Berlin 2005

We decided to go see what all the fuss about German Christmas Markets was about (and to revisit one of JC's favourite places) so off we went back to Berlin. As we were about to land the pilot told us it had warmed up to 1C so we knew we were in for a cold few days - it was bitter!

We stayed at the Art'Otel Mitte again - very easy to get everywhere from there - and, having dumped our bags, we set off to explore.

First stop Sony Centre for drinkings and to see the huge Christmas tree (too big to fit in a photo!) and get a feel for all things Christmassy. JC loved the huge baubles on the tree.

We had two places we particularly wanted to visit this time around. The first was the Holocaust Memorial (it was still being built when we were here last - August 2004) and second the Bundestag. We managed to do both in Day 1 (despite the queues at the Bundestag) so were really pleased as it meant we could do lots of other "hoped for" things over the next couple of days.

First stop - the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (to give it its correct English translated name). This memorial is amazing. It is row upon row of stone blocks - all rectangular. Some are as low as 3 inches from the ground whereas others stretch up to about 12 feet (my guess).

The ground is undulating so you can't tell how tall the middle ones are until you get inside. The area is wonderful to wander around in - there are 2,711 blocks altogether and it covers quite a sizeable area. You get a real sense of peace even though it's so close to the road and it's easy to lose yourself in your thoughts. It was designed by Peter Eisenman.

Next stop was the Bundestag (parliamentary building) but not before wondering at the memorial on the left. We think it was for political prisoners/martyrs. Each of the granite(?) slabs has a name etc. on it in remembrance.

We didn't visit the Bundestag building last time we were here because the queue was too long. I'm not sure it was any shorter this time but we'd promised ourselves that this was one thing we'd do this time so we joined the end and waited (about an hour and a half) to be scanned and security checked. It was worth it!

The reason we wanted to visit here is that, behind the original building is a new glass cupola, designed by Lord Norman Foster that you can walk up to get brilliant views of the City. The building itself (the Reichstag) is finely carved and the English version of the brochure invites you to "pay even more attention to he Members of the German Bundestag ... after this visit".

There's a glass circle in the middle at the bottom which is surrounded by information boards and from which a glass tower rises to the top.

When you reach the top you realise why it's so cold - it's open!

You can go out on the roof to have a look around and take photos (often better when not through glass!) - we were lucky, although very cold it was lovely and clear so we could see all around.

First the dome itself - this is what we walked up - it's an easy walk, a gentle slope around the edge of the building and you're so busy admiring the views that you forget you're walking up hill.

The photo top right includes the Brandenburg Gate whereas the one immediately below here is the roof of the Sony Centre (the tent shaped bit) with the Debis Tower just behind. The Debis Tower was designed by Renzo Piano and the Sony Centre by Helmut Jahn.

Continuing on our journey around, we can see:

Left : the Bell Tower in the Tiergarten and the curved roof of the House of World Cultures (the bells were ringing nicely while we were waiting in the queue downstairs), the Platz der Republik is the grassy area in front of these two - note the interesting hedge layout.

Middle : the Federal Chancellery designed by Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank

Right : the Paul Loebe building (I think) which houses the committees of the German Bundestag and was designed by Stephan Braunfels.

On the far left on this row is the Marie-Elisabeth Lueders building which houses the library and reference and research services of the German Bundestag.

On the immediate left we have the TV tower, the International Trade Centre and the Berlin Cathedral (which is dwarfed by the other two).

Finally the twin cathedrals - the French and German cathedrals - that stand at either end of the Gendarmenmarkt which we plan to visit on day 2. The cathedrals were covered in scaffolding when we last visited Berlin and we have been told that one of the best Christmas markets is in this square. 2 good reasons to wander over there.

However, Day 1 hasn't finished yet so back to the hotel to thaw out then out to the Nikolaiviertel for tea.

Not far to walk, over the river (with a nice view of the cathedral all lit up) and we know a nice little Italian restaurant.

Jonathon took himself off after tea to see Berlin at night. Very well lit up with plenty to see. The holocaust memorial is subtly lit (not too easy to photograph apparently) but there's plenty to see, not least the Brandenburg Gate.

A stroll down Unter den Linden, you can see the big wheel at the end and you pass the ice rink at Opera. We visited the Christmas Market at Opera earlier in the day - very busy, loads of stalls etc but we resisted buying anything for the time being.

One of the bigger fairs seems to be just up the road from our hotel so plenty of colour and glitz. The rides seem to go incredibly fast - not my sort of thing at all!

Day 2 found us in the Gendarmenmarkt as planned. The Deutscher Dom (German tower of a domed church rather than cathedral which is what "Dom" usually means) was open but is now a museum of German democratic politics. We had an excellent guide who talked us through the years from 1918-1933 (the Weimar Republic years).

