We were so impressed by Berlin. A highlight of the visit was a half-day walking tour around the city. This city is massive. So many wide-open spaces and huge buildings. I was expecting the Berliners to be cold and indifferent, but they were just the opposite. They were warm, friendly, and helpful. Every time we looked like we were struggling navigating the metro, someone would come up and sort us out. Every time! This is why I always stop and help someone in Toronto who asks me directions or looks confused. Pay it forward! Oh and the street donairs in Berlin were amazing!
I had some knowledge of World War 2, Hitler, and Nazi Germany but this tour expanded my knowledge so much. Buried under rubble and filled in with concrete we stood on top of Hitler’s bunker. I like to think that nothing would have pissed off Hitler more than a Korean bubble tea place and Peking Duck restaurant built where he died. Him being an insane racist asshole and a vegan. We visited the former headquarters of the SS and Gestapo. Really sad, sick stuff. Got me weepy.
What was a bit terrifying about the experience is how much of the Nazi propaganda lines up with Trump rhetoric. We humans are such fools. We are indeed doomed to keep repeating the worst of our history. Interesting that most all the buildings were leveled in the allied invasion during the battle of Berlin. Except for one building, the headquarters of the Luftwaffe. Barely a scratch and it’s fucking massive. The irony man, the irony. It took us 20 min to walk around it.
I visited the Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum für Film und Fernsehen Berlin (my visit photos). Here you can experience more than 100 years of German film history, along with 50 years of the television history of both East and West Germany, all the way from the first jerky pictures of the silent film era and the earliest sound films of the 1930s. Some of my favorite horror films are early German expressionist efforts like Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, M and of course, Metropolis.
The street pedestrian street signals (Walk/Don’t Walk) (Ampelmännchen (Ampellmann) are so iconic in Berlin. The story behind them is fascinating. They are a holdover from the cold war. I found the chant of “Red man dead man” very catchy and effective.
