Today is our last full day of tours, and we packed in as much as possible. We took a bus tour through the city and saw many historical places, including Check Point Charlie, The Reichstag Building, Brandenburg Gate and a remnant of the Berlin Wall. We even passed near the location of Hitler’s bunker and suicide. It has a small marker but is now a non-descript gravel parking lot.
While on the road, our tour guide took us past the memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. We didn’t stop, but it was pretty impressive from the street. We asked to be dropped off there after the tour to see more of it. Our British friends, Deb and Stuart, joined us. We walked all around the memorial and even toured the documentation center below. There are no words or photographs to describe this memorial accurately. It is a haunting image to see from the outside, but to walk through it is even more remarkable. The vast blocks look like tombs in a cemetery, but the actual floor level changes, so you are several feet below the tops in many places. When people walk in, it is as if they disappear, which is one of the intentional design elements. There are so many significant elements of this memorial that I cannot describe them all in this blog post. However, perhaps the most impressive thing is that the German citizens paid for it. Our guide pointed out, where else can you find a memorial built by the perpetrator?
We had lunch with Stuart and Deb and said our sad goodbyes. They have been a big part of our experience on this trip, and we won’t soon forget them. Well, we won’t forget for sure because Stuart and I will be starting a YouTube channel. Stay tuned for more details.
After a brief rest at the hotel, we set out for the Jüdisches Museum Berlin. I was expecting a Jewish history museum, but it was primarily dedicated to modern art and the Jewish lifestyle. One striking statistic stood out. It would take six years, seven months and 27 days to read the names and life stories of all 6 million victims of the Nazi regime.
In the evening, we went on our last guided tour of “Berlin at Night.” We started with a traditional German dinner and headed to the Berliner Fernsehturm (a.k.a. The TV Tower) to see the lights. We also made short stops at the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag Building for more photos. Once back at the hotel, we said goodbyes to our new friends and, Curtis and Linda.
