There is still one more day in Berlin with me! Are you ready to join me?
It's going to be a busy day! We will visit The Berlin Wall Memorial, Museum Island, and The Tiergarten Park.
I can't wait to start the tour!
Sculpture 'Reconciliation'
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/10 18 mm
The Berlin Wall Memorial
The Berlin Wall Memorial is situated on Bernauer Strasse in the middle of Berlin. It's 1.4 km long and there are many trees lining the street, giving it some kind of a serenity feeling.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/10 18 mm
I was feeling uneasy on the way to the Memorial as I didn't know what to expect. Just thinking about horrendous things that happened there in the past made me feel sick. But I wanted to see the wall that changed lives of so many innocent people...
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 18 mm
There are preserved grounds and open - air exhibition behind the remains of the Berlin wall so you can imagine how it looked like until the end of the 1980's when the city was divided into the East and the West Berlin.
The permanent exhibition was opened in 2014 and it explains the situation that led to the Wall’s construction, its fall, and the reunification of Germany.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/10 18 mm
The Berlin Wall was cutting a line through the city center of Berlin from August 1961 until November 1989. It was built to stop East Berliners from fleeing to the West. But it didn't stop them completely.
People kept trying to escape the regime and cross the wall to get to the West Berlin. To strengthen the wall the 'death strips' were created by adding more layers of barriers to the wall. Many people risked their lives when they attempted to cross them. A few of them were successful but many of them lost their lives..
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/16 18 mm
Can you imagine almost 30 years without your family and friends? This was the daily life of thousands of people..
Watchtowers were occupied by border soldiers. They were built 250 meters apart so that the guards could oversee the border area between the towers. They were supposed to recognize people trying to flee and prevent their escape. They had the order to shoot if they unable to hinder their escape.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/16 18 mm
There were 90 people killed by the border soldiers in Berlin.
After Mikhail Gorbachev gave up the Brezhnev doctrine in 1988 and allowed the Eastern Bloc states to determine their own national policies there were many protests against the regime.
The fall of the Wall on November 9th, 1989 led to the end of East Germany and its dictatorship.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/13 18 mm
It took us a few hours to walk around the exhibition and read all the information. There is also a place where you can listen to testimonies of the Berliners who lived in the East Berlin. Their stories are heartbreaking.
I was instantly feeling blessed to live in a safe environment. This is luxury even nowadays when you think about the conflicts happening in so many countries..
The Museum Island
I think it's time to visit the Museum Island, don't you?
Museum island consists of five museums: Pergamonmuseum (Pergamon Museum), Bode-Museum, Neues Museum (New Museum), Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery) and Altes Museum (Old Museum). We came to the island to admire the architecture and not to visit the museums as we didn't purchase the tickets in advance and there were hundreds visitors queuing to get their tickets.
At the beginning of the Museum Island there is The Berliner Dom
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/9 18 mm
It was impossible to take a good photo because of the reconstruction work taking place on the building.
It's one of the most beautiful buildings in Berlin. It is also the most important Protestant church in the city. We usually attend the Catholic service on Sunday morning. We were close to the Dom on Saturday evening and thought it was a good idea to attend the service at 6 PM instead of waking up early in the morning.
We only had a few minutes before the service and were in a hurry to get there without noticing that it was a protestant church.
We sat down and the service started. We realized quickly that it was a little bit strange and I wondered why there was a sculpture of Luther in the church. We were just looking at each other unable to move. It was so quiet that we didn't dare to leave the church. We stayed there until the end of the service and we are still having a good laugh about how silly we were not to check it in advance.
On Sunday morning we woke up early and went to the Catholic church instead 😊
Back to the Museum Island..
The Altes Museum (Old Museum) was the first museum on the island. It was opened in 1830. It gave access to collections of art and historical objects. The ensemble of all five museums was completed in 1903.
My favorite building was the Old National Gallery.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/8 18 mm
The main architect was Friedrich August Stüler . He was inspired by Acropolis in Athens. It was opened in 1876.
ISO 100 1/160 sec. f/8 18 mm
The building was damaged during the World War II. It was renovated but it wasn't opened until the reunification of Germany in 1990.
This monument was created by sculptor Alexander Calandrelli. It represents Friedrich Wilhelm IV as he came up with the idea of creating the Museum Island.
ISO 100 1/250 sec. f/7.1 18 mm
In front of the Old National Gallery there is a green area with various sculptures.
The sculpture on the left was created by Reinhold Felderhoff and it's called Diana - Goddess of the hunt.
The one on the right was created by Adolf Brütt and it's called The Fisherman (‘Saved’) - a fisherman is holding a girl that he just saved from drowning.
This one on the left was created by Ferdinand Lepcke and it's called Female Archer.
The one on the right was created by Atelier Van Lieshout and it's called The Monument.
There were a few more sculptures but my favorite one is Hercules and the Nemean Lion created by Max Klein. This sculpture was the most complicated one and it was difficult to understand what it is. I had to walk around to see the details of the fight between Hercules and the lion.
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/7.1 18 mm
I hope you have can still walk as we're going to the Tiergarden now!
Tiergarten Park
The Tiergarten Park is the green heart of Berlin. It is a park that cover 210 hectares of forested grounds.
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/5 18 mm
The park is the perfect place for walking, jogging, cycling, skating or just relaxing with your friends and family.
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/5.6 18 mm
It was cold and windy so there were just a few people in the park. It was also raining for a few minutes.. I can imagine that this meadow is crowded during hot summer days..
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/9 18 mm
There are also a few small lakes in the park. I'm not sure if it's permitted to swim there but I didn't notice any signs saying it was prohibited. As it was cold we wouldn't go to the water anyway 😊
ISO 100 1/125 sec. f/9 18 mm
Do you want to learn a little bit about the history of Tiergarten?
Before the 17th century the park served as a royal hunting ground. Friedrich III turned it into a “park for the pleasure of the general population”.
The park was damaged during the World War II but it also suffered after the war when Berliners cut down what was left of the trees to use it as fuel during the winter due to the lack of coal. The park was almost deforested. In 1949 Berlin started with planting new trees.
There are many monuments in the park like this one on the Luiseinsel.
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/9 18 mm
The park is so beautiful that it's hard to believe that the trees were planted not even 70 years ago.. Various flower beds add to its charm too.
ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/9 18 mm
As I said at the beginning it was a long day today but I hope you enjoyed it. We loved Berlin and we are already planning another culinary trip there as we didn't have a chance to visit as many vegan restaurants as we wanted. I'll share my vegan experience with you soon!
PS: My hair is the proof that it was very windy! 😊
All pictures are taken by my Nikon D3200 AF-S NIKKOR 18-55 mm 1:3.5-5.6 G II (except of the ones indicated in the text)
Thank you for reading,
Cheers,
Martina
