SOVIET BERLIN
The Soviet Shadow: Berlin’s Eastern Occupation Zone (1945-1990)Call me strange, but I always found those iconic 1945-era images of the red flag of Stalin’s Soviet Union floating over the ruins of Hitler’s capital to be especially haunting, bringing to mind not just the high tragedy of the era, but also the power that rapid and […]
Cold War Frontlines in the Heart of Europe
The American Zone of Occupation Imagine this: the trendy, even edgy, café you’re sitting in today, in Berlin’s diverse Kreuzberg district, was just a few decades ago within the largest besieged city in world history, West Berlin. The barista then might have been a counter-culture rebel escaping from mandatory military service in West Germany. The […]
Britain’s Cold War Berlin
Here’s an interesting thing to consider. In 1914, Great Britain went to war, alongside her allies France, the Russian Empire and eventually the USA, against Germany and the Empire of Austria-Hungary. Yet, in the preceding century, the British had fought wars against every one of these allies, and never against Germany. The notion that, in […]
The French Sector Eighty Years Later
The French in Berlin after the War It’s no secret that Berlin was divided into four occupation zones, American, British, Soviet, and French, after the war. But, you might ask, why did France get a sector of Berlin at all? Considering France had been defeated and occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940, their inclusion might […]
Willy Brandt: The Berlin Mayor Who Shaped History
As you step off the plane at Berlin Brandenburg Airport, named after Willy Brandt, they land on the very runways that once served East Germany’s Schönefeld Airport. It’s good you’re getting such an early introduction to Berlin’s history, characterized as it is by irony and symbolism taken to extremes in some cases. As your plane’s […]
Following in the Footsteps of Scientific Giants
Exploring Berlin’s Scientific Heritage.When you say the word «Berlin» to someone and then ask what the word brings to mind, the most common knee-jerk reaction you’re likely to get is Hitler, Nazis, or war. Others might come out with Communism, Kennedy’s «Ich bin ein Berliner» speech or the famous Wall. A few might even mention […]
Dancing on the Volcano: Lost Landmarks of Weimar Berlin
When you visit a new city, you probably want to see things that actually still exist, right?Yet Berlin, so deeply torn apart by history, is as much a city of ghosts as a city of existing structures. You can really get a sense of what the old city used to be like, and how its […]
Chausseestrasse
Where else but Berlin can you find a road called, when translated into English, Street Street?Chaussee is French, meaning a large road, and Strasse is German for street. This odd name came about from the fact that in the 18th century, French immigrants settled on this sparsely populated area north of the old town, and […]
The Workers’ Broadway: the grandeur of Karl-Marx-Allee
Karl-Marx-Allee is an expression of power. It’s also a reflection of the uncertainty and confusion that rumbled along in the corridors of power in the post- Second World War years. The Allee is a triumphant scream of socialist victory written in brick and stone, yet one which played host to a near revolution which sought […]
Karl Marx Allee and Friedrichshain: The Heart of East Berlin
The Eastern Gateway: Berlin’s Old Road to Russia Berlin has always faced east, and even today its heart still beats with an undeniable eastern rhythm. You might think of the German capital as being a quintessentially Western European city, yet Berlin’s soul tells a different story, one that places it as the final frontier of […]
The First Crack: East Berlin’s Forgotten Uprising of 1953
Berlin’s soul has been forged by revolution – from the creative ferment of artists and writers to the clash of ideologies in its streets. While the fall of the Wall in 1989 remains its most celebrated uprising, another pivotal moment in the city’s history unfolded during two sweltering days in June 1953, when East Berliners […]
Tempelhof: From Hitler’s Gateway to Berlin’s Salvation
Several years ago, I lined up my bike on the edge of one of Tempelhof’s airport’s runways, and rather embarrassingly for a middle-aged man, imagined myself firewalling the throttles of an old airplane. Like a child at play, I peddled furiously, not quite achieving take-off speed, and could barely imagine all the momentous events that […]
Tossed Between Darkness and Light: The Berlin Philharmonie
