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A day at leisure in Berlin
including a tour of the Reichstag building
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Great Rail Journeys (GRJ)
had arranged a guided tour for the group, but because
we had visited Berlin before, we decided to use the day
to revisit some favourite places by ourselves. Dinner
with the group was not included today, so we also booked
another visit to a favourite restaurant for dinner.
We made our way around
the city on foot and didn't have a specific route planned.
It was lovely just to come across places and buildings
that we remembered from our visit seven years ago.
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Setting off from our
hotel, the first landmark we recognised was the beautiful
Gendarmenmarkt square in Berlin-Mitte. |
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The square is home to
three monumental buildings; The Konzerthaus in the centre
with twin buildings on either side. On the left is the German
Cathedral and on the right is the French Cathedral. (Not
our photo). |
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Bebel-platz, another
grand square and home to several buildings, including the
Humboldt University Law branch library... |
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...the Berlin State Opera... |
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... and Saint Hedwigs
Cathedral. |
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Nearby, on the famous
Unter den Linden boulevard is the Neue
Wache (New Watchhouse). |
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St. Marienkirche, dwarfed
by the Berlin TV tower behind it. |
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Berlin State Library
building on Unter den Linden. |
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The Brandenburg Gate,
as seen from the east, hardly needs labelling. |
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Looking east on Unter
den Linden before walking through the Brandenburg Gate. |
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In the Tiergarten we
visited the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism. |
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We had lunch at Hopfingerbräu
near the Brandenburg Gate, the same restaurant we dined
at seven years previously. It serves traditional German
cuisine paired with Berlin beer. |
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In addition to the