Berlin

I recently spent a couple of nights in Berlin. Here are some notes and photos from my trip.

Gendarmenmarkt

I spent quite a lot of time in and around Gendarmenmarkt. Nice square with good places for lunch and dinner and impressive buildings.

A historic church with a large central dome topped by a golden statue, surrounded by smaller statues along the roofline, and featuring a classical facade with pilasters, arched windows, and a wooden entrance door.

For dinner on my first night I went to the Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt. Good food, great beers, and a nice setting. Would recommend!

A plate with two cooked sausages served on mashed potatoes with gravy, garnished with chopped green herbs, on a table in a restaurant. A glass of beer, a candle, and a container holding paper coasters are also on the table. In the background, people are sitting and looking at their phones.

A tall, slender glass of amber-colored beer with a foamy head, branded "Augustiner Bräu," placed behind a dessert plate with a slice of layered cake topped with powdered sugar, served with fresh strawberries, a mint leaf, and a garnished sauce, on a wooden table featuring a lit candle in a glass holder, a folded napkin with cutlery, and a menu or paper bag.

Berlin Wall Memorial

This is an open air exhibition with interesting and informative plaques dotted along the former path of the wall. There is also a visitor centre with more information. Definitely worth visiting.

People walking along a sidewalk behind a tall concrete wall, with some riding bicycles, under a partly cloudy sky.

A park with a large grassy area, a paved walkway, several people walking and sitting, modern buildings in the background, streetlights, and a cloudy sky overhead.

Berliner Unterwelten

This was probably my favourite part of my trip. The Berlin Underworlds Association researches underground sites in Berlin and offers tours around them. I went on the Dark Worlds tour and the excellent guide showed us where Berliners took cover during air raids, and talked about Berlin during WW2.

If I had more time in Berlin I would definitely have done another of their tours.

Brandenburg Gate

I visited this first at night, and it looked stunning.

I also came back during the day and went to the museum. It’s a multimedia show that quickly takes you through 300 years of history with the gate at the centre, which was quite interesting and enjoyable.

Checkpoint Charlie

I also visited this at night, avoiding the crowds. Good photo op, and a small open air exhibition.

Nighttime scene of a city street with a central memorial featuring a flagpole with an American flag, surrounded by a low stone structure. Buildings with illuminated signs, including McDonald's, and streetlights lining the road are visible. The area appears to be closed to traffic, with no moving vehicles present.

Topography of Terror

Outdoor exhibition and indoor museum documenting the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

People standing in line outdoors on a sidewalk, holding umbrellas in rainy weather, with buildings and construction cranes in the background.

What hit me most was the matter-of-factness way high ranking Nazis talked about their crimes, as if what they were doing was completely normal and sane. So important not to forget what happened.

Holocaust Memorial

Definitely worth coming here to spend a few moments to remember one of humanity’s lowest points.

Nine rows of rectangular concrete blocks arranged in a grid pattern on a paved surface, with a cityscape in the background featuring buildings and a cloudy sky.

DDR Museum

Museum dedicated to life in East Germany. Very well presented and really enjoyable.

A vintage beige car displayed indoors with two women and a man standing behind it, looking at something near the car's windshield; sunlight streams in through large glass doors behind them.

More photos on Flickr.