3 Days in Berlin
The Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, Germany
Berlin Highlights
Brandenburger Tor, Potsdamer Platz, Kurfürstendamm and Check Point Charlie, and Potsdamer Platz
With so many attractions and rich history, we had not allowed enough time to explore Berlin. Hindsight is 20/20. We did, however, have a great time and would love to return at a later point. We spent three days in the magical capital of Germany.
Reasons To Visit Berlin
We had heard of place names such as Brandenburger Tor, Potsdamer Platz, Kurfürstendamm, and Check Point Charlie many times but had never visited Berlin, despite living so close for many years. Growing up in Denmark we could not fathom how they could, or why they would build a wall in Berlin.
The iconic TV tower in Berlin on a gloomy August day
The wall was built 3 years before I was born. During my youth, this was just the way it was. We had both visited the eastern block in Prague, me in ’81, and Di in ’83.
It became much clearer to us what it meant to live under a communist regime, where you were not allowed to leave your country without permission. A freedom we have taken for granted our entire lives.
Pension Ingeborg
Our accommodation, Pension Ingeborg, was located in Kurfürstendamm, about 4 kilometers from the center. It proved to be a good choice. The room was small but the included breakfast buffet was amazing and made for a good start to long days of exploring the city.
View of Großer Tiergarten Park and downtown Berlin from the Victory Column. The 67m column (283 steps) commemorates the Prussian-Danish war in 1864.
Pension Ingeborg was on the fourth floor with an ancient elevator and the building had a historic aura to it. We paid $85.00 per night. We can recommend it.
Kurfürstendamm
This is a vibrant area of Berlin with wide boulevards, shopping, and an endless choice of restaurants and cafés. We had dinner in Kurfürstendamm on our first evening and found plenty of tempting shops. Luckily you do not have to worry too much about shopping when you are backpacking.
Excessive shopping is not in our budget and very few items will actually fit in our backpacks. But what about that Leica M6 film camera I found on a side street from Kurfürstendamm at a reasonable 1,000 Euro? It should fit, don’t you think?
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Bombed during the Second World War and never rebuilt.
Hop On Hop Off
With so many sights to see in a fairly short period of time we tried something new to us; a two-day Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour pass. The cost was $37.00 per person for 2 days. This mode of transportation worked really well for us and the route was well planned out with several interesting stops along the way.
Earbuds were handed out on your first ride, pick your language, and the informative voice guides you along through the streets of Berlin with heaps of good information.
With the exception of one stop where a bus had broken down, the buses came and left like clockwork, and you rarely had to wait very long for the next bus.
The famous Brandenburger Tor where the wall finally came down in 1989.
Check Point Charlie
Check Point Charlie has turned into a tourist trap with souvenir shops everywhere and museums on every corner competing for your tourist euros. You can pay to have your photo taken at the checkpoint if you so desire.
We found a very good info/photography exhibit on the corner across from Check Point Charlie, which gave valuable insight into the wall/border areas and the extent East Germany went to in order to keep people on the Eastern side of the wall. If you want to dig deeper check out the Check Point Charlie Museum.
Check Point Charlie
Potsdamer Platz
Potsdamer Platz was completely rebuilt after it was heavily bombed during the Second World War and then laid to waste during the cold war. You will now find strikingly modern architecture here and it is home to many corporate headquarters and the famous Bahnhof Potsdamer Platz, a traffic hub in the city.
Bahnhof Potsdamer Platz
Holocaust Memorial
Di almost disappeared at the holocaust memorial, 2711 concrete slabs of different heights covering 19,000 square meters, near the Brandenburger Tor. The memorial is on a slight slope and its wave-like form is different wherever you stand.
Neue Wache Memoria
The Neue Wache memorial was a surprise. Built originally as a guardhouse, it now houses a memorial to the victims of war and dictatorship.
An enlarged version of Käthe Kollwitz's sculpture Mother with her Dead Son, sits directly below the oculus surrounded by silence. It is a very powerful visual. It is also the home of the unknown soldier and the unknown concentration camp victim.
The Neue Wache memorial in Berlin
Auf Wiedersehen
Reviewing our stay in Berlin we both agree it was a more than worthwhile stop. It was interesting to visit a city so noticeably marked by a wall dividing it into East and West for almost thirty years. A wall Berliners were ashamed of.
Lessons have been learned from this and it was interesting to see how openly the Germans have chosen to share their dark history.
A reunified Germany has changed the city into a modern metropolis. Construction and renovations are underway everywhere. This city has moved on, yet signals - we must never forget.
We have a few more photos from Berlin below.
The Berlin Holocaust Memorial
The impressive Berlin Mall. It took us 15 minutes to find the washrooms. ¢0.50 to use the bathroom hier bitte.
We had no train to catch but made a stop at Berlin’s Hauptbahnhof, Main Train Station. An impressive architectural accomplishment, completed on time for the 2006 soccer World Cup.
The area around Kurfürstendamm with its quaint shops and cafés is almost as charming as Di.
At Potsdamer Platz, Berlin
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Photos in this article are made using a Fujifilm X-Pro2. Lenses: XF 14mm f/2.8 R - XF 23mm f/1.4 R - XF 35mm f/1.4 R (links to my camera and lens reviews). Editing was done in Capture One Express. I have used Fujifilm film simulations for some of the photos.
