Berlin

We had a beautiful day in Berlin. You couldn't ask for better weather to see the major downtown sites. After breakfast at the hotel we walked over to the old army headquarters, which is now a museum remembering many of the people who stood up against the Nazis.

The courtyard has a wreath marking the spot where several of the Valkyrie conspirators were shot after the failed attempt to kill Hitler with a bomb. The museum had English audio guides, but it was unfortunate that most of the exhibits didn't have translations as there was a lot of excellent material. The museum was in the actual offices of several of the participants, making it a great use of the space. The museum used the word "murdered" instead of "executed" in all cases, which was appropriate and powerful.

The White Rose resistors, college students who were murdered for distributing pamphlets.

From there we caught a bus to the south end of the Tiergarten (a huge park). There's an iconic church steeple that was all that was left of the Kaiser Wilhelm church after the bombing. Some beautiful mosaics inside.

We walked up through the park, past the zoo, and had brats outside.

After the war the Soviets were quick to build a war memorial. This was a huge statue way up on top looking down at you. Doesn't leave much question as to who is in charge.

You see a lot of interesting things at the Brandenburg Gate

Another war memorial

We walked past the opera house where the Nazi book burning took place. It's right by the museum where Einstein and many other Nobel laureates taught. There's a spot where you look underground and see a bunch of symbolic empty bookshelves. Note the crane - there's construction everywhere here.

David and I went into the Pergamum Museum while the others enjoyed the sun

Next we took the train to Checkpoint Charlie, and the excellent museum nearby documenting the many ways East Germans tried to flee the communists. Between the world wars and then the communist oppression the common German people really had it bad for a long time.

The basement of the SS headquarters (the only bit remaining) now has an open air museum on the terror of the regime, and a large section of the wall. Overall I've been very impressed at all of the different ways the Berliners are keeping this history alive. It's such a difficult subject to address, and they've done it in a remarkable way.

Finally dinner. David and I split a plate very tasty pasta and a "wurst parade". Yum.