Berlin (Day 2)

We caught the get on/get off again and took the alternate route.  It went further to the outskirts of the city and had, I thought, only one or two stops of interest.  

The Wall Memorial

"Berlin Wall Memorial) commemorates the division of Berlin by the Berlin Wall and the deaths that occurred there. The monument was created in 1998 by the Federal Republic of Germany and the Federal State of Berlin. It is located on Bernauer Strasse at the corner of Ackerstrasse and includes a Chapel of Reconciliation, the Berlin Wall Documentation Centre, a 60-metre (200 ft) section of the former border, a window of remembrance and a visitor centre".

The Sophia Parish Church sat in the middle of the strip that ran between the inner and outer wall.  It was kept open initially, but later closed to all of west and east Berlin.  This included the Parish cemetary.  The church was eventually destroyed by the East Germans and has never been re-built.  The cemetary was only open to relatives of the interred and only then upon proof of relation.  It was constantly patrolled by guards.

"The memorial includes a 60-metre (200 ft) long section of the wall as it was when the Wall fell.  Seen from the west, a wall built from L-elements was lined by a sandy section, a lighted "Kolonnenweg", a signal fence, and an inner wall. Finally a tower was built within the complex. The area is not accessible to visitors; both ends of the original wall are closed by stainless steel. The northern wall bears the inscription 

"In memory of the city's division from 13 August 1961 to 9 November 1989 and of the victims of communist tyranny".

As seen through a narrow slit in the wall

Replica of watch tower

You see these cobblestones and markers everywhere.  They indicate where the wall stood all along the path of the wall.

To those who died trying to escape

In 1997 the Sophian Parish broke off two sections of the Berlin Wall that stood on what were believed to be graves from World War II.  The wall segments that were removed have been stored on the grounds every since.

View along Bergstrasse (looking east the inner wall).  This street has never been reopened to public transportation.

Looking west the signal wall. (When touched it set off alarms)

Houses that were up against the wall on the eastern side

Waiting for the bus and waiting for the bus for at least an hour.  Finally got back on and continued the tour of Berlin.  Finally got back into areas closer to our hotel and passed the 

American Embassy

The Cathedral

Humboldt University

and then decided to get off at the Brandenburg Gate and get some up close pictures.  

The Hotel Adlon

We went in and took some pictures (quite beautiiful)

and then decided to have coffee at the outside cafe.  

Our bill for two coffees and a bottle of water was 27.50 Euro.  About $35.00.  YIKES.  Ah well it is the Hotel Adlon.

"The legendary original Hotel Adlon was one of the most famous hotels in Europe. It opened in 1907 and was largely destroyed in 1945 in the closing days of World War II, though a small wing continued operating until 1984. The current hotel, which opened on August 23, 1997, is a new building with a design inspired by the original.

After World War I and the abdication of the Kaiser, Lorenz Adlon remained a staunch monarchist and thus never imagined normal traffic would pass through the Brandenburg Gate's central archway, which had been reserved for the Kaiser alone. He therefore never looked before crossing in front of it. Tragically, this resulted in Adlon being hit by a car in 1918 at that spot. Three years later, on April 7, 1921, he was again hit by a car at exactly the same spot, this time fatally. Lorenz's son Louis Adlon took over management of the hotel with his wife Hedda, who was German-born but had been raised in America. During the "Golden Twenties", the Adlon remained one of the most famous hotels in Europe, hosting celebrity guests including Louise Brooks, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Emil Jannings, Albert Einstein, Enrico Caruso, Thomas Mann,Josephine Baker, and Marlene Dietrich, and also politicians like Franklin Roosevelt, Paul von Hindenburg, and Herbert Hoover. 

The hotel remained a social center of the city throughout the Nazi period, though the Nazis themselves preferred the Hotel Kaiserhof a few blocks south and directly across from the Propaganda Ministry and Hitler's Chancellery on Wilhelmplatz. The Adlon continued to operate normally throughout World War II, even constructing a luxurious bomb shelter for its guests and a huge brick wall around the lobby level to protect the function rooms from flying debris. Parts of the hotel were converted to a military field hospital during the final days of the Battle of Berlin. The hotel survived the war without any major damage, having avoided the bombs and shelling that had leveled the city. However, on the night of May 2, 1945 a fire, started in the hotel's wine cellar by intoxicated Red Army soldiers, left the main building in ruins.

Following the war, the East German government reopened the building's surviving rear service wing under the Hotel Adlon name. The ruined main building was demolished in 1952, along with all of the other buildings on Pariser Platz. The square was left as an abandoned, grassed-over buffer with the West, with the Brandenburg Gate sitting alone by the Berlin Wall.

With the reunification of Germany, the site was bought by a West German investment firm and a new hotel was built between 1995 and 1997".

Walked back to our hotel from here.  A quick sit down to read the map.  Really an excuse to rest my weary feet.

Went to the oldest restaurant in Berlin.  

Napoleon ate here.  Probably George Washington also.  Ha.  It was traditional German fare.  Terry had roasted pig knuckle with red cabbage and she had a beer.  MOST UNUSUAL. She doesn't look quite right without a glass of wine in her hand.

and I had a meat ball with fried potatoes.  Our bread came with a unique butter.  Lard with bits of pork in it.  Hmmmmm!  I confess, this was not my favorite butter.  Reminded me of the bacon grease my Mom used to have on hand to put in her green beans and to fry the potatoes.  Really made those delicious.  NOT so much with the bread.

More tomorrow on our last day.