The title sound like the beginning of a joke but, I’m trying to catch myself up as we’ve been really busy.
We booked to go into the Reichstag (Parliament). It’s free but you, have to register with your passport. Without going into too much history the building was repaired after WW2 and rebuilt. Norman Foster designed the glass dome and it is a feat of engineering, from the spiral pathways it has spectacular views across the city.
Of course we were there on a blisteringly hot day, under glass!
We then went to a Christmas shop!!!! All very random, I know and then another day to an aquarium as an additional stop! This is a mad tour of Berlin after all!!
Then there is a whole island of museums to choose from but, our choice on one day was The Neues Museum, which is a listed building and although it was bombed during WW2 and then neglected in East Berlin it has been restored to something of its former glory. The reason I wanted to go was to see the bust of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti and Lee has a general interest in all things Egyptian.
There is a whole controversy over the ownership of the bust but, I was just happy to see it. She really is striking and very fine featured and quite frail looking. There is another bust that does not appear to be finished and even the main one has an eye that is not painted. They are considered to be good likenesses in the way they are crafted so she must have been very striking. Sorry no photos allowed!
The other thing about the museum was it was cooler than outside. However this came at price. It was darker inside the museum, so as we left the sunlight light was so dazzling we did not see a low step up and Lee being ahead of me went sprawling onto the floor at the foot of a rather startled woman. Thankfully he only left skin on the cobbles and didn’t break anything! He is now sporting a “go faster” stripe of a graze on one knee.
The next day we took a Flak Tower and Bunker Tour.
We met our tour in the middle of a park and on a strange hill. I was wondering on the way up wether this was natural or not as the whole area is completely flat. All was revealed near the top when we donned our safety hats and met our guide.
And look Linda! Lee is smiling! Yay! More frustratingly he looks about 20 years old and he’s only 11 years younger than me!
I’ve heard of Flak but really didn’t understand the context. Basically in Berlin and other cities across Germany huge fortified towers, were built during the war. On top, massive anti aircraft gun that fired ammunition that exploded in the air creating a cloud of high velocity shrapnel. It was very effective as an anti aircraft weapon.
These towers were also used as shelter and storage. They could shelter 1500 people officially but it’s likely many many more. I’ll put up a link if you want to know more as it’s too much to tell you here.
https://www.berliner-unterwelten.de/en/the-association/projects/humboldthain-flak-tower/history.html
Anyway the towers were destroyed or rather partially destroyed and buried by the allies after the war and the rubble of old Berlin piled up on them to make huge hills. The one we visited had only been partially buried and is now home to several species of bat and only open for tours when the bats are not likely to be affected.
The tower we went in is 42 meters high and we entered from one of the smaller gun platforms. It was cool inside down to 10 degrees celsius. You get to appreciate the scale of these huge concrete and steel structures and something of the layout inside. It was possible to see the staircases although much of what we walked on was put in place for the tour. We learned such was the megalomania of Hitler he hadn’t considered that Berlin or indeed Germany might need protection until a year after the war started! Forced labour was used to build the huge towers and these could include any non-nationals and anyone the Nazi regime deemed subnormal or undesirable. The structures were to be made massive memorials after Germany had won the war and this tower had even begun it’s makeover so we got to see some of the carved stonework that would have cladded it had the end been different.
Apparently there were two midwives allocated to the tower as so many women were waiting out the raids in the towers it was inevitable that some gave birth. The guide had met a woman who had that particular tower as her place of birth on her birth certificate. By her account her father was probably one of the labourers, a Belgian.
The area outside the tower is now a wooded park and rose garden, the polar opposite of what it was. My favourite bit though is that it’s now a protected home for several species of bat!
To round off the day we visited an Irish Pub, inside a shopping mall of all places! There was live music and a great atmosphere, how bizarre!
The Travelling Bee 