Ich bin ein Berliner - day 2

Wednesday, May 14th

Here's the view from our apartment. we can see the famous Berlin Tower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernsehturm_Berlin

There's a lot of construction going on right outside our window.

New construction next to the classic Germany architecture.

Our tour guide Harold picked us up and we headed out for our city tour. Harold is explaining the history of the cold war and the "wall". 

The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 to separate East Germany and Berlin during the Cold War.

The wall was on the "death strip". All the differences between the countries made it a perfect place for people to express their opinions, especially on their preferences and dislikes. In the 1980's, a section of the wall was reconstructed and made 14 feet tall as a memorial . Graffiting on the wall became popular for artists from all over the world and a place where tourists would go and admire the artwork. The West Berlin side of the wall had artwork completely covering the wall, while the East Berlin side was kept blank; as people were not permitted to get close enough to the east side of the wall to paint anything.

Here are the girls trying to stay dry at the Memorial for Soviet Troops that died taking Berlin.

 The Berlin Wall was the largest canvas in the world. Unfortunately, much of the artwork was not claimed by artists and remains anonymous. Because the wall was open to everyone, there were no restrictions on what artists could put on the wall. Over the past 30 years since the collection of artwork was started, much of the controversial artwork has been removed from the wall.




Some left their bike chained to a post. Someone else wrapped it.

Here's a good way to lock up your bike.











Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. The locals call it Checkpoint "Disney" because you can have your picture taken with "GI".







A Stolpersteine, "stumbling stone" is a monument created by Gunter Demnig which commemorates a victim of the Holocaust. Stolpersteine are small, cobblestone-sized brass memorials for an individual victim of Nazism. They commemorate individuals – both those who died and survivors – who were consigned by the Nazis to prisons, euthanasia facilities, sterilization clinics, concentration camps, and extermination camps, as well as those who responded to persecution by emigrating or committing suicide.  They are placed in front of the individual's homes.  There are 55,000 of these markers throughout Europe, 25,00 in Germany.

 The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe also known as the Holocaust Memorial, is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by architect Peter Eisenman and engineer Buro Happold. It is a 4.7-acre site covered with 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The stones vary in height from 7.9 in to 15 ft 9.0 in. According to Eisenman's project text, the stones are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason.


Harold explained the history using pictures and stories.

Soon after the border opened, the demolition of the Wall began. So-called “wall peckers” broke off pieces as souvenirs. An increasing number of new border crossings were created, leaving behind large gaps in the Wall.

The girls take a break after climbing the ramp in the Reichstag Dome (should be noted we were close to already walking 5 miles today).


The current Reichstag dome is a glass dome, constructed on top of the rebuilt Reichstag building in Berlin. It was designed by architect Norman Foster and built to symbolize the reunification of Germany.

Here's the group posing in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate, rebuilt in the late 18th century as a neoclassical triumphal arch, and now one of the most well-known landmarks of Germany.

The state bird in Berlin must be the crane. There are more tower cranes than I have ever seen in my life.

That's it for now....more tomorrow.