The Berliner Philharmonie, at Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1, is one of the world’s great concert halls. Loathed by some, loved by others, its bold modernist design marks a deliberate break with the architectural tradition of the buildings in this area, not far from the Brandenburg Gate. Manfred Brückels, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Yet this celebrated […]
Deutsche Oper Berlin: A Turbulent Century of High Art
When the curtain rose on October 24, 1912, the city of Charlottenburg’s new opera house made an audacious statement. The still independent city was Berlin’s immediate neighbor to the west, and with their new opera house, the proud burghers challenged the centrality of nearby Berlin’s cultural scene, with its own 18th century Opera House on […]
Berlin’s Staatsoper: A Cultural Icon Among the Linden Trees
It was during an air raid on the night of April 9, 1941, that RAF bombs shattered Berlin’s premier opera house. There must have been something darkly poetic about it. A regime which embodied the worst of humanity’s impulses, yet which cloaked itself in the trappings of high culture, had to stand the next morning […]
The Brandenburg Gate And Pariser Platz
If stones could speak, the Brandenburg Gate would tell quite a tale. Standing at the heart of Berlin’s Pariser Platz, this iconic monument has witnessed everything from Napoleon’s triumphant march into the city as its conqueror to the fall of the Berlin Wall over a century and a half later. But while it is marketed […]
Potsdamer Platz and Leipziger Platz
Say HI to Potsdamer and Leipziger Platz! Cities are almost living entities, constantly shifting and transforming over the decades and centuries. They grow, shrink, and adapt, with the old giving way—whether torn down, burned down, or bombed out—to make room for the new. Each era breathes fresh cultural energy into the streets, reshaping not just […]
Berlin’s Christmas Markets: A Journey Through History and Tradition
Since it’s the holiday season and a time of good cheer, I thought it would be fitting to share a few words about Berlin’s renowned Christmas markets. As regular readers might expect, this piece goes beyond the surface to explore some of the more fascinating and vibrant aspects of these cherished annual traditions. After all, […]
Off the Beaten Track in Pankow
Come see the sites most visitors miss. If you’re like me, you know the real magic of exploring a city—whether it’s your hometown or a new destination—often occurs away from the usual tourist spots. It’s in those hidden corners, the out-of-the-way gems that only locals seem to know, where the most fascinating stories emerge and […]
Bebelplatz part 2
We’ll continue our exploration of Berlin’s Bebelplatz, home to much of what is best and worst in the city’s history. Let’s pick up with the famous Hotel de Rome. Hotel de Rome: From Banking Hub to Luxury Landmark The stately building in Italian Renaissance style hosting the Hotel de Rome, standing right next to St […]
Bebelplatz: Where Berlin’s Contrasts Burn Bright
Berlin is a city of strong contrasts and profound ironies. If you want to get a taste of that, head down the great Unter den Linden to Bebelplatz, right in the historic center of the city. By A.Savin – Own work, FAL, Link Bebelplatz – Where the 1933 Book Burning took Place The Night That […]
Exploring Everyday Life in the DDR – 2 Museums: DDR Museum and DDR Flat Museum
How Balanced is Our View?Most people’s understanding of history is shaped simply by the easy availability of books on certain topics—and the perspectives those books prioritize. Take German history as an example. Walk into a typical North American chain bookstore, and you’ll find that over 90% of the titles in the German history section focus […]
Walter Gropius with Bauhaus – Combining Art Design and Function
Many of you might have heard of the Bauhaus, but what was it exactly and why did it matter so much?Let’s take a quick look at it to make your visit to Berlin that much more interesting.A crucial fact about Bauhaus is its birthday, which was in 1919. Germany was reeling from defeat in the […]
Exploring the Legacy of the Huguenots in Berlin
As of this writing, it’s 2024 and elections in various parts of the world, notably in the United States, Germany and Great Britain have shown that immigration is still top of the agenda for many people. Today we think of the topic as one sure to cause argument and bitter disagreements, and that was true […]
Berlin’s Detlev Rohwedder Haus – Home of Hermann Goering’s Air Ministry and Luftwaffe
Echoes of Extremes Berlin is a city of contrasts, a place of constant transformation, where monuments built by one regime are reinterpreted and repurposed by the next. But in the heart of the city stands a building that takes Berlin’s signature irony to a whole new level. This is the Detlev Rohwedder Haus, once the […]
