Berlin: End of the Cold War 30 Years later
Check-point Charlie
Although it is a recreation, Checkpoint Charlie was the name given to the most famous crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War (Charlie because it was the C crossing in military jargon). Today there is a museum dedicated to all things Cold War behind the site. Row 1 shows the American soldier who last manned the crossing and the American Embassy; row 2 his Soviet counterpart, the museum,. and the last Kremlin flag to fly at the crossing.
Check-point Charlie
Although it is a recreation, Checkpoint Charlie was the name given to the most famous crossing point between East and West Berlin during the Cold War (Charlie because it was the C crossing in military jargon). Today there is a museum dedicated to all things Cold War behind the site. Row 1 shows the American soldier who last manned the crossing and the American Embassy; row 2 his Soviet counterpart, the museum,. and the last Kremlin flag to fly at the crossing.
Visiting the Wall
A commemorative plaque behind the Brandenburg Gate marks the site of President Ronald Reagan's famous line, "Mr. Gorbachev, open this Gate!--Tear down this Wall!". Throughout the city, the former route followed by the Wall is marked by cobblestones. The largest remaining portions of the Wall are viewable at the indoor/outdoor Berlin Wall Museum (the Topography of Terror) and the East Side Gallery. The western side of the Wall has long been a canvas for artists: below is a sampling. The most famous decoration is The Socialist Fraternal Kiss starring Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker (the full title is My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, by Dmitri Vrubel, 1990).
A commemorative plaque behind the Brandenburg Gate marks the site of President Ronald Reagan's famous line, "Mr. Gorbachev, open this Gate!--Tear down this Wall!". Throughout the city, the former route followed by the Wall is marked by cobblestones. The largest remaining portions of the Wall are viewable at the indoor/outdoor Berlin Wall Museum (the Topography of Terror) and the East Side Gallery. The western side of the Wall has long been a canvas for artists: below is a sampling. The most famous decoration is The Socialist Fraternal Kiss starring Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker (the full title is My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, by Dmitri Vrubel, 1990).
Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag
The Brandenburg Gate is the iconic image of a united Berlin today. The Reichstag Building, home to the German Parliament (the Bundestag), was remodeled after the war to include a glass dome which allows the public to view Parliamentary proceedings. Across the green from the Reichstag is the Federal Chancellery Building, the offices of chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.
Museum Island
The Berlin Cathedral is one of the many attractions located on Museum Island bordering one side of the Lustgarten.
The Berlin Cathedral is one of the many attractions located on Museum Island bordering one side of the Lustgarten.
The museum complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pictured are the frontage of the Altes Museum, the Lustgarten, and the Alte National Gallery. Chancellor Merkel's home is also pictured along the water. Originally the kitchen gardens of the Elector of Brandenburg, Napoleon drilled his troops here, and during the Weimer Republic the Lustgarten was used as an are for political demonstrations. I stood in the vantage point of the historic picture being held up by our tour guide on the steps of the Altes Museum: the placement of the Nazi leadership and Adolf Hitler during their rallies in the Lustgarten. Having stood in Martin Luther King, Junior's place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial from his I Have a Dream Speech, this was a very surreal experience.
Holocaust Remembrance
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is located behind the American Embassy and the Brandenburg Gate. The controversial design consists of 2711 concrete slabs designed by Peter Eisenman and Buro Happold. Nearby are the separate Memorials to the Romani and homosexual victims of the Nazi Final Solution.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is located behind the American Embassy and the Brandenburg Gate. The controversial design consists of 2711 concrete slabs designed by Peter Eisenman and Buro Happold. Nearby are the separate Memorials to the Romani and homosexual victims of the Nazi Final Solution.
The Hidden Library: My favorite German Memorial was designed by Micha Ullman to commemorate the Nazi book burning in the Bebelplatz on May 10, 1933. Students rushed into the University Library to seize those books that were seen as subversive to the Nazi ideology. Best seen at night, the memorial is a below ground empty bookcase, large enough to house the 20,000 books burned, marked by a line by Heinrich Heine on a plaque inset on the square: "That was only a prelude; where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people").
Small Bits Around Berlin
At the end of the Cold War, East and West Berliners fought to keep one of the good parts of their past division: the Ampelmannchen- the light traffic light man of East Germany. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was constructed in the 1890s. Damaged by air raids in 1943, the decision was made after the war to retain the damage spire as a memorial to the war. You can find remnants of both WW II and the Cold War in both the former East and West sides of the city. One place noted for the record, but not celebrated, is the site of the former bunker of Adolf Hitler. A single sign notes the site at the corner of a parking lots behind the Holocaust Memorial. Much like the famous Chicago cows, Berlin is decorated with Bears completed by area artists and businesses. The Victory Column is located in the Tiergarten. In the distance you can also see the Fernsehturm TV Tower, former East German claim to the tallest building in Europe.
