, has always been a mystery to me.
    She was replaced by a young fellow on an electric guitar wailing away some blues, accompanied by his electronic drum kit. Time for a quick exit we thought.
    Later in the evening we passed the same concert, just as it was finishing. What I found astonishing at the very end was that there was not one clap of applause from the audience. Were they all stunned, or had they all fallen asleep?