Berlin 3
Trip Start
Nov 14, 2008
1
39
102
Trip End
Feb 26, 2009
Berlin,
Germany
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
This was the best optional tour I´ve taken on either Contiki so far, a 3-hour walking tour of Berlin for €9 taking us to sites of the Cold War, Third Reich, etc. with plenty and plenty of history. Some of the highlights were the Berlin Wall, the site of Hitler´s Fuhrerbunker, the Book Burning Memorial, places I´d already seen like Reichstag, Holocaust Memorial & Brandenburg Gate, and finally Checkpoint Charlie, where I got a photo with French and American borderguards (actors). There is a LOT to see in Berlin and I´m really enjoying the city.
1936 Olympic Stadium
While the others went to the Jewish Museum, I headed to the site of the "Nazi Olympics". There were no tours nor audioguides on the day, so I made do with reading the placards explaining how Hitler attempted to use the Olympics as a way to demonstrate Aryan physical superiority, only to have the African-American Jesse Owens win gold in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump. It´s also the site of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final, but there was surprisingly little reference to that.
Jewish Museum
Berlin is full of Jewish stuff, I´m really impressed at how much the city and the country acknowledge what happened before and during the war. I´ve even heard Klezmer music at the train stations, and there´s a street named after Yitzhak Rabin! The Jewish Museum was fantastic - I spent 4 hours there, with an iPod audioguide, bringing life to all the things I studied in Jewish History class at school but found really boring back then. They even had a Chanukah market at the entrance! The place showed the development of the Jewish community from the middle ages on, the role of reform Judaism and other sects, the rise of antisemitism, and of course the Holocaust.
The museum was designed by Daniel Libeskind, who is the architect for the new World Trade Centre, and the design added a lot to the experience. For instance, "Holocaust Tower", an enormously high and dark empty area, gave the feeling of being trapped in a void with no visible way out.
After passing through Dresden tomorrow, we´ll be returning to Germany around NYE, where we´ll spend a few Mich-free days in Munich.
