Berlin: Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, Reichstag, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe . . .

The Brandenburg Gate is probably Berlin's most recognizable sight.  It was originally called the "Friedenstor" (Gate of Peace).  It is the only surviving Berlin City gate and was designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans in 1791.  It was intended to resemble the Acropolis in Athens.  Today, it symbolizes reunification, after dividing East and West Berlin for decades. I remember watching coverage of this structure during the reunification celebrations and it was surreal to see it up close.  I am taking this photograph from the very large Pariser Platz.

To the left of the Gate (in the next street block) you will find the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe  (Wikipedia), which was designed by American architect Peter Eisenman. 

You can walk through the memorial where it starts with small pieces then as you walk towards the middle the stones rise higher and higher and the cobblestoned path changes height as well.  There are 2,700 pillars honoring Jews killed by the Nazis.  Walking through this maze like structure was an experience to remember.

Next, I walked over on the opposite side of the Brandenburg Gate to the Reichstag which is the seat of the German Parliament.  It was constructed in 1884 and 1894 and has had a turbulant history.  Fire broke out in the building in 1933 destroying most of it.  A lot of it was also destroyed when bombing took place and it was not used from 1933 to 1999.  After the runification of Germany took place the Reichstag was once again the seat of the German parliament.  The famous Glass Dome  was the design of British architect Sir Norman Foster.  Fellow blogging friend, Sandra, visited the Reichstag on a business trip to Berlin and highly recommended it. 

Unfortunately for me the Dome and the building was closed and access near to the building was closed off with barriers and a police presence.  When I went to ask the information people about it they said that the building is currently closed with no date of when it will be re-opened due to a Terror alert.  That's really such a shame that we still live in a time where we have to worry about such senseless acts of violence and only a block away from a memorial that reminds us of the hate and senseless violence of our past. Will we ever learn?  I sure do continue to hope so.

I asked if I can still take photos of the exterior and he said that was fine and so here is the wonderful exterior photos of the Reichstag.  You can sort of see the police presence.

Here's a wider view of this amazing building.

I then visited very briefly the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) (Sacred Destinations), which dates back to the early 1900's.  It was heavily bombed in WWII and remained in ruins until it was renovated in the 1970's.  Unfortunately, I just saw the outside of the Church but plan to return to see the interior hopefully tomorrow. Why, because I made the mistake of thinking it was closed but in reality I was entering from the wrong side. oops!

Next I visited the famous "Checkpoint Charlie" and Checkpoint Charlie Museum.  Checkpoint Charlie at 43-45 Friedrichstrasse was the only checkpoint through which foreigners could pass between East and West Berlin.  The checkpoint gets its name from checkpoint number three (as in the military code of Alpha for one, Bravo for two and Charlie for three). 

Here is the famous sign telling you that you are leaving the American sector in different languages.

I also visited the Checkpoint Charlie Museum (12.50 euros) which had an extensive collection of news articles and saved memorabilia of the history of the wall and the many stories of successful and some unsuccessful escapes. It was interesting to see how creative some of the escapees were. There were secret compartments built into a VW for example. There was a lady that hid in these two connecting suitcases and there were tunnels dug and one man planes built to escape into West Germany.  

The past two days have been overwhelming at times but so interesting to see  everything first hand and to experience such deep emotions while seeing them.
 
Today was snowing lightly which wasn't bad at all. What was bad was the bitter cold wind. It was so windy that this life perserver was flapping in the wind.  It is so cold that the little pond in the park near my apartment is solid ice.  I need to warm up so I'm back out in the cold to Alexanderplatz to try some hot mulled wine (tip from Shannon). I wonder if that is similar to those hot wine drinks I liked in the Czech Republic.  I like the idea that it is a hot drink because I could sure use one.

To stay warm, I've been ducking into stores (like Maya said she did when she visited Berlin during the middle of December) just to warm up.  For me, however, I always start browsing and end up buying something.

I'm really getting the hang of the public transport in Berlin. It sort of reminds me of Paris and London's Undergound.  Here are some photos of the Alexanderplatz underground station.

 

Well, here I go again...