Artsy Berlin

The free day in Berlin was packed with touring the sites. Even though many places that I was hoping to see actually don't really exist anymore, Berlin was an interesting city to walk around. We went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe which consisted of a large area filled with concrete blocks of all different sizes. 

Walking through the blocks was an interesting experience. Inside you feel very isolated and can hear the echos of voices and your own amplified footsteps. 

After the memorial we took the short walk over to the Brandonburg Gate. 

The Brandonburg Gate was once the gateway to the city. It's an important symbol of the city. When they built the Berlin Wall, the gate was so important that no side should get to have it. Therefore, they built the walls on either side and left the gate in the "death strip"- the space between the walls. Nobody passed under the gate for 30 years. When the wall came down the mayor from the east and the mayor from the west shook hands under the gate as a sign of unity. 

Directly across from the gate was this familiar looking hotel:

It's the site of the Michael Jackson baby dangling incident! 

Not far from the gate is the Topography of Terrors which is a display of the Nazi occupation of Poland and their plans to wipe Warsaw and other cities off the map. 

Also in this area is the last remaining piece of the Berlin Wall. 

East Berlin has a couple Soviet-era items that have developed a cult-like following. One is the crosswalk lights: Ampleman

The other is the Trabi car:

TheTrabi car was the only car available to people in communist East Berlin. The waiting list for the cars was so long that when people finally got them they were typically meticulously maintained. You can see them throughout the city in use or for rent. 

We caught the subway down to the East Side Gallery which is a reconstructed piece of the Berlin Wall that artists have turned into huge murals. The murals depict ideas of unity and peace. 

Everywhere you turn in Berlin you see evidence of their grunge art culture in graffiti and murals:

I'm not sure that I need to return, but Berlin was certainly a unique and interesting city.