Background
The longest summer break once again invited me to travel. I chose Berlin, a city close to where I live. I have been there before, however without any tourism-related activities. To lower the costs of an overnight stay I decided on a one-day trip to cover most of the iconic places, while still on a budget. I took a bus and at 9 AM I had my German dream come true. I could finally test my German speaking and comprehension abilities.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital of Germany, marked by recent history to the extent of being politically split in half for over 40 years. The Berlin Wall as I know it from the books has become a symbol - of the end of the Soviet era. The new government has decided not to completely bulldoze the wall and instead keep a tiny segment, known as the East Side Gallery.
East Side Gallery
The most iconic view of the East Side Gallery. It was very crowded and there were a lot of souvenir stores nearby. It checks out every point to become a tourist trap - a few metro stations away from the historic part of the city and a big bus stop. The passengers are thrown away to view a painted piece of wall, 15-minute break, and then hop on the bus driving them to the center. Not necessarily a comfortable experience, but at least they don’t drive along the wall. Parts of the Berlin Wall are still sold in postcards, plastic or resin displays - the ubiquity of the souvenir is undeniable.
Center
Prussian Berlin was built to amaze, but also terrify in its scale. The buildings and the spaces between them, for example, Reichstaggebaude (Parliament Building) and Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Main Railway Station) are significant. Berlin was home to the biggest office building, right before Nicolae Chaucauescu decided to build its palace.
Brandenburger Tor
The most iconic part of Berlin had once been almost entirely covered by the wall, an approach had therefore not been possible. Fortunately, it changed, and from what I saw during the brief walk - Berliners make use of this freedom. The front part of the gate became a place similar to the London Speakers’ Corner. I was in Berlin a few times after my first stay and almost always some extremists were screaming about either the laws being broken, or radically displaying their affection towards different minorities. However, the place is rather safe with a lot of police patrols around.
Turning the head to the right of this frame shows the road leading to the Potsdamer Platz. The road is wide and the buildings in the background are tall, especially the skyscraper with the DB (Deutsche Bahn) logo. On the asphalt, one can see stone remains that were once the border splitting the city in half.
The Museum Island
When the Prussian revolution had taken its toll on the previous political system, the countries west of Germany were not satisfied with the change. The Prussians had first replaced the elites for their benefit and then, to curry favor with the West, they started building a new foundation for the German culture. I saw a direct architectural result of this deep approach - The Museum Island, which houses the most important museums in Berlin. The Berlin Cathedral is also located on the island. The Humboldt Forum is a new building, that had been built on the site of the former Berlin City Palace. The palace was destroyed during the war and the East German government decided to demolish the ruins. The new building is a gallery of non-European art, housing the Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Asian Art. The building has been finished in 2020.
