"Guest" commentary from Steve continues:
Berlin is definitely one of my favorite cities. History, art, architecture, modern, neo-classical, socialist, communist, baroque, GDR, TV tower, Tiergarten, Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz, Hitler´s bunker, Topograph of Terror, Karl Marx boulevard, clubs, dinners, Reichstag, Brandenburg gate, Berliner Dom, ALtes Museum, Hamburger Bahnof, Palast de Publik, Ben Unter Linden, Berlin Wall and much more.
Being the walking tour aficionado that I am, the first thing we did was go on the Third Reich Walking tour. Mort, 73 year old retired American dentist, was our guide. We started at Mohrenstrasse, which was the center of the Third Reich government. Toured the Ministry of Finance and retraced the steps of all the Nazi buildings that were destroyed in the war including the SS and Gestapo headquarters, Hitler's offices and the Hotel Albrecht. The only building still standing was the former Aviation ministry which is now the Ministry of Finance. The interesting fact pointed out by Mort is that most of the buildings were damaged not just by the bombings, but by the fires after the bombings. The Nazi's did a pretty good job of fighting the fires in the buildings they cared about, so the result was that a lot of the buildings' exterior walls survived until they were demolished by the Russians in the late 40's.
The Topography of Terror was unbelievable. This had pictures and narratives on the Third Reich. It was laid out on the edge of the foundation of the old SS headquarters.
From there, we walked to Potsdamer platz, which was a wasteland during the cold war. The Berlin wall went right through this area causing no one to spend time there. Now, this is a bustling urban center. We then proceeded to the Holocaust museum and then Hitler's bunker.
There were several attempts on Hitler's life, but they all failed. One attempt was by Van Stauffenberg. He built a a bomb in a briefcase and put in by the leg of a table during a meeting with Hitler. He excused himself during the meeting when the bomb detonated. Unfortunately, the briefcase was moved and Hitler only had minor wounds. Three of his henchmen died in the blast.
Saturday evening we went to dinner in near Hachesher Market and then went to a great club called Weekend. The club was on the 15th floor of an office building over looking Alexanderplatz. The music was unbelievable.
Sunday we went to new Hautbahnof (train station) and Hamburger dom, the modern art museum. We tried to profit from the beautiful day and walked more in the city after the museum. We then went back to the Topography of Terror to spend another hour or so reading about the war. You will see from the pictures, I enjoyed it. It was incredible that Hitler had Speer design these monstrous buildings to show the power and might of Germany.
An interesting fact: the grand hallway leading to Hitler's office was made out of beautiful red marble. This marble was saved and now is the wall in one of the subway stations. Fascinating.
We then walked to down the Ben Unter Linden, main boulevard, past Humboldt University (where Einstein and Hegel studied), to the the Berliner Dom, to Marx - Engels Forum, to the Palast de Publik. to the TV tower. I loved the Palast de Publik because it epitomized communism/socialism to me. When I was in Berlin, I took a photo in front of it for that very reason. It was exactly what I pictured a socialist building to be like from what I learnt in the west. The building was used as a parliament building for the GDR along with other various parties and functions. The building has been partially demolished and was closed due to Asbestos contamination.
To be continued...
Pictures are here.
