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| Erin's Journal for 9-16-02, Part 2 There were actually 2 walls, one on the West side and one on the East, with a 'kill strip' between them, filled with barbed wire, attack dogs, land mines, snipers & automated machine guns. In the 28 years of the Wall's existence, there were an astonishing number of escapes, considering this barrier! But about 500 did die in the attempt. There is an exhibit in front of the piece of Wall we visited, dedicated to the terrors practiced by the Soviet secret police (includes descriptions of the 'interrogations' and torture / murders they perpetrated right at the base of the wall in brick bunkers. Scary After a short lunch, we went on to see the plaza in front of the Humbolt Universitat library where the Hitler Youth troup did the first book-burning of the war. An interesting monument exists there with a quote from a German philosopher who'd witnessed a book-burning in another German city almost a century earlier. He said 'those who burn books will soon move on to burning people.' Prophetic? Then we rode to Museum Island, where some of the best museums in Berlin exist, with such wonders as the Ishtar Gate and Pergamon Altar (from ancient Mesopotamian societies). It was also the former location of the royal palace, but nothing exists of it now! The palace of the prince still does, though, and is now one of the more impressive sights in that neighborhood. We also saw Checkpoint Charlie, one of 4 former Allied checkpoints out of East Berlin. The museum there documents many of the inventive and incredible escapes that were made, as well as the history of the wall from start to finish (without the personality of our tour guide though, I must add!). The final stop in this comprehensive tour was a park with a monument to Karl Marx. It was also the site of a huge (peaceful) protest about 5 days before the fall of the Wall, and started a chain of events that caused that unbelievable event. About 500,000 people in one area can scare just about any government! The story was very moving. After the tour, we had paid extra to keep our bikes for the rest of the day and rode on to see the Zoogarten area. This was a more bohemian area of town, and a bit more 'happening' as well. Lots of shopping, lots of tourists. The zoo and aquarium were also there, which we planned to go see the next day. After such a long day of riding around this huge town though, our butts were hurting!!! We headed back to the hostel and locked up our bikes, then asked for the closest good German food. We were directed to a place not 15 minutes' walk, called Prater. It was 10pm by the time we got there, but quite good. After that, there was just enough time to get a happy hour beer before bed! |
| These monuments stand with several others like them in the plaza where a huge crowd of protestors stood and chanted "Freiheit" (freedom) just 5 days before the fall of the Wall in November 1989. They're covered with pictures as a sort of living memorial to the history of this beleaguered and yet fully alive city (see detailed pictures below) |
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