June 20-23, 1984

June 20-23, 1984

From Bergen, Norway I took the train back to Copenhagen and on to West Berlin, Germany. West Berlin, despite being part of West Germany is wholly contained in the communist bloc country of East Germany. I stayed one night at the youth hostel Jugendgastehaus and then at a local university’s student dorm. I started with a walking tour of West Berlin, down the shopping district of Ku’damm to the Kaiser Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche, the bombed-out ruins of a church left standing as a reminder of WWII destruction. I then walked on thru the giant Tiergarten Park (former hunting ground of the king) along June 17th Street, named for the 1953 failed uprising in East Berlin. On the way I attempted to converse with some cute French girls. Unfortunately the little bit of French I learned is only helpful in finding the price and availability of a hotel room and not much else. In the park I saw the Siegessaule, a Prussian Victory Column, and the Soviet WWII Memorial that the Russians built and still guard despite it being on this side of the wall.

Continuing east I came to the Reichstag, the former German Parliament building until it burned under mysterious circumstances in 1933. Hitler used the fire as an excuse to take emergency powers. It has been restored and now contains a small history museum in the lobby.

Next-door is the Brandenburg Gate, the former symbol of pre-war Berlin. Unfortunately it is now in the “no man’s land” behind the Berlin wall.

Just south at Potsdamer Platz, I got my first good look at the wall from a raised viewing stand. Despite being covered with graffiti you can tell the Russians mean business. It would be tough to cross the dead zone in the middle without a fatal gunshot from one of the watchtower guards. The Iron Curtain was built in 1961 to "protect" East Germans from the Capitalist West.

I had a hankering for some American food and found a McDonalds. I don’t really like McDonalds as I always need to request a special-order. Doing this in Germany is especially difficult. Fortunately an Army guy stationed in Germany helped with the translation. After all this I had to return to the counter for catsup and found they charged extra for catsup packets. It is amazing the little nuance differences you find from the States. I remember the dirty looks we got at a fast-food restaurant in London at the beginning of this trip. We ordered carryout and then decided to eat-in. No big deal, right. Except in Europe, where apparently you pay extra for eat-in versus carryout.

From my guidebook I learned I could get a one-day visa to enter East Berlin. The primary access is the famous Checkpoint Charlie. On the Allied side Checkpoint Charlie looks like some temporary looking structure, but on the east side, it looks permanent and all business. I Immediately knew I was in a different country. Everything is drab and industrial with few people. The couple soldiers I passed eyed me cautiously but left me alone.

I walked past Gendarmenmarkt Square with its two old churches under renovation, Deutscher and Franzosischer Dom, past the Monument to the Victims of Fascism to Museum Island, old Berlin’s sanctuary for art and science.

When the city was divided, all the great museums ended up behind the Iron Curtain. On Museum Island I went to the Pergamon Museum which has an outstanding collection of ancient artifacts unearthed by German archeologists. Several are of monumental scale and fill rooms. The Ishtar Gate from ancient Babylon is made of brilliant blue (and rare) stones of Lapis Lazuli. It was built in 575BC. If this gate is any indication, Babylon must have been extraordinary.

The imposing Pergamon altar built around 200BC was unearthed from a Greek settlement on the western Turkish coast. I also went through the Bode and Altes Museums. The Bode had some wonderful Byzantine mosaics from an Italian Church. Mosaics floors were common in ancient times and they fascinate me.

My visa is only good for one day so after a quick run thru the museums I walked to the central square of Alexanderplatz with its contrast of old and new. The beautiful old Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral), Marienkirche and Neptune Fountain stand in contrast with the modern and sterile Weltuhr (world clock) and Fernsehturm TV tower. This 1200-foot tower can be seen for miles away and has an elevator to the top for views of the city. Despite the new additions, East Berlin probably has the prettiest sections of Berlin. Berlin must have been a wonderful city in its heyday before much of it was destroyed by bombing and divided by the victors.

As part of the one-day visa I was forced to buy some East German Marks. They are worthless in the West so I used them for postcards and to stock up on food supplies. The strangest thing I bought was warm milk in cartons. It tastes fine so I am thinking they have some yet-to-be FDA-approved preservative process. I returned to West Berlin and hopped on the train south.