Jun 24 Berlin

We had the morning on our own, so we took our new found knowledge of the Berlin Transit system to travel south to Templehof airport.  It's now closed but was one of the three airports on the receiving end of the Berlin airlift.

The memorial symbolizes the three receiving airports of the "Hunger Rake" while the base has the names of the participants who died.

 The airport is now a big empty field.  The city is still arguing over what to use it for.

 A DC-4 that formed the backbone of the lift.

On our trip to and from Templehof we changed trains and had to walk down two long tunnels positioned at right angles.  In the middle was a busker, suitably chosen to fill both tunnels with music.  He was 2 stops from Mendelssohnplatz....and was playing Tchaikovosky!

 Our local host highly praised the local strawberries now in season.  Little stands abounded.

Truth in advertising for the local WC:

In the afternoon we joined our city host for a walking/public transit tour of the WW2, Jewish, and Cold War sites in Berlin.  This is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

 Next to the memorial they were excavating for another building.  The blocks of concrete come from the Fuhrer Bunker which was located right here.

The bunker area is completely sealed and covered by a parking lot.  The sign indicates its location.

 We passed an East German administrative building with its socialistic art still displayed.  Everyone is happy and joyous in the Soviet empire.

 Forming one wall of the exhibit "Topography of Terror" is a section of the Berlin Wall.

 One of the displays within, a young Adolph Hitler on his way up.

 The display contains more than 20 panels with information on the Nazi regime.

 The Berlin Wall from the other side.  Note that many have taken their own piece of the wall away with them.

St. Hedwig's Cathedral

 Renting a Trabi is a throwback to the glorious days of communist East Germany.

 In Bebelplatz is where the Nazis did their book burnings, primarily of Jewish authors.  The clear plastic is the site of the burnings, and underneath it is a room of empty library shelves.

 TV Tower and Mary's Church

 A memorial to the Jews sent to concentration camps.

 These apartments formed the Jewish region before the rise of the Nazis.

Outside the buildings are plaques embedded in the cobblestones memorializing the occupants.

We end the tour on a positive note.  Our leader treats us to curry wurst, a Berlin speciality, sausage covered with ketchup and curry.  The wall art if the Curry Wurst kiosk parodies the famous Kissing Socialists on the Berlin Wall.