Berlin

I arrived in Berlin at around 8:00PM. Using the wifi at the train station, I found a hostel and headed there for the night. In the morning, I headed out to explore.

I visited the Brandenburg Gate, which was only a short way away from my hostel. Commissioned by Prussian king Frederick William II in 1788, the Gate was originally built as a symbol of peace, however throughout the centuries it has signified different things depending on the ruler’s ideology. While there, I ran across a political protest, something I don’t get to see that often living in a small town.

They were protesting the Assad regime in Syria. From there, I went to the Berlin Wall memorial. The official memorial includes a preservation of not only the wall itself, but also the Death Strip and the various additional fences that stood alongside the Wall.

Later that evening, I visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which is one of the most famous Holocaust memorials in the world. The site is 200,000 square feet, and the memorial consists of 2,711 concrete stelae of varying heights set in a grid pattern.

The next day, I walked to the East Side Gallery, the unofficial Berlin Wall memorial. This gallery is the longest remaining original section of the Wall, stretching about 1.5km along the river. Painted on the wall are 105 murals dedicated to documenting “a time of change and express(ing) the euphoria and great hopes for a better, more free future for all people of the world.”

It was a remarkable experience to walk along the wall, see all the murals, and contemplate the history this wall has seen and been involved in. On a lighter note, check out how this street restaurant improvised some chairs!