The news from Berlin is that the former City Palace has been rebuilt and is now open as one of the world's great museums.
These views of Berlin start at the Brandenburg Gate, adjacent to Tiergarten Park, which is probably the best-known symbol of Berlin. The government building with the glass dome is the Reichstag, the German parliament.During the Cold War, the Brandenburg Gate divided East Berlin from West Berlin. The very center of the city was in East Berlin. The Reichstag building was just on the western side of the Berlin Wall, but the capital of West Germany was in Bonn, not Berlin.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5163027,13.3782926,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNeY6Au4za4HQylfGz_yMtf0uhivvQnzbtTpLMy!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNeY6Au4za4HQylfGz_yMtf0uhivvQnzbtTpLMy%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0.78435594-ya289.50598-ro0.044468448-fo100!7i5760!8i2880
The first of the following scenes is inside the Pergamon Museum, on Museum Island in the Spree River. The blue brickwork is the outer portion of the world-famous Ishtar Gate, of ancient Babylon. The bricks are glazed and lapis lazuli was valued for it's striking blue color. This gate was constructed by Nebuchadnezzar II, who is described in the Bible as destroying the Temple and taking the Jews captive to Babylon.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5163027,13.3782926,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNeY6Au4za4HQylfGz_yMtf0uhivvQnzbtTpLMy!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNeY6Au4za4HQylfGz_yMtf0uhivvQnzbtTpLMy%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0.78435594-ya289.50598-ro0.044468448-fo100!7i5760!8i2880
The first of the following scenes is inside the Pergamon Museum, on Museum Island in the Spree River. The blue brickwork is the outer portion of the world-famous Ishtar Gate, of ancient Babylon. The bricks are glazed and lapis lazuli was valued for it's striking blue color. This gate was constructed by Nebuchadnezzar II, who is described in the Bible as destroying the Temple and taking the Jews captive to Babylon.
The building with the large dome is Berlin Cathedral, intended as a Protestant version of St. Peter's Basilica. During the Cold War, all of this was in East Berlin. If you see a construction site across the street from the cathedral, that is the City Palace being rebuilt. It is now completed and open.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5207955,13.3962595,2a,75y,329.1h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1shjhDPde_66UAAARAtEAOHw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DhjhDPde_66UAAARAtEAOHw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D343.38773%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i2096!8i1048
There is on thing, of course, that the former East Germany struggled with from it's beginning in 1949. That one thing was religion. The country was officially Marxist and atheist but the territory that was made into East Germany was the homeland of Martin Luther. East Germany was where the Reformation began. Besides religion, Luther had opposed the Great Peasants' Revolt of his time, although other Protestant clergy had supported it.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5207955,13.3962595,2a,75y,329.1h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1shjhDPde_66UAAARAtEAOHw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DhjhDPde_66UAAARAtEAOHw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D343.38773%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i2096!8i1048
There is on thing, of course, that the former East Germany struggled with from it's beginning in 1949. That one thing was religion. The country was officially Marxist and atheist but the territory that was made into East Germany was the homeland of Martin Luther. East Germany was where the Reformation began. Besides religion, Luther had opposed the Great Peasants' Revolt of his time, although other Protestant clergy had supported it.
But the status of Luther made him impossible to ignore and the 500th anniversary of his birth, 1983, was approaching. The government eventually allowed churches to operate virtually unhindered.
This is Charlottenburg Palace, which might be considered as the German version of Versailles. This was in West Berlin during the Cold War.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5205783,13.2960617,3a,75y,355.39h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMpMfBJeQTQ4WuijIyU-f0NWH0QgZlyP6N1X8-N!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMpMfBJeQTQ4WuijIyU-f0NWH0QgZlyP6N1X8-N%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya357.18906-ro-0-fo100!7i10000!8i5000
Not far from the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, Berlin's best-known square might be Potsdamer Platz. It was divided between East and West Berlin, the border ran right through it.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5095179,13.3766295,3a,75y,9.49h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNMZEMyrpLYkI34mDI8dBOc_wFO8K9ZzglXrS_x!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNMZEMyrpLYkI34mDI8dBOc_wFO8K9ZzglXrS_x%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya27.80967-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352
This is what the most famous crossing between East and West Berlin, "Checkpoint Charlie" looks like today.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5074423,13.3903907,3a,75y,186.84h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO_Y5zL5M6pa_VX985G4DbWaBvMblgSPCrpjq-7!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO_Y5zL5M6pa_VX985G4DbWaBvMblgSPCrpjq-7%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya184.1756-ro0-fo100!7i7744!8i3872
There is something to celebrate in Berlin. The building under construction in the first of the following views is going to be the rebuilt City Palace. There was a Fifteenth-Century royal palace that was demolished by the former East Germany, which built a modern complex called the Palace of the Republic on the site for the East German Parliament. After the reunification of Germany, the decision was made to demolish that and rebuild the Palace of the City as closely as possible to the original. The palace is now completed and Open. It is a great museum. It is on Museum Island across the street from Berlin Cathedral.
I am sure that those in Paris who would like to rebuild the Tuileries Palace are watching closely.
Berlin's former Tempelhof Airport has been decommissioned and turned into a park. This was where western planes landed during the Berlin Air Lift, which was during the Cold War. The name of the airport comes from the fact that the land it is on was once owned by the Knights Templar, which we saw in "Malta And Jerusalem" and "Along London's Royal Route".
Another of Berlin's public squares is Alexanderplatz, which is seen in some of the following images. The square was named for the Romanov Dynasty tsar Alexander I when he visited Berlin. The red building with the clock tower is the Berlin City Hall. The modern tower with the sphere is the Fernsehturm, a symbol of Berlin. All of this was in East Berlin during the Cold War.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5184732,13.4015727,3a,75y,215.69h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s6_y13yDVYKXfWFVluu4Oxg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6_y13yDVYKXfWFVluu4Oxg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D203.61307%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
One thing that does not get written about much concerning the Cold War in Berlin is the subway, the U-Bahn. The subway system didn't get neatly divided with the city. The subway lines often took West Berliners under East Berlin. When they stopped at a station to change trains, the station might have actually been in East Berlin. The East Germans closed some stations, which became known as "ghost stations", and others, where transfers took place, were guarded so that no East Germans could get on and no West Germans could come in without authorization.
The first of the following scenes begins at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The church was destroyed in war, except for the steeple. Remember the St. Jacques Tower in Paris, that was left as a memorial of the French Revolution when the church was destroyed, except for the steeple. This is on the boulevard known as the Kurfurstendamm, which might be considered as Berlin's version of the Champs Elysees. This area was the heart of West Berlin during the Cold War.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5045084,13.3350352,3a,75y,70.13h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6vHbeCQsoldZzvFdJVt9Zg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6vHbeCQsoldZzvFdJVt9Zg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D59.30719%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
In the former East Berlin, the first of the following scenes are on Karl Marx Allee. This is where the 1953 anti-Communist uprising in East Germany began. There are things named for Karl Marx, since he was born in Germany.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5176436,13.43652,3a,75y,111.38h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1swk_ftVBnkk9HBsDKg5LjlA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dwk_ftVBnkk9HBsDKg5LjlA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D122.7589%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
The steps of this building with the tower is where John F. Kennedy made his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, in 1963 a few months before he was assassinated. He meant to express solidarity in the Cold War by saying "I am a Berliner". The trouble is that he should have said "einen", instead of "ein". What he actually said in German was "I am a doughnut".
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4849024,13.3447294,3a,75y,113.25h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipORsySIJzOWPZ9qoqx1GX5DT0-YhXcCVNdeNG4w!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipORsySIJzOWPZ9qoqx1GX5DT0-YhXcCVNdeNG4w%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya305.2089-ro0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096
The following scenes are of the New Palace at Potsdam. This is to the southwest of Berlin. The palace was built during the Prussian era, before a united Germany and later was the residence of the Kaisers during the German monarchy period. Germany is made up of sixteen states, and Berlin itself is one of these states. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg, of which Potsdam is the state capital.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4011667,13.0136417,3a,75y,0.79h,105.7t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMDcz85Z-p1SueyaKTWSs3h4mfFQz7UrGUTd7AL!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMDcz85Z-p1SueyaKTWSs3h4mfFQz7UrGUTd7AL%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-15.70331-ya0.78605205-ro0-fo100!7i4352!8i2176
This is Charlottenburg Palace, which might be considered as the German version of Versailles. This was in West Berlin during the Cold War.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5205783,13.2960617,3a,75y,355.39h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMpMfBJeQTQ4WuijIyU-f0NWH0QgZlyP6N1X8-N!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMpMfBJeQTQ4WuijIyU-f0NWH0QgZlyP6N1X8-N%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya357.18906-ro-0-fo100!7i10000!8i5000
Not far from the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag, Berlin's best-known square might be Potsdamer Platz. It was divided between East and West Berlin, the border ran right through it.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5095179,13.3766295,3a,75y,9.49h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNMZEMyrpLYkI34mDI8dBOc_wFO8K9ZzglXrS_x!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNMZEMyrpLYkI34mDI8dBOc_wFO8K9ZzglXrS_x%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya27.80967-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352
This is what the most famous crossing between East and West Berlin, "Checkpoint Charlie" looks like today.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5074423,13.3903907,3a,75y,186.84h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO_Y5zL5M6pa_VX985G4DbWaBvMblgSPCrpjq-7!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO_Y5zL5M6pa_VX985G4DbWaBvMblgSPCrpjq-7%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya184.1756-ro0-fo100!7i7744!8i3872
There is something to celebrate in Berlin. The building under construction in the first of the following views is going to be the rebuilt City Palace. There was a Fifteenth-Century royal palace that was demolished by the former East Germany, which built a modern complex called the Palace of the Republic on the site for the East German Parliament. After the reunification of Germany, the decision was made to demolish that and rebuild the Palace of the City as closely as possible to the original. The palace is now completed and Open. It is a great museum. It is on Museum Island across the street from Berlin Cathedral.
I am sure that those in Paris who would like to rebuild the Tuileries Palace are watching closely.
Berlin's former Tempelhof Airport has been decommissioned and turned into a park. This was where western planes landed during the Berlin Air Lift, which was during the Cold War. The name of the airport comes from the fact that the land it is on was once owned by the Knights Templar, which we saw in "Malta And Jerusalem" and "Along London's Royal Route".
Another of Berlin's public squares is Alexanderplatz, which is seen in some of the following images. The square was named for the Romanov Dynasty tsar Alexander I when he visited Berlin. The red building with the clock tower is the Berlin City Hall. The modern tower with the sphere is the Fernsehturm, a symbol of Berlin. All of this was in East Berlin during the Cold War.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5184732,13.4015727,3a,75y,215.69h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s6_y13yDVYKXfWFVluu4Oxg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6_y13yDVYKXfWFVluu4Oxg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D203.61307%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100
One thing that does not get written about much concerning the Cold War in Berlin is the subway, the U-Bahn. The subway system didn't get neatly divided with the city. The subway lines often took West Berliners under East Berlin. When they stopped at a station to change trains, the station might have actually been in East Berlin. The East Germans closed some stations, which became known as "ghost stations", and others, where transfers took place, were guarded so that no East Germans could get on and no West Germans could come in without authorization.
The first of the following scenes begins at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The church was destroyed in war, except for the steeple. Remember the St. Jacques Tower in Paris, that was left as a memorial of the French Revolution when the church was destroyed, except for the steeple. This is on the boulevard known as the Kurfurstendamm, which might be considered as Berlin's version of the Champs Elysees. This area was the heart of West Berlin during the Cold War.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5045084,13.3350352,3a,75y,70.13h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6vHbeCQsoldZzvFdJVt9Zg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D6vHbeCQsoldZzvFdJVt9Zg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D59.30719%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
In the former East Berlin, the first of the following scenes are on Karl Marx Allee. This is where the 1953 anti-Communist uprising in East Germany began. There are things named for Karl Marx, since he was born in Germany.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5176436,13.43652,3a,75y,111.38h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1swk_ftVBnkk9HBsDKg5LjlA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dwk_ftVBnkk9HBsDKg5LjlA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D122.7589%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
The steps of this building with the tower is where John F. Kennedy made his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, in 1963 a few months before he was assassinated. He meant to express solidarity in the Cold War by saying "I am a Berliner". The trouble is that he should have said "einen", instead of "ein". What he actually said in German was "I am a doughnut".
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4849024,13.3447294,3a,75y,113.25h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipORsySIJzOWPZ9qoqx1GX5DT0-YhXcCVNdeNG4w!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipORsySIJzOWPZ9qoqx1GX5DT0-YhXcCVNdeNG4w%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya305.2089-ro0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096
The following scenes are of the New Palace at Potsdam. This is to the southwest of Berlin. The palace was built during the Prussian era, before a united Germany and later was the residence of the Kaisers during the German monarchy period. Germany is made up of sixteen states, and Berlin itself is one of these states. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg, of which Potsdam is the state capital.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4011667,13.0136417,3a,75y,0.79h,105.7t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMDcz85Z-p1SueyaKTWSs3h4mfFQz7UrGUTd7AL!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMDcz85Z-p1SueyaKTWSs3h4mfFQz7UrGUTd7AL%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-15.70331-ya0.78605205-ro0-fo100!7i4352!8i2176
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