When the Berlin Wall fell 21 years ago this coming November, a city and a country were finally reunited, physically, culturally and emotionally. Families that had been divided for two decades were finally allowed to see their loved ones. Those that had been cast behind the iron curtain of the east were once again free men and women. Such a large number of events in human history have been funneled through Germany in just the last century. These reasons are why I absolutely loved my visit to Berlin.

I’m taking a different route in the way I write about my trips to each city or country. I’ll continue to point out and briefly discuss the sites I’ve seen, but anyone can grab a travel book and read about the sites they should see. I’m going to chat more about what I really enjoyed, maybe some delicious food I happened to stuff my face with, an interesting event that occurred, anything that may help describe what my specific journey felt like. On that note, Berlin was my favorite city thus far. From the second I left the train station (Hauptbohnhof), I was walking the streets of the former East Berlin trying to get a sense of people, the buildings, the overall feeling. Graffiti runs ramped throughout much of the city, primarily on the older looking buildings, something you would expect to see prior to WWII. I was told by my tour guide that roughly 80% of Berlin was destroyed during WWII. That fact has allowed Berlin to grow into one of the more modern looking cities in Europe today. There are the few pieces throughout the city that you should visit that have survived the last few centuries, and there are also the more modern elements that you should visit to get the true feel of the city.

One tip I would offer to anyone is to take a tour (preferably a free one), at any city you are at. It’s a great way to pair some interesting historical facts with all the photos you take. It also adds a whole new element and feel to the city, once you understand (more or less) what you are looking at. With that said, one icon of Berlin that is a great starting point is the Brandenburg Gate, right in the heart of the city. Leading up to the gate, and a major pedestrian through fare, is Unter den Linden. There are tons of shops, restaurants, cafes and just a fun atmosphere to be around. The area surrounding the gate has multiple embassies (including the U.S. in case you get lost), hotels, and an interesting bank, the DZ bank, completed by Frank Gehry. Just taking a moment within this plaza is a great experience, there’s so much to look at. Once you walk through the Brandenburg Gate, you encounter 3 choices. To the right, the Reichstag, the primary government building that is free to enter. Highly recommended and worth the wait to see the city from the amazing glass dome on top. You can check out what I’m talking about in my videos section, look for the Reichstag tour. If you go straight ahead from the gate you enter into the Tiergarten, a massive park in the middle of the city, once home to the royal hunting grounds. Finally, turn left from Brandenburg gate and you’ll encounter an brilliant memorial, the Memorial to the Jewish Victims of the Holocaust.

A simple design, it is 2,711 concrete blocks that vary in size aligned in a grid. If you haven’t seen my pictures of this memorial please check them out, unfortunately they don’t do it justice. As you walk through, a sense of anxiety slowly comes over you as the massive concrete blocks become taller and taller. Your vision is tunneled, making it hard to see if your next step will cause you to bump into someone traveling in the direction perpendicular to yourself. You stop in the middle, and the sounds of the street have become muzzled, as you peripheral vision occasionally picks up sudden flashes of people moving between blocks. Those who are claustrophobic may take on a whole new level of fear as they merge towards the center. It’s relatively easy to lose your sense of direction, knowing only that if you continue to walk you will eventually start to emerge from this concrete forest. As the height of the blocks continues to shrink, you can finally see over the tops and decipher where you are within the city block. It truly is an amazing experience to take the 5 minutes to walk through this memorial. I described how I felt to the best of my ability, hoping that it has painted a better picture for you.

The only other site that I would highly recommend is the Eastside Gallery on the souteast side of town. It’s a gallery of artwork along a standing section of the Berlin Wall. It’s quite long and filled with original art designs from artists all of the world. Set along the Spree river, it offers you a great chance to see the significance of the Berlin Wall to those members of the artistic community.

There are other sites to check out in Berlin, Museum Island is a great place to check out multiple museums on a Thursday for free. I was told the best one on the island is the Pergamon, so be sure to check that one out if you can. The Checkpoint Charlie area has tons of interesting information posted on boards throughout a couple city blocks. Right around this area is a Sony Plaza with very new architecture that offers a different look into how Berlin has evolved into a modern city that was once split in two. Outside of the built world, the food is hearty and dominated by wursts and large pastries. The people were very helpful and courteous, a great city to people watch in as well.

Berlin has been at the heart of so much controversy within the last century and just to be a part of it for a short while is hard to describe. The rise and fall of the Third Reich, the confinement of the people of an entire portion of a city and country, and now the reforming and rebuilding of a modern city are just the main parts of what makes Berlin so deeply woven into human history. Needless to say, I enjoyed my stay in Berlin to the fullest and can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone.

If you couldn’t tell, I’m in Berlin, Germany.  I was a little under the weather yesterday after my travels through town, so I wasn’t up for the challenge of writing a new post.  I am, however, feeling much better and had a very intriguing and snow filled day touring the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp just north of Berlin.

As one of the first concentration camps in Germany, Sachsenhausen opened in 1936, primarily holding political prisoners.  It was in 1945 that the camp was finally liberated by Allied forces, yet continued to function as a Soviet “special camp” until 1950.  The camp was established as a national monument by the East German government in 1956.  Various renovations have happened since and a number of memorials by the former Soviets, East Germans, and the current German government share an interesting contrast in the message they send.  The most intriguing part of all was just the feel of standing in the large open space that was once an area of persecution and torment.  Actually seeing the execution range, gas chamber, autopsy/experimentation tables, and crematorium left me in awe.  The snow and cold created a remarkably visceral experience as we toured the various remaining structures.  I would highly recommend visiting a concentration camp to anyone, an experience that is truly one of a kind.

I’ve been around other parts of the city on a quick one day tour, but am most excited about my wandering adventure ahead of me tomorrow.  Nothing like cruising the streets of an unknown city and discovering it on your own.  I’ll be sure to fill you all in soon!  My next trip will most likely be to Munich, any tips or advice are greatly appreciated.