We got turned around walking through Mitte, heading toward Alexanderplatz, where the Fernsehturm (Berlin's recognizable TV Tower) is located, and ended up back by my place. On our walk, though, we came upon a number of Stolpersteine (or stumbling stones) which are little brass plaques inlaid in the sidewalk memorializing a family member or person who lived at the adjacent building before the war but was removed and murdered during the war.
Frequently, in school, German elementary students will do a research project on someone who was killed during the war and in doing so, they might raise money and have one of these stolpersteine put in place.
So even though we got turned around, we eventually made our way over to the Reichstag building where the Bundestag (Germany's "House of Representatives"), hoping to get in and tour the new glass dome which sits over the Bundestag chambers, has two ramps that rise around and up the circumference of the dome, and has a large mirrored sculpture in the center, providing natural light to the chambers below. It was unfortunately closed to general touring and so we could not get in. Doesn't mean we didn't see anything, though!
In front of the Reichstag there is a memorial to 96 politicians who opposed Hitler's ideals before the onset of WWII and because of their pro-democracy viewpoints were some of the first victims of the war. Just around the corner from the Reichstag is another memorial dedicated to East Germans who died while trying to cross over the Berlin Wall from East to West Germany.
Lizzie and I kept following the trace of the Berlin Wall south to the Brandenburger Tor. The thing I'm having a hard time with in Berlin is that so many of the sights, landmarks, and places here were involved in so many different historical uprisings, protests, celebrations, and wars, that it is almost too much to take in. I'm sure I've barely scratched the surface with what I've learned. Oh well. It just leaves more for next time!
The Brandenburger Tor is the only one of 14 gates to the old city of Berlin where it was the western entrance coming from Brandenburg, through the Tiergarten, where Germany's royal families had their hunting grounds (and is now Berlin's Central Park). It was built in the late 1700s and went through numerous reconstructions. Almost bombed out during multiple wars it remained standing and the Goddess of Victory up on top is a testament to that history. The middle photo above shows a lot of cement patches in the sandstone columns which are places where bullets and shrapnel ripped out chunks of the Tor. Some buildings around Berlin have filled these holes in or covered them up while others have left them as a reminder of Berlin's past.
One thing though, I haven't been able to figure out why the statue on top faces into the city... I figure she should be looking the other way, welcoming you to the city. I don't know. It just seems backward to me.
So Lizzie and I had our obligatory photos taken during the day while we were there and then later, when we returned at night after a long day of walking, getting lost, a deeply cut shin, 3 museums, and a broken camera (stories to come soon!). The night photo is definitely one of my favorites so far!
Here is the entire photo set from my trip:
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