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Bicycle Tour Adventure #39: Germany, Day 7

Berlin, Monday Morning: Holocaust Memorial, Check Point Charlie, Berlin Wall
Monument to the Holocaust. Monument to the Holocaust.
Above: Monument to the Holocaust. This is one block away from the Brandenburg Gate and it takes up and entire city block. There is an underground memorial - We didn't take pictures.

Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. Hans Joachim von Zieten.
We're walking, everything is within 15 blocks and we could have taken a bus. These are statues of German Heroes. It is early in the morning and no one is walking, it's just us and some moving cars.

Above Left: Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (3 July 1676 - 7 April 1747) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Dessau [Wikipedia]. He was a Field Marshal with a colorful career. He made the Prussian Army the fearsome corps that is known to history. He has fought the Spanish, Swedes, Poles, French, and Austrians which gave him his reputation but he saved some royal butt which gave him his upper ranks.

Above Right: Hans Joachim von Zieten (May 14, 1699 - January 26, 1786), also known as Zieten aus dem Busch, was a Cavalry General in the Prussian Army. He served in numerous wars and battles during the reign of Frederick the Great [Wikipedia]. There is another German von Zieten: Hans Ernst Karl, Graf von Zieten (1770-1848) [Graf is similar to Count], a Prussian General of the Napoleonic Wars



Morning: Check Point Charlie
Check Point Charlie. Check Point Charlie.
So we are walking alone and all of a sudden, one half a block from Check Point Charlie, the area suddenly becomes a flash mob. Tour buses rolled in, cars came out of nowhere, the road filled with trucks and taxis, and hundreds of people suddenly appeared on the street.

Above Left: Check Point Charlie: This is the original location of the actual Check Point Charlie but the original was torn down and, later, some industrious kids got together and recreated a copy of the Check Point Structure and then bought some period uniforms and they charge a few Euros for pictures and they are making some major college money. This is the recreated guard house (actual site).

Above Right: This is a Black and White (B&W) Image of the original Check Point Charlie. There are some pictures posted on a makeshift monument wall on a fence (it will become a monument some day, that's how these things get started sometimes). I have to tell the reader; around here Americans are Heroes and the Germans grateful for Americans, President Kennedy, and the Berlin Airlift.

Check Point Charlie. Check Point Charlie.
Above Left: Check Point Charlie remake with college kid.

Above Right: (B&W) of the beginning of The Berlin Wall.

Terry Struck and a Female US Army MP at check Point Charlie, Berlin. Check Point Charlie.
Above Left: Terry Struck and a Female US Army MP at check Point Charlie, Berlin.

Above Right: (B&W) of the Check Point.

Check Point Charlie. The WWII Germany Occupation Diagram.
Above Left: One more (B&W) image of the final looking Check Point Charlie.

Above Right: I saw this on the sidewalk; it is the WWII Germany Occupation Diagram. Someone explained the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain, East and West Berlin, each Allied Zone of Control, and what the Americans/Allies had to do to drive (by ground vehicle) into Berlin from Check Point Alpha - It is all there, that is good graphic!



Mid Morning: The Berlin Wall
this double line of bricks in the middle of the road is where the Berlin Wall stood. 'Berliner Mauer 1961-1989' (Germen for Berlin Wall).
Above Left: Terry and I are walking from Check Point Charlie to The Wall Memorial (which has a still standing portion of The Wall. I look down and freeze in my tracks - I suddenly realize that this double line of bricks in the middle of the road is where the Berlin Wall stood. I don't know it for a fact; I just felt it in my bones, so I took a picture.

Above Right: We walked another block, my suspicion is confirmed, there is plaque in the double brick band; it says 'Berliner Mauer 1961-1989' (Germen for 'Berlin Wall').

The Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall.
Above Left: This is the picture that brought it all together.

Above Right: The Wall.

The Graffiti says it all - Madness.
Above: The Graffiti says it all (this is the Soviet side of the wall).

The Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall.
Above: The Berlin Wall.

Parents pay their respects. Kids doing what kids have done since time memorial.
Above Left: Parents pay their respects.

Above Right: Kids doing what kids have done since time memorial.

(B&W) of the Soviet View of Brandenburg Gate. Where The Wall went by the Brandenburg Gate.
Above Left: (B&W) of the Soviet View of the Brandenburg Gate (the photographer is looking East, from the Soviet East Germany Zone, into [free] West Berlin).

Above Right: Where The Wall went by the Brandenburg Gate (in the background); USA Zone to the Left side, Soviet Zone to the right side (we're looking south).



