Berlin: Gateway To Eastern Europe

There can be few cities that can lay claim to a history as turbulent as that of Berlin, in the last 100 years alone it has been through depression, 2 world wars, Nazi repression, Communist repression, division and reunification and it is the exploration of this recent history that is one of the main highlights of any visit to this complex city.

Of course the city’s history stretches back much further than that, all the way back to 1237 in fact, and there is a fantastic architectural history here. Most of the more impressive buildings are from Berlin’s golden age under the reigns of Friedrich Wilhelm I and Friedrich II in the 18th century or from the time of the iron rule of Otto von Bismarck in the late 19th century.

One of the more beneficial legacies of 28 years of division is that the city has twice the number of museums and galleries of any other city of it’s size. These are centered around Kulturforum area in the west and the fabulous Museumsinsel in the east. Modern "culture" is centered around Potsdamer Platz in the former death strip where you will find the spectacular Sony Center.

Quick Tips:

One of the first things that you should do upon arrival in Berlin is to sign up for one of the walking tours, Brewer’s Total Berlin offers a full day tour that will give you a good introduction to the history of the city and orientate you to your new surroundings, but if 9 hours on your feet sounds daunting there are a number of shorter options available from Brewer’s and other companies.

Berlin has been world renowned for its nightlife since the cabaret days of the ‘20s and ‘30s and should not be missed, one of my favorite places is Tacheles on the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Oranienburger Strasse, situated in an artists squat in a bombed out building you will find a bar, a café, galleries, an arthouse cinema and a beer garden and the residents assure me that only a handful of people have been injured by the crumbling sections of the building.

Best Way To Get Around:

Most of the major attractions are within walking distance of each other in the Berlin-Mitte district in the heart of former East Berlin. For further afield attractions the twin U-bahn and S-bahn networks will whisk you quickly and cheaply (E6.10 for a day ticket) to any part of the city. Berlin is also a major hub for international train and bus services (particularly to Eastern Europe) and is served by three airports.

When the Red Army tanks rolled into Berlin in May 1945, an incident commemorated by the Soviet war memorial on Strasse des 17 Juni, it should have signaled an era of peace, instead it was just the opening chapter in a new era of repression and division for the city of Berlin.

The Potsdam Conference split the city into four sectors to be administered by the Americans, British, French, and Soviets as a symbol of peace and unity. The ideal would not last long, as suspicion soon set in between the Soviets and the western allies, and Berlin became the front line of the Cold War. The city was effectively divided in two in June 1948 when the Americans, British, and French established a joint administration for their sectors with a single currency; the Soviets immediately responded by blockading the city. West Berlin was kept going by an American and British airlift. During that time, everything the city needed, including a power station, had to be flown in. International pressure caused the Soviets to drop the blockade after 11 months, but worse was to follow.

On the night of August 13th, 1961, in the space of 6 hours, 155km of barbed wire went up, sealing off West Berlin to its East German cousin and dividing friends and families for the next 28 years. This wire soon developed into a wall, a wall that became the greatest symbol of east-west rivalry. Parts of the wall survive to this day, including a number of pieces around Potsdamer Platz, including some fine murals and a guard tower, and a lengthy section outside the Topography of Terror exhibition on Niederkirchnerstrasse. Also worth looking out for is the Communist entertainment complex Palace of the Republic on the site of the old royal palace on Unter den Linden. Currently closed for the removal of asbestos, this palace included cafés, bars, a cinema, a bowling alley, and, the ultimate in mindless entertainment, the East German government.

The history of the Soviet repression is commemorated at Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (open 9am to 10pm, daily entrance €7 ($9.01)). Outside is a reconstruction of the famous border crossing point on its original location, inside is a collection of photographs, documents, films, and artifacts relating to escape attempts (the building itself was used as a lookout post for escape helpers), the art of (and on) the wall, the worldwide struggle for human rights, and the wall itself. The museum was established in 1962 and can seem a bit outdated in places, but it is still well worth a look.

The regime effectively ended on November 9, 1989, when, during a live televised press conference, Politburo member Gunter Schabowski started adlibbing and accidentally announced the immediate end to travel restrictions (oops!). The entire population of East Berlin took to the streets, overwhelming the surprised border guards and throwing open the gates.

In 1933, Hitler and his National Socialist or Nazi party seized power in Germany, inaugurating a reign of terror that even today the German people are unsurprisingly reluctant to discuss. It is because of this reluctance and a fear of provoking the many neo-Nazi groups that still exist within the country that you will find little to commemorate this era.

In the depression of the ‘30s, caused in part by the crippling war reparations imposed on Germany by the victorious allies, the Nazi party was immensely popular with the people, although it never won a majority in the fledgling German parliament. Chancellor Hindenburg only gave totalitarian powers to Hitler following the outcry caused by an arson attack on the Reichstag; apparently the work of a Dutch communist with nothing more than a box of matches and the shirt off his back, although many point the finger of blame at the Nazis themselves. The powers were supposed to be a temporary measure to combat the Communist threat but they would last until 1945 when Soviet tanks rolled in to liberate the city.

The main memorial to these events that you will find in Berlin is the disturbing Topography of Terror exhibition in the excavated remains of the basements of the former Gestapo, SS, and Reich Security Offices on the Prinz Albrecht Terrain at Niederkirchnerstrasse 8, this free, open-air exhibition (open daily 10am to 6 pm) recounts the work of the Nazi terror apparatus from the Gestapo interrogation cells to the administration of the concentration camps through photographs, documents, and personal testimonies. The free 1-hour English language audio guide leads you through the predominantly German-language displays to give you a thorough, if unsettling, understanding of what went on here.

