“Ich Bin Ein Berliner” (“I am a Berliner”) – JFK, June 26th, 1963
For our first day in Germany, we flew into Berlin (so technically, we began our journey on day two). Our plane landed around 8:25 in the morning. We spent this first day taking the free walking tour and exploring the city.
We were able to take a bus from the airport to the train, which took us into the city center near our hotel.
Pro tip: It’s always possible to purchase bus tickets on the bus, you don’t need to stand in line. Also, it’s a €60 fine for failing to have a train ticket, or not validating your ticket. We purchased a Twin Pass for the German Rail system, which we could use on trains and the S-Bahn. However, we accidentally took a U-Bahn, before we realized that firstly our pass didn’t work on the U-Bahn, and secondly we hadn’t validated our pass. So be careful, and make sure you have a valid ticket!
We stayed at the Westin Grand Berlin, which was centrally located. After we checked in, we were able to catch the 10:00am free walking tour. This turned out to be one of the few magical timing experiences we had on the trip. The tour was very well done and offered a historic overview of Berlin and the major sites, as well as great travel tips (the first being the €60 fine mentioned above). I highly recommend this tour if you are able bodied enough to walk and stand for the 2 hour length of the tour.
The tour group met at the Brandenburg Gate. We began with a quick (10 min) overview of the history of Berlin. From there, we continued to discuss the history of the Reichstag building, which after the reunification of Berlin and a remodel in the 1990’s became the meeting place for the German parliament. The large glass dome at the top is free and open to the public, with a reservation. We tried to book these online, but it was booked months in advance. Our guide let us know that its possible to wait in line at the information desk to make reservations, even though the website shows no availability. The dome will be discussed in more detail during the Berlin Part II post.
Brandenburg Gate
Reichstag Building
Next we walked to the site of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. It’s often referred to as the Holocaust Memorial, but there are actually many Holocaust memorials throughout the city, each corresponding to a different community of people persecuted by the Third Reich from 1933 to 1945. As a Polish-American, I wanted to visit the one for Polish victims, which shares it’s site with the German Anti-Fascists, but unfortunately it wasn’t very close to the other areas we were visiting.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
The next stop was at the site of Hitler’s bunker (Führerbunker). This was where Hitler spent the last days of his life before committing suicide as the Russian army closed in on Berlin. Now the site is a parking lot for an apartment building. However, an informational plaque has been placed near the site.
Fuhrerbunker
As we continued along the tour, we stopped at the former Ministry of Aviation (Luftwaffe), and current German Ministry of Finance. The movie, Valkyrie was filmed in part here. This is one of the few buildings remaining from the Second World War that survived the heavy air strikes at the end of the war.
Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus
From there we walked to one of the three main sites where pieces of the Berlin Wall remain. This is also where we took a short 15 min. break to use the restrooms and refuel if needed.
Pro tip: Pee when it’s free! Most public restrooms are not free in Europe. So anytime you are visiting a museum or at a restaurant as a customer, take advantage of the free restrooms.
This section of the Berlin Wall, is also the location of the Topography of Terror, which we visited on our second day in Berlin.
Berlin Wall
From there, we walked to Checkpoint Charlie. This was a Thursday, and so far nothing had been very busy, pretty typical weekday tourist traffic. However, Checkpoint Charlie was crazy. There were people everywhere. Our guide said this is very typical, and also made us aware of the dangers in the area. It’s important to always be on your guard for pickpockets or scammers, but especially here. Our guide explained “Charlie” refers to the letter “C”, so there were also Checkpoints “Alpha”, and “Bravo”.
Checkpoint Charlie
Lastly, our guide pointed out two bronze markers. These are stolperstein, or “stumbling stones,” crested by artist Gunter Demnig. They mark places of business or residence of victims of the Holocaust. These are located throughout Europe, and is one of the largest art projects in the world. The photos below were taken at a different location on our second day in Berlin.
Stolperstein
This concluded the free walking tour. Justin and I then backtracked from Checkpoint Charlie, making our way back towards the Reichstag building, so that we could sign up for the tour of the dome. We stopped around 1pm for lunch at Restaurant Maximilians Berlin. Justin got the schnitzel with potato salad, and I got the spargel (white asparagus).
After getting our dome tickets (line moved extremely slowly, we were there around 2pm, I would try to get there early if you can), we continued walking along the Spree River to Museum Island. They have quite a lot of construction going on in this area right now doing some renovations. It was an absolutely beautiful day, so we spent some time lounging in front of the Berlin Cathedral enjoying the weather. We didn’t visit any of these museums or go inside the Cathedral, but there are five different museums for art if you have the time or desire to explore these.
Museum Island
Berlin Cathedral
Next we explored the Bebelplatz, which is a square by Humbolt University and the Opera House, where book burnings by the Nazi’s took place in 1933. There is a memorial there, which features empty bookcases.
Our evening concluded by trying to take a few night pictures at Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag Building, Französischer Dom, and Neue Kirche, before we finally called it a night. Next up, Berlin Part II!
Brandenburg Gate at Night
Reichstag Building at Night
Französischer Dom and Neue Kirche
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