One of the men I admire most is John F. Kennedy. Therefore, I was quite amused when I heard the story about his famous 1963 speech in Berlin, where he proudly proclaimed, "Ich bin ein Berliner". What he meant to say was "I am a Berliner". However, outside of Berlin, the word berliner, is known as a jelly donut. Oops...
Since we had a 4-day weekend this past Ascension Day here in Europe, Jo and I decided to make a spur-of-the-moment trip to Berlin, Germany. It’s about 750 km from Brussels to Berlin (466 miles), so we thought it would be a good idea to stop at the port town of Hamburg, spend our first night there and then head into Berlin the following day. This way, we can knock off two German cities in one weekend!
Although it was sunny when we arrived in Hamburg, the weather quickly turned windy and rainy soon after we checked-in. We briefly walked outside the hotel, but decided to stay inside the hotel lounge while waiting for the weather to clear. Soon, the rain subsided and we headed out again to explore the area: hopefully before it would start raining again!
We stayed at the Hamburg Marriott near the city center and were able to take a stroll and see some beautiful sights, such as the Rathaus (city hall), the Binnenalster (man-made lake in the city center), the shopping centers and cool restaurants in and around the area.
As we crossed the street towards the Binnenalster, the clouds “opened up” and there was a “much too close” lightning strike! We took shelter under some umbrellas in an outdoor café and watched this sudden rain (and hail) storm… Jo and DS found this quite exciting!
We stopped off at
Jim Block, a sort of upscale burger place so that I could have my “hamburger in Hamburg”! (BTW, I have already done the “frankfurter in Frankfurt”...)
The next morning, after a leisurely breakfast, we left Hamburg and headed due east towards Berlin, the capital of Germany. A city with a remarkable history, Berlin was once the powerful center of the German empire. She survived a devastating defeat in World War II, followed by being split up and controlled by her victors.
Ampelmannchen is the symbolic "little traffic light man" on traffic lights in East Germany
Afterwards, Berlin was the epicenter of Cold War tension between east and west and was the symbol of a divided Germany, mainly due to the Berlin Wall. It was not until 1989 when reunification efforts culminated with the tearing down of the “wall”.
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Our hotel was located in the Potsdamer Platz area, a new and very modern area recently built up from the area where the Berlin Wall once stood. In fact, it’s easy to see where the Berlin Wall once stood, by the stone outline that has been laid down over its perimeter.
Our first stop was to see Brandenberg gate, the only remaining “gate” left from the series of gates that allowed entry into the city of Berlin. During the cold war, it was the symbolic separation between East and West Germany, but today, after its full restoration at the beginning of this decade, it has become a symbol of a united Germany.
Nearby is the Holocaust Memorial. It is a huge display of 2,711 concrete slabs of slate gray blocks of varying heights, laid out over 4 acres. The site has only been open since 2005 and attracts over 3 million visitors a year.
A remnant from Germany’s past is Checkpoint Charlie, the crossing over point between the two Germanys. Basically it was the only point where foreigners could enter East Germany. Unfortunately, if you were a citizen of East Germany, you were stuck there.
The original guard station has been relocated. There is a large picture of a soldier from the West, with a soldier from the East on the opposite side. Today, actors or other street performers stand guard today and will gladly take a picture with you, in exchange for a few euros, of course. To me, it was a little disturbing how much of a “circus” atmosphere it has since become…
Berlin is a very modern city as well. It has wasted no time in building up and reinventing itself, since the reunification. We counted many high-end stores and trendy restaurants. Speaking of which, we did manage to have lunch at Berlin’s Hard Rock Café…
We stopped off at the Sony Center, a massive shopping/entertainment/residential center that attracts over 8 million visitors annually. It is representative of the type of modern development going on in Berlin today. Everywhere you look there are new construction projects that are bringing life back into Berlin.
But, there are the proud traditions of Germany that are still alive in Berlin. On this particular weekend, there happened to be a celebration of 60 years of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. We made our way into a huge festival near Brandenberg gate, with live performances of favorite national and popular German songs, as well as plenty of food and drink. From what we could tell, it was a lot of people celebrating being German!
Although it was a very brief visit, we enjoyed our time in Berlin. It might not have been our favorite town in Germany, as we have many! However, it is one of those places you should definitely see, if anything because of its historical significance. It was also a wonderful learning experience for our family.
Just don't call yourself a Berliner, aka jelly donut...
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