Berlin, the capital of Germany and home to 3.5 million people. Jim first visited here in June, 1969 when he was in the military and the wall was just 7 years old. The two of us visited again in 1997 with Verna’s parents when we found a recently united city, bustling with the excitement of new development and opportunities. We finally got back here again in August, 2003 on our bikes, eager to see the progress since our last visit.

What we found was a surprise to us. We entered from the east, riding straight up Unter den Linden, past the now-clean and restored statue of Friedrich II (nicknamed Filthy Fritz when we were last here because of all the pigeon droppings), past all the newly painted and cleaned buildings with their new shops and restaurants, right up to the Brandenburg Gate which you can no longer drive through, but must detour around. With no traffic through it, it was quite easy to get our picture taken in front of it (above).

Our second surprise was the first hotel we stopped at gave us a reasonable rate (it was August, after all) AND they had free high speed ethernet internet access in each room! This being the first time in three years we had access to the internet where we were not paying by the minute, Jim practically lived on the net while we were there. But since we had been here before and had done most of the touristy stuff then, we didn’t feel the need to do it again. So we just enjoyed being in Berlin, walking to the local cafes and restaurants, strolling along the Ku’damm, shopping at Ka de We, and simply relaxing.

Okay, we did walk down the Strasse des 17 Juni in the middle of the Tier Garten, where got this shot of the Siegessaule (Victory Column, 1897) in the middle of the park (below, right). The column was created to celebrate Prussian military adventures and the lower portion where the column are is a complex mosaic representing these exploits. We even walked up to the top to get the view of Tier Garten toward the Brandenburg Gate, with the city center sprawling behind the gate (below, left). The Siegessaule and Brandenburg Gate are among the very few structures in Berlin to have survived the allied bombing campaign of the Second World War. The marble columns and base of the Siegessaule are pock marked with holes and chips caused be fragments that were sent flying by bomb blasts.

The other site we were interested in seeing was Potsdamer Platz as it was simply a mass of cranes in 1997 when we were last here. So it was a revelation to see all the buildings completed. In 1997 there was a tower that you could climb that had a viewing platform of the largest construction site in the world, as it was labeled then. The tower is gon but the completed buildings have certainly changed the surrounding area that had remained an open, empty area throughout the reign of the GDP (German Democratic Republic) from the end of the war until 1989. Then we walked to the center to check it out up close and found a huge indoor shopping center in the Daimler Chrysler building, plus other shops, restaurants and theaters in and about the other buildings (above). Quite an achievement, we thought. Someday, when we find our pictures from 1997 we will post the photos of this center at that time so we can compare the difference.

One of the striking sights in Berlin is the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche church (1895), bombed during the war, then left as it stood as a memorial and reminder of the devastation (left). In 1969 when Jim first came to Berlin, there was nothing else around the bombed-out shell, making it even more dramatic. A new church and tower has since been built next to the shell. You can see a portion of the modern tower to the right of the church. It is an interesting sight and brings home the sense of loss.

Someday, we will add to this page our additional photos and thoughts from our previous visit.

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