Berlin a fantastic city! I thought it was so full of life and history. It has a personality that is screaming at you but is undefinable. We went on two walking tours during out Berlin trip. Both were extremely interesting and taught me so much about the history of Berlin.
It was so interesting to hear about how Berlin was just 20 years ago and to see it now. You would never guess that most of the city was destroyed 60 years ago and that until 20 years ago was divided into small pieces and their people living under a variety of circumstances.
The first tour we went on was a four hour walking tour of the city. Did I mention it was 11 degrees out? Regardless, it was worth it. I had layered up enough to get through it. We were given a 600 year run down of the city's history, which is immensely interesting. Obviously, it was brief but so interesting. The city has experienced so many wars, takeovers, and atrocities and you would never guess that based on the city that I just visited. We saw one of the few Nazi buildings still standing, Social Realist art, museums, and so many buildings that look hundreds of years old but are replicas rebuilt after the war ended.
We did a second tour (today it was 33 out...it was like summer!). This one was called the Underground tour. We saw all different parts of the city and heard about the less history book history of Berlin but more about the culture and the people. Berlin is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. There are artists popping up everywhere and the street art is alive and well throughout the city. It a highly respected aspect of Berlin. We saw some old street art and some new art. We were able to go to Kuntshaus Tacheles. It was formerly a Department Store in the Jewish Quarter and has long history of different uses. The cellar was used to house much of the Third Reich's documents but was flooded by the Nazis at the end of the war. It is now used as an art studio. The art is amazing. The walls are covered it in art project after art project. It was quite a sight to see!
One of the other buildings that I thought was great was a house in West Berlin that had been used by a terrorist organization during the Cold War. There are paintings on all four sides of the house, which depicts the evils of capitalism. It was used by a group that was fighting for the East in the West, which we don't hear about too often. In the same neighborhood there was a serious of brightly colored faces of people of all ages and ethnicities throughout some formerly bad areas of Berlin. It was a project to lift some areas out of poverty and crime by giving them something to be proud of in their neighborhood. It worked quite well, along with some other projects, and was described as extremely successful by our guide.
I found Berlin to be such an inspiring city. It has such a dark history and one they aren't very proud of but they have overcome these horrendous events and created an extremely diverse and open-minded city. I highly recommend a visit to Berlin and hope to return there as well. There are countless museums and more street art to explore!
As for pictures these are pretty much all I have. By this point, I was tired of taking pictures and pretty much just too cold to do it. My friends took many pictures of the street art and other things so I knew I would have access to those! I will probably add a few once we all exchange pictures. So here are the few that I have.
It is a little hard to tell but it is a
woman holding a child. It is a
memorial to all those who have
suffered from injustice.
Check Point Charlie was the largest check-
point between the East and the West.
The French Cathedral; The German one
is across they way and is a meter taller.