Noon: A Walk About Berlin
Terry is performing an attitude adjustment. Traffic Lights for Pedestrians and Bicycles.
Above Left: Terry is performing an attitude adjustment; it's time to visit Berlin.

Above Right: Traffic Lights for Pedestrians and Bicycles.

Old East Berlin Train Station. Old East Berlin Train Station.
Above: Old East Berlin Train Station.

Liquiddrom. Transportation Museum.
Above Left: Liquiddrom: They play music and whale sounds through water.

Above Right: Transportation Museum: That is an US Army Air Corp DC-3. It is a Monday, so the Museum is Closed.

This young man helped us buy train tickets. Subway Train and it actually has our stop on screen.
Above Left: This young man helped us buy train tickets from a narrow tasking computer operated ticket dispensing vending machine. The big issue is that we wanted two three day tickets for zone three rail access. We were tying up the machine and he was waiting for a train that was going to arrive any minute. We would have figured it out, given lots of time.

Above Right: Subway Train and it actually has our stop on screen, Brandenburg Tor. We're heading for the Reichstag.

Madam Tussauo's Nicole Kidman [wax figure]. Reichstag, we're looking northwest.
Above Left: Madam Tussauo's Nicole Kidman [wax figure].

Above Right: Reichstag, we're looking northwest.

Reichstag, we're looking eastward.
Above: Reichstag, we're looking eastward from former East [Soviet] Germany.



After Noon: East Berlin and the Fernsehturm
We're heading deep into the former East Berlin to visit The Fernsehturm. This is a view of the Fernsehturm TV Tower from the Siegessäule .
Above Left: We're heading deep into the former East Berlin to visit The Fernsehturm (German for "television tower"). The Fernsehturm was created by the communists as a show case example of architecture. The tower is 368 meters (1,207 ft) tall.

"The Pope's Revenge": When the sun shines on the Fernsehturm's tiled stainless steel dome, the reflection usually appears in the form of a cross. This effect was neither expected nor desired by the designers.
Above Right: This is a view of the Fernsehturm TV Tower from the Siegessäule (Victory Column) located on the other side of the Brandenburg Gate (we'll go there later today). Technically, we are standing in a former Communist East Germany looking across the [Free] American Zone of Berlin which started at Brandenburg Gate (which is at the end of the road in this picture) to the Communist Zone of Berlin which contains the Fernsehturm TV Tower.

We want some mid day ice cream. There is a long line and a long wait.
Above Left: We're now in Alexanderplatz, at the base of the tower. It is mid day, it's about 27°C (80°F) outside but first we want some mid day ice cream.

Above Right: There is a long line, but luckily the line moves fast and one is buying tickets for a pre-set elevator ride time.

Berlin has its Bears. Berlin has its Bears.
Above: Hamburg has its Hummels and Berlin has its Bears.

Looking Southeast. Looking Northeast.
Above Left: Looking Southeast.

Above Right: Looking Northeast.

Looking Northward. Looking Westward.
Above Left: Looking Northward.

Above Right: Looking Westward. Note the views to the south were too sunny/bright for good pictures.

Lunch. A view of others from inside the tower.
Above Left: Lunch.

Above Right: A view of others from inside the tower.



Early Evening: Train and Tea Garden Walk to the Siegessäule
We're walking westward in former East Berlin. We found a train station.
Above Left: We're walking westward in former East Berlin. We're just enjoying life and the Berlin of the present.

Above Right: We found a train station and will ride it to the north end of the Teirgarten (Tea Garden).

Example of bike transport. Flower Stall at the destination train station.
Above Left: Example of bike transport (at the destination train station).

Above Right: Flower Stall at train station.

A building proudly display flowering late season blooming plants. A Bear guards the river bridge.
Above Left: A building proudly displays flowering late season blooming plants.

Above Right: A Bear guards the river bridge.

River view. Helpful Lady.
Above Left: River view.

Above Right: This lady saw us reading our map and stopped to see if she could help. We were debating which path to take and we took her recommendation.

The actual path that we took through the Tea Garden. An actual Tea House (Teehaus).
Above Left: The actual path that we took through the Tea Garden.

Above Right: An actual Tea House (Teehaus).

The Siegessäule is Huge. The Siegessäule is Huge.
Above: The Siegessäule is Huge (German for Victory Column). We see people inside, we decide to go up, it takes a moment to figure how to navigate - we use a pedestrian street crossing tunnel that is bisected by the monument's access tunnel. It is intuitive to a local, but not intuitive to us.

