Where East Meets West

Last weekend I visited Berlin for the second time, and it proved to be a far more enlightening experience than my first trip some 13 years ago for a friend's stag do. As the focal point of some huge historical events of the 20th century, this time around I was keen to come away with a wealth of knowledge rather than a dearth of memory.

The Reichstag building - German parliament.

The German capital is a very modern city as much of it had to be rebuilt after the destruction of World War Two (WW2). A sophisticated mass-transit system in the form of the U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains make getting around very easy, even from Brandenburg Airport on the southern periphery, and stations are located close to all of the major sites.

Checkpoint Charlie - one of several former crossing points between East and West Berlin.

Sections of the Berlin Wall are still standing in several areas of the city including the East Side Gallery where the largest stretch (1.3km) of the concrete structure has been covered in murals. Many of these artworks have political context including the famous Fraternal Kiss, which depicts former Soviet Union leader Leonid Brezhnev and former East German leader Erich Honecker in a loving embrace.

The Fraternal Kiss - the artwork, painted on the East Side Gallery, is a reproduction of a 1979 photograph taken by Regis Bossu during the 30th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). 

Where the wall has disappeared, stones in the pavement together with metal plaques mark its former path. The direction of the “Berliner Mauer 1961-1989” enabling you to work out whether you are stood in the historic East or the West of the once divided city.

A view through a still standing section of the Berlin Wall.

Various walking tours provide a fountain of knowledge centred around Berlin’s troubled past. This includes the underground bunker where Adolf Hitler took his own life, now the site of a fairly innocuous car park and residential buildings, as well as the former Ministry of Aviation - one of very few Nazi buildings still standing. Now housing the Finance Ministry, evidence of its sinister past - including swastikas - have long since been removed from the facade. Standing outside the excellent Topography of Terror museum - built on the site of the former Gestapo and SS headquarters - to look at a remaining section of the Wall, Nazi torture chambers and the now Finance Ministry provides an interesting and disturbing vista.

The current day Finance Ministry, a section of the Berlin Wall and WW2 torture chambers now part of the Topography of Terror museum.

No trip to Germany would be complete without a bratwurst or two, and the busy Alexanderplatz under the shadow of the iconic TV Tower proved the perfect setting. Accompanied by a stein of Paulaner beer and some Europop classics performed live - a fitting end to a historic weekend.

The Bode-Museum on the bank of the River Spree with the Berlin TV Tower in the background.

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