I thought this blog was going to be 2 days worth of adventure, but we had such a long and full first day that’s all you get (for now)!
We started the day by biking to the Center of Berlin and taking a free walking tour.
First stop: the TV tower. This was built by the Russians on the East side of the wall and is the highest building in the EU. Modelled after the first satellite they put into space, I guess it was to show West Berlin how powerful and intelligent the communists could be. As our tour guide said, “it was kind of like a big middle finger to the West”. Ironically, the reflection of the sun in the sphere creates a cross, so the West Berliners (who supported the church and democratic government) nicknamed it ‘the Pope’s revenge’.
On the first day that Hitler came to power there was a group of student supporters who burned over 20,000 books (written by Jews or about ‘inappropriate ideas’) in a central square. This was one of my favorite spots on the tour because of 3 memorials. The first is an actual book market. Second, there is a very subtle square of glass on the ground where underneath you can see empty book shelves, enough to hold 20,000 books.
Finally, there is this plaque:
It is a quote by a Jewish author who, about 100 years BEFORE Hitler came to power, wrote “First they will burn the books, then they will burn the people”. Freaky.
Our tour also went to Hitler’s bunker, which is also where he killed himself. We have no photos of this spot, because there (fittingly) is really no fanfare about it. The bunker was filled in by cement and it is just a normal parking lot with a small sign. Having spent the majority of this holiday learning WWII history and horrors, when we were walking along the lot I spat onto the ground. It felt like the right thing to do. Since then, RobO has been calling me ‘little spitler’.
Not by coincidence, the Memorial to the Victims of the Holocaust is nearby. This interactive installation is worth visiting for sure.
We ended the tour at the Brandenburg Gate.
After the tour, we wanted to see Berlin from above so took a trip on a tethered hot air balloon. It took me a while to get over my ‘white knuckles’ on the railing.
Finally, at the end of this marathon day, we visited the Reichstag, which is the German parliament building. It has an architectural genius glass dome (maybe symbolizing government transparency?) that is free to tour, it just has to be booked in advance. RobO is so smart that he picked the 7:45pm slot, giving us prime sun for photos, as well as night views.
This is the actual parliamentary chamber down below.
Spoiler alert:
Day 2 was also great, so stay tuned for RobO’s next post!
