Tour Of Berlin

    Berlin is the 5th largest city in the world and has largely been reconstructed since the end of the war and the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is sprawling and is filled with parks. It has a vibrant business center and shopping districts where many high end merchants have stores. There are old parts and new parts. Berlin was founded in 1237. Since it was the Middle Ages, it was a walled city. Other cities, such as Spandau, were more like suburbs but Spandau is now one of the districts of Berlin proper. 

   Our bus tour began in Spandau where our ship was moored. After the war, Spandau was the British Sector of Berlin and housed the prison where Nazi war criminals were held pending their trials at Nuremburg. It is also the home of the Olympic Stadium where Jesse Owens and Archie Williams made a liar of Hitler and his notions about the Teutonic Race being the master race. Much of the original stadium still exists as most of the stadium survived bombings of Berlin. The stadium is still used for events. As we made our way into Berlin, our guide pointed out colorful above ground pipes that are visible in many parts of Berlin. She explained that those pipes are visible signs of construction taking place in Berlin. Berlin is built on the site of a prehistoric lake, marshland with a very high water table. Without the above ground pipes to provide drainage, construction would be impossible in Berlin. Berlin has an extensive underground rail system, but part of the underground is above ground because the high water table makes construction of a tunnel impossible. 

   One of the most impressive sites in Berlin is the Brandenburg Gate. It was damaged by bombing in the war but has been restored. It was one of the early gates into Berlin and as Germany evolved into an empire was also the entrance way for the Frederick I, aka Frederick The Great, and the royal family. Only royals could pass through the middle arch of the gate. Regular folks had to pass through the narrower parts and pay the tax collector for the privilege. After the war, the Brandenburg Gate also was the boundary between West and East Berlin. On both sides of the gate were areas known as No Man's Land. We viewed the gate from what would have been East Berlin. East Berlin went through major changes with the Russian occupation and the ensuing GRD (German Democratic Republic). The Russians destroyed any buildings that had anything to do with the former monarchy of Germany. Apartments were built in the neo classic socialist style for the people of East Berlin. Those apartments survive to this day and they all look exactly alike. The worst and most tragic experience for East Berliners was the construction of the Berlin Wall, supposedly to keep the people who lived in the workers' paradise of East Berlin from being infected with the capitalist ideology of West Berlin. The barrier started as a barbed wire barrier that was literally constructed overnight and through the years evolved into a double wall structure, each wall 4 meters high and separated by a by a no man's land area that had 1 meter deep ditches (to discourage vehicles from driving through), barbed wire, motion sensors, guard towers spaced 30 meters apart, and German Shepherd dogs for good measure. Many East Germans died in no man's land in futile efforts to escape to West Berlin. Ther is a story told of a young East German boy who commandeered a Soviet tank and successfully escaped from East Berlin. There were some tunnels from the east to the west, but people in the east needed to be very careful if they planned to use a tunnel as the East Berlin Secret Police were seemingly in all places at all times. The hotel at which I stayed on October 6th is located in Alexanderplatz which was considered almost the crown jewel of the GDR. It is well known for its tall TV tower that has a ball on the top. The tower can be seen from many points in Berlin. 

   Berlin is somewhat unique in that it has its own parliament building and its own parliament. The mayor of Berlin is also the Governor. Each district in Berlin has its own mayor. Since the wall came down in 1989, Berlin and Germany have been reunited and October 3rd is a national holiday that celebrates the reunification of Germany. On our way back to the boat, we passed through the Tiergarten district where embassy row is located. The Tiergarten itself is a very large park which in the time of the Prussian monarchs was the king's, later emperor's, hunting ground. On our way back to our boat we passed the Charlottensburg Palace where the king's wife Charlotte spent time and the royal family often spent part of the summer. Queen Charlotte did not get to enjoy much of the splendor of the palace. As I recall, it opened in 1701 and she died in 1704 or 1705. It was still under construction when she died.

   In the evening after dinner, there was another tour into Berlin to see the Berlin Festival of Lights which is a regular feature in Berlin in October. Many famous monuments are bathed in lights created by local artists. Some of the lights are stationary while others are animated. It is impossible to see the source of the lights, but the effects are spectacular. Thousands of people come to see the display which causes traffic snarls and parking nightmares. We drove by the Brandenburg Gate but really only caught a glimpse because our bus needed to keep moving. It was a long day and a late night, but well worth it. 

   That's it for this installment. Remember, choose joy each day.