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July 2001
Long, Sunlit Days
Almelo Re-visited
Plant Life
Ruhrgebiet Germany Weekend Tour
Landschaftspark Continued
"The Eiffel Tower of the Ruhrgebiet"
Zollverein Coking Plant
Kokerei Zollverein Continued
Krupp Villa Hügel
Duisburg Aupenhafen
Visit to Berlin, Germany
Reichstag, Berlin
East Berlin Places
Nighttime at the Potsdamer Platz
Day Two - Sanssouci Park
Funkturm and Berlin Wall
Other Months
Index page

 
Visit to Berlin, Germany
Thursday, July 19, 2001; posted by Paris

Last weekend Lisa and I took a last minute trip to Berlin. We were up by 4.30am and on a flight by 7.10am Friday morning. We stayed at a very nice hotel right off of the Kurfürstendamm (right near the Memorial Church). We met with our colleague Sebastian that morning and began our Berlin city tour. Sebastian was fortunate enough to borrow his brother's car so he could take us to the best places.

The weather on Friday really was in our favor - sunny and a nice temperature. We got to see both East and West Berlin, try some of the local beers, and have some tasty meals.

All three of us had a great time and really made the most out of each day. A lot of walking and picture taking.

Some of the pictures posted were taken by Sebastian and are marked with an 'st'. He got some really nice fotos, and I thought they should be included and in many instances, replace mine.

We drove through the Tiergarten (a massive park that was formerly hunting grounds for the royalty) and parked the car right on its edge (across from the Soviet Soldier Memorial). We walked up to the Brandenburg Gate on our way to the Reichstag. Unfortunately, the gate was under repair, and was totally covered by a protective cloth. The image on the cloth looks like the Brandenburg gate, with all of its columns moved to the center. This is a view from West Berlin.

Lisa and me next to the Brandenburg Gate (which was built in 1788) in the Eastern side of Berlin.

We started by visiting the remains of the Memorial Church (Gedächtniskirche) in the center of Berlin. It was a casualty of the WWII bombing of Berlin.

Next to the church is a modern black tower and a small chapel used for religious services today. Surrounding these buildings and the plaza are cafes and souvenir vendors.

This part is the museum of the church. Bits of the church, photos and documents display its history.

The paintings on the ceiling are brilliant, and have a tremendous amount of detail.

This is a night shot of the Memorial Church.

The base is really a massive structure, and you can still see a lot of places where tile work and decoration still remain on what were once interior walls.

On our way to the Reichstag, we drove past the giant Victory Column (Siegessäule/Victoria). It was built in 1873 to commemorate the victory over the Danes 9 years earlier. The massive golden statue on top is used in an important scene in Wim Wender's 'Wings of Desire'.