Barnimstrasse 10; Forgotten Women’s Prison in the Heart of Berlin
Lessons on Freedom, Resistance, and Repression Berlin hides many of its secrets in plain sight, and if you know where to look, you can uncover places that provoke deep reflection. In our own current day, we’re wrestling with what it means to be free people. Who gets to decide what freedom is and what it […]
Beyond the Facade: Uncovering Alexanderplatz’s Stories, part 3
Today we’ll complete our excursion around Alexanderplatz. Let’s start by looking at a building very much overlooked by visitors, but which shouldn’t be. Berliner Verlag The building is located at 29 Karl Liebknecht Strasse and was the headquarters for the Berliner Verlag, or publishing house, which put out the daily newspaper «The Berliner Zeitung,» which […]
Alexanderplatz: From DDR Pride to Modern Consumerism Part Two
This is Part Two of the Alexanderplatz Series. If you missed part one, you can read it here. Let’s continue our trip around the majestic, if often misunderstood and underappreciated, Alexanderplatz, the beating heart of the city for the last two hundred years. The former Centrum Warenhaus We’ll pick up this week by looking at […]
Alexanderplatz Uncovered: The Hidden History Behind Berlin’s Bustling Square (1)
Where else but in Berlin can you find the city’s busiest square and still, with good reason, describe it as «off the beaten path?» Berlin´s busiest Square, but off the beaten Path The city’s Alexanderplatz fits this odd description perfectly. It’s Berlin’s largest and busiest square and yet most visitors don’t quite know what to […]
Mauerpark: Where History and Recreation Collide in Berlin’s Former Death Strip
Picture a place where you can play football, browse a flea market, catch a live sporting event, and enjoy a barbecue all in one day. This probably wasn’t too much of a task, you very likely just imagined your local park. But now, imagine doing all of this on the very ground where two bitterly […]
Reflecting at Friedrichstrasse Station: A Journey Through Time and Tears
Last week, we explored the history haunted Bahnhof Friedrichstrasse, and saw how vital a role the station ended up playing the history of Berlin, and by extension in the history of Europe. So today let’s jump in a bit deeper and see what there is to explore today in Europe’s most interesting train station. Palace […]
Friedrichstrasse Station: Berlin’s Gateway to History, Intrigue, and International Espionage
When is a train station more than just a mundane bit of transportation infrastructure?Well, when it’s in Berlin, of course! When you travel to the German capital, you have endless opportunities to reflect on how world changing events sometimes occur in the most bewilderingly ordinary of places, locations you’d likely travel through without ever noticing […]
Berlin’s Lesser-Known Border Crossing Sites, not just Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie, Overrated? I’ll come right out and say it. Checkpoint Charlie is overrated. At least, in its current incarnation as an over-touristed location completely robbed of any interpretative value it might have had. Pretty much everything a modern visitor sees there now is fake, some of it outrageously bad, and much of the area […]
The German Resistance Memorial Center
Berlin attracts seekers, and many of those who visit the German capital come in search of the past. They come to understand this city of contrasts and perhaps to connect what happened «then» with things that still matter today. Berlin is full of places from which you can sit and contemplate these things, but few […]
The Paradoxes of the Berlin Wall
Berlin has always been a city of paradoxes and contrasts, and nowhere is more poignant in that regard than the various sites of the Berlin Wall. Note that capital letter. For nearly three decades, it wasn’t just any wall, nor simply a wall—it was The Wall, a barrier so singular and significant that it seemed […]
Schöneberg Town Hall where John F. Kennedy told the Berliners and World: «Ich bin ein Berliner»
In Berlin, history can rip around the city’s landmarks like a deadly tornado, blasting its violent imprint onto the city’s buildings before suddenly veering off, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The violent and dramatic events of the 20th century twisted and turned seemingly with no clear destination, only to eventually lose force […]
Exploring the Weidendamm Bridge in Central Berlin
When you travel to Berlin, or anywhere really, you’ll probably spend most of your time visiting museums, attending shows or eating at well known restaurants. It’s unlikely you’ll focus much, if any, of your attention on the infrastructure of the city, those essential nuts and bolts that hold the town together and keep it running. […]
