Last weekend was a return visit to Berlin, I had been there last for a week in 2002. What a beautiful city, everything is either new with spectacular architecture or restored as in old 18th century palaces and museums as in the Museum Island in the centre of the city.
It is truly a city reborn and refashioned as the capital of Enlightenment of the great philosophers like Schiller, Goethe and Humbolt. The Wall is gone, so don't wax nostalgic about it and also the Nazis, after all they only amounted to 12 years in the history of a city which is 800+ years old. The New Canadian Embassy is built on top of Hitler's bunker which is now sealed off and flooded. Art and culture are everywhere, concert, symphony, opera, art galleries and not to forget fine dining with excellent German wines. The public transit alone of over (U) and under (S) ground and the many train stations is a marvel by itself and makes travelling throughout the city and the region so easy.
We visited the newly re-opened Neues Museum (1855) built to house the ever expanding collections of the Prince of Brandeburg and the Royal Family of Prussia. The whole island is now complete for the first time in 70 years and all the museums are open to the public, beautiful collections and very impressive. The Island on the Spree River was sort of private domain for the Royal Family of Prussia, the City Palace, the Cathedral and the museums are all located on this small island. The bridge is guarded by the Armoury, Zeughaus, now the Museum to German history and the Commandatur where the commander lived. All of it is either Rococo architecture or a fantasy on Greek revival temples, quite beautiful and more on a human scale. We also walked on Unter den Linden towards the famed Brandenburg Gate built in 1788, which imitates in its architecture the Propylae of the Acropolis of Athens. This symbol of Berlin was buit as a Gate to Peace and was the ceremonial entrance to the heart of the city. This is where the ambassadors would gather on the day when they were invited to meet with the King and then escorted down the avenue to the Palace. Unter den Liden created in 1647 was also used as a riding path towards the Tiergarten forest where the Princes would hunt. At one end of the avenue is the equestrian statue of the greatest of all Prussian Kings, Frederick II the Great,1712-1786, riding down on his favorite horse. A little known fact about him was that he spoke excellent French and very poor German, he use to do small talk with his soldiers but he always needed help. He also spoke a little English but not much since his uncle George II of England was the German Prince of Hanover and he also spoke French and little english or let's say badly.
There is so much to tell about this city, so many interesting things to see and do and none of it has anything to do with the period 1934-1989.
If you want to visit Europe, I suggest you go to Berlin and look up the web site www.Berlin.de
