Jun 16 2013

We’ve Been to Berlin

We had a very early day today as we departed for our tour of Berlin at 7:15 am. It is a 3 hour drive from the port city of Warnemunde to central Berlin so we needed to get an early start!

It is another glorious day and we were surprised at the amount of farmland and forests that we passed on our way to the city. Along the way our guide provide some background on Berlin.

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and one of the 16 states of Germany. It is Germany’s largest city and around one third of the city’s area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.

First documented in the 13th century, Berlin was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–33) and the Third Reich (1933–45).

Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world. After World War II, the city became divided into East Berlin—capital of East Germany—and West Berlin, an exclave (surrounded by the Berlin Wall from 1961–89) and federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany, and is host to 147 foreign embassies.

Needless to say, there is a LOT of history here and our tour took us to some of the more interesting points. We went to what is left of the Berlin wall to see how artists, from all over the world, have decorated it with art work primarily peaceful co-existence.

We saw the Memorial of Murdered Jews, which is just outside of the area where Barrack Obama will address the German people. The memorial consists of 2,711 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern on a sloping field. The slabs are 7 ft 10 inches long3 ft 1 inch wide and vary in height from 8 in to 15 ft 9 inches. According to the designer, the slabs are designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere, and the whole sculpture aims to represent a supposedly ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. Interesting.

The tour also took us to Checkpoint Charlie which was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.

Berlin also has a system of canals and part of our tour included a ride in a riverboat along some of the most beautiful areas of the city. There has been a lot of new construction and renovation in the Berlin since the reunification. While there are still some utilitarian style buildings in the old East Berlin area, much has changed in the way of new industry and retail shopping areas.

Upon arrival back at the pier, we were welcomed by the Marina crew and band, who played music and clapped for us and our safe return from our adventure to Berlin. Very nice touch.

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