At the end of the Cold War, East and West Berliners fought to keep one of the good parts of their past division: the Ampelmannchen- the light traffic light man of East Germany. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was constructed in the 1890s. Damaged by air raids in 1943, the decision was made after the war to retain the damage spire as a memorial to the war. You can find remnants of both WW II and the Cold War in both the former East and West sides of the city. One place noted for the record, but not celebrated, is the site of the former bunker of Adolf Hitler. A single sign notes the site at the corner of a parking lots behind the Holocaust Memorial. Much like the famous Chicago cows, Berlin is decorated with Bears completed by area artists and businesses. The Victory Column is located in the Tiergarten. In the distance you can also see the Fernsehturm TV Tower, former East German claim to the tallest building in Europe.
Frankfurt
A hi light of Frankfurt's main square is the Romer--a complex of nine houses that form the Frankfurt city hall (Rathaus). The houses were acquired by the city council in 1405 from a wealthy merchant family (behind the statue as pictured). The surrounding square is called the Romerberg.
A hi light of Frankfurt's main square is the Romer--a complex of nine houses that form the Frankfurt city hall (Rathaus). The houses were acquired by the city council in 1405 from a wealthy merchant family (behind the statue as pictured). The surrounding square is called the Romerberg.
There are two major houses of worship off the Square: the FRANKFURT CATHEDRAL (Frankfurter Dom) is the main Catholic Church dedicated to Saint Bartholomew.
SAINT PAULS CHURCH (Paulskirche) was established as a Protestant Church in 1789, but is celebrated as a national monument because it was the seat of the first democratically elected parliament in 1848. In 1963, US President John F. Kennedy gave a speech in Saint Paul's which is memorialized with a plaque facing the square. Facing the street is one of the Holocaust Memorials of Frankfurt. Every city we visited had at least one memorial to the variety of victims of the Nazis. This Memorial lists the Camps which received the Jewish, Romani, handicapped, homosexual, and Roman Catholic victims of the Final Solution.
Rothenburg
Rothenburg is the most preserved medieval town in Germany. As such, it has made appearances in many TV shows and movies including Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang and one of the Harry Potter films. The TOWN HALL includes a tower with spectacular views of the city. The city is surrounded by walls and the streets are lined with timbered homes and businesses. Largely protected by Hitler during WW II, Rothenburg was established in Nazi ideology as the ideal German "Home Town". AT the end of the war, American troops offered to spare the city if it surrendered: defying Hitler's orders to fight to the end, Rothenburg surrendered on April 17, 1945.
Rothenburg is the most preserved medieval town in Germany. As such, it has made appearances in many TV shows and movies including Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang and one of the Harry Potter films. The TOWN HALL includes a tower with spectacular views of the city. The city is surrounded by walls and the streets are lined with timbered homes and businesses. Largely protected by Hitler during WW II, Rothenburg was established in Nazi ideology as the ideal German "Home Town". AT the end of the war, American troops offered to spare the city if it surrendered: defying Hitler's orders to fight to the end, Rothenburg surrendered on April 17, 1945.
The spiritual needs of the citizens are met in the St. James Cathedral (St. Jakob in German), a Lutheran Church consecrated in 1485. The church is noted for it's 2 wooden altarpieces: the TWELVE APOSTLES HIGH ALTER and the HOLY BLOOD ALTERPIECE in the western gallery.
Trier
Trier is Germany's oldest town, founded by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 16 BC. Portions of the gate, The PORTA NIGRA, mark the oldest remaining portion of the Roman settlement (dated to the 3rd century) and a Roman bath (dated to the 4th century). The town was also home to the HIGH CATHEDRAL OF SAINT PETER (the oldest church in Germany), with an attached extant cloister, and the ELECTORAL PALACE OF TRIER.
Trier is Germany's oldest town, founded by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 16 BC. Portions of the gate, The PORTA NIGRA, mark the oldest remaining portion of the Roman settlement (dated to the 3rd century) and a Roman bath (dated to the 4th century). The town was also home to the HIGH CATHEDRAL OF SAINT PETER (the oldest church in Germany), with an attached extant cloister, and the ELECTORAL PALACE OF TRIER.
The AULA PALATINA, or the Basilica of Constantine, was originally part of a palace complex built by Emperor Constantine in the early 4th century. The hall pictured is where Constantine held court and is the largest extant medieval hall from antiquity. Today the building is an active place of worship for the Church of the Redeemer.
Trier's most famous son is Karl Marx-celebrated today with an 18 foot bronze statue, a gift of the Chinese government to celebrate his 200th birthday in 2018. The statue is not with controversy: following the fall of communism and the reunification of the Germany in 1990, most communist images were removed. His birthplace now has a Eurostore on the first floor selling cheap memorabilia and trinkets: most of the products are produced in China.