1st STOP--BERLIN, GERMANY
Located in NE section of Germany, Berlin is a 2-1/2 hour journey from Warnemunde where we docked. A divided city for nearly 30 years, the metropolis is now united to form the largest city in Continental Europe. Berlin has a lot of history since it was once the heart of the Prussian kingdom and headquarters of Hitler's Third Reich.
Bus we took from the Port of Warnemunde and toured Berlin
Our Germany English-speaking tour guide that lived in New York for many years and has a doctorate in European history.
Marshmallow-looking balls--Germans cut and wrap hay to let it ferment inside the white plastic for cattle feed.
We enjoyed the drive through Germany, even a detour off the Autobon because of a microburst earlier that morning that distributed trees and other debris on the freeway.
Quaint German town
Berlin Jewish Holocaust Memorial--Memorial to honor the millions of Jews murdered during World War II.
Memorial consists of 2,700 concrete pillars of different heights
The pillars are designed to represent a waving cornfield.
Memorial with The Reichstag in the background on the left and the American Embassy on the right.
American Embassy--The new embassy opened for business officially on July 4, 2008.
The Reichstag--The Neo-Renaissance Parliamentary building has remained a symbol of Democracy in Germany...
...despite its sometimes dark past. 
Brandenburg Gate--A triumphal arch that stands on the former border between East and West Germany in the city of Berlin. 
The structure is crowned by the "Quadriga of Victory," a statue of a chariot drawn by four horses.
Erected between 1788-1793, the gate was heavily damaged during WWII and was restored (recast from original molds) in 1957-58.
The Gate, built as a symbol of peace, became the central celebration area when the Berlin Wall came "tumbling down."
Berlin lunch--I took a picture of our German lunch especially for Laura and Alison...
...because when we ate a special Mother's Day dinner in Munich and ordered meatloaf, it turned out to be a super-charged hotdog!!!
This lunch was sooo good, but we couldn't eat all of it!
Hotel Adlon--This is the famous 5-star hotel, now nicknamed The Michael Jackson Hotel,...
...where he dangled his baby in front of fans out one of the windows below.
Berlin Wall--On August 13, 1961, under the cover of night, East German troops entered the quiet streets of Berlin and began erecting barbed wire fences to block East Berlin from West Berlin.
Doug straddling what was once the Berlin Wall (The red line reminded me of the red brick Freedom Trail in Boston.) 
When the wall was finally completed it stretched over 100 miles and was 10-13 feet high.
Border patrols and guardhouses were set up along the wall with strict instructions to shoot anyone attempting to cross borders.
It is estimated that between 5,000 to 16,000 people successfully outsmarted the guards. It is believed that over 250 people died in their attempts and a further 3,000 were arrested (later to be executed or imprisoned for life). One of the most bizarre feats of bravery and courage by East Berliners trying to find freedom from beyond the walls--A butcher designed a bulletproof meat vest which was made up of ham and roasts to absorb the bullets as he flung himself over the barbed wire fence.
Interesting inscription--WHY!!!
A second wall was erected to run parallel with the first wall. Inside these walls, known as the "death zone," were over 290 watch-towers, land mines, searchlights and specially trained attack dogs.
This marker shows the division of West and East German. On November 9, 1989, following massive demonstrations all over Eastern Germany, the leader of E. Berlin's Communist party announced easing of border restrictions. By the following day the wall came tumbling down. People flocked to the streets armed with hammmers, chisels and pickaxes.
Checkpoint Charlie--Opened by the US military police in 1961 as one of the three checkpoints along the infamous Berlin Wall, and named after the international phonetic alphabet system.
This was the only crossing point for foreigners between East and West Berlin.
The original Checkpoint Charlie was removed on June 22, 1990 (original CC now located in the Allied Museum). A copy of the American guardhouse was erected on the original place on August 13, 2000.
Sign on one side stating, "You are leaving the American Sector"...
...and on the other side, "You are entering the American Sector."
Restoration continues--Beautiful building near the portion of the Berlin Wall that is still standing!
The German Cathedral
Baroque style domes of The Berlin Cathedral
Bebelplatz--On the 10th of May 1933, this opera square became the site of the infamous book burning by the Third Reich. Over 25,000 books by Jewish authors and liberal leftists were collected and then burnt in the square.
