Berlin

After Prague, I traveled by train (again) to Berlin.  I could tell immediately that my hostel was in what was East Berlin as it was located at the intersection of Pariser Kommune and Karl Marx Allee.  The city is relatively modern due to the massive destruction during the Second World War but is full of history.  The centerpiece of world conflict during the 20th century, Berlin was first the capital of the Nazi empire and then divided by the conquering forces after its fall in 1945.  The Reichstag, the parliament building shown below, became a symbol of the end of the war in Europe when Red Army soldiers stormed the building and displayed the soviet flag above the city which would soon dominate the Eastern half.

Another interesting stop on my journey was at the Topography of Terror museum which houses history of the rise of the Third Reich and the acts conducted by the SS (branch of the govt that controlled the gestapo, the concentration camps and the Waffen-SS military and execution units) during the Holocaust.  Situated on the spot where the SS headquarters once stood, it is a very fitting location.  A few blocks from the museum is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.  The park is entirely covered by coffin shaped slabs of concrete varying in height from one to fifteen feet.

The other half of history that dominated Berlin for over 40 years was the division of the city, and country, between the Americans and Soviets.  The Berlin Wall, a symbol of hate first constructed in 1961, divided the city between East and West.  I visited what remains of the famous border crossing, Checkpoint Charlie, and visited the museum located there.  

Although most of the wall was destroyed in the years after the fall, certain sections of the wall are still preserved.  On the north side of the city, a short section of the wall, including one of the guard towers is blocked off and preserved to show what the border zones looked like during the height of the Cold War (although to avoid confusion the picture is my own).

The largest section the wall (1.3 kilometers) that remains today is located on the East side about a five minute walk from the hostel I stayed at.  It has been turned into an open air art gallery with paintings done right on the wall.  

Please click on the above photo to get a more detailed view.  However, it is still very small in comparison to what is stored on my computer.  An example section is shown below.

I spent 3 hours at the gallery and documented the entire 1.3 kilometers in 382 pictures.  The above photo is a compilation of 32 pictures all spliced together.  Hopefully given the time and the effort, I will be able to recreate the entire gallery.