I went to Berlin the last week in September. Again, I apologize for my extreme tardiness and promise to try to get better.
Berlin! Berlin! Berlin! Woohoo! Not only was this my first really big Fulbright adventure, it was also special because I was meeting up with my dear college friend Madi, who was finishing up an epic European vacation in Germany. She’d already been to Dublin, Liverpool, Salzburg, and Munich. Mad props to her, as she not only planned this trip at whirlwind speed with tour guides in every city but Salzburg and Munich, but she also let me drag her around Berlin with aching feet to see some of the best of what the city has to offer. I’d been feeling a little overwhelmed as of late, as I was still trying to awaken those parts of my brain that once knew German after being here a month (very frustrating) and to walk into the hostel and see her lovely face was just what I needed! Not to mention Berlin is a cool, funky, quirky city – and Madi is one of the coolest, funkiest, and quirkiest people I know. A recipe for fun if I ever heard of one!
Sadly the only picture we took of ourselves on this trip, but I think it accurately captures our excitement
We both got to the hostel around 11 on Friday morning, and after throwing our luggage in the baggage room we immediately set out to explore the city. We started at Alexanderplatz, where we snacked on currywurst (an original Berliner dish, but rumor has it the best currywurst in Germany is in the Ruhrgebiet. Let’s be honest, in the search for the best currywurst, everyone wins) and checked out their baby Oktoberfest stalls. From there, we set out to the Museums Insel, which houses a ton of museums on one little island on the Spree River. Our object was the Pergamon Museum, but as the line was ridiculously long we decided to book those tickets online and opt for another place. We went instead to the Neues Museum, which contrary to its name houses very old things. We spent our early afternoon looking at Egyptian mummies and German artifacts from the Stone and Iron Ages. Old things are cool.
After that we hopped over to the Nikolaiviertel for lunch (which has quite a few pretty affordable German restaurants) to rest our feet and recharge. We then checked into our hostel, recharged a little more, and then were back out into the city. This time we headed further east to the area around Potsdamer Platz to check out the Brandenburger Tor, the Reichstag (if you want a tour, reserve ahead of time!), the Holocaust Memorial, and the memorial just across from the Brandenburg Gate to those who lost their lives trying to cross the wall. I’d been to the Holocaust Memorial on a previous study abroad excursion, but it was especially haunting being there at night – a great expanse of dark, towering blocks in the middle of the lit-up city. Unfortunately we were unable to see the exhibit they have underneath the memorial, but it looks very cool and maybe the next time I’m in Berlin I can go. After seeing the sights, we ate dinner at Potsdamer Platz, and then it was time for bed.
Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial at night with the Reichstag in the background – please excuse the terrible iPhone picture quality
Saturday was super packed with more museums, but they were awesome! First up was the Topography of Terror museum, which chronicles the history and development of the Nazi police state. It’s not really a museum, I guess, since it doesn’t actually house artifacts from that time, but rather has a timeline of events accompanied by photos, but they also have great interactive stations where you can listen to testimonials from that time. The building itself is on the grounds of some of Nazi security headquarters, and right outside is part of the Berlin Wall. During our visit, part of the Berlin Wall exhibit included information on the siege of Warsaw and Polish resistance against the Nazis.
After the museum we walked the couple of blocks to see Checkpoint Charlie and the buzz that surrounds the entrance point to the former American sector. On my previous visit to Berlin, I went to the Haus am Checkpoint Charlie Museum – definitely worth the visit if for no other reason than it holds (among other very serious and important artifacts) David Hasselhoff’s light-up “Looking for Freedom” jacket. He helped tear down the wall, you know. On this visit we didn’t have time to stop by. Instead we went to a fabulous Mexican restaurant in the Kreuzberg district. It. Was. So. Good. And that is saying something in Germany, as Mexican food here is usually extremely disappointing. Kreuzberg is also a super cool district; on our way there we passed a ton of cool coffee shops, bars, boutiques, and restaurants. Kreuzberg definitely lives up to its reputation of being one of the most multicultural, diverse neighborhoods in Berlin.
Fed and rested, we then went to the Jewish Museum, which is not far from our lunch spot. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect coming into this experience; I’d heard quite a lot about it just from the German classes I’d taken over the years. It chronicles the history of Jews in Germany for two millennia. There were several great exhibits about Jewish women in Germany, and the museum does a great job of focusing on individual and family history in order to describe Jewish life in Germany throughout the centuries, highlighting the tensions as well as the harmonies. Also, the direction in which you should walk in order to make the most of the experience and take things in chronologically was clearly laid out, which is something that I personally really enjoy in a history museum experience. Great exhibits are often ruined by my confusion/indecisiveness on where to go next. This was not one of them!
After the Jewish Museum we scurried back to the Museumsinsel, as we had ordered 6 pm tickets to the Pergamon Museum. This is probably one of my favorite museums ever, because the Germans have taken many great monuments from the Mediterranean and rebuilt them inside the museum, my personal favorite being the Ishtar Gate. It’s crazy. Crazy awesome. As most of you probably know, I’m a total history geek, and nothing has ever really made me feel the weight of history totally overwhelm me like walking through that thing. I don’t really know what in particular makes me love it so much. It’s kind of depressing, too, since most of the rest of the gate is sitting in storage in a museum thousands of miles of away from its original location. I don’t know. But it’s still so huge, and just walking under it and thinking about other people who have seen it and walked through it and that that was in like 500 BC. It’s just amazing. And I love it. So there you go.
Ishtar Gate. What dreams are made of.
Pergamon was the last item on our agenda; after that we relaxed at the hostel before going out with some other Fulbrighters who live in Berlin. And in appropriate Berliner fashion, we grabbed Döner and pommes to cap off our night and our weekend.
Obligatory Brandenburger Tor photo
Laufen mit Liz 