The site now has a memorial to the book burning.
Museum Island--A UNESCO World Heritage Site--a complex of five internationally renowned museums. We visited one!!
Facade of the Zeughaus, the German Historical Museum
The Zeughaus (old arsenal) was built between 1695 and 1730 to be used as an artillery arsenal, transformed into a military museum in 1875 and in 1952 as the Museum of German History.
Altes Museum
Bode Museum on Spree River
Pergamon Museum--
This is the museum we visited! Constructed in 1930, this museum contains multiple reconstructed immense and historically significant buildings (original size). The Dept. of Greek and Roman Antiquities is the most magnificent part of the museum. The Greek City of Pergamon was an important Hellenistic-Roman city and royal seat. The museum was severely damaged during the air attack on Berlin.
PERGAMON ALTAR--A magnificent structure originally built in the 2nd Century BC in the Ancient Greek City of Pergamon (in modern day Turkey). The Altar was shipped out of the Ottoman Empire from the original excavation site by a German archeological team and reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum.
This is a model of the Pergamon Altar (built in 180-160 B.C. in Asian Minor as an altar to Zeus). The real thing is so huge that it requires an entire room.
The altar was shipped piece by piece from the City of Pergamon. It is rumored that John wrote of this Temple, referring to it as the Altar of Satan.
Some 27 steps lead from the museum floor up to the colonnade. Amazingly, the reconstruction is only one third of the original size of the altar.
One of two Large colonnades on each side of the steps.
Marble statues and part of the frieze around the base of the Altar
These are all originals!! The frieze show the struggle of the Olympian gods against the Titans!
Athens and Nike fight Alkyoneus
The Greek God Zeus fighting a Titan!
Athena Temple--
Reconstructed Athena Temple entranceway originally on the terrace above the altar.
Statue of Athena with mosaic floors from temple
The edges of the room have the actual Greek columns about 75-100 feet high.
Market Gate of Miletus--(l65 B.C.) Miletus, a Roman City in Asia Minor, was an important trading center...
(This edifice reminded me a lot of the Celsus Library in Ephesus, Turkey.)
Beautiful original reconstructed mosaic floors...
Ishtar's Gate--was the main gate to the inner City of Babylon built by order of Nebuchadnezzar II. The gate stands over 46 feet high, mounted on the top with high parapets and uses cobalt blue tiles and golden figures of mythical beasts for decorations. Some of the tiles are original and date back to 575 B.C.
Model of the Gate of Ishtar--view of the processional way to the gate...
...and the gate itself! The Tower of Babel was within!
The real thing!!
The entrance of the walls are protected by 120 striding lions...
...mythical creatures (dragons)...
...and bulls, all meant to scare away the enemies!
Striding lions along the Processional Way
Dedicatory inscription on the Ishtar Gate, Babylon
Close-up of dedicatory script
One of two winged Sphinexes with the face of Nebuchadnexzzar (most famous king of Babylon)--copies of originals
Huge basalt water basin--used for cultic purification rites
Other sites in Berlin--
The new synagogue
Berlin's Red Town Hall
Very modern Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz
LDS Chapel in Berlin--familiar design!
KaDeWe (Department Store of the West)--second largest department store in Europe...
trumped only by Harrods in London!
Elephant Entrance to the Berlin Zoo--First opened to the public in 1844, the zoo was built upon a gift bestowed to the city by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV. The king provided animals from his menagerie to fill the cages. Today, most of the 15,000 animals roam free in re-creations of their natural habitats.
Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church--designed in 1895. The church was hit by bombs during WWII leaving only the west tower standing. Even though the tower was damaged, it was saved from demolition by local opposition. A new church was built next to the tower in 1961.
Berlin today...
...a grand city, as evidenced by German hard work, industry and determination!
2 comments:
The meal was night and day from what we ate while we were there! Hah! I really love all the pictures of the wall and wish we could have seen it while we were there in Germany. We need to go again!
Mom, you had me pulled in through that whole post. I've gotta say, your IMPRESSIVE! Wow, you are one smart lady. How did you remember all that? You should be a tour guide in Europe! How cool to have been there, it was kinda eery looking at all those pics and thinking of all those things that took place where you were. So neat!
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