Berlin Sightseeing

We had a great first day in Berlin. First thing this morning, Ben and I went to find a grocery store. It is not cheap for our family to eat out all the time. Since we have an apartment to stay in (with a full kitchen), we get groceries and eat breakfast and dinner in. We walked down the street and about two blocks from where we are staying we found an Aldi! It is an Aldi just like the ones at home. Now I seldom go to the Aldi in Olathe, but still! It was nice to have somewhere familiar to shop. I even asked for a bag (in German!) and understood the cashier when she told me the amount. We got some cereal, milk, spaghetti fixings and came on home.

Once everyone was fed we left and headed out for our day. First we went to the Brandenburg Gate. On Monday night it was the site of major celebrations for the 20^th anniversary of the wall coming down.

We've seen it on television many times. It was where Ronald Reagan made his famous “Tear Down This Wall” speech in 1987. It is where people freely went from East to West Berlin 20 years ago for the first time in 28 years (the physical wall was erected in 1961). It is where many world leaders were Monday to celebrate. Some in attendance included Angela Merkel (Germany), Mikhail Gorbachev (former Soviet president), Lech Walesa (the leader of the solidarity movement in Gdansk and former president of Poland), Hillary Clinton (um, where was our president?!), Gordon Brown (England), Nicolas Sarkozy (France), Demitry Medvedev (Russia). This was a big deal.

They were cleaning up from all the celebrations today and there was much activity there. But we were able to see where all the festivities were, and seeing the Brandenburg Gate in person was an experience we won't soon forget. On the West German side there are bricks in the road that show where the wall once stood. We took pictures of the kids standing with one foot on each side. 

In the not so distant past that was not possible. There were “shoot to kill” orders for those trying to escape from the East German side. Many people attempted the run to freedom and most of them did not make it. Today it was a beautiful, peaceful fall day. People were walking all over as if it had always been this way.

One very interesting thing that we saw on the west side is a large memorial to all of the Russian soldiers killed in the battle to capture Berlin in WWII. This memorial was built in 1945 and when the cold war started and the wall was built, it was located on the "wrong" side. During the cold war it was guarded by Russian soldiers. It is now maintained by the city of Berlin.

We came across a memorial to all the Jews murdered in concentration camps, or just murdered outright. This memorial is very large and there is a good description of it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_to_the_Murdered_Jews_of_Europe. It is on uneven ground and looks very orderly, but as you walk through it you can easily become confused. Very interesting! We went to their underground museum honoring those who died. The more I learn about the holocaust, the more overwhelming it is. 

Later in the afternoon we went to Check Point Charlie, where people would have to show visas and other documentation to travel to West Berlin. They have soldiers stationed there just for tourists.

We also saw a section of the Berlin Wall that is still standing. It is falling apart and now must be protected from people wanting to chip away pieces of it. There is one section of the original wall left that is about 3/4 of a mile long. We walked alongside of it and tried to imagine what it was like to be on one side, not able to get to the other. It has been painted by artists around the world. It is not imposing at all anymore and the art work is truly magnificent.