2 Go Berlin Photos

We have always wanted to see Berlin. Its history, including the political activities during the 1930s, WWII, the Cold War and the separation of the city between capitalism and communism, the fall of the Wall, and the process of reunification, is very intriguing. Berlin is a fascinating place. There is so much to see and do, as the city is eight times the size of Paris.

The Brandenburg Gate

The Brandenburg Gate is an important landmark in Berlin. If the gate could talk, what stories she could tell. She was constructed in 1791 at the request of the royal family of Prussia whose palace was in Berlin. The royal family passed through the gate as they would leave the city and travel out to their summer home. Life was rough.

Many German leaders, including Hitler and his Nazi regime, passed under the gate many times as they paraded through the streets of Berlin. The gate miraculously survived the heavy bombing of WWII which destroyed everything else around her. When WWII ended, Germany was divided between the Allies (which included USA, Britain and France) and the Soviet Union, all of whom had been fighting the Nazis together. Berlin was also divided into several zones of control. The Brandenburg Gate fell into the hands of the Soviet Union as part of East Berlin. The Allies' area of the city was named West Berlin.

Relations quickly worsened between the Allies and the Soviets and, in 1948, the Soviets set up a blockade which prohibited anything from getting into West Berlin. The territory of West Berlin was an island of democracy which was completely surrounded by the territory occupied and controlled by the Soviets. The Allies, however, were not going to let the people of West Berlin starve. They conducted an around the clock airlift in order to deliver food and other necessities to the people of West Berlin for close to one year before the blockade was finally lifted.

Another consequence of the division was that the people of East Germany were under Communist rule, which meant they could not leave Communist territory and travel into West Berlin. This resulted in the separation of families and complete isolation for the East Germans. Many East Germans did not like this, and between the period of 1949 and 1961 close to four million people (many of which were well educated) escaped into West Germany simply by jumping onto a train. The Commies needed to close this escape hatch. Therefore, during the early morning hours of August 12, 1961, fences were erected into what was to become the Berlin Wall. When the citizens woke up that morning, they were faced with the cold reality that there was now a wall between themselves and the rest of the non-Communist world. Within three days, the fences were turning into concrete walls.

The beautiful and enduring Brandenburg Gate was caught in the middle of all of this...literally. She stood for 28 years in an area called the Death Strip, which was the area in East Berlin between the inner and outer Berlin Wall--it was constantly patrolled by East Berlin troops who had orders to shoot to kill. The citizens of Berlin could only admire their beloved gate from afar.

On the evening of November 9, 1989, it was announced, much to everyone's surprise, that the people of East Berlin could now travel into West Berlin. The people began to celebrate immediately and the section of the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Gate was splashed across the front page of every newspaper around the world. Within a short period of time, the people of Berlin were able to enter through the Brandenburg Gate for the first time in decades. As we said, the Brandenburg Gate has played an important role throughout the history of Berlin.

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was built in 1895. In 1943, Allied bombs destroyed the church and left it hollowed out and topless. It stands today as a reminder of the destruction that war can bring.

On April 21, 1945, as WWII was nearing its end, over a million Soviet soldiers reached the city of Berlin and within days Nazi Germany surrendered. The Soviets have built memorials in East Berlin to honor their soldiers and the victory over the Nazis in the Battle of Berlin. To the right we can see one of the first Soviet tanks that rolled into the city of Berlin.

Like the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag is another Berlin landmark. It was built in 1894 for the Imperial German Parliament. After WWI, the German Republic was proclaimed from its windows. In 1933, the Reichstag was torched and in 1945 it was bombed heavily. When Stalin's Soviet troops marched into Berlin, he wanted them to claim the Reichstag. There is a famous photo of a Soviet soldier standing on top of the burning Reichstag and raising the Soviet flag. Unfortunately for Stalin, the Reichstag was located on the Allied territory after the partition. Restoration took years, and the Reichstag stood empty. On October 2, 1990, the reunification agreement was signed here. It was later announced that the Reichstag would be the seat for the unified German parliament. Restoration was completed and this famous glass dome was designed to top off the beloved building.

While the Potsdamer Platz area sat empty for almost thirty years as the Death Strip between the Walls, it was at one time the heart of the city of Berlin. In fact, the very first European traffic light was located in this area. Today, it is once again humming with excitement and construction. Some call it the largest construction site in the world. Already, you can visit Potsdamer Platz and see the Sony Center, the Daimler Center, the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Potsdamer Platz Arkaden shopping mall, the Musical Theater, IMAX, and much more.

Artwork decorates some of the remaining sections of the Berlin Wall. For decades this wall stood as a barrier to the hopes, dreams and freedom of the citizens of East Berlin. While many enjoyed the socialist lifestyle, most did not. The soldiers who guarded the wall were given the orders to shoot and kill anybody who attempted to escape. This did not prevent many from still making an attempt. Many were actually successful in their escape attempts, but many died in their attempt.

Checkpoint Charlie was the main border crossing between East and West during the Cold War. While people could enter into communist East Berlin, the citizens of East Berlin were not able to leave.

The Fraternal Kiss is a famous Berlin Wall painting (painted during the euphoria following the fall of the Wall), depicting the former leader of the Soviet Union, L. Brezhnev, in a lip lock with the former head of East Germany, E. Honecker.

Rich stands in front of a section of the Berlin Wall known as the East Side Gallery. Artists from all over the world have come to paint their message on this famous concrete medium.

There is still a lot more to see in Berlin. Continue to Berlin Page 2.

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