Berlin 01: City Sightseeing

Saturday, August 3, 2024

Our alarms went off at 03:00 this morning – far too early for my liking, but we had to get to the airport for our flight. Since we needed to depart the hotel so early, mom had booked a transfer service to take us to Charles de Gaulle Airport. After quickly packing, we met the car at 03:30 and drove to the airport. We arrive shortly after 04:00, giving us plenty of time to make it through security. We were all traveling with carry-on bags (we left our larger bags in our hotel room in Paris) and I’d checked us in online, so we were luckily able to skip the check-in counter process. We reached our gate with oodles of time to spare. Dad and I went to get us some drinks, and I then watched NetFlix until it was time to board.

We had a four-day gap between events at the Olympics, so I suggested that we visit somewhere else in Europe during the break. We’d settled on Berlin, a city which my parents had never visited before and where I’d not traveled to in 15 years. I had a packed schedule of sightseeing for us in Berlin and the surrounding areas so my parents could fully enjoy our time in the German capitol.

Our flight departed at 07:00 and I was asleep before we took off. The flight afforded me only a short nap of 90 minutes, and, at 08:30, we landed in Berlin. I led the way through the airport to the train station and I was surprised to run into a group of Vietnamese people in the airport! I overheard them speaking in Vietnamese, which caught me off guard since. Several of my friends back home in Hanoi have friends and relatives living in Germany.

We took the train to Alexanderplatz, which is where our hotel was located – just a five minute walk from the train station. At the Alexanderplatz station I found a small bakery selling one of my favorite German foods: butterbrezel (a small pretzel sliced in half, with butter spread in the middle). Mom initially appeared to think I was being ridiculous; I had her try a bite of my pretzel and she was an instant fan!

We arrived at the hotel at 10:00 – far too early for check-in, but we were fortunate enough that one of our rooms was already prepared! We had booked two separate rooms for our stay in Berlin; my room was the one that was ready, so we went up to drop off our bags and quickly freshen up before heading back out into the city.

My parents and I were rather hungry by this time, so we walked across the street to a small café to get a light breakfast, and I got some much-needed coffee. Dad was coming down with a cold and decided to remain at the hotel to rest for the afternoon, while mom and I went out sightseeing. He had a pretty bad cough, which seemed to be the worst of his symptoms. Covid-19 was running rampant at the Paris Olympics, so mom and I wondered if he may have caught Covid… or maybe it was just a man-cold?

I had booked a free walking tour of Berlin for us, so mom and I left dad at the hotel and made the short walk over to the hotel where the walking tour began. While we waited at the starting point, we found a vending machine selling red Powerade (yes, red is a flavor) and we each bought one. We’d been drinking a lot of Powerade during the Olympics to help stay hydrated, but we could only find the blue flavor, so this was a welcome change!

There were two separate tours starting at the same time at the location: the standard Berlin walking tour, and a Third Reich themed tour. The guide for the Third Reich tour was quite rude and arrogant – mom and I were glad that he was not our guide for the afternoon. The man who was leading us on the Berlin walking tour was very friendly, outgoing, and knowledgeable. Our tour group was made up of around 15 people from all around the world.

The tour began by heading to Alexanderplatz and our guide pointed out an interesting world clock monument to one side of the famous plaza. It had the names of various cities around the world and displayed their current local time. Mom pointed out that Hanoi was included on the clock as well!

The first stop was at St Marienkirche (St Mary’s Church), which was located near the famous Berlin TV Tower. This church is the oldest church in Berlin, though the exact date of its construction is not precisely known; historical records dating to the mid-1200s mention the church several times though. Looking at the church, we could see several distinct levels or layers of construction, with each one representing a different period in the city’s history. Outside of the church is a large statue of Martin Luther. Both the statue and the church were heavily damaged during the Secord World War, with bullet holes still visible in the statue.

Our guide took us past the Berliner Dom, which is a massive cathedral built in the 1800s on an island in the Spree River. The majestic central dome towers over the area, instantly drawing one’s eye to it; the architecture of the cathedral is stunning. We walked along the banks of the Spree River to reach the area known as “museum island”, where the famed Pergamon Museum is located. Inside, the museum houses artifacts from many different ancient societies and one of the main attractions is the Ishtar Gate from the city of Babylon (now modern-day Iraq). I had visited the ruins of Babylon when I visited Iraq in 2023 and they had constructed a replica of the gate. I was eager to have time to visit the Pergamon to see the original, but sadly it was closed for very lengthy (14-year) refurbishment. We also stopped outside one the museums which the Nazis had used to hold mass rallies and give speeches.

