Germ-A-Phobe: A City of Endless History

Berlin

"All men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin. And therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words 'Ich bin ein Berliner!'" - John F. Kennedy

(Famous words of JFK announcing to millions of people across the world that he is a jelly donut)

The United States has Washington D.C., Japan has Tokyo, the United Kingdom has London, and Germany has Berlin. Every great country has their city with its legacy. Since Medieval times the region we now know as Germany has had a turbulent past, and at the heart of that is Berlin. Once a royal residence and one of the largest cities in the Holy Roman Empire, it is now not only the capital but the largest city in Germany, triple the size of the second largest city, and home to 3 million people. In recent history, Berlin is a term nearly synonymous with that of Hitler and WWII. Even with this black mark on its history, Berlin has been a city of prosperity and perseverance, surviving disease, revolution, separation, and several major wars.

Before it hatched into a chicken, Berlin started as a little egg in the 13th century where settlers founded two cities (Berlin and Cölln) near today's Nikolaiviertel, which you see on the left. For the next four centuries, it wasn't so bad to be a jelly donut, I mean Berliner, uh I mean resident of Berlin.
During the age of Prussia, under the rule of several great kings (and one weirdo), Berlin became known as Athens on the Spree (the Spree = the river that flows through Berlin)... I suppose you could equate this title to Berlin being the Michael Jordan of 17th century cities, no big deal or anything. But once ruler at the time - Frederick II, or Frederick the Great as they called him, died.. Napolean swept in on Berlin like she was a poor helpless little widow, marching through the iconic Bradenburg Gate (seen on the right) and took over for the next 3 years. Berlin was quite embarrassed by this, and it didn't help that thousands of citizens had to allow smelly French soldiers to live in their homes, who were probably quite vulgar and had smelly cheese farts.

After Napolean, two more Freddies took the throne but Berlin and company had already gotten a taste of what it was like to be a more democratic region so the kings faced several political revolutions. This eventually led to Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismark entering power in 1862. Within a decade, Bismark was able to unify the Prussian region into the German Empire (known as the 'Deutches Reich') earning him the title of 'Iron Chancellor'. Then in 1945, the Reich became what we know today as Germany.

Are you still awake?!?! (*Splashes water unassociated with the ALS ice bucket challenge*)

I suppose it's one thing to be interested in another country's history when you live there and can see it everyday, so I can't blame you if you were disinterested and skimmed through most of that! Anyway, lets get on to some more pictures!

The Trabi, or Trabant, is a classic German automobile that was the more affordable automobile trending at the same time as the VW Beetle. (This is for you dad) Most of the owners carried replacement parts around with them at all times, like a belt and spark plugs.. shabby trabi? The first design, the P50, was powered by a two-stroke generator that maxed out at 18hp. The P50 name for this little guy wasn't just a number pulled from that night's BINGO, but the P stood for "Plastic" and the 50 for the 500cc engine that used only 5 moving parts. To purchase a new Trabi, whose lifespan was 28 years (coincidently the same amount of time the Berlin Wall stood), you had to wait a quick 10 years for it to be manufactured. Unsurprisingly, that meant used Trabi's were cheaper than their brand new counterparts.

What makes these little Trabi's so historically significant, is that not only are they not on the market anymore (because a. they produce 9x the amount of emissions that the average European car does, and b. everyone wanted Western cars once the Berlin Wall fell and Germany was reunited), but it was in a Trabi that thousands of East Berliner's drove over the border when the Berlin Wall fell on Novemember 9, 1989. With that, the Trabi became more than a cute little car, but a symbol of liberation and the fall of communism.

Entering American Territory

After WWII, Berlin was divided into four occupation zones: Britan, France, the Soviet Union, and of course - yours truly - the United States. The area in which allied forces could go to and from zones was called Checkpoint Charlie. Charlie comes from the military use of "C" and as such, the other Checkpoints built before this in Germany were Checkpoints Alpha and Bravo.

The checkpoint was active for 28 years and now is a popular tourist attraction in Berlin and in true tourist/American fashion, it is equipped with a McDonald's and Starbucks at the intersection

The Wall - A Solitary Symbol of the Cold War

Graffiti is typically sneered at and considered vandalism, but come to the hated Berlin Wall and it is revered as a powerful form of free expression and overcoming oppression. The Eastside Gallery as it is known, is seen here to the left (why the wall says "chub" here, I have no idea) and stretches up a preserved mile or two of the wall on both sides. The side we see here was once the West...maybe they ate more Schnitzel (hence the "chub").

The wall literally surfaced overnight, but evolved over the years into what we see now. The East (Soviet/communist side) was like a giant leaky facet as around an astounding 3.5 million residents began packing their belongings and heading over to West Berlin for a better life. To stop the "drip, drip, drip" of valuable workforce, Eastern guardsmen drove fenceposts into the ground during the night and strung up basically a high-tech fence right through the middle of Berlin. 79 miles of fencing, 300 guard towers, 20 bunkers, and 250 patrol dogs separated some people not only from their jobs, but their families as well. Worst of all, no one knew how long the wall would stand.

Anyone attempting to flee the East was shot on site.... and 171 did end up dying in the attempt.

Somehow, against all odds 5,000 people were able to escape over the 28 year period the wall stood. They dug tunnels, rammed the wall with vehicles, jumped out of buildings along the border, and even crossed in hot air balloons. Sound crazy? Then ask yourself this, what would you do to see your mother, father, and siblings if you were forcibly separated from them by the government. Personally, I would be dressing in all black and hi-jacking the nearest hot air balloon!!

The fall of the wall came as the Cold War "began to thaw" and thousands of people gathered to celebrate and peck away the wall (later dubbed mauerspechte, or woodpeckers) in what one journalist called "the biggest street party in the history of the world."

A Few More Monuments

The Victory Column, or Siegessäule in German, is one of several monuments across Europe that symbolizes a milestone of some sort in history. Other examples include the Hall of Liberation near Sid's Oma (Bavaria), Sigismund Column in Poland, and Niederwald Monument on the Rhine River (Rüdesheim).