Lynette Hinings-Marshall on Berlin

8/14/2019 Lynette Hinings-Marshall on Berlin

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Government offices

Escape the sticky heat of Seou l th is summer and head forEuro pe's coo les t ca pita l, Ber lin, A lso one of Europe 's younge stcapita ls, Berlin has a unique m aturity that ena bles it to em brac ebot h its hi sto ry an d its fut ure , In co nt rast to its heavy p as t, B erlintod ay is sty lish and trendy wi h som ething to offer every visitormus eum s and art ga lle rie s; o pe ra , th ea ter an d dance; shoppin g,res taurants and nigh tc lubs; historic sigh ts and mon um ents,Summer is a good time to visit Berlin no t on ly because of thebeautifu l wea ther bu t also because it is les s crow ded due toBerliners leaving town for their own ho lida y.

The re are a variety of w ays to see Berlin : by foot, river or cana l,cr uise, by bicy cl e, or by bus and train, Bu t beca use B erlin is la idout on such an ep ic scale yo u nna y want to divide yo ur sigh ts ee inginto geogr aphi c clus te rs to save tim e and yo ur legs A goo d wayto get a fe el of the c ity is to ta ke the local Bus 10 0 th at run sbe tw een the Z oo logical Garde ns and A lex and erpla tz . Thisprovides an overv iew of the city in cludi ng sev eral majo rmonuments . A t the end of the ro ute con tinue on local Bus 200 tocomplete your self-gu ide d tour. Now you ca n dec ide wher e youwan t to explore more completely . I ch ose a st rol l in theTiergarten whi ch was onc e a Prussian roy al hunting ground.

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Crisscrossed w ith fo otpa ths leading to tranquil la ke s, m atu rewo odland s and Eng lish-style garden s, the par k's calm composedme for the la ndm arks of Germany's darke r hist ory . The mostprominent we re just minutes from the Tiergarten and yes , I re ferto the Reichsta g, the Bra nd enbur g Gate an d the S ieges saul ev i c t o ry co lum n; all illus tra tion s of the tri umph s and tragedies ofGerman hub ris.

Berlifi1 was cre ated in its presen t fo rm only in 19 20 when theWeimer R ep ubl ic was pro claimed and the Grea ter Ber lin Act wasimplem ented, This Act united dozens of sub urban cit ies , villages,an d estat es around Berlin into an expanded metro polis of ab ou t 4m illion pe ople . Sad ly , the city did not have time to bloom befo rebe ing devastated by war . W orld War I I was followed by the ColdWar an d the bu ild ing of the Ber lin Wall, that vast concret e an dbarbed w ire topped barrier that cu t Berlin in half. R eminders ofthose dar k days ar e st ill seen th rou ghout the city. Tou rists qu euedaily for photog ra ph s beside the Chec kpoint Charlie re plic a w ithits fa mous sign "You are now leaving the Am erican sector ." Andwho cam fo rge t Novem ber 1989 when the world watche d onte lev isi on as the wall fe ll?

C lose by C he ck po in t C ha rlie is the m ost fam ilia r site in Berlin,


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the neo-classical Bra ndenburg Gate. Th is po ten t sym bol ofGerman reunifica tion is ver y beautifu l at dusk when the lightbathes its D oric c olum ns in go ld. Locals gather here for spe cialev en ts s uch as when US President Barack O b ama r ec en tly gavea pol itica l sp ee ch. The ajesty o f the inspiri ng Roman Quadrigaand goddess o f victory on top made me pause an d loo k up everytime I passed by.

A somber Berl in landmark is the Memorial to the M urderedJe ws in Europe. Just a short walk from the Brandenburg Gatethese 2,711 dark con crete slabs, in gloomy, narrow alle yw ays,are a mov in g trib ute to victims of the Holocaust. Underneath thesi te an exte nsive information center tells the history of theHolo ca ust th rough photographs, pe rso na l docum ents and fi lm .A fte r th is emotion al experience I to ok a con templative walk to theReichstag.

