November trip to Berlin

We're going back a bit in history from the December Germany trip to our November Berlin trip, which was only a long weekend excursion.  First stop on our far-too-short weekend trip to Berlin.  We started with the Jewish History Museum.  It was designed by Daniel Libeskind, and has been at the top of my lists for cool architectural works to see while we're here in Europe.

The following morning, after all of our hotel issues, we made a huge tour of Berlin, seeing all the big stuff.  First, Checkpoint Charlie.

I didn't know much about Checkpoint Charlie before we visited, though I had heard a lot about it in popular culture & briefly in history books.  When Berlin was divided by the wall, this was one of three checkpoints between east and west, and the one that was used by international forces.  Now it's all done up with "soldiers" that people can take their photos with.

This brick line runs along the length of where the wall used to stand, throughout the whole city.

There are still sections left, placed around the city.  You can see the brick dividing line to the left of the wall.  

There is a very large section that has been left behind.  To the left of the wall, there has been a memorial/museum set up called the Topography of Terror, which has photos and documentation of what happened to the people of Germany during the war.

The land that this museum was on was on land formerly used by the Nazis to torture dissidents.  The rooms at the bottom of the pictures above were part of the basement that prisoners were held in.  The building was blown up in the war.

 This is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, design by Peter Eisenman.  It's a controversial space, creating a forest of concrete pillars, which Eisenman says lack symbolism, but represent the loss of order & reason.  It was a beautiful space to be in, disorienting as an unintentional hide-and-seek, forcing one to consider ones response to the tragedy of the Holocaust.

The Reichstag - the building that holds the German Parliament, and was partially burned down in 1919, which the Nazis used to their advantage in taking power.

 The Victory Column, gigantic statue in the middle of Berlin's Tiergarten, the huge park (like Madrid's Retiro or New York's Central Park).

 The Brandenburg Gate.

 We rented a couple of bikes on our last morning in Berlin and enjoyed riding around the city exploring.

One artist we really like is Richard Serra, and we seem to find his work in the cities that we visit.  Big, steel sculptures that create a sense of disorientation in space.

AND, we found ourselves another christmas market.  This was actually our first one of the whole season, and we loved it.  Currywurst, Glugvine, and hearty german beer.

Both Brian and I agreed that Berlin is a city we would love to move to someday.  There is a lot of culture, history, and beauty there, and we love the people and the city itself.  I've been scheming to get back there before we move home, so we'll see if I can make it happen.  Time is getting short!