Berlin: The most important moment

This is a multi-entry blog. For the first part, click here. For the second part, click here.

Next, we walked by the American Embassy. I found two things to be very amusing. First, it was located directly beside Brandenburg Gate. That must be a prime piece of land, and I thought it was hilarious that it belonged to the Americans. To add insult to injury, there was even a Starbucks across the street.

Second, there appeared to be more security at the American Embassy than anywhere else in the city. The military personnel pacing back and forth around the perimeter looked ready for a fight. They appeared to be just waiting for someone to jump onto a bench, pull out a gun, and start screaming. It didn’t happen, but every time I passed by the American Embassy, the men patrolling outside looked like they were ready to rumble.

As I mentioned, the American Embassy was directly beside Brandenburg Gate, and that’s where we went next. We had briefly stopped at the Gate the previous day when we arrived in Berlin, but now we could actually take time to marvel at it. I took as many pictures as humanly possible, then simply sat back and stared.

The entire structure is larger than I imagined it would be, and I felt so small beside it. In front of the gate, on Unter den Linden, is a double line of bricks weaving awkwardly down the street. I asked Katie what the line was, and she explained it is where the Berlin Wall used to be. Even though the wall has almost been completely removed, it is still important to remember where it stood. The wall cut off Brandenburg Gate, and separated the street into two halves. Not very practical, if you ask me.

Brandenburg Gate was a short distance away from the Holocaust Memorial, and that is where we went next. The memorial is fairly new, and it was erected in 2005. I took a number of photos, but I really can’t do this incredible structure justice. It was designed by Peter Eisenman, and takes up 205,000 square feet. Each of the 2711 gray stones are a slightly different shape and size. They seem to wave and undulate when you walk through them, and the floor rises and falls as you work your way into the middle. Eisenman wanted to create a feeling of disorder, and he succeeded.

Officially, the memorial is named the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and it can be visited anytime – night or day. There is also a subterranean visitor’s centre, where photographs and information is available.

An interesting piece of information is that the company that makes the grey anti-graffiti paint the memorial is painted with is also the same company that produced the Zyklon-B gas used on Jews in concentration camps during the Second World War. Startling and upsetting to be sure, but the company has volunteered to re-paint the memorial free of charge every seven years indefinitely.

We next walked about half a block and arrived at the site of Hitler’s Bunker. There was nothing left, as the Soviets filled in the underground space with cement during the Cold War, but standing on top of it was enough. There is an information billboard set up nearby that explains where everything was, but otherwise the spot just looks like a pile of grass in front of an apartment building. It was intense – to say the least – to be standing on top of the exact spot where Adolph Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide together during the last days of the war.

The second last stop on our walking tour was a large piece of the Berlin Wall. Throughout the walk, I was becoming increasingly emotional, and I was growing concerned that I wouldn’t be able to hold it together when we finally reached the wall. As a history lover, I have studied Germany for years. I wrote essays and reports about each of the locations I visited that day, but this was the first time I had actually visited them all in-person at once.

Thankfully, Jill understood my feelings, and helped me have a moment alone with the wall before the rest of the tour arrived. We ran ahead, and reached the wall when no one else was around. Taking a deep breath, I ran across the street, and Jill started snapping pictures. She managed to capture a photo of me standing in front of the wall, alone and contemplating. It is my absolute favourite photograph from my entire European adventure. You can’t tell in the picture, but I was crying my eyes out the entire time.

The last stop on the tour was Checkpoint Charlie, and it was the most anti-climactic part of the walking tour. There was a museum – which was gigantic and interesting – and also a number of information billboards, but everything was a re-creation. The real Checkpoint Charlie was destroyed years ago. I spent a few moments taking it all in, and then Chris, Jill and I took off on a very important mission. We decided to spend the afternoon exploring the Berlin Zoo.

I think that’s enough information about Berlin for now, so I'll pick up the rest of my tale later...

Auf Wiedersehn for now.