Do not be d ishearten ed by the long lines at the Reichstagbecause G erm an ic efficiency w ill move you throu gh the entra ncew ithin an hou r and you can stay as long as yo u like. The re is noadm iss ion fee, and it is well worth the wait to take th e lift to thecr ystal line dome for a 36 0-degree aeria l view of the city . TheReic hst ag , which m irr ors th e tu rbul ent German hist or y of the

Reichstag dome view

la st 100 yea rs, was or ig inally bui lt to re present the new ly-fo nded G erman Re ich. It saw th e trans it ion of Germany from amonarch y to a Republic in 1918. In 1933 it was partl y de st royedby a fire tha t was used a s ev idence by the N azis that Communist swere plo tting against th e gov ernment. Th e Reich stag regained itsorig inal sign ifica nce w ith Berlin s a pp oin tment as the new ca pita lin r 99 0 af ter un ifica tion , and the German Parliament sits theretod ay

But Ber lin is no t just landmarks, parks and culture. If you visi tin early Ju ly you can joi n the famous Lovep ara de ." Festive floatsare created by cl ub and party org anizers who bring their ow nD Js. T hey c reate a m usical cac oph ony for the people who, oftenwear ing little more than body pa in t, dance alongs ide , b low ingwhistles . The fi rs t parade of jus t 150 rev elers was held in Berlinin 1989. Now you will jo in more than a m illion fellow reveler s ifyo choose to fol low th e flo a ts in ce lebration of Love , Freedoman d Techno!

If yo u prefe r more trad itional mus ic yo u should bo ok a nigh t a tth, S ta atsoper (State Ope ra). Commiss ioned by Fred erick theG reat it has had a somewha t troubled past having been burnedd01n in 184 3 and complet ely des troy ed not once , bu t tw ice ,

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Berlin Philharmonic

during World War II . Bu t the build ing was re stored and itscolumned facade and opulent int erior embo dies the grand eur ofits orig ins. I saw an ex cellen t produc tion of Tristan an d Is o ld eun der th e ba ton of Berli n re sident Daniel Barenboim , and feltve ry much a Berline r as I m ingled with the locals at in termiss ionmun chi ng on hug e warm pretzels.

A contrastin g a rc hite ctu ral delight is the u nique , pent ago na l-sh ap ed, 1963 st ru ct ur e th at is home to the Berlin Ph ilharmon ic.Hans Scharo un, the de signer, describe d the aud ito rium as alandscape whe re banks of angl ed seating become "viney ards "slop ing into the "valley" of the stage and the ceiling a "skyscape"floatin g ab ove. Bec aus e none of the seat s is more than 100 feetfrom the stag e it is qu ite intimate , and bo asts the fine st aco usticsin the wo rld . C ur re nt UK di rector S ir S imon R attle is adm irablyfilli ng the shoes of his illustr ious pr ed ec essors Herbert vonKar ajan and C lau di o Abbado. However, if you wan t to see S irSim on conduct it is bes t to book on line befor e you arrive becausehis performances sell out quickly.

If you just want th e ex perien ce of a per formance in t his ico niccon cert hall, yo u can join tH e Tu esday afterno on qu eue s fortickets that can cost as little as 20 . The orchestra ends its

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se aso n w ith an open-a ir concert in June. Berliner s bringcham pagne, sa lmon and cavia r; light candles then lie on rugslis tening to po pular cla ss ica l piece s. Ber liner Lu ft is tradit iona llysung last and so passiona te is t he audience th e orchest ra isba rely audible as a ll join in. So, if you are in Berlin this Juneinc lud ~ th is sup erb nigh t un der the sta rs w ith the BerlinPhi lharm onic .

If you like what Fred erick the G reat did w ith th e S ta at so per,the n journe y by train from th e ci ty center to Potsdam an d spe ndth e enti1re da y at Park San ssou ci, the nee-ren aissance sum merpalace of Frederick the G reat. Here he cre ated his ownVersai lles . One of the highlights of my stro ll thr oug h the 70 0ac res of landsca ped gardens was th e circu lar Chinese Teahouse.I was dr raw n to th is lustrou s, gilded pav ilion from a dis tance andenjoyed discovering how it starte d out as a tea room and su mmerdining room .

Afte r ia day o f sightsee ing why not sam ple some typica l Berlinfood? Rerhaps try Havel-Zander, a pa n-fried perc h w ith aveg etable sa uce and onion s? Or try B ra ndenburger L andente,stu ffed Iduck served w ith red cabbage and potat o dumplings .Eat ing ou t in Berlin is expensive but I started most days at the


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lo cal ba ke ry buy ing w a rm Sch ri ppen [b read ro lls ] th en p ick ed upfre sh item s from a loca l superm ark et . I ren te d a m ode rnapar tm en t w ith in w a lk ing d is tance to th e m ain bou leva rd , U nt e rd en L inden , so th a t I c ou ld li v e like a B e rlin e r . M any even ing s Ist ro lle d to a K neipe to ~ in g le w ith B er lin er s a nd e a t e xc e ll en t,r easonab ly -pr ic ed m eals . T he se da rk -p an e lle d be er hou sess erv e e xc elle nt b ee rs an d popu la r m ea ls a re K a sse le r N acke n[salte d an d dr ie d po rk ] ser ved w ith cabbage and p ot a to es andE in to p f [a rich stew o f b ro th , g reen vege ta b le s , po ta toe s, andm ea t o r sau sage l. If y ou a re in B e rlin in S ep t emb er yo u m ay belucky enoug h to exper ience th e lo cal O k tober fest c e leb ra tion .T h is H o ly G ra il fo r be e r ov ers o ffe rs th e cha n ce to en joy a b eerw ith succu le n t, h o t ch ic K en fo r on ly 5 . W h ile th e re try B er lin e rW e iss e m it S chu ss, a la ger th a t con tinue s fe rm en ti ng in theb o ttle an d is se rved w ith rraspb erry co rd ial .Y es , th e G erm an foo d is as heavy as i t s ou nd s bu t you c an

