Two-Day Trek: Berlin, Germany
The fall of the wall has ushered in a sustained period of redevelopment and reinvention.
Although it’s hard to forget the divisions of the late 20th century, Berlin has come together to turn itself into a hub of history, hedonism and happiness.
SATURDAY
After arriving via the two-hour Inter-City Express train from Hamburg in the early afternoon, we (poorly) navigated our way from the Berlin Hauptbahnhof to our hotel, the recently built Courtyard Berlin City Center (Axel-Springer-Straße 55), crucially located near the Spittelmarkt U-Bahn station.
Our first stop, just 10 minutes away, was Checkpoint Charlie, an allied military post and the main gateway between East Berlin and West Berlin for non-Germans. The original post was torn down in May 1990, but a replica that is routinely staffed by donation-seeking “soldiers” has since been built. It’s a magnet for tourists, who fueled the creation of two nearby private museums, but we had been warned that they were relatively incoherent and that better glimpses of divided life could be found elsewhere in the city.
With December darkness already descending, we scurried up toward the Mall of Berlin — but not for some shopping. Rather, two blocks north of the complex is the former location of the Fuhrerbunker (corner of Gertrud-Kolmar-Straße and In den Ministergärten), an air raid shelter in which Adolf Hitler and his wife killed themselves on April 30, 1945. The bunker itself was demolished by the Soviets not long thereafter, and the site, now the location of a parking lot and apartment buildings, was finally marked by an informative sign a decade ago.
A gentle loop around the mall, through Leipziger Platz and Potsdamer Platz, brought us face to face with remaining sections of the Berlin Wall for the first time, as the boundary cut straight through the two squares. The area, including the mall, has only been recently built up by big-money corporations after spending many years during the city’s division as a grassy wasteland.
A few blocks away is the chilling Topography of Terror (Niederkirchnerstraße 8), a museum built on the site of the former home of the headquarters of the Third Reich’s security services, including the Gestapo and the SS. Audioguides are available, but unnecessary; the exhibit has few artifacts but tells a compelling chronological history of how the Nazi regime used terror and oppression to take over and rule Germany. (As if greater intimidation was needed, just outside is the most well-preserved section of the Berlin Wall itself — an 800-foot section largely free of graffiti.)
Considering it was December in Germany, we then caught the U2 line of the U-Bahn from Potsdamer Platz to Sophie-Charlotte-Platz for a trek to Charlottenburg Palace, the site of one of Berlin’s most scenic Christmas markets. The palace, built in the early 18th century in the baroque style for the first King of Prussia, provides a beautiful backdrop for the more than 250 vendors who set up their stalls each year. And, on one weekend a year, residents of the neighborhood set up a locally sourced craft market outside the Brohan Museum across the street.
We feasted on bratwurst and glühwein and waffles at the market, then took the U2 line back to Spittelmarkt to return to our hotel that night.
What To Know
Date of visit: Dec. 1 to Dec. 3, 2018.
Airport location: Tegel, accessible by bus, is five miles northwest of the city center and Schonfeld, which has a train station, is 11.5 miles southeast. Both take about 35 minutes.
Walkability: 6/10. It’s said to be a walkable city, but public transportation options are everywhere and much easier.
English: Passable, but don’t expect everyone to know it.
Must-See Attraction: History buffs will have much to choose from, but a stop at the free Berlin Wall Memorial will appeal to everyone.
Traveler’s tip: Visitors to the Reichstag must register through the government website and bring a passport for proof of identity.
SUNDAY
Our day began with a bit of a somber note as we caught the U-bahn to Naturkundemuseum, then walked to the nearby Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer [Berlin Wall Memorial]. Adjacent to a remaining section of the wall, this visitors’ center sets up a self-guided mile-long walking tour with a pair of 15-minute videos that show the realities of life in the divided city. Separated into four sections, the first includes a remaining portion of the wall itself, with three others punctuated by occasional markers and tributes to specific events that happened at that very spot.
The tour concluded outside the Mauerpark, which is taken over every Sunday by a massive flea market. Similar markets in other cities have begun catering to tourists with the usual cheap souvenirs, but that wasn’t the case here. In one corner, a number of tables held cardboard boxes full of random goods; some vendors sold vinyl records, others offered handmade clothing and one even had a table overflowing with locks.
