Flatbottom tour boats whisk sightseers along the Spree River in Berlin, just as they do on the Thames River in London. Selfie-snapping visitors swarm around Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, just as they do at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
However, travelers to Berlin also stop at sights not found in other Western European capitals.
They wander among nearly 3,000 pillars that stand like gravestones at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Visitors touch bullet holes in the facade of the renovated Reichstag, where advancing Russian troops routed the last Nazi soldiers at the end of World War II. They examine remnants of the Berlin Wall that once bitterly divided the city.
The Prussians and Russians
Berlin’s intense history, from the Prussian era to the Cold War, challenges your mind and your emotions. Its architecture and memorials, medieval and progressive sagas, and resilience in the face of adversity make Berlin a provocative place to explore.
That may explain why it took me so long to visit Germany’s sprawling capital.
When I first traveled to Germany as a backpacker years ago, the Berlin Wall still stood as a symbol of communist authoritarianism. On return trips after the wall fell in 1989, I chose the allure of Munich and Bonn instead. But last summer, on a train tour of northern Poland and Germany, I found Berlin geographically unavoidable.
Berlin: A Powerful Mix of Old and New
My experience was both haunting and invigorating. Modern Berlin is an intoxicating mix of graffiti-adorned alleys, glitzy restored palaces, and solemn symbols of its turbulent past. I was awed by the majesty of the Brandenburg Gate and moved to tears at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.
With just two days, I barely grazed the surface of this complex city. To make the most of my time, I embarked on an excellent walking tour of Mitte, Berlin’s oldest neighborhood. I hopped on a sightseeing bus to traverse the outskirts of town. I cruised the scenic Spree River on a lovely sunny day in an open-air boat. Each offered a distinctive perspective on the city, leaving me wanting more.
As I explored the city, I admired Berlin’s ongoing efforts to refurbish and refashion itself. Public spaces, museums, and other attractions are vibrant and polished. Sophisticated restaurants and trendy bars abound in the city, long known for its anything-goes nightlife.
What lingers in my memories of Berlin is the juxtaposition of its traditional attractions with thought-provoking memorials recounting Germany’s darker past.
Some impressions:
Hackescher Markt and the New Synagogue
A Berlin Welcome Card and a walking tour with guide Markus Mueller-Tenckhoff provided a quick introduction to this sprawling city of 3.7 million. Markus, a knowledgeable and engaging guide, shared fascinating stories about the city’s history and culture as we hopped on a speedy S-Bahn metro train to Hackescher Markt from my hotel near the Hauptbahnhof, Berlin’s central train station.
This festive former East Berlin neighborhood is the darling of locals and visitors. Its refurbished Art Nouveau buildings now shelter quaint shops, cafes, businesses, and apartments. Some of the city’s most striking architecture is hidden in the backyards and courtyards of these early 19th-century buildings.
Colorful graffiti art fills Hackesche Höfe’s interconnected courtyards. Outdoor stalls sell produce, art, and handicrafts. Vintage neon signs illuminate narrow walkways packed with rowdy clubgoers at night.
A short walk away, the golden dome of the New Synagogue shines as a symbol of Jewish life, past and present. The 19th-century synagogue was vandalized but not destroyed on Kristallnacht, the night in 1938 when the Nazis burned synagogues across the country. Later, Allied bombings did more damage.
Rebuilt in 1995, the synagogue’s gilded dome and smaller structure reflect its historical and architectural significance in Berlin.
Brandenburg Gate and the Memorial to Murdered Jews
The 18th-century Brandenburg Gate stands as a monument to Berlin’s and Germany’s reunification. A dozen Doric-style pillars support a sculpture of the god of victory riding a chariot pulled by four horses. The gate is as mesmerizing as the Eiffel Tower, though you can’t climb to the top. Yes, I did take a selfie or two.
When World War II ended, the Soviet army controlled the gate, making it off-limits to West Berliners. The historic site brought back memories of U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivering the “Tear down this wall” speech in front of the gate in 1987. I also recalled TV news reports of thousands of joyful people tossing bricks from the wall as they celebrated the end of the Cold War in 1989.
