Today, on the way to the former Checkpoint Charlie, tourists look at shop windows with big names such as Gucci, Prada, Escada and Hugo Boss. The reality that many of us lived with until a few decades ago, today mainly entertains teenagers and nostalgics in Berlin's museums.
The reality that many of us lived until a few decades ago, today it mainly entertains teenagers and nostalgics in the Berlin...
Memories of half-past history
A city that epitomized the absurdity of the Cold War, for many years divided into western and eastern parts and cruelly separated by a wall, is rightly the place where such memories come to the fore. In the museum GDR (former East Germany) we can thus admire the living spaces of socialist apartments, have fun looking at the fashion accessories, school supplies and household products made in the former communist country, and we can also sit in a Trabant and indulge in the comfort it offered the East German automotive industry. On the most famous street of the western part of the city Kurfürstendamm, a symbol of the consumer society with the most prestigious shops, we can see the exhibition The Story of Berlin, the Berlin story, an exhibition that takes us through the eight-century history of the German capital. During a walk through 23 themed rooms, we get to know the beginnings of the city, the Prussian era, the decadent 1920s, Hitler's Berlin and the period of the divided city, and the peak represents a visit to the original nuclear shelter built under Kurfürstendamm, in which one could take refuge in the event of a nuclear attack 3592 civilians. The symbol of a divided city was certainly more than The 140 kilometer long Berlin Wall, which separated the city and its inhabitants for 28 years. During attempts to defect to the west side, there was a fatal accident, or there was at least 136 people were killed and to all of them and those who do not want to forget this sad period, the Belin Wall Museum is dedicated. Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, as the museum is called, is located right next to the most famous passage between the eastern and western parts, which was intended for foreigners and members of the allied forces. Certainly, the most interesting tools and ways in which the fugitives tried to accomplish their escape to the west are in the museum. Berlin wall is in November 1989 fell and brought hope to millions of inhabitants Eastern Europe. The wall, which shamefully separated former neighbors and friends, was removed, only in some parts its remains remind us of it. The longest preserved part of the Berlin Wall called East Side Gallery. The 1.3 kilometer long wall along the river Spree is covered with 106 paintings by artists from all over the world, and in the nearby souvenir shop you can stock up on "original" parts of the wall, t-shirts, brochures and postcards of the Berlin Wall.
Poor but sexy
In 2003, he was the mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit stated in an interview that the German capital does not reach the economic level of some other German cities, but has a huge amount of space available to residents after removal of the Berlin Wall, which consequently means that housing prices are not high. It is precisely because of the low cost of living that Berlin has become the new home of countless immigrants and artists, who have transformed the once gray city full of fear, spies and threats into an incredible, never-sleeping metropolis. Renowned architects also contributed to this, and in the early 1990s, when Berlin once again became the capital of a united Germany, they boldly outlined new guidelines. It is a typical example of the new Berlin Potsdamer Platz near Brandenburg Gate. A huge empty area at Berlin Wall, which was controlled by East German soldiers, is today a business and entertainment center. In addition to the offices, hotels, concert halls and restaurants, the architecture is worth seeing, especially the roof that covers the main part Sony Center, with which the architects tried to depict the Japanese sacred mountain Fuji.
Also the building of the German Parliament, which has experienced ups and downs, intrigues and conspiracies throughout its history, shines again in a renewed image. An English architect took care of it Sir Norman Foster, and every day until midnight (last entrance at 10 p.m.), we can walk around the dome on top of the parliament and admire the view of the city along the Spree River. Most Berliners can't afford to splurge on the elegant Friedrichstrasse, so they happily wander around the area Prenzlauer Berg, where renovated nineteenth-century buildings have become one of the most popular neighborhoods in the city. Between beautifully restored facades, green courtyards, churches and synagogues, Berliners enjoy discovering tastes from different parts of the world in exotic restaurants and learning about fashion trends created by imaginative young designers.
The eastern part of Berlin is changing at the speed of light and once neglected parts of the city are becoming trendy areas. Prenzlauer Berg is proof that the good old west in Berlin no longer represents what it used to be. Of course, the west is still the west, but especially the center of the eastern part, called Mitte, is becoming an increasingly dynamic center of the city. The best clubs (Felix, Week12end), a museum island that is even on the UNESCO - I know list of world cultural heritage, the most beautiful street in Berlin Unter den Linden, which ends (or starts) with the Brandenburg Gate, and Alexanderplatz with its TV tower are the main tourist spots in Berlin.
In addition to the bright stars of the eastern part of the city, we should not overlook the area, which will certainly become one of the main trend spots in the near future: Kreuzberg it has a nickname due to the large number of Turkish immigrants Little Istanbul, but it is in this part that we find a large number of restaurants and nightclubs, as well as galleries and art pavilions. Although the image, rhythm and energy of Berlin change on a daily basis, the parade street of the former eastern part remains unchanged. Berlin's Karl-Marx-Allee, built between 1952 and 1960. The avenue, 2 kilometers long and as much as 89 meters wide, is surrounded by monumental eight-story buildings built in the so-called wedding cake style - the classic style of the first post-war years of the Soviet Union. Among buildings with crumbling mosaics and ancient inscriptions (Cafe Moscow, truck billboards Tatras, ...) true nostalgics gather in the club Babettee, where we can sit in front of the club on benches from socialist cinemas, where our parents listened to party meetings, and while sipping beer, we can really agree with Wowereit's words that Berlin is poor but sexy.
Information:
VIRTUAL CITY WALK: www.berlin.de/berlin360
URBAN INSIDER, guiding small groups around trendy Berlin locations: www.berlinaganten.com
GDR MUSEUM, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 1, right next to the river Spree, opposite the Berlin Cathedral, www.ddr-museum.de
THE STORY OF BERLIN EXHIBITION, Kurfürstendamm 207–208, www.story-of-berlin.de
BERLIN WALL MUSEUM, Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, www.mauermuseum.de
EAST SIDE GALLERY, www.eastsidegallery.com
GERMAN PARLIAMENT: Deutscher Bundestag, Platz der Republik 1, www.bundestag.de
MUSEUM ISLAND BERLIN: www.smb.spk-berlin.de
For spendthrifts:
POTSDAMER PLATZ: www.potsdamer-platz.net
SONY CENTER, Potsdamer Platz, www.sonycenter.de
Nightlife:
CLUB FELIX: Behrenstrasse 72, Mitte, www.felixrestaurant.de
CLUB WEEK12END: Alexanderplatz 5, Mitte, www.week-end-berlin.de
BABETTE CLUB: Karl-Marx-Alee 36
