Germany: Day II (Berlin)

Thursday, June 16^th:

The Neue Synagogue:

Guten Tag!

            We woke up today around 1pm due to our super-late night watching the Bruins. I had not been that happy waking up in a long time! We left our hotel and began our time sightseeing in Berlin after stopping for a croissant at a café. Berlin is an absolutely massive city, and the sites are fairly spread out; public transportation is a must. We walked up the street to our first site and one of my favorites from when I had visited the city when I was twelve, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church. This church was completed in 1895 but almost completely destroyed by bombing raids in 1945. The bell tower of the church remained in its half-destructed state as a symbol of peace while a modern version of the church was constructed after the war. Very unfortunately for us, however, was that the city of Berlin was in the process of restoring the church exterior (however they will keep the bombed-out silhouette). The entire church was covered with a very ugly aluminum siding covering the scaffolding underneath. We did get to visit the church memorial hall, though, with its beautiful mosaics and the old statue of Christ, half-destroyed, that survived the bombings. The new church is ultra-modern, and looks very cool (especially at night) as the exterior is made of glass tiles constructed from tiny pieces of glass attached together.

The Interior of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church:

            From here we made our way to the Zoologischer Garten train station, purchased our Berlin City Tour Cards for the subways, trains, and buses, and hopped on the train towards Museum Island and the Friedrichstraße station. The Berlin City Tour Card allows unlimited travel for anywhere between one and four days (although we never once had our tickets checked on any train…) and gives some discounts at museums in the city. We got off the above-ground train (S-Train) at the Friedrichstraße station and walked across the Spree River to the Neue Synagogue. This synagogue was badly damaged during the Nazi Kristallnacht and furthermore completely destroyed during allied bombing raids in 1943, but its old façade and beautiful golden dome were reconstructed in the mid 1980s. From there we walked back over the river to Museuminsel, or Museum Island, where five massive museums have been constructed. We walked by the Bode-Museum and the Pergammonmuseum, and were going to go inside before we realized that on Thursdays these museums are open until 10pm! We kept walking towards the giant green-copper dome on the other end of the island instead.

Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral):

            The giant green dome belongs to the Berliner Dom, Berlin Cathedral. This building was originally constructed in the 16^th century, however today’s massive church was built in 1905 and is the largest Protestant church in Germany. We went inside and explored the multiple levels of this church which include a massive sanctuary, a small museum-style gallery of the church’s history, a Prussian Royal Crypt, and a long climb up to the top of the dome where tourists can go outside and explore the awesome views of the city. The crypt was particularly amazing to me as over 80 sarcophagi of Prussian royals line the room. We walked out of the church and over to the area known as Babelplatz. It was here, in this very plaza, that Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels orchestrated one of the largest national book-burnings of the Nazi era. Over 20,000 books were burned here, and a subtle memorial in the center of the plaza commemorates the missing writings. Tourists can look through a glass window and below it is what seems like empty bookshelves as far as the eye can see. It is quite sad to think of the writings that were lost during these hard times in World history.

The Pergamon Altar:

            Immediately adjacent to the plaza is the St. Hedwig’s Cathedral. We did not really get to explore this church, as a service of some kind was going on, but we walked around for a few minutes in this 18^th century gem. Then we walked a block or two over to Frederick’s Church which holds a free sculpture-art gallery inside. We walked around this gallery inside a beautiful venue before heading back to Museum Island at around 6pm. Our first museum was the Pergamonmuseum, and was my favorite of the trip so far. The museum’s title attraction is the Pergamon Altar, an ancient Greek work of art dedicated to the gods that was built in 180 BC in present-day Turkey. Visitors are immediately greeted by this massive structure when entering, and the walls of the main room are covered in bits and pieces that have been recovered of the massive frieze that ran along the outer wall of the altar. Other impressive exhibits include the gateway to Miletus, an ancient Roman structure that reminded me astoundingly of the great Library of Celsus in Ephesus, Turkey, and the Babylonian Ishtar Gate. The museum also has really interesting Babylonian, Assyrian, Ancient Syria, and Islamic Art exhibits.

The Babylonian Ishtar Gate:

            After wandering around the Pergammonmuseum for almost two hours, we got dinner across the street at a tiny restaurant called Pergammonkeller. Here I ate some Smoked Pork with potatoes and sauerkraut with a tomato soup, and Jen ate a mixed salad with a cream of garlic soup. I also drank a couple Berliner Pilsners here, and Jen tried the red-syrup version of the Berliner Weisse. We walked to the other end of the island to go inside the Bode-Museum next. The Bode-Museum is a more traditional museum, filled with collections of Italian, German, Spanish, French, and Dutch sculptures from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period. An astounding number of these works are of religious figures, especially of Christ on the crucifix. We stayed in this museum until it closed at 10pm, and then took the train back home for the night. It was a great first day in this massive and lively city, and we can’t wait to explore more tomorrow!

The Bode Museum: