It was a mistake. It was never meant to happen this way. Tension was building all across the GDR (German Democratic Republic). On Nov 9, 1989, Gunter Schabowki, an East German official announced at a press conference that East Germans would be allowed to travel abroad for the first time since the wall had been constructed nearly 30 years prior. He had missed the meeting to prep for the press conference and didn’t read his speech before he entered the room. These regulations had only been completed a few hours before hand with no additional instructions to him. Reporters were astonished when this was announced and asked, when does it come into affect?
Schabowski looked down at his crumbled up note in confusion, looked back up and said – “As far as I’m aware, immediately…. straight away”.
Once the East German people saw the news footage it set off a sequence of events that will give you tingles running down your spine. They lined up by the thousands at the various different checkpoints. The guards were so outnumbered and hadn’t received any orders of what to do – but what could you do outnumbered 100,000 to 5? They started letting people through the gates. East Germans were now free! For the first time in almost 30 years, East Germans crossed the checkpoints and freely entered West Berlin!
It was an honor and a privilege to be in Berlin the weekend of the 25th anniversary of such a historic event in Germany history. It was not planned but we are sure glad that we were here for all of the festivities.
This trip, we were blessed and fortunate to be staying with a local Berliner who was a wonderful and gracious host. I had met her when I was last in Berlin as she was a friend of a friend. We really learned a ton by staying and hanging out with someone who lived through the most recent Berlin history of the 80’s, 90’s and today. She taught us so much about the history.
We started off the stay in Berlin by relaxing and hanging out at our friend’s house the first night. It had been a very early morning (getting up at 4 am) in Iceland to catch our flight to Berlin so we didn’t do much the first day.
The next day, we set out early to explore the city and did a free walking tour like we had done in so many other major European cities. It was a great introduction (or re-introduction) into the dramatic history that this unique city holds. The tour mainly focused on the 20th century history because there is so much just in the last 100 years.
It starts with the end of the First World War. Germany was in shambles and didn’t have a lot going for it. The republic was nearing its breakdown and was under attack by extreme forces from the right and the left. Then came the Great Depression in 1931. Politics in the country were in chaos. Then enters in Hitler who in 1933 became Chancellor of Germany.
It was a dark time in the history of Berlin and Germany with Hitler at the helm as the persecution of many minorities took place. This culminated with the end of World War II and Hitler taking his own life.
We were able to see the several very important historical sites on the tour including:
- The Brandenburg Gate
- The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
- The Site of Hitler’s Former Bunker
- The Berlin Wall
- The Former SS Headquarters
- Checkpoint Charlie
It is very interesting to hear from a historian the events surrounding the place that you are standing. Even though this wasn’t the first time that I had been on such a tour in Berlin, it really touches you.
Later on that day, we had the opportunity to go to a social event for the German language school. This is where our host is currently working. The school does this social event each month to get students out of the classroom and meeting each other. The event was at a local beer hall and we ended up having a blast! We met so many new and interesting people. We were sitting at a table with 6 others from the following countries: Columbia, Syria, Portugal, Spain, and Germany. This is what defines Berlin to me. These were people from many other places that now call Berlin home. Pretty amazing stuff and one of the most fun nights out that we have had on the trip.
The next day we decided to visit a place that holds a lot of historical importance but a tour that we knew would be a little tough. We did a walking tour of Sachsenhausen memorial. Sachsenhausen, which lies just outside of the Berlin city limits, was the nerve center for Nazi concentration camps. The memorial now stands as a reminder of the darkest days in Berlin’s history. It was in Sachsenhausen that 50,000 abused prisoners perished as well as the place were a school of brutality for training the SS guards to work in this and other camps. When we were there, it was cold, windy and dark outside. Fitting for what took place here. It wasn’t one of those tours that you feel good about when you leave. You don’t ‘enjoy’ this. In fact, it is upsetting to hear about the horrific events that took place in the very place that you are standing. However, it was something that I’m glad that we did to better understand this dark part of history.
That night, to lighten the mood, we attended an international street food market that occurs each Thursday night and again displays the uniqueness and diversity that make up Berlin. You could eat foods from what seemed like any country in the world. The place was packed and filled with energy. There were picnic tables set up and you could walk about and pick out what food or drink you wanted to try. We had a great time and were very happy that our host invited us out there. It reminded us of San Padro Market in San Jose that we use to love at home except bigger, with even more variety.
We had intended only to spend a few nights in Berlin, and then go to Prague on our way to Munich in the south. Our plans were upset by the biggest German train strike in history. All German trains were stopped from Thursday to Sunday. The millions of people coming into Berlin because of the Berlin wall celebrations compounded the problem. There are other means to get to Prague including bus and ride shares but these were all either sold out or 3x as expensive because of a lack of train options. In fact we had one ride share booked but the guy cancelled on us last min. We had the toughest time trying to get to Prague so we ended up staying in Berlin a few days longer and skipping Prague all together.
In the end, I’m glad that we skipped Prague because it allowed us to further enjoy the Berlin wall anniversary celebrations. On Friday night, we walked around the Brandenburg Gate area that was set up with massive stages, lights and stands selling food and drinks. There was movie screens set up at strategic places that played on repeat an hour-long documentary of the Berlin wall history. It was great to hear about the history but quite another to watch the actual footage. From seeing the wall in it’s constructing in 1961, to the times during the cold war where East Germans tried to cross, to the famous John F Kennedy speech in 1963 where he declared: “Ich bin ein Berliner“ meaning “I am a Berliner” (or perhaps he incorrectly called himself a Jelly Doughnut due to his mis-pronunciation). And finally to the events leading to the eventual fall of the wall. The video was factual, graphic and touching. Marissa and I just stood there in awe, watching the entire video. When the video was finished you couldn’t help but feel overjoyed at what the celebration meant to these people.
On our last full day in Berlin on Saturday, we signed up to do a Berlin Wall bike tour. We biked following the bricks that were laid to signify where the wall use to stand. It ended up being an AWESOME day, sunny and temperatures in the mid 50’s. It felt like a crisp fall day and was great for biking around the city. We really enjoyed the easy bike around some of the most important sites along the wall. One of our favorite spots was the East Side Gallery. This is a 1.3 km stretch of the Berlin wall that is now a memorial for freedom and contains 105 paintings for artists around the world. After the fall of the wall in 1989, artists were allowed to display their creativity on this stretch of the wall. Really cool stuff.
Berlin doesn’t have the beauty of the natural landscapes like Iceland, or amazing architectural buildings like Rome and there aren’t a lot of ‘attractions’ in the city. But what it lacks for in those areas, it more than makes up for in historical importance. Berlin is definitely one of the most unique cities that we have been to. We lucked out and were there for a very important celebration and considered ourselves to be so lucky to be part of such a great event!
what a perfect time to be in Berlin!