Berlin: History Lessons, Kebabs and Currywurst

I´ve been spoiled by the architectural splendor of Paris and the natural beauty of Switzerland that I initially found Berlin to be disappointing in its aesthetic and cultural offerings. But the longer I spent talking to the locals, walking through the residential neighborhoods and learning about its riveting history, I began to appreciate its unique character and respect the city for what it is and trying to become.

Day 1


I arrived on Thursday afternoon and first stopped by the East Side Gallery, a collection of murals designed on one of the few remaining parts of the Berlin Wall.


Before coming to Berlin, I knew very little about the city´s history, but as I visited each memorial and monument, the history puzzle pieces came together.


Following WWII, Germany was divided into four occupation zones: the US, the UK, France and the Soviet Union. Within two years the first three groups disagreed with the Soviet Union on the reconstruction plans so the US, UK and France consolidated their zones into one for reconstruction, while the Soviets controlled East Berlin. Eventually the Soviets constructed the wall in 1961 to prevent people from emigrating.


People living in East Berlin were pretty miserable because many defected and tried to escape into West Berlin.


The wall came down in 1989. The effects of the separation between west and east Germany are still apparent today, with the former being more wealthy than the latter.




View of the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire.


The Reichstag.


The dome on top of the Reichstag offers 360 views of the city.


The mirrored cone reminded me of the many kebab places in Berlin. The architect probably got his inspiration from them.




The Neue Wache, or the New Guard House, is now the Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany for the Victims of War and Tyranny.




The Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church. Friggin gypsies approached me with their clipboards. I can´t escape them!


Brandenburg Gate, the only remaining gate through which Berlin was once entered.

The first night I hung out with some people at the hostel. I learned some things about Berlin and Germany in general: drinking in public is allowed (I see beer bottle caps on the ground), college is free (just like France and Swizerland), students have extensive Hitler courses every year in school, tv shows and magazines always have topics on Hitler (like about his dogs or secretaries), people still feel very guilty about the Holocaust even though their generation wasn´t responsible for it, people loved America until Bush ruined its rep, people laugh when Republicans accuse Obama of being a socialist because Germans think that America is conservative compared to them, and the Hoff still interests people.

Day 2


In the morning I strolled along a river in the neighborhood of Kreuzberg. A few things I noticed: people let their dogs walk without leashes, some trashcans are separated by plastic/food/trash, and there are a lot of Vietnamese restaurants (and many more kebab and currywurst stands).


I often saw people drinking in the morning by themselves.




I got lunch from a Turkish market which sells fruits, veggies, fabric, dried fruits, bread, cheese and yummy Turkish food. Somone told me that Berlin has the largest Turkish population outside of Turkey. When the country was rebuilding, they lacked a skilled workforce so they welcomed people from other countries to come to temporarily work. Those workers decided to stay.




Gendarmenmarkt, a square.


The Holocaust Memorial. As I walked further in, the blocks became taller and I felt smaller.




A part of the Berlin Wall along the former Nazi Gestapo and SS headquarters.


The Topography of Terror, an outdoor and indoor museum chronicling the rise and fall of the Nazis and the aftermath of the war. The museum is on the site of the former Gestapo and SS headquarters, which is now just a bunch of rocks. I spent a couple hours reading through the history of how the Nazis systematically persecuted and murdered millions of Jewish people and also homosexuals, gypsies, the mentally disabled, political oppenents and anyone else they deemed worthless. I walked away very sad.


Tiergarten, a huge forest-like park. As I was breathing in the fresh cold air, I heard a loud cough to my left. I looked over and saw a man standing off of the path by the trees, pants down, jerking off. I was a bit shocked. None of the bicyclists passing by me seemed to notice him.


As I walked further in the park, no one was around me so I freaked out about runnning into other possible jerking off-ers, rapists or cannibals (because I´m paranoid like that) and quickly found the exit.


In the center of Tiergarten is the Victory Column that commerorates Prussia´s victory over three wars that eventually led to the formation of the German Empire.




Currywurst, sausage in barbeque sauce sprinkled with curry powder.

Day 3


A bit over the city, I took the train to Potsdam, the former residence of Prussian kings and German Kaisers up until 1918. This is Sanssouci Palace, the summer residence of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. It was built in 1745.








This was the first time I had ever seen a bust of an African person at a palace.


The garden has a pavilion called the Chinese House.


The Orangerie houses plants.


View of Sanssouci Park. Like Berlin, all the tourist sites are far apart.






The New Palace finished construction in 1769.

I have one more day in Berlin and then I´m off to Prague.