Thursday, we did the walking tour of Berlin. We saw, from near and/or far, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, Hitler's Bunker, Potsdamer Platz, The Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Former SS Headquarters, and the Bebelplatz.
Descriptions of a couple of these things ...
The Reichstag is both the name of the building and the parliamentary body that met there from 1892 until 1933. Now, the German parliament still meets there, but is called the Bundestag. It is the sight of the 'famous' Reichstag fire ... to make a long story short, Adolf Hitler hired an unemployed Dutch Communist to start a fire in the Reichstag on February 27, 1933. Then, he showed up and started shouting, "The Communists are revolting! They are burning the parliament!" He then convinced President Hindenburg to sign over emergency powers for 30 days. In retrospect, that was probably a poor decision.
The Wall ... not much remains today...
An easy way to tell whether or not a building is new in Berlin is to check for bullet-holes. Yep, this one isn't new.
The Brandenburg Gate ... This used to be a border of East and West Berlin. In the square where I was standing to take this picture, numerous booby traps and snipers lurked in hopes to keep people on the 'right' side of the fence. When Napoleon arrived in 1806, he took the chariot back with him to France. In the mid-1800s, the chariot was returned to Berlin. Now, the charioteer is facing slightly to the left ... and is staring directly at the French embassy only 100 yards away.
My feet, Jim Heywood's foot, and below ... Hitler's bunker. Below our feet, on April 30th, 1945, Hitler and his recently wedded bride committed suicide. Afterwards, his body was burned beyond recognition - except for dental records - so that his body could not be carried through the street and 'defamed'.
Checkpoint Charlie... It was at this spot in 1961 that WWIII almost started. An American diplomat was not allowed to enter East Berlin despite treaties permiting the free travel of diplomats. Later that day, both sides lined up tanks facing each other on the street. Kennedy and Khruschev contacted each other, and the situation de-escalated.
This is supposedly the largest Lutheran Church in the world. It was built by a Germanic ruler in the hopes of creating a semi-equivalent to Vatican City for Lutherans. It was beautiful, but it was no Vatican.
Bebelplats ... the site of the first Nazi book burnings ...
The source of the fuel for the Nazi book burnings ... Albert Einstein was the chair of Physics Department at Humboldt until he left for the United States in 1932 ...
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