We took advantage of the market’s international food stalls for lunch, then met up with a friend, Stephan, who lives in Berlin near our hotel for a casual guided tour of his part of the city. He walked us through Museum Island, home to five history and art museums; Hackescher Markt, a popular nightlife area; and KulturBrauerei, a brewery-turned-entertainment complex. Our walk ended about three miles away from where we started at the Platz des 9 November 1989, a recent memorial near the Bösebrücke bridge on Bornholmer Straße where East Berliners first breached the crossing into West Berlin shortly after hearing the gates were to be opened.
That’s where we parted, and with daylight disappearing, we hopped on the S-bahn and switched to the U-bahn to get to Berlin Ostbahnhof, the old main train station. Two blocks away is the East Side Gallery, a kilometer-long section of the Berlin Wall that has remained to display “local art” — a classier way of referring to anti-oppression graffiti. The most famous mural, of Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker kissing, is nearly directly across from the arena.
Before leaving our friend earlier in the day, we asked for his advice on a local restaurant that serves traditional local fare. Stephan steered us toward Zum Schusterjungen (Danziger Straße 9), which was exactly what we wanted. After feeling obligated to start off with currywurst, a local comfort food similar to a hot dog in barbecue sauce, we had the boiled meatballs in caper sauce and pork knuckle with sauerkraut.
MONDAY
A steady rain dampened our morning, slightly spoiling our trip to the Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building. Left mostly in ruins following a fire in 1933 until it was renovated in the mid-1960s, it returned as the seat of government in 1999 following another reconstruction. Visitors can arrange guided tours of the building or just enjoy the scenic views from the ultra-modern dome that rises from its top.
Trudging through the rain, we stopped just outside the building at the Brandenburg Gate, a landmark and one of few true symbols of Europe that was originally built as the entrance to the city in 1791. It has seen plenty over the years — Napoleon, Hitler and the Soviets all marched through it — and it was from just nearby that Ronald Reagan implored Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.”
Having taken a brief respite indoors for coffee and donuts (unfortunately, there were no Berliners in sight), the skies cleared enough for us to continue on to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, known informally as the Holocaust Memorial. Opened in 2005, it features 2,711 gray concrete slabs of alternating heights that are roughly the dimensions of a coffin, though designer Peter Eisenman has said that was not the intent. Alternately criticized and celebrated, its location, both within Berlin and in Germany, undoubtedly makes it a visceral commemoration.
Back toward the center of the city, and bracketed by the Deutscher Dom [German Cathedral], Französischer Dom [French Cathedral] and Konzerthaus, is the Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin’s central public square, originally built in 1688. The three buildings were badly damaged during World War II but have since been restored; in December, it hosts a Christmas market that is so popular that it charges an admission fee except for during the morning weekday hours.
We ate chicken schnitzel and sauerkraut at one of the pop-up market stalls for lunch, then wandered about half a mile north and returned to Museum Island. Because it was Monday, our choices were limited; whereas one ticket typically gets visitors into all five (and soon to be six) buildings, only the Pergamon Museum and the Neues Museum are open. Thus, we entered both, marveling at the collection of preserved Mesopotamian and Roman artifacts in the former and then checking out the ancient Egyptian collection in the latter.
And, finally, we ended our journey with a stop at the DDR Museum (Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 1), which takes a whimsical look at life in East Germany and is highly recommended. Take a simulated ride in a Trabant, the substandard car that residents saved for, on average, 16 years to finally buy, and check out a quirky display that tried to explain why East Germans loved nude beaches.
A few blocks away was our hotel, so we grabbed our belongings, hopped on the U-bahn to the Berlin Zoologischer Garten stop and then caught the X9 bus to Tegel Airport, about 25 minutes away.
Verdict: Its historical importance made Berlin a place I had wanted to visit for so long, and fortunately, it didn’t disappoint. That our visit also happened in December, when the Christmas season was well underway, also helped add a bit of festive flavor, even though the chilly temperatures and the rain made it a bit more dreary.
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Disclaimers: All products, services and experiences were paid for and arranged by the author and the vendors named herein had no editorial oversight of this piece. All photographs were taken by and remain the property of the author; contact for republication rights.
