A Day in Berlin

We were so excited to spend a day in Berlin! Because we just had a short time, we tried to fit in as much as we could...a visit to the Pergamon Ancient History Museum, the German History Museum, then a walk to Checkpoint Charlie and seeing the old segments of the Berlin Wall, then over to the Topography of Terror to learn about the rise of the SS and Gestapo in Nazi Germany, followed by a visit to the Memorial for Jews Murdered in Europe, a walk to the Brandenburg Gate, and then a tour of the Reichstag building finished up our day.

You aren't able to visit the Pergamon Altar right now, because of restoration and construction, but the Ishtar Gate was so incredible to see and walk through.

A close up of some of the blue tiles.

And, a bit closer. The colors for a 2600+ year old gate, built under Nebuchadnezzar II (the famous one that we all know from the Bible,) as part of his beautification plan for Babylon, are incredible.

To learn more about the Ishtar Gate, you can check out the Wikipedia article here.

The Market Gate of Miletus, another incredible structure to view, inside of a museum! I believe they said this was the largest architectural reconstruction ever done inside of a building.

You can see Indy here, so you can only imagine how large this gate is when you're standing there and looking at it. Part of it was damaged during WWII, but they did extensive reconstruction on it and it is an impressive sight.

Walking back through the Miletus Gate, you see the rest of the Ishtar Gate processional.

The walk way that people had to take to enter the gate, and the city of Babylon, got incrementally more impressive.

This is a mock up of what the processional way, entering the large Ishtar Gate, would have looked like back in the 6th Century BC.

I can't remember where this, and it's matching creature on the other side of the doorway, are from, but they were mighty large and interesting to look at.

I am so glad these two are friends.

One of the prayer niches you can see in the Islamic art section of the Pergamon Museum

A wooden dome facade from the Middle East, the detail work was so intricate.

The famous Mshatta Facade from Jordan, that was given to Emperor Wilhelm II by the Ottoman Sultan.

The carpet displays in the Pergamon were beautiful.

The Aleppo Room, built by a Christian citizen of the town of Aleppo in Syria in the early 1600's.

The detail work on the walls of this meeting room are lovely. 

After the Pergamon Museum, we went to the German History Museum. I only took a few pictures there, and there was a lot of reading to do!

There were so many beautiful churches in Berlin. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit any of them. Maybe next time.

Leaving Museum Island.

Checkpoint Charlie.

Leaving the American Sector and heading over to see sections that are left of the Berlin Wall.

Reading the history of the Berlin Wall and escape attempts from East to West Berlin.

Understanding how Berlin was dissected following WWII at the Checkpoint Charlie site.

One of the portions of the Berlin Wall that we were able to see.

Leaving the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, we saw different street vendors selling old WWII items.

Some old hats and uniforms for sale.

A short walk away from Checkpoint Charlie, with another section of the Berlin Wall visible behind us, is the Topography of Terror. It is built on the site of the old Gestapo headquarters.

Krypto reading some of the history displays.

After this, we went over to the Memorial for Jews Murdered in Europe, but we didn't take any pictures there. It was a quiet and sobering display and memorial site.

Almost to our final stop for the day, we got to walk up to the Brandenburg Gate. It was already being gated off for the New Years celebration in a couple of days, so we couldn't walk up to it or through it. The size and view are wonderful though.

As we walked around it, to make our way to the Reichstag for our 8pm English speaking tour, we took a closer view of the columns and the top of the gate.

During our tour of the Reichstag building you can see old graffiti left by Soviet soldiers upon the walls of the famous government building. 

The office for the current German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

A piece of art, Archive of German Members of Parliament...displaying all the names of everyone who has ever been elected to the German parliament, including the Nazis, starting in 1919...then there is a gap when there was no Reichstag, then it begins again from 1949 until 1999.

Looking up into the dome from the floor of the room where the parliament meets.

The meeting floor.

Walking up inside of the dome.

A view of the Brandenburg Gate standing outside of the dome.

Family shot, at night, on top of the Reichstag building.