Europe 2012: Berlin II

On Sunday we saw where the wall had been. It was usually marked with a line of darker cobblestones where it crossed a street. But we did not see a wall, or any vertical representation of a wall yesterday.

Today (Monday) we went to three places where we gained a much different impression of what it meant to Berlin and Berliners to have a physical wall dividing East from West. The following images were taken at the first site.

Erected to show the height and placement of the wall.

Famous photo of an East German soldier making his choice for freedom.

This building, standing only a few feet inside the wall, was once home to those who were cut off from relatives and friends in the West. Information kiosks have been placed in its shadow to assist in communicating the dark truths of what the Berlin Wall meant to her citizens.

We next traveled to the location of a portion of the original wall, now known as the East Side Gallery, because it is covered with artwork on both sides.

The "East Side Gallery" wall

The wall from the other side

Each panel was signed and dated, and the artists were from many different countries. This is one example.

Another, unique specimen: The German flag with the Israel flag superimposed on it.

Finally, we went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, where there was extensive documentation of the extreme risks undertaken and effort expended to escape to the West. In many if not most of these attempts there was comparable risk and effort undertaken by others who assisted them. Here at this museum I personally gained a fresh appreciation of the preciousness of freedom, and of the lengths to which men and women will go to attain it. Many in Berlin lost their lives opposing tyranny and oppression between 1961 and 1989. Freedom is indeed neither gained nor held without great cost.

I didn't take many pictures inside the museum because of the crowd, because of the information overload, and frankly, because of the emotional impact of what I was seeing and reading. Below is one I did take, shot from the West on the day the wall fell with the Brandenburg Gate in the background.

November 10, 1989

This is a replica of the original Checkpoint Charlie. (The original is in the Smithsonian.) Checkpoint Charlie was the only place for the Allies to cross the border between East and West in Berlin.

Gisela said as we were leaving Checkpoint Charlie, "That's the end of the sad stuff.. Now let's do something happy!" And we did.