b e come e in Ber liner" an d bi cyc le to ba lan c e out the ca lo ries.Ber l in is e igh t tim es the size o f P ar is bu t very f la t a nd c a ter s tob ik e rid ers. E xp lo re on 'lou r ow n , o r jo in a lo c a l gu id e w ho w illcho r eog rap h the tou r to a llow fo r p hot og r aph s and exp lo r in g.T h is is an ex ce lle n t w ay to see m on um en ts su ch as

Potsdamer Platz

communism' s foun der s , M arx and E nge ls , as w ell as th e a re aw he re Jew ish bu s in esse s w ere des troyed dur in g th e in f amou sK rist al ln ach t [th e N ig h t o f B ro ken G la ss ]. T he im posingT rep t ower P ark Sov ie t C en o ta ph w ith its S ta lin is t p ro pagan dare li e fs is th e site w here m ore th an 5 ,00 0 Sov iet troo ps are bu r ie d.O ne o f th e m o st po p u la r b ik e to u rs is to Hitler's b unke r bu t th isw a f to be pe rm ane n tly c lo sed a fte r m y v is it so C heC k . fi rs t if i t ison you r list .I w as in B e rl in fo r a w eek befor e I fel t re a dy to v isit

S a chs enh au sen M em o rial . I w as u n sure how I wou ld fe el a bo utG e rm any"s fir s t con cen trat io n c am p. H oweve r, a fte r trav e llin gin+p enden tl Y b y loca l tra in an d b us I w alked fo r m any hou rsth rouqh th e com pl ex tha t st a rted hous in g p r isoner s in 1933 andbe cam e a pl ace o f m ass m u rde r in c lu d ing the shoo t in g o f m o reth an 10,00 0 So v ie t p r isoner s-o f-w ar in 194 1. In te r activernu l tirn ed ia d e ta iled st o ries o f th e p riso ner s an d a 2 0-minu te fi lmreL te d w ha t ha p pened h er e to th e b roade r h istor icalde Je lo pm en ts be tw een 1933 and 194 5 . It b rou ght b ack h ow I fe lta s la ch il d w a t c hin g m ov ie sc reen s in h o rror as the w ar stor iesfr om G erm any dev asta ted u s .~ex t day w as su nny an d en tice d m e on a b oa t c ru ise th a t

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Chinese Teahouse

Humboldt University

crissc rossed Berlin -a relaxin g a lte rn at ive to busy streets andcrowded buses. Advise d tha t the Eng lish com men ta ry wa s no tpa rtidularly good, I opted fo r a German langu age cru ise becauseit was somewha t cheaper and more ext en sive. Armed w ith anIex cellent Eng lish map I was none the le ss able to fo llow ea chlan d~ark. I t was memor able to g lide past the Bau haus -Archivw ith time to take in the harmon y of the streamlined build ingsthat illus trate the most influ en tia l art ins titu tion of the 20thcentury. Th e h igh light of the cruise was Museumsinse l (MuseumIslan d]. The island go t its name from the internatio nal lyren owned museums that occupy th e island and the cru iseoffered a won derful v iew of the neo-baroque Berliner Dom .Original ly a residentia l area dedicated to art and science theco llec ion s were tur ned into a public fo undation, th e S tiftun gPr eufiischer Ku lturbesitz (Prussian Cultura l Heritag eFou nda tion l. in 1918.

Ber lin is such a wond erful pl ace to be. It has world fam ousun ivers it ie s, research institutes, sporting events , or chestras,mus eums, art galler ies and pe rson alities . The city is re co gni zedfor its ~estivals , diverse arc hi tecture , nightlif e, con tempora ry ar tsand hi h quality o f livi ng . According to the guide books it is aglobal foc a l poin t fo r young indiv iduals and ar tists attra cted by aliberal lifestyle an d modern zeit geist. I was captivated and amalready planning a retu rn visit. Bis Spi it er f i , 1

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Sachsenhausen Memorial


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Neue Synagogue

Lynette Hinings-Marshall on Berlin

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