Public Transport: Berlin Through Its Historic Train Lines
The old Imperial Capital of the Empire, the Reichshauptstadt Berlin, became a true Welt Stadt, or World City by the 1920s, and what made this possible, in the most literal sense of the word, was the development and expansion of the public transport system. If you really want to understand Berlin, you have to ride […]
Walking Berlin’s Historic Ground Beats Just Reading About It
Why bother travelling to Berlin when you can just read about the history or culture online or in a book? Wouldn’t that be better, saving time and energy? What can you learn from being there, in other words, that you can’t learn from an online search sitting in your favorite coffee shop near your house?If […]
My Journey to Discovering Berlin’s Magic
The door to the sleeping compartment on the train from Krakow crashed open and a shouted voice barked out a warning. «Achtung! Berlin!» No sooner were the words launched at my travelling companion and me than the guard stalked off to repeat the procedure at the next room down the train car’s aisle. It was […]
Architect Peter Behrens: The Fascinating Journey of the Berolinahaus on Alexanderplatz
There’s little doubt that many people travel to Berlin to track down what remains from the city’s turbulent 20th century history. If you’re reading this blog, there’s an excellent chance you’re one of them! If you happen to be a first-time visitor, you might imagine that the best place to begin your exploration of the […]
Don’t Always Trust Google Reviews
Why Schönhausen Palace Deserves a Visit Despite Some Mediocre Ratings Can you REALLY trust Google reviews when you travel, especially if you’re traveling to see historical sites? This question is much deeper than offering us an opportunity to complain about modern technology and wonder about the extent to which reviews really are genuine. Many people […]
How Berlin’s Facades Reveal its Past
What do we owe the past? Among other things, we might owe the past a chance to speak for itself, yet that seemingly easy task is actually far more difficult than it might seem. Let’s take a quick walk through the streets of Berlin to see how this might be so. East Berlin, the former […]
From Power to Tranquility for DDR Leaders
From Power to Tranquility: Walking Through the DDR Leaders’ Enclave in BerlinWhen you visit Berlin, especially if it’s your first visit, you’ll naturally gravitate to the big sites. The Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and the Museum Island are all must-sees. But if you really want to get a glimpse of the real Berlin, the city […]
What is the meaning of the stumbling stones
As the summer of 2024 looms before us, Berlin once again takes center stage as the «city of politics.» Many people come to visit the German capital to see sites associated with political movements which shaped the so-called Age of Extremes, as the 20th century has sometimes been called. But the elections of 2024, both […]
Berlin’s Hidden Memorials: The Sinking Wall and Its Dark Message
Strolling through Berlin’s less touristy areas means frequent encounters with reminders of the past and warnings for the future. It can be intoxicating and unnerving at the same time. It’s certainly never dull. A Haunting Memorial in Invalidenpark One such encounter, in the form of a little visited memorial, is located on Invalidenstrasse, not too […]
Tales from Belowground: Take a Trip to Berlin’s Past at Wittenbergplatz
What’s the first thing you do when you visit a new city?Most people look up.The skyscrapers, the architecture, the flashing signs and the elevated trains all command attention. And that makes sense, they’re certainly striking and a big part of what you came for.Berlin captures this experience, offering a sensory feast for the eyes and […]
A Delicious Lunch in a Restaurant with a Shocking Past
Recently, I went to an Italian restaurant. The food was good and I left satisfied a while later.Not, you might think, the most exciting story you’ve ever heard. Yet, this is a restaurant in Berlin, and far more than meets the eye lurks below the surface. Today, the place where I had lunch is called […]
Reading the Twin Narratives of Authority and Rebellion in Berlin’s Skyline
Berlin’s character, like the characters of the people who live here, can surprise and often intrigues those who visit. People come here looking for one thing, and often find another. This element of the unexpected, this complex laying of identity and meaning, is one of the things that most attracts, and sometimes repels, those who […]