Other Nazi sites to look out for are the site of Albert Speer's austentatious New Reich’s Chancellery on Wilhelmstrasse, and, behind it, the site of Hitler’s bunker where three trees surreptitiously mark where the Soviets discovered the Fuhrer’s burnt body. The location of Goebels’ bunker can be found on Behrenstrasse on a site soon to be covered over by the controversial Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Finally, there are a number of other key locations that survived the Second World War bombing and post-war reconstruction, including the former Air Force Ministry, also on Wilhelmstrasse, and Bebelplatz in frount of the Royal Library on Unter den Linden, where the first Nazi book burnings took place, commemorated by an underground empty library memorial.

On Strasse des 17 Juni stands the Soviet war memorial, built from marble scavenged from the New Reich’s Chancellery and flanked by the first two Red Army tanks to enter the city. It is the final resting place for the 5,000 Soviet troops that died in fighting at the Reichstag, ending the Thousand Year Reich where it began and ushering in a new era of repression. The victims of both regimes are commemorated at the simple but moving Neue Wache on Unter den Linden.

Taking pride of place on Museum Island next to the Berliner Dom and across the road from Schlossplatz, the former home of the Royal Palace, is the neo-classical façade of Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s 1829 Altes Museum, the oldest museum in Berlin and home to the city’s collection of classical antiquities.

When it was first founded in 1829, there was a great deal of discussion about what Berlin’s first museum should be called, and so the greatest minds of the city were brought together, and after protracted discussion and heated debate, including a couple of fist fights, it was eventually decided that it should be called Der Museum (The Museum)! In 1855, when a second museum was founded, the great minds were gathered once more and after protracted discussion, no heated debate this time, it was decided that they should be called Altes Museum (Old Museum) and Neue Museum (New Museum) respectively. The latter is currently closed for refurbishment, but the former is open and is well worth a visit.

Out front of the Altes Museum stands the Rose Bowl a giant bowl carved out of a single piece of stone by Berlin artisans to act as a centerpiece for the giant atrium Schinkel had designed for the heart of the building. Unfortunately upon completion, it was found that it didn’t fit through the door, and so it found its home out front where the locals dubbed it The Eighth Wonder of the World, thus demonstrating that they didn’t get out much. Schinkel’s atrium thus remains thankfully uncentered and is instead home to the pantheon of Roman gods, in marble statue for at least, set amidst Schinkel’s ornate backdrop creating an awe inspiring set-piece for Berlin’s extensive collection of Greek and Roman antiquities.

The collection is laid out in roughly chronological order and the hour-long, English audio guide leads you through the development of classical art by highlighting the key displays, such as the famous Praying Boy statuette and the painted pottery works of the craftsman who has become known simply as the Berlin artist. An hour of additional audio material together with the computer info points allows you to further explore some key themes such as gods, heroes, and sports.

The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm; entrance is included in the €20 museum card that will get you in to all the museums that are currently open on Museum Island, and is well worth an hour or two of your time.

At the heart of the Tiergarten, this is the traditional home of the German parliament, where on the October 2, 1990, East and West Germany where reunited. Largely abandoned during the years of separation, thanks to a facelift from British architect Lord Norman Foster, it is now once again the home of the German Parliament and also the city’s biggest tourist attraction.

The foundation stone for architect Paul Wallot’s Reichstag Building was laid on the June 9, 1884, as construction began on the new home of the Parliament of the German Empire. Construction work took a decade to complete, and the magnificent façade with its giant inscription, "Dem Deutscher Volke" ("For the German People"), has become a symbol of German nationhood. So much so that it was from the balcony here on June 9, 1918, following the collapse of the empire at the end of WWI, that Philipp Scheidermann of the SPD proclaimed the Republic. Fire ravaged the building on February 27, 1933, supposedly the work of a Dutch communist; Hitler used this as an excuse to seize totalitarian powers. The building was in ruins at the end of the war and the construction of the Berlin Wall alongside it on August 13, 1961 sealed its fate for the next 30 years. Following reunification, the decision was made to move the parliament, and on June 23, 1995, the building was wrapped by French artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude to drum up public support. After which Foster set to work on reconstruction, ceremonially handing over the key to Wolfgang Thierse, President of the Bundestag, on April 19, 1999.

The heart of the building is the Plenary Chamber where the Parliament sits; the room is transparent on all sides, giving unparalleled views of the inner workings of government to all visitors. An enormous engraved eagle seemingly floats in space, flanked by the flags of Germany and the EU, below which on a raised platform sits the President of the Bundestag, who runs the proceedings. To his right sits the Federal Government, headed by the Chancellor, and to his left the Bundesrat (upper house). In front of him is the speaker’s podium and stenographers, around which are spread elliptically the elected members of the Bundestag (lower house). The whole thing is capped by Foster’s magnificent dome, which replaces the cupola torn down at the end of WWII. This extraordinary feat of modern engineering in glass and steel, provides light and ventilation to the chamber below and magnificent views across Berlin to the visitors above. Other works of art to look out for include German artist Gerhard Richter’s curious elongated glass flag and American artist Jenny Holzer’s speech quoting column.

The dome is open to visitors daily from 8am to midnight and admission is free, but security is, unsurprisingly, tight, and Germans, it must be remembered, have no sense of humour, as my rather glib response to the guard’s question "What have you got in your water bottle?" quickly proved.