Sitting at the side of a stage just in case a conference phone stops working is a little bit tedious. But I only had to do it for half an hour, so for once I got to see some of the city I was working in.

I was staying at the Maritim Hotel, just south of the Tiergarten, which is surrounded by lots of museums, libraries and suchlike. But no time for wandering around soaking in the culture... I had only enough time to see a few of the important sights.

 

 

Holocaust Memorial

Opened in May 2005, sixty years after the end of World War II and designed by Peter Eisenman and Buro Happold. It's a four and a half acre site covered by 2,711 concrete blocks (called 'stelae') around which visitors are allowed to wander.

 

An aerial view of the whole site can be viewed here.

Brandenburg Gate

Commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia and built by Carl Gotthard Langhans from 1788 to 1791. It was one of the few remaining structures still standing in Pariser Platz after WWII.

When the Berlin wall was built in 1961, the gate was stranded in the so called 'death strip' that divided the East from the West. In 1987, Ronald Reagan made his famous speech demanding,
“…Come here to this gate! Mr Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

The gate was re-opened in December 1989, when Helmut Kohl, the West German chancellor, walked through to be greeted by Hans Modrow, the East German prime minister.

 

The gate has had extensive refurbishment, and the area is now pedestrianised and closed to traffic (except bikes, watch out for them!). This means that temporary artworks and sculptures can be placed right in front, which is why I couldn't get a decent single shot from the West side.

The Reichstag Building

Built between 1884 and 1894, it housed the Reichstag (parliament of the German Empire) until 1933, when it was badly damaged by fire. Restoration was completed in 1999, when it became the home for the modern German parliament, known as the Bundestag.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was designated as the single crossing point (by foot or by car) for foreigners and members of the Allied forces between 1961 and German reunification in October 1990.

 

 

 

A copy of the guard house and sign that once marked the border crossing was later built where Checkpoint Charlie once stood. It resembles the first guard house built in 1961.

 

 

 

 

 

The former site of the wall is marked all over the city.

 

 

 

 

 

Currywurst

Whenever I go abroad, I like to sample some of the local food.
In Berlin, it's currywurst. From what I can tell is a chopped up hot dog, covered in what tastes a bit like tomato soup and sprinkled with curry powder.
I don't really recommend it, and think you're probably better off with a giant pretzel instead.