Today started out innocently enough. We were following Rick Steve’s Walking Tour of Berlin. Thirteen miles later we reached our limit and the end of the day. We did cover most items on the tour starting with taking the Ubahn to the Reichstag. 

We discover we don’t have reservations to get in and have to return tomorrow. This is the German parliament building back in use since shortly after reunification. Opened in 1890, it was modeled after Philadelphia’s Memorial Hall. In 1916 the words “To the People” were carved above the main entrance against the wishes of Kaiser Wilhelm II as he thought they implied too much democracy.  It was closed by a suspicious fire in 1933, thus the parliament convened only a few times during Hitler’s regime. 

Near the entrance to the Reichstag is a row of 96 slabs with the names of members of the Reichstag who opposed Hitler’s politics. Each was persecuted and killed, many in concentration camps. The slabs contain their names and date and place of death.

Continuing on our walk we reach the Brandenburg Gate, one of the most famous landmarks in Germany. It was built in the late 1700s, damaged in World War II and later restored, and is a block away from the Reichstag.

Just inside the Gate and in what was East Berlin, is the American Embassy. 

And just past the Embassy is the Hotel Adlon. A luxury hotel, it has housed many famous celebrities and Greta Garbo’s 1932 film, Grand Hotel, was based on the Adlon. 

Looking back towards the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall was just on the other side. 

Next we check out the Holocaust Memorial. It consists of 2,700 concrete slabs of varying sizes laid out in a grid and was opened to the public in 2005. 

The Memorial from another angle. 

Ampelman, or “little traffic light man,” is the traffic light symbol for pedestrians in the former East Germany. It’s one of the few things from Communist Germany kept after the wall fell. Now it also shows up in souvenir shops. 

Next we walk by the Berlin Cathedral.

Next is a boat ride on the Spree River which runs through Berlin. We will cross it repeatedly on our upcoming bike rides. 

Then we check out the Altes Museum and the park area in front of it which is called the Lustgarten. The museum was frequently used as a backdrop for National Socialist (Nazi) propaganda. In 1933, 200,000 people demonstrated in the park against Hitler’s party and such future demonstrations were banned. Hitler, however, used it for mass rallies of over a million people. This setting is familiar; we saw it in newsreels from the past. 

Construction seemed to be ongoing in multiple locations around the city. Cranes were everywhere. East Berlin is not a beautiful city. It’s currently a hodgepodge of graceful old buildings, attractive modern buildings, ugly gray structures built during the time the country was divided, and the noise and confusion of continual construction. 

A construction worker laying cobble. 

Next stop was the German National Museum. It’s impressive because it chronicles Germany’s history. Ross liked the display on Martin Luther and the copies of the theses he sent to the Pope in Rome. We thought it was light on WorldWar II history but that section was focused on items that affected daily life during the war. 

Dinner was in a nice outdoor cafe in the Gendarmenmarkt. Time to rest up for another Berlin touring day.