The exhibition was fascinating with plenty of photos and our guide brought it all to life. It's still hard to understand how someone like Hitler ended up with so much power but he seemed to have filled an angry vacuum and then had power handed to him on a plate.

The body language in this extract from a photo speaks volumes. This was my favourite photo of all those we saw. Hitler and Goering don't appear to like each other at all and Goering seems to be the leader rather than Hitler - interesting.

The Deutscher Dom was originally a church but was reduced to rubble in WW2. It remained a ruin for about 40 years then the galleries were removed and concrete supporting structures were added. It was going to be an art gallery but with the wall coming down it was decided to use it for displaying the history of democracy in Germany.

As well as the photos and words, there were several posters either separately on the wall or as part of the photo exhibition. The one on the left is supposed to represent France greedily grabbing the German factories etc. (part of the reparation programme after WW1), the middle one depicts the ongoing arguments about the colour and design of the German flag (this reflected the turmoil within the German political system) and the third is a political party advert that speaks for itself.

Moving back downstairs, the stained glass window half way down was spectacular and the cross of nails was interesting - donated to the church by Coventry.

A quick look upwards to the top of the dome before moving on.

Outside there was the Christmas market that we had a good mooch around and the Franzoesischer Dom (French tower of a domed church) that was still covered in scaffolding. This building is no longer a church either - it now houses a private museum of the Hugenots.

The rest of the day was spent exploring Christmas markets (one or two purchases), sitting in cafes watching the world go by and generally strolling around - very relaxing. Tea was in a Kartoffelhaus (potato restaurant) in the Nikolaiviertel - very nice.

Day 3 (Monday) and I had a business meeting in the morning so, having had breakfast, checked out and had the meeting we had half a day left to make the most of. My meeting was on the Ku'Damm where we took the opportunity to visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtnis Kirche. We'd seen this building from the outside but that didn't prepare us for the inside.

It was quite small inside but the stone carving was quite special and the floor and walls were spectacular.

Lunch was at Ka De We, like a Berlin Harrod's. The 6th floor is a food hall with wonderful bar areas that serve specialist food. We had lunch at the Chinese Wok - it was yummy. We also really like the lighting department and spent a while wandering around in there.

Finally, it was time to leave Berlin and head for home but I dare say we'll be back before too long.

Berlin (again)
We decided to go see what all the fuss about German Christmas Markets was about (and to revisit one of JC's favourite places) so off we went back to Berlin. As we were about to land the pilot told us it had warmed up to 1C so we knew we were in for a cold few days - it was bitter!
We stayed at the Art'Otel Mitte again - very easy to get everywhere from there - and, having dumped our bags, we set off to explore.		First stop Sony Centre for drinkings and to see the huge Christmas tree (too big to fit in a photo!) and get a feel for all things Christmassy. JC loved the huge baubles on the tree.

We had two places we particularly wanted to visit this time around. The first was the Holocaust Memorial (it was still being built when we were here last - August 2004) and second the Bundestag. We managed to do both in Day 1 (despite the queues at the Bundestag) so were really pleased as it meant we could do lots of other "hoped for" things over the next couple of days.
	First stop - the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (to give it its correct English translated name). This memorial is amazing. It is row upon row of stone blocks - all rectangular. Some are as low as 3 inches from the ground whereas others stretch up to about 12 feet (my guess).

The ground is undulating so you can't tell how tall the middle ones are until you get inside. The area is wonderful to wander around in - there are 2,711 blocks altogether and it covers quite a sizeable area. You get a real sense of peace even though it's so close to the road and it's easy to lose yourself in your thoughts. It was designed by Peter Eisenman.
	Next stop was the Bundestag (parliamentary building) but not before wondering at the memorial on the left. We think it was for political prisoners/martyrs. Each of the granite(?) slabs has a name etc. on it in remembrance. We didn't visit the Bundestag building last time we were here because the queue was too long. I'm not sure it was any shorter this time but we'd promised ourselves that this was one thing we'd do this time so we joined the end and waited (about an hour and a half) to be scanned and security checked. It was worth it!

	The reason we wanted to visit here is that, behind the original building is a new glass cupola, designed by Lord Norman Foster that you can walk up to get brilliant views of the City. The building itself (the Reichstag) is finely carved and the English version of the brochure invites you to "pay even more attention to he Members of the German Bundestag ... after this visit".
		There's a glass circle in the middle at the bottom which is surrounded by information boards and from which a glass tower rises to the top.