My mood turned somber after a short walk to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Concrete boxes of varying heights create a maze that is one of the most poignant depictions of man’s inhumanity to man.
Courtesy of Valentin Lacoste on Unsplash
Getting lost among the boxes, I tried to imagine how victims must have felt when they realized there was literally no way out of the horrors of what we now call the Holocaust. The memorial is one of four in Berlin dedicated to Nazi victims. Others honor homosexuals, gypsies and patients in sanitoriums and nursing homes, and other so-called socially undesirable people who were murdered.
The Reichstag, Bullet Holes, White Crosses
From the Jewish memorial, I strolled the walkway along the Spree River, where views of the Reichstag’s glistening glass dome lifted my spirits. Germany’s parliament building is one of the city’s and country’s most historic structures. Completed in 1894, the Reichstag was home to the German parliament until 1933, when a suspicious fire handed Hitler a convenient excuse to suppress dissent.
When Berlin became the country’s capital once again in the 1990s, the German parliament, or Bundestag, moved back into the extensively renovated Reichstag. Today, visitors flock to the building to hike to the top of the glass cupola for panoramic city views. History-minded visitors can also view graffiti left by occupying Soviet soldiers and bullet holes preserved in the facade.
From the river walk, I noticed seven white crosses near the Reichstag that I later learned are a memorial to East Germans killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall.
Tiergarten and Kaiser Wilhelm Church
A hop-on-hop-off bus took me past sights I could not easily see on foot. My double-decker bus, with audio guides in 14 languages, also stopped at more places than I had time to explore, except through my window. Some, like the former border crossing known as Checkpoint Charlie, reminded me of my favorite spy novels by author John le Carre and old James Bond movies.
In West Berlin, I glimpsed a hole blown in the spire of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which was left as-is as a memorial against war. Near the church, I admired the leafy-green Tiergarten, Berlin’s largest urban park. Prussian princes once hunted there before returning home to the neoclassical Bellevue Palace, which is now the official residence of the President of Germany.
My audio guide also described the former site of a villa near the park where dozens of Nazi bureaucrats and doctors organized the mass murder of sanatorium and psychiatric hospital patients deemed unworthy to live. A blue glass wall remembers those with disabilities who the Nazis systematically euthanized.
Cruising the Spree River
@ Barbara Redding
I hopped off the bus to join a late afternoon river cruise. Seeing the city’s iconic landmarks from the peaceful river turned out to be one of my favorite experiences. The Spree may not be as romantic as the Seine, but I was content to cruise through the middle of the city while enjoying a glass of lemonade.
Our multilingual guide identified buildings and shared city history as we passed Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site with five world-class museums, and the towering Berlin Cathedral. The massive basilica is one of the city’s most recognized architectural treasures. I enjoyed catching sight of the Berlin TV Tower as the boat navigated bends in the river. Built in the 1960s by the East German government, the tower resembles a flagpole with a bulb on top, now housing a viewing platform and a revolving restaurant.
What I didn’t expect to see were people in pink lounge chairs lined up along the riverbank, sipping cocktails and beer as if they were at the beach.
The DDR Museum
My hour-long cruise ended in front of the DDR Museum, where I immersed myself in the lives of East Germans during the Cold War. If you have ever wondered about what went on behind the formidable Berlin Wall, this interactive museum paints a grim and sometimes amusing picture.
The museum reminded me of a second-hand store packed with memorabilia from the 1950s, including an authentically furnished five-room flat. Visitors can also take a 3D simulated drive in a Trabi, a tiny and tinny East German car that’s now a cult classic.
There’s a Stasi interrogation room where you can learn about the surveillance tactics used by the notorious East German police. Believe me, fascism is no joke.
A Piece of the Berlin Wall
I passed up the chance to buy an “authentic” piece of the Berlin Wall in the museum gift shop. My visit to Berlin provided plenty of reminders of mankind’s darker side. I left grateful to know Berlin is sharing its complicated past at so many thought-provoking sites.
As we wrestle with a world that’s once again leaning toward authoritarianism, visiting a place like Berlin that is willing to confront and learn from its history is well worth two days. Next time I’ll stay longer.
The German National Tourist Office hosted the author’s visit.
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