Berlin's Brandenburg Gate has one beautiful piece of sculpture which adorns the top of the gate. The Gate was built in the 1800's in the niddle of no where....but became more famous as the dividing line of East and West Berlin and the symbol of a divided Germany..
The city of Berlin with about 3.5 million residents is one of the largest in Europe. It is fairly easy (fairly....) easy to navigate the city via the metro system (U-Bahn and S-Bahn). The U-Bahn is mostly in the city and travels underground. The S-Bahn goes outside the center city and is above ground.
Next to the Brandenburg Gate is the U.S. Embassy....an imposing structure in such a unique location. It was interesting that I was stopped and asked for my identification after taking photographs of the building.
And adjacent to the U.S. Embassy is the memorial to the Holocaust. It opened in 2005 and contains 2711 concrete blocks The blocks are of different size and one can disappear when walking among them as can be shown in these photos....
....check out the American Embassy flag in the distance for inside the memorial....
"Check Point Charlie" was the most frequently used border crossing's into East Berlin. Manned by Russian and American soldiers
Today it represents more of a tourist trap set up to collect money from those would pay a fee to have a photo taken with a couple of actors.....
But there is evidence that at one time this was the location of the wall....
The Reichstag (Parliament) building was one of my Berlin highlights. Having made the request in advance we expected to receive notice of entry. But heard nothing. So took a chance and ask one of the security people how we could expect to gain entry for the tour. He said we should have heard...but would check....he came back and said we could tour it right now if we liked....we did....so after providing identification we were allowed entry. It was so beautiful....built in the late 1800's it was damaged by fire in 1933 and later had major destruction during WW II. After the war it was restored and in the 1900's became a home for Parliament after the German reunification and a glass dome with spiraling ramp and observation platform were added... It provided panoramic views of Berlin that evening as well as an interesting look into the Parliament chambers.
Here is the building in the daylight....
Berlin is also home to some of the most famous museums....Charlottenburg Palace...Brohan Museum and the Museum Berggruen....
Another Saturday....another demonstration...this time Berlin. The police presence tell the story early on....
...then the people begin to gather....demonstration on its way....
One last site from my travel in Berlin this day is the beautiful Siegessaule Grober Stern ....I did not make the 250 step climb to the tower ......
Next up...Berlin by night...the great Light show.....but before I give up today...Some of the great sculpture ..........
a couple interesting photos....the pedestrian traffic light...this little man figure has his own line of products in Berlin....
And...just one of the hundreds of "Bear" statutes that adorn the city....this one at the U.S. Embassy...
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