We have been wanting to visit Berlin since arriving in Germany almost 2 years ago. We finally had an excuse - yes, we booked tickets to the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Berlin. The city is full of history and great museums. The weather was cold and rainy in early December, so museums were a perfect break from the cold. Checkpoint Charlie museum was really interesting - it charted the history of the Berlin Wall around east Berlin built in 1961 by the Soviet Union since it controlled East Germany after the war. It was the only wall in history ever built to keep people IN. There are unbelievable stories of attempts to escape by digging under or flying over the wall all the way up to 1989 when it fell. All of the attempts done with meager tools or handmade contraptions.
Another museum we visited was the Jewish Museum that charted the history of the Jews in Germany. It's an architectural wonder and full of really interesting history. There's a timeline written on the wall that shows as early as the 1890s, people were talking about "eliminating the Jewish problem." It's no wonder Hitler's sick vision came to be so widely accepted. We also visited the Berliner Unterwelten - an underground walk through an air raid shelter, still completely intact next to an underground train station. It gives you a better understanding of what regular families had to do everytime there was an allied bombing in Berlin.
After all this gloomy history, we picked up our spirits by visiting one of many Christmas Markets in Berlin. These markets are more like Festivals, with beautifully made huts selling German-made products, a Ferris Wheel, skating rink, and of course, the drink of choice - Gluhwein. This is like a warm, mulled wine flavored by rum or amaretto too. Of course they also do the same to bier as well. We tried them all of course.
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| Portion of the wall still standing near Checkpoint Charlie. They have built a fence in front to keep people from chipping off their own souvenirs. |
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| Checkpoint Charlie where those coming into West Berlin were checked by American soldiers. During the cold war, this was a very tense location. |
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| Just above the word "Haus" is the window perch where journalists were allowed to watch the goings-on at the wall near Checkpoint Charlie. Many of these photojournalists were sending pictures to the US for spying purposes. The building to the left is new since the wall came down. Just 50 feet to the left is where the wall stood. |
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| One of the gathering spaces in the Unterwelt - underground air raid shelter. Easy to imagine going stir crazy down here when the raids lasted many days. |
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| The front of the Jewish Museum which is next to an ultra-modern connected building. |
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| Entering a Christmas Market near Alexanderplatz in former East Berlin. |
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| We have our Gluhwein and ready to walk the market. |
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| A view from inside the enclosed cabin on a huge Ferris Wheel a the market. |
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| Another view as we hovered at the very top of the Ferris Wheel. They built a skating rink around what is usually a fountain in the middle of Alexanderplatz. |
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| Pete had to try the Gluhbier - warm, cherry-flavored beer - not bad on a cold night. Just behind this was a bier garten complete with tables and heaters. It doesn't get any better. |
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A daytime visit to one final Christmas Market - this one is considered the best in Berlin. All the huts match and there are full restaurants under tents in this square. We opted for a Bratwurst instead.
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Me and my friend the Berlin Bear wishing you a Merry Christmas!
Tschus!
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