When you reach the top you realise why it's so cold - it's open! You can go out on the roof to have a look around and take photos (often better when not through glass!) - we were lucky, although very cold it was lovely and clear so we could see all around.
	First the dome itself - this is what we walked up - it's an easy walk, a gentle slope around the edge of the building and you're so busy admiring the views that you forget you're walking up hill.
The photo top right includes the Brandenburg Gate whereas the one immediately below here is the roof of the Sony Centre (the tent shaped bit) with the Debis Tower just behind. The Debis Tower was designed by Renzo Piano and the Sony Centre by Helmut Jahn.

Continuing on our journey around, we can see: Left : the Bell Tower in the Tiergarten and the curved roof of the House of World Cultures (the bells were ringing nicely while we were waiting in the queue downstairs), the Platz der Republik is the grassy area in front of these two - note the interesting hedge layout. Middle : the Federal Chancellery designed by Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank Right : the Paul Loebe building (I think) which houses the committees of the German Bundestag and was designed by Stephan Braunfels.

		On the far left on this row is the Marie-Elisabeth Lueders building which houses the library and reference and research services of the German Bundestag. On the immediate left we have the TV tower, the International Trade Centre and the Berlin Cathedral (which is dwarfed by the other two).

Finally the twin cathedrals - the French and German cathedrals - that stand at either end of the Gendarmenmarkt which we plan to visit on day 2. The cathedrals were covered in scaffolding when we last visited Berlin and we have been told that one of the best Christmas markets is in this square. 2 good reasons to wander over there.
However, Day 1 hasn't finished yet so back to the hotel to thaw out then out to the Nikolaiviertel for tea.		Not far to walk, over the river (with a nice view of the cathedral all lit up) and we know a nice little Italian restaurant.
	Jonathon took himself off after tea to see Berlin at night. Very well lit up with plenty to see. The holocaust memorial is subtly lit (not too easy to photograph apparently) but there's plenty to see, not least the Brandenburg Gate.

A stroll down Unter den Linden, you can see the big wheel at the end and you pass the ice rink at Opera. We visited the Christmas Market at Opera earlier in the day - very busy, loads of stalls etc but we resisted buying anything for the time being.

	One of the bigger fairs seems to be just up the road from our hotel so plenty of colour and glitz. The rides seem to go incredibly fast - not my sort of thing at all!

Day 2 found us in the Gendarmenmarkt as planned. The Deutscher Dom (German tower of a domed church rather than cathedral which is what "Dom" usually means) was open but is now a museum of German democratic politics. We had an excellent guide who talked us through the years from 1918-1933 (the Weimar Republic years).

The exhibition was fascinating with plenty of photos and our guide brought it all to life. It's still hard to understand how someone like Hitler ended up with so much power but he seemed to have filled an angry vacuum and then had power handed to him on a plate.		The body language in this extract from a photo speaks volumes. This was my favourite photo of all those we saw. Hitler and Goering don't appear to like each other at all and Goering seems to be the leader rather than Hitler - interesting.
	The Deutscher Dom was originally a church but was reduced to rubble in WW2. It remained a ruin for about 40 years then the galleries were removed and concrete supporting structures were added. It was going to be an art gallery but with the wall coming down it was decided to use it for displaying the history of democracy in Germany.
As well as the photos and words, there were several posters either separately on the wall or as part of the photo exhibition. The one on the left is supposed to represent France greedily grabbing the German factories etc. (part of the reparation programme after WW1), the middle one depicts the ongoing arguments about the colour and design of the German flag (this reflected the turmoil within the German political system) and the third is a political party advert that speaks for itself.

	Moving back downstairs, the stained glass window half way down was spectacular and the cross of nails was interesting - donated to the church by Coventry. A quick look upwards to the top of the dome before moving on.

Outside there was the Christmas market that we had a good mooch around and the Franzoesischer Dom (French tower of a domed church) that was still covered in scaffolding. This building is no longer a church either - it now houses a private museum of the Hugenots.
The rest of the day was spent exploring Christmas markets (one or two purchases), sitting in cafes watching the world go by and generally strolling around - very relaxing. Tea was in a Kartoffelhaus (potato restaurant) in the Nikolaiviertel - very nice.
	Day 3 (Monday) and I had a business meeting in the morning so, having had breakfast, checked out and had the meeting we had half a day left to make the most of. My meeting was on the Ku'Damm where we took the opportunity to visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtnis Kirche. We'd seen this building from the outside but that didn't prepare us for the inside.
	It was quite small inside but the stone carving was quite special and the floor and walls were spectacular.


	Lunch was at Ka De We, like a Berlin Harrod's. The 6th floor is a food hall with wonderful bar areas that serve specialist food. We had lunch at the Chinese Wok - it was yummy. We also really like the lighting department and spent a while wandering around in there. Finally, it was time to leave Berlin and head for home but I dare say we'll be back before too long.
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