The Siegessäule came to be a monument to represent the unification of Germany, but it started as a monolith/tower monument celebrating the defeat of the Danes in 1864 (for the Danish-Prussian war). But by the time it had been created, Prussia had additionally defeated both Austria and France in two separate wars (1866 and 1871 respectively). The Bronze sculpture of Winged Victory (8 Meters/Yards tall) was added and the monument was relocated from the front of the Reichstag area to its present Tea Garden / 17 June Strasse location in 1938. Had it not been relocated, it probably would have been destroyed at the end of WWII.

It is now located in a huge round-about and can only be accessed through a few underground tunnels (also used for pedestrians to avoid the huge boulevards). Furthermore the monument/tower portion was placed on a large marble (or marble looking facade) that had four huge bronze metal reliefs of famous battle scenes. There are holes and pock marks from WWII battles with (presumably) Russian soldiers. The French Army removed the plaques (which included a French Army defeat) but the Country of France returned them later. Some parts of the plaques are missing or stolen (like hands or heads) and there are bullet holes and explosion marks on some of the bronzes, especially the side facing eastward.

In typical German humor, it is sometimes called, in German, the words meaning "Golden Lizzy" or "Chick on a Stick"
Long range view facing east.
Above: The view. Notice the Fernsehturm TV Tower on the horizon, between the Siegessäule monument's shadow and the 17 June Strasse just to the right of the monument's shadow. BTW, it was at the base of the shadow that we were redirected because the road was closed; see, the barricade is still there.

Larger scale views to the east from the Siegessäule. Larger scale views to the east from the Siegessäule.
Above: Larger scale views to the east from the Siegessäule.

A view up.  a spiral staircase with interim rest stations.
Above Left: A view up.

Above Right: The climb; a spiral staircase with interim rest stations.

Nice mosaic work. A closeup on the bronze reliefs.
Above Left: Beautiful mosaic tile work.

Above Right: A closeup on the bronze reliefs which demonstrates that this structure has been exposed to a little action.

More signs of action. View from the Tea garden.
Above Left: More signs of action.

Above Right: View from the Tea garden.



Evening: Walk Home, Brandenburg Tor (Gate), Supper
It's the Teirgarten (Tea Garden). It's a monument to the Soviet Soldier (created by the Russians).
Above Left: It's the Teirgarten (Tea Garden) Park; this was an open area covered by Fall Leaves. Interestingly, as we are walking along the pathway, squirrels were dropping acorns. The acorns seemed to be getting closer and closer as we walked. We were never hit, but they came mighty close.

Above Right: It's a monument to the Soviet Soldier (created by the Russians while they occupied East Germany). That segment of the Green Area is called Treptower Park but it is in the area of the Brandenburg Tor and it is fenced off and closed to the public.

Looking north toward the Brandenburg Tor. Looking south from the Brandenburg Tor.
Above Left: Looking north toward the Brandenburg Tor (which is closed to the public for a few days). Tier Garten to the left, American Embassy to the right. We now know what the double row of bricks means (Berlin Wall).

Above Right: Looking south from the same point. Here is Terry, who is trying to balance herself on the Berlin Wall line but I'm teasing her and she keeps laughing and can't maintain a one legged balance for more than one second; luckily, I got a picture of her 'on the fence' so to speak.

The view from our apartment on Wilheimstasse, Berlin.
Above: The view from our apartment on Wilheimstasse, Berlin (Mitte - Middle; North to the Left, South to the Right, East is Center). The traditional German Restaurant that we are going to visit is just out of view on the far right side of this picture.

Traditional German Restaurant. Beverage Menü (Bier, Wein, Wasser, Soda).
Above Left: Traditional German Restaurant.

Above Right: The thing that looks like a Wine Bottle is the Beverage Menü (Bier, Wein, Wasser, Soda).

Traditional German Restaurant Ambiance. Traditional German Restaurant Ambiance.
Above: Traditional German Restaurant Ambiance. It is about 7PM and there is only one other guest in the restaurant, but just before we leave (in about one hour) the restaurant will be half full.

Traditional German Restaurant Ambiance. Impressionist styled oil painting of the Brandenburg Tor.
Above Left: Traditional German Restaurant Ambiance.

Above Right: Impressionist styled oil painting of the Brandenburg Tor.

Terry's Traditional German Supper. Dennis's Traditional German Supper.
Above Left: Terry's Traditional German Supper.

Above Right: Dennis's Traditional German Supper - YUM!


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