Berlin, East and West.

Yesterday on our arrival in Berlin Jenny and I went out on a late afternoon bike tour of  various historical sights. As an historian I was most interested in the Nazi occupation and the Cold War. I wasn't disappointed. This tour covered it all. Checkpoint Charlie, the small piece of the wall that's left, Memorial to the murdered Jews, the Television tower, the site of the burning of the books, Hitlers bunker East West, etc.  Of course there was also the historical sights, The Brandonburg Gates, Tiergarten, Parliment, and various churches.

Today we went back to explore the East West area around Checkpoint Charlie. I always thought the wall split the city, however it surrounded, 150 kms of wall around,  the East of the city. No mans land was a street wide strip, that did expand out to 100 m in various parts, commonly called the division of death. Each side used various icons and propaganda . Beside checkpoint Charlie, the west East divide  is a McDonalds. The East retaliated with beautiful apartments just across the wall so those who had left could mourn what was lost. 

The wall was basically built one Saturday night. When residents awoke on Sunday morning the rolls of bar wire had been laid out, dividing streets, and families. There are photos of families holding up children to show the relatives on the other side of the street. 

In the midst of our explorations our spirits were dampened by an electrical storm. We took this opportunity to board a train and travle out to the outskirts of the city to Grunewald and Gleis 17. Gleis means platform in German, so this space was the platform where the Jews were deported from Berlin to their ultimate death in one of the death camps or to work in Russia. Gleis 17 is a memorial on a small siding. On each side or the tracks is a small plaque with the date, number of Jews deported and their destination. Very sobering, especially as the first 10 plaques represented 10,000 Jews deported in 5 months. 

Of course there is also the German food which I took the opportunity to consume today. Roast pork, roast potatoes, sour kraut and an apple cider topped up with sprite. Delicious and very refreshing.