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They are all major cities in the world. What's most interesting about Berlin? It's been 25 years since the Wall fell. And though it has been 69 years since WWII, buildings still show remnants of the fighting. The Pergamon Museum has damage. Ordinary buildings have damage. It shows just what war does. And how long it takes to recover from devastation.
The Pergamon Museum also has the Greek Pergamon Altar and Frieze from the second century BC. This masterpiece shows the struggle between the gods and the titans. Amazingly, about 85 percent survived. The Gigantomachy Frieze includes a couple panels that are largely intact. There is Athena fighting Alkyoneus and another of Zeus.
The museum includes the Market Gate of Miletus.
The Neues (New) Museum contains the Queen Nefertit bust, from approximately 1340 BC. No pictures allowed. But the detail and beauty are exquisite. An example:
I also toured the Reichstag, Germany's historical parliament building. The original dom (dome) was destroyed during WWII. They built the new dom as glass to symbolize a transparent government. I climbed the spiral ramp 755 feet to the top. (All bit running up and then down it). The top of the dome is 155 feet above ground. Onside the dome, a cone of mirrors reflects the light. The top of the dome is open. You can see the whole city from the top of the Reichstag to include the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate).The Brandenburg Gate is crowned by the Goddess of Peace. Interestingly, Napoleon tool the statue to the Louvre in 1806 but after the Prussians defeated him in 1813, they took it back. She is now the Goddess of Victory.
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| How you climb to the top. |
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| Outside the Reichstag. |
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| The Reichstag from further way. |
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| The Brandenburg Gate at night, from the Reichstag. |
Right by the Gate is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The concrete pillars are hollow and coated to easily remove graffiti.
The Berlin Mauer (Wall) was the most drawling part of my visit. You don't understand the enormity of it until you see it in person. There was an inner and outer wall. So a big no man's land existed that someone who wanted to go to the West had to pass. The West side had slates on the bottom to stop vehicles. And pipe covered the top so that people couldn't grip and jump over it. Bernauerstrasse has a large surviving section of the wall. Plus a guard tower. The government made a decision to keep parts of the wall. There is a bit over by Check Point Charlie. But they also left up another large section at the Berlin Wall Memorial (which is closed for renovation) at Bernauer Strasse. There you can see the inner wall and outer wall (larger one). You can also see some slabs moved after being replaced. And the graffiti is still on them.
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| Slabs that were replaced and left. |
Check Point Charlie is a bit (and by bit I mean hugely) commercialized. But I went anyway. Because I'm that good of a tourist. One thing I did not get, was why put the German version last? Um, we are in Deutschland?
The best irony of Germany is displayed in Berlin. During the war, the Gedachtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church) was bombed. They are renovating the church. Fixing up the foundation. Go figure. This was pretty much the only thing I visited in West Berlin.
Christine
