May 15 - 16:
Berlin

With our tour group, we spent two and a half days in Berlin, a modern city whose recent history is dominated by two extreme political ideologies: fascism and communism. For our first tour day, local guide Toby took us on a tour of the fascist history of the city, from 1933 to 1945. The second day, we learned about the Berlin Wall, from its erection in 1961 to its destruction in 1989.

Much of our free time was spent on Museum Island, which, as the name indicates, is an aggregation of world-class museums on a small island in the city's core.

May 15 - 16: Berlin's Legacy of Fascism

Reichstag Building

The inscription above the columns, "Dem Deutschen Volke", meaning "to the German people", is the German government's promise of transparency, to never repeat the mistakes of the past.

Humboldt University and the Bebelplatz

The plaza in front of Humboldt University's law building was the site of a notorious book burning led by Joseph Goebbels.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

The picture here shows the entrance to the memorial. The ground slopes downward and the pillars get increasingly taller further into the memorial, making it easy to get lost. People crossed our path and disappeared. We turned only to face more pillars exactly like the ones behind us. It was an unsettling experience, but the escape--the street just beyond--was always visible.

Jewish Cemetery

Only a few headstones remained in this cemetery. It was mostly a field of ivy and trees, as most of the headstones had been destroyed long ago, another casualty of the Nazis.

Stolpersteine

These Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) were all over the city, though concentrated mostly in the old Jewish Quarter. They denote Jewish residents who lived at that address before they were abducted by the Nazis.

German Finance Ministry (Detlev Rohwedder Building)

Here, tour guide Toby tells the interesting history of this building. It was originally designed to house Hermann Göring's Ministry of Aviation, which oversaw the Nazis' notorious Luftwaffe. Later, it served as the German Democratic Republic's "Ministry of Ministries". The mural before which Toby stands is a communist-era installment, depicting happy East Germans as they march toward a socialist future.

May 16: Communism in East Berlin

Berlin Wall

This picture shows an intact stretch of the Berlin Wall. Since the Wall currently only exists in bits and pieces across the city, it's difficult to imagine that it used to encircle the entirety of West Berlin, creating a tiny island of democracy amid a sea of communism.

Berlin Wall Marker

All around the city, we saw these two rows of bricks, bordered by iron, that mark the original route of the Berlin Wall.

Death Strip

This guard tower overlooks the only remaining stretch of death strip in the city. Before our tour, we were unaware that the Berlin Wall was actually a pair of walls encasing a no-man's land: the death strip. Just 34 years ago, anyone within that enclosure would have been shot by an East German sniper in the tower.

Chapel of Reconciliation

This is the second church to stand in this spot; the first was demolished by the East Germans after being stranded for years in the death strip. We saw an outline of the original church's foundation and the twisted remains of its cross. Surrounded by rye fields, the church was still and peaceful. We learned that the rye around the church is harvested annually and made into bread.

Window of Remembrance

The Window of Remembrance honors 130 people who lost their lives trying to escape East Berlin to the West. Overall, Berlin has done an exceptional job of valuing and personalizing the victims of the various destructive regimes that have swept through the city.

Free time in Berlin

Ritter Sport Bunte Schokowelt

We joined a workshop at the Ritter Sport flagship store, to celebrate Lindsey's favorite candy bar brand. Here, she makes her own bar, with dark chocolate, caramel chips, hazelnuts, salted cashews, and pop rocks. Yes, pop rocks. The candy bars didn't make it out of Germany before they were eaten.

Reichstag Dome tour

After we finished making candy bars, we hustled to the Reichstag to enjoy city views from the dome. We made an appointment well in advance to visit, as is required. The view of Berlin was predictably spectacular, with visibility for miles in all directions.

Ampelmann Store

Perky Ampelmänner ("traffic light men") signal when pedestrians can safely cross the street. These remnants of communist East Berlin are so popular they've spawned a chain of theme stores throughout the city. Here, Lindsey models her new Ampelmann hoodie.

Pergamon Museum: Processional Way

The Pergamon Museum covers much of the ancient world, in an impressive display of well-organized artifacts.

If you visit the Pergamon Museum, be sure to ask for their audioguide. It's highly informative and free. The tiled Processional Way, pictured here, once lined the road to Babylon.

Pergamon Museum: Ishtar Gate

Though the namesake Pergamon Altar was undergoing a years-long renovation and not available to view, the Ishtar Gate was impressive enough. The tiled gate, with animals parading on a shimmering iridescent blue background, is actually the smaller of two gates that once led to King Nebuchadnezzar's walled city of Babylon. It is an entryway designed to amaze and humble visitors, and we felt just that.

Altes Nationalgalerie

For art enthusiasts, this is Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin's "Isle of the Dead" (1883). For players of Nintendo's game Animal Crossing, this is the mysterious painting. Lindsey is both.

Eating in Berlin

Berlin is known for its street food: specifically, currywurst and döner kebaps. Currywurst is sausage served with curry ketchup. Döner kebap, brought to Berlin by Turkish immigrants, is a flatbread filled with shaved lamb and vegetables. We didn't photograph every meal, but we got enough to highlight the tastes of Berlin.

Saray Döner Kebap

Our first meal in Berlin! James struggled to get a decent photo while standing on a busy street in the dark, with a phone in one hand and a floppy, overstuffed döner in the other. The döners look a mess, but they tasted amazing!

Hasir Ocakbaşi

With our tour group, we enjoyed a Turkish lunch of crispy lavash bread, sides for dipping, and grilled meat. We finished our meal with very strong Turkish coffee, careful not to drink the "mud" of coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup.

Prater Biergarten

After our first tour day, we joined the group for an evening beer at the oldest biergarten in the city, open since 1837. Under the chestnut trees, we drank beer, ate pretzels, and got to know each other. Prost!

Curry Wolf

In the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate, we ate currywurst, fries, and a roll.

Hako Ramen

Ramen, edamame, and Japanese beer cap off a day of sightseeing.

Kauf dich Glücklich Café

After a walk around Mauerpark, a cone of salted caramel ice cream was just right.

Follow our Berlin tour on the map!

Click on the square icon to load the map in a new window, or click on the square with an arrow in it to see the legend.

Blue marker = Fascism tour

Red marker = Communism tour

Purple marker = Free time

Green marker = Food and lodging

Pre-tour (Berlin)

Dresden