The next stop was the Berlin Palace, which was situated adjacent to the Berliner Dom. The palace was a reconstruction of the original, which had been heavily damaged during the war. The palace had been the main residence of the Hohenzollern kings of Prussia and the German Kaisers from 1443 to 1918. During the early 1950s, the East German government decided to demolish the palace despite strong objections. East Germany built a hideous modern building on the site, which was demolished after reunification when it was found that the building was full of asbestos. The last time I was in Berlin, the demolition was nearing completion, so it was exciting for me to see the improvements since then. The newly reconstructed Berlin Palace is a beautiful Baroque-style building and now houses the Humboldt Forum museum.

Up next on the tour was Bebelplatz, which is a large square surrounded by beautiful buildings and the State Opera. The square was the first of many “dark history” sights that we would visit during the tour. It was here that one of the infamous Nazi book burnings took place on May 10, 1933, when 20,000 books were burned. Today, there is a poignant memorial in the center of the square: a large glass plate on the ground allows visitors to look down upon empty bookcases, which are large enough to contain the entire collection of books that were destroyed that day.

Our walking tour continued as we made our way through the streets of Berlin until we reached an area where the Berlin Wall once stood. The wall, built by the East German authorities to prevent their citizens from fleeing into West Germany via West Berlin, had completely surrounded the western part of the city. It consisted of two walls, with a large no-man’s land in between them. The West Germans were the ones who drew graffiti all along the wall, which the East Germans would have been forbidden from defacing the wall or from even approaching it. We were able to see some of the remaining sections of the wall that remain standing as a historical monument. Nearby was the famous Checkpoint Charlie, which was the location of one of the few crossing points in the wall. Nowadays, Checkpoint Charlie is just a tourist trap and not very interesting.

We had a short break at this point, so mom and I went to a coffee shop nearby so we could sit down while I had a coffee. We were both thoroughly enjoying the tour, which was made all the better with our excellent tour guide. The break was just enough to let us rest and get ready for the remaining stops.

When the tour continued, we walked along more parts of the Berlin Wall. Mom was fascinated by the wall, getting to see where it once stood, and learning more about it. The Berlin Wall was such an important symbol from the Cold War during much of her lifetime, so I could easily understand why this would hold such an interest for her. We stopped inside the alcove of a large building that had once stood next to the wall – it was the old Nazi Luftwaffe headquarters and one of the few buildings of that era to survive to the present day. Inside the alcove was a large mural that was put there by the East German authorities as a form of propaganda, showcasing how ‘wonderful’ and ‘happy’ people were under communism (well, what the called communism but was in reality just a dictatorship). There was also a small memorial nearby with a large photograph commemorating the Uprising of June 1953. The uprising saw citizens across East Germany demonstrating against the collectivization policies of the Soviet-backed government, which was eventually put down by the Soviet military forces.

As the walk continued, I quickly identified the next stop that we were heading towards because I had visited there during my 2009 trip to Berlin. The guide took us to a parking lot in the center of an apartment complex and soon began to explain the dark history of this location. The Nazi Reich Chancellery had once stood on the location where the apartments now stood, and the parking lot was the garden where one of the entrances to Hitler’s Furherbunker was located. It was in the bunker (which is now destroyed) that Hitler shot himself. His guards then took his body outside the bunker and burned his body in the exact area where we were standing. A small sign nearby documented the history of the location, though it is still controversial – apparently people still find candles, flowers and other items there from unknown persons who want to honor the evil tyrant.

The dark history continued as we reached the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This moving memorial contains 2,710 concrete “stelae” (slabs) arranged in a grid covering an area of 4.7 acres. Each stelae is a different height and many are set at slightly different angles. As you walk among the stelae, the rolling ground takes you deeper into the memorial, where the slabs increase in height until they tower over you, almost overwhelming you as they block out the views.

The tour ended there and the guide gave us some suggestions for other places to visit around Berlin. Mom and I set off to do some more sightseeing on our own – I had several things to show her. We crossed the street into the Tiergarten Park to make a short visit to the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism. This simple concrete structure contains a viewing window for visitors to look through: inside is a short video on a loop showing two men kissing and then two women kissing.

I took mom through park of the Tiergarten and over to see the Reichstag Building. There were a lot of fences and barricades up for some event or race, which made it somewhat difficult to navigate around the area, but we soon reached the large park directly in front of the Reichstag. I explained some of the history of the building to her as we admired the stunning building. Nearby was the small memorial for the Roma who were killed during the Holocaust as well.

Our final stop of the afternoon was the beautiful Brandenburg Gate and Unter den Linden street. The gate was just as impressive as I remember, with the large equestrian statue adoring the top of it. Under den Linden is the picturesque street lined with linden trees (hence the name). I pointed out to mom the hotel where Michael Jackson famously dangled his son over the balcony railing to show him to the paparazzi. Between the walking tour and the few sights on our own, we had been out for several hours, and mom was getting a bit tired. We had managed to see quite a bit of the city during that time though!

I was much more impressed with Berlin this time than I was in 2009: much of the city seemed more restored and reconstructed, which in turn made it more beautiful. I had felt depressed in Berlin back in 2009 because everything seemed to be bleak, with so much destroyed and lost during the war. Now, Berlin appeared entirely different to me and my entire opinion of the city has changed for the positive!

Mom and I took the metro back to Alexanderplatz and returned to the hotel. Dad was still relaxing in the hotel room and I told him that if he wanted to see anything in Berlin, he would need to come with me now. I offered to take him around to some of the major sights that mom and I had visited already, leaving mom at the hotel to get checked in to their room. I was glad that dad was interested in getting out to see Berlin because today was our online day to see the sights of Berlin itself.

Dad and I went to the metro and took it over to the Reichstag Building. We made our way around the various barricades for the event so he could get a good view of the Reichstag and we eventually got right up next to the side of the building, where I pointed out some of the bullet holes that remain from the Second World War. We made the short walk over to the Brandenburg Gate and I pointed out the various sights around the area to him, including the US Embassy and the Michael Jackson hotel. Up next in our whirlwind tour was the Jewish memorial, where we spent a few minutes walked among the stelae.

Knowing that my dad would be interested in sights associated with the Second World War, I took him over to the location of the former Reich Chancellery. I explained to him that this was where Hitler’s bunker was located, and the approximate location where his body was burned. It’s still strange to think that the area is now an apartment complex – I could not imagine how weird it would be to live where so much evil had taken place.

We headed off towards the Berlin Wall next, but first I took dad by the former Luftwaffe headquarters building. Despite the fact that it is a Nazi-era building, I do have to admit that the architectural style is rather nice. It’s an imposing building, but I like the orderliness of the design, with the rigid straight lines everywhere, etc. I also pointed out the mural from that had been put up by the East German government as well.

When we reached the Berlin Wall area, where mom and I had visited during our walking tour, I explained to dad how the wall had been constructed in the area, no-man’s land, etc. We walked by some parts of the wall that were still standing for a little bit. Next to the Wall were the remains of the old Gestapo headquarters, which were now reduced to just the crumbling foundations. An outdoor exhibit about the tortures done by the Nazis had been erected in this location as a reminder of the evils that had been done during that 12-year reign of terror. Before leaving the Berlin Wall area, I showed dad Checkpoint Charlie, which he had been interested in visiting. Upon seeing it though, he too agreed that it was overrated and not very interesting.

Dad was feeling tired from all of our walking, so we made our way over to the U-Bahn so we could return to the hotel. Dad enjoyed getting out to see parts of Berlin, though I was still sad that he had not been able to join us for the walking tour; there was so much that he had not been able to see in the city.

While we were touring, mom managed to get checked into their room at the hotel and moved their bags from my room. All three of us were hungry by now and I had found a beer hall nearby for us to have dinner this evening, at the Hofbrau Wirsthaus. I wanted them to experience a true Bavarian-style German beer hall and this was the best one that I could find in Berlin.

The walk to the Hofbrau Wirsthaus took about 15 minutes and soon we were seated in the outdoor section of the restaurant. I ordered a large one-liter beer, while mom had a glass of wine and dad had a small beer. We each ordered dinner and were very pleased when the food was delivered. Everything was delicious – how could German food not be good?! My dinner came with roast pork and a fried egg on top of spaetzle. It was a hearty meal, though I struggled to finish everything. My parents enjoyed their dinner as well and I was happy that they liked the beer hall.

When we returned to the hotel, we spent the evening relaxing in the hotel. It was nice to have the room to myself, and I’m sure my parents enjoyed not having to share their room with me. Our hotel in Paris was nice, but it was small for three people to share; having the extra space in Berlin would be a nice reprieve from Paris. Before heading to bed, we made plans to meet early the next morning for our next day of sightseeing.

Coming to Berlin for this break during our events at the Olympics was definitely the right choice – it gave us something new and different to do for a few days. I think my parents had been unsure of Berlin when I had first mentioned it, but, after seeing the city, they were enjoying themselves. I was excited for what I had planned over the next couple of days – I had organized a lot for us to do, but it would let my parents see some of the best sights in northern Germany.