Berlin is an amazing city with so many iconic places to visit -- Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, The Reichstag and others (I will share some in future posts). But, there are lesser-known spots that are equally interesting to study and you might not even know they existed or where to find them (I didn’t before my visit). Best of all, they all cost nothing and are short walks from one another!
I love tours and have been with large groups and small but must admit my favorite are with a private guide. I like to ask questions – and usually I ask a lot – especially when it comes to the history of something and I must admit my love of European history keeps me coming back for more. We were lucky to find a fantastic tour guide in Berlin, his name was John, and he was able to answer all my questions.
I will skip over the more popular things in Berlin and focus today on some lesser known things or things that may be overlooked. Many spots are painful at times due to the harsh reality of war but thought provoking and serve as necessary and strong reminders.
Around 70% of the city was destroyed during the war so it is interesting to find things still standing in the city that were pre-war (and pre-communist in many cases). We walked to an underground station and he pointed out a sign written in old-style German which showed it was original pre-war. “Unter den Linden” opened in 1936 and this sign is one of the things remaining from that time period. This sign was so interesting and so reminiscent of the art deco period. I could picture the ladies and gentlemen smartly dressed in hats and coats waiting for their trains. I would have never noticed this lovely detail but I'm glad I saw it.
Next, we walked by the Reichstag (which will be a future post in and of itself) but he did give us great advice to get our reservation directly across the street as soon as possible. We followed his tip and will share details about that anther time because it is worth a visit!
We then spent some time at the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe – most people call it the Holocaust Memorial. The former name might sound dramatically alarming but fitting once you step inside and feel the emotions it stirs. The five-acre site is covered with 2,711 concrete slabs of varying heights arranged in rows with sharp dips sporadically throughout the ground which cause you to become slightly disoriented at times. There are varying theories of interpretation but it was designed to have people draw their own conclusions. I was happy to be with a guide as the experience was powerful and unsettling.
Not far away is Hitler’s Bunker – which is merely just a marker. By design, all you will see is a sign near some buildings and you would probably miss it if you weren’t with a guide or know exactly where to go and where to look, for that matter.
Around the corner was the Memorial to Elser. From the front, this 17-meter-high sculpture looks abstract but from the side you are able to see a man’s face. Elser was a carpenter and, in 1939, almost successful with the assassination of Hitler. He had planted a bomb right in Hitler's path but due to bad weather, his target narrowly missed it. The Memorial is set in what appears to be a parking lot. I found that I would have strolled by on Sunday afternoon, not even realizing the sculpture was of a man’s face, but it's still beautiful all the same.
John continued the tour by having us look at the sidewalk. We looked down and saw stolperstein (stumbling stones). I wouldn’t have even known they were there if he hadn’t pointed them out. You can find these brass-plated cubes throughout the city (and throughout Europe) that commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust. I found myself randomly looking at the sidewalk throughout the remainder of the trip after his explanation of these mini-memorials. According to John, the stones are placed where the individuals were last reported alive. Haunting, right?
After that, we walked to an area called the Babelplatz – the site of one of the infamous Nazi book burning ceremonies held in 1933. It is here where over 20,000 books were burned. In the center of the platz (square) is a memorial consisting of a glass plate. It doesn’t look like much and is hard to see but our guide pointed out where to look. If you caught the light just right, you could vaguely see rows of empty bookcases – large enough to house the 20,000 burned books. I had read about the book burnings of course but didn’t realize this was the spot where one of the major events occurred.
Next was the Neue Wache (New Guardhouse) almost across the street. This building was originally built as a guardhouse in 1816 for the troops of Prussia but later used as a war memorial. What makes this structure interesting though is the touching sculpture inside – Kollwitz’s Pieta. This place and the statue were designed as a spot for meditation and remembrance for the victims of war and tyranny. You can’t help think about all of the people touched by the two World Wars looking at this magnificent Pieta.
And so, four hours had quickly gone by and he left us saying he would be available the rest of our trip if we would like to meet up with him again. And so, we did a few days later after visiting so many places on our own. In fact, the more we learned, the more questions we had about German history. Stay tuned for next few week’s post as we dive in to the questions I had – the answers are fascinating!
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