Drowning In Berlin ๐งธ
Well, a couple of weeks ago we went to Berlin for a short City Break. I have to say in places we were left a bit wanting on some of the planning but, as they say, every day is a school day. You have to also bear in mind that the last time we went on abroad trip was pre-Covid to Venice. So, matched with the apprehensiveness of flying again, the rigmarole of airports, getting to the airport in the first place and security when you get there. I think we did pretty well and it went reasonably smoothly.
Tag Eins
We didn't have a long time to get done what we wanted to achieve, but we did pretty well. The weather was a scorching 34 degrees๐ when we landed and we eventually, after a few direction mishaps found our hotel in Alexanderplatz, which was quite nicely central. After a short rest and with no time to lose we headed back out into the heat and hit the Berlin Underground headed towards Brandenburg Tor (Brandenburg Gate to you and me). Wow! what an impressive structure made quite beautiful by the sun as was lowering.
From there we headed down to the Reichstag Building, again another magnificent piece of architecture. Evidently you can visit but you need to book months in advance. We wandered around parts of Tiergarten Park and into memorials for Gypsies and Jews during World War II. I have to say the Jewish Memorial was quite sobering, but very cleverly done, none of the concrete slabs are labelled, there isn't any kind of fanfare about it but as you walk through it the concrete blocks begin to get taller and more oppressive, the ground within undulates giving less and more height leaving you feeling quite small.ย We finished up at Potsdamer Place, before heading back to Alexanderplatz and hitting a nice Italian restaurant, some lovely food and a welcome German Beer! ๐บ
Tag Zweiย
So, we started out early and made our way out to the East Side Gallery to check out a large section of the wall with its wonderful artwork. My, it is impressive and I couldn't show all of the works, but it is an impressive sight and well worth the visit.
On to Berlin Wall visitor centre and then a long walk down to the Jewish Museum. Our planned walking tour of parts of Berlin wasn't scheduled until 3pm so by now we were already worn out, although the heat we had on the first day had cooled a little but it was still extremely humid. We passed through some of same areas we had been to on day 1 , but this time we were taken to The Fuhrer Bunker (now a car park) and the Aviation Ministry Of Berlin (also known as Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus) the home of the Luftwaffe in WWII. The building escaped much of the bombing by allied aircraft and after the war the building was used by the Soviet Military Administration, during the 1950's a mural designed by Max Linger was added to the front covering 18 meters depicting the Socialist Ideal of a contented East German population. From there we headed down to Checkpoint Charlie to check out the reconstructed checkpoint which would have been occupied by US Military personnel back in the day. It is hard to believe that the split of East and West Germany even existed and the horrors for many living there, I certainly remember learning geography at school and seeing the split on maps. We headed back to Tiergarten Park and visited the Soviet War Memorial with the two T-34 Russian Tanks and ML-20 Howitzer Guns.
Tag Drei
I have to say on our short visit I was quite impressed with the German public transport system. It is really easy to navigate around the city using the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, buses and trams. You just roll up at the station use a machine to purchase and then importantly validate the ticket...a doddle! The only real noticeable difference from London is the tapping in and out, obviously there is some kind of 'trust' factor in Berlin that you have a ticket and it is validated.
We met our guide at Hackescher Markt for our trip up to sobering Sachsenhausen at Oranienburg, the camp during WWII held political prisoners e.g. Joseph Stalin's eldest son and it was used from 1936 until 1945 when it was liberated by the Polish 2nd Infantry Division. After WWII it was again used, but this time by the Soviets. It was described by our guide as a 'forced labour camp' during the war period. We marched the 1.3 km from Oranienburg station to the camp (following in the footsteps of the prisoners all those years ago) passing by the houses near the camp where many of the guards would have once lived. We were shown around the memorials dedicated to people who worked and died there as well as the barracks where they lived. He described the conditions and the executions that would have taken place. Truly a grim reminder of a past no-one wants to occur again, but well worth the visit.
Finishing the tour we headed back on the train and hopped off near our next 'must see' the DDR Museum. Wow! must say this museum was one of the best. It is so interactive, from cells for holding prisoners, interrogation rooms, a tower block apartment furnished with everything from the day showing life in East Germany including television schedules, music, kitchens, bedrooms etc. The museum even had a Trabant in it! It was a place I could have wandered around for so much longer and was well worth the pre-booking.
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Tag Vier
The last day was one of showers early on but later warming up and turning hot and sunny again. We hit the German Historical Museum and passed by the beautiful looking Berliner Dom near Lustgarten.
Sadly after that we had to head back on the S-Bahn back to the airport headed for home. All in all a lovely City, similar in some ways to London in its rich history and beautiful architecture. If you haven't been before give it a go, you'll love it!
Und Fรผr Die Musik
Oh, there are just so many songs relating to Berlin from David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Rufus Wainwright even going back further to Marlene Dietrich, Frank Sinatra. So rather than doing the obvious I tried to find some more independent record acts that mention Berlin. Both tracks are from the early part of the 1980's, the first 'Drowning In Berlin' by a British band called The Mobiles was released in 1981 on the indie Rialto Records label. I distinctly remember it on the radio back at the time, their sound and lead singer's swooping voice was similar to Hazel O'Connor/Toyah/Siouxsie Sioux. The second act hail from Canada with a track released originally in 1982 and re-released again in 1984 on the Canadian indie Yul Records label, the band are Rational Youth with their synth pop sounding 'Dancing On The Berlin Wall'. Either way both of them dedicated to a beautiful and historical City and an enjoyable visit. Berlin Ich liebe dich!๐ And if you enjoy the more synth stuff check out a previous post featuring some Neue Deutsche Frรถhlichkeit at Quirky Norfolk Indie Sounds
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