An Introduction to Berlin Posted on January 19th, 2015 by Evan Larson

This morning began with an orientation to the public transportation of Berlin, specifically the subway or the U-bahn. After a short explanation from Pat and a longer subway trip, we found ourselves at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

This church was nearly completely destroyed in the bombings of Berlin during the later stages of World War 2 but the main spire has since been slowly restored. The square building to the right is the new church that has been built for services in its place, each square is a small plane of stained glass which looks quite spectacular from the inside.

After that we crossed a street and were at the biggest department store in mainland Europe called Ka De We (shown below) , the prices are quite high here but it was very interesting to see the size of the store and some of its wares.

After a lunch at a small cafe, we hopped on a bus to take a tour of the city. The first stop on the tour was at the biggest outdoor art “gallery” in the world, which also happens to be a 1 mile stretch of the Berlin wall. Although there is a very serious problem with graffiti at this location on the wall, the paintings still remain fairly intact and one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city.

This picture is only a small part of the much larger art gallery. The most famous picture (show below)  portrays Leonid Brezhnev ( the leader of the USSR at the time) and Erich Honecker ( the leader of East Germany) sharing a passionate embrace. The painting is called My God, Help Me to Survive this Deadly Love and highlights the concerns about Soviet and East German relations.

We saw quite a few more sights on the trip, however the most spectacular was the Brandenburg Gate. This Berlin Wall was built right in front and behind the monument to peace and was a symbol of reunification when the wall finally fell.

Finally, the last stop we made was at the Holocaust Memorial and is located right near the Brandenburg Gate. It was a sobering experience walking among the large concrete blocks and one that I wont soon forget.