Daniel and I caught the train from Kaiserslautern and trained all the way to Berlin. We arrived mid-afternoon, checked into our hotel and dropped off our bags. We still had hours of daylight so, we dropped our bags and headed out to follow the Rick Steves "Best of Berlin" walking tour. The walk began in front of the Reichstag building.
The Reichstag is the parliament building. It was originally built in the 1890s. According to Rick Steves' book, it's history is of a complicated and emotional nature. It survived being nearly burned down in 1933 and was the very spot where 1,500 Nazi soldiers made their last stand, ultimately extending World War II by two full days. In 1988 after 66 years, German parliament convened here for the first time. For many they saw the act as a sign that the horrible chapter in their country's history had come to an end.
Right next to the Reichtag is a memorial built to honor the 96 politicians who opposed Hitler. These were the men that history claims would have stopped Hitler, making them his first victims. Each slate memorializes one man by listing his name along with the date and location of his death.
And of course, the Brandenburg Gate. What I didn't know is that THIS gate is the last survivor of the original 14 gates in Berlin's old city wall.
Walking a little further our of the square we came to the Memorial to the Mudered Jews of Europe. This free and always-open memorial was completed in 2005 and the memorial contains 2,711 gravestone-like pillars called "stelae". Walking through the maze-like structure the ground goes lower and lower until you can't see above the stelae anymore. From the surface it appears that each is the same height. This was an intentional design.
The weekend we were in town it just so happened that it was also Berlin's 2015 Festival of Lights. During the celebration many of Berlin's landmarks, historical places, streets, squares and trendy places are staged with light displays. We choose to hang out at the Brandenburg Gate.
::Day 2:: We signed up for a walking tour with Insider Tour Berlin. We opted for the Third Reich Berlin: Hitler & WWII the Final Days. We walked all over with our Irish tour guide. Daniel was in history heaven. I on the other hand had way more Nazi history thrown by way than I ever cared to know. Our guide was excellent though and I would totally recommend the tour company. Very inexpensive and complete knowledgeable.
Berlin Train Staion
The Reichstag
Berlin Bear
After the tour we had some time so we made our way to Checkpoint Charlie. This rebuilt guard station is a well-known tourist trap where two actors pose daily as American guards controlling the "boarder crossing".
We still had time before our train back to Kaiserslautern so we hopped on the Metro and trained to the Berlin Wall Memorial.
After our visit to the memorial, it was time to head to the train station and head home.
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