Berlin I

We arrived in Berlin at midnight on Friday evening after our visit to the historic Nurnberg. The taxi ride from the Hauptbahnhof to our hotel was a long ride (the taxi driver circled around for no good reason) and the evening of former Eastern Berlin was a little somber, eerie, and estranged from the rest of the European cities that we have visited.

We read up on the US government bailout news the next morning. Ever since Italy, my addiction over the financial market kicked in with a vengeance, we have been buying FT and watching international edition of CNN every morning on our Germany trip. Outraged with the bailout plan, we decided to start our first morning in Berlin a little later and we walked to the Alexanderplatz after we pealed ourselves out of the hotel room. On our way to Unter den Linden, we unexpectedly ran into the Berlin Marathon crowd. Many of the runners were bow-legged walking down the streets and subway stations and others had finished the race and were enjoying their beers and relaxing on the grass by Brandenburg Gate. This was my first time seeing a large group of marathon runners gathered in one spot, it was interesting to see people with medals on their necks, fans and family cheering besides the runners, and seeing the competitors crowd the street of Berlin. We did not realize that the Berlin Marathon had taken place and ended by the Brandenburg Gate but it was fun to watch the party after the run. The serious and solemn Berlin morning suddenly got washed away by the runners’ festive energies!

After our stroll through the Brandenburg Gate and a nearby park, we stopped at the Holocaust Memorial designed by the American architect - Peter Eisenman that was funded by the German government. The memorial looked like nothing but blocks of fake tombs at first, but after walking through the memorial, the blocks have different heights that can go as high as four meters! The information center for the Holocaust Memorial is a must-see if you visit Berlin. The center is well put-together and the information collected is thorough and extremely interesting. The Memorial was dedicated to the Jewish community that was murdered in all of Europe under the Nazi rule. The exhibit at the museum was extremely disturbing and I can’t help but wonder, “How is it that humans can bring such atrocity to one another?” and “Will we ever learn our lessons from history?” The Memorial was established to remind us that the tragedy has happened in the past and that it is possible that it will happen again if we don’t remember history. With the reminder of the Memorial, I really hope that all of us, including the Jewish community, do not repeat our mistakes again as in the early 1940s…

Yes, the Holocaust Memorial really made an impression on me. Berlin has the history and culture to flex and test your emotional barometers, so be ready for it! After the Holocaust Memorial, we visited the Reichstag (Parliament Building) that is around the corner from the Brandenburg Gate. Reichstag was presumably burnt down by Hitler in 1933 so that he can blame the Communist Party to gain power. Each tour to the Reichstag took about 30 tourists and the guides herded us to the roof of the Parliament for an amazing night view of Berlin. The top of the Reichstag was a glass dome with an upside down cone composed by thousands of mirrors to capture natural light into the legislative chamber. At the very top of the upside down cone, it opens into the sky with stars shining through its opening in the evening. We walked around the open air area and this looks like the alien welcoming platform in the movie Independence Day! No kidding! The reason that the top of the legislative chamber was built by glass is so that the process of the government is transparent and accountable to the people of Germany. Maybe this is what we need in Washington DC?

The sites in former Eastern Germany were fascinating. It will take your emotions and thoughts through various times in history with great opportunities to reflect upon our current political and international affairs. So far, I have enjoyed Berlin and can’t wait to meet up with Danille for further exploration of this conflicted city that bears such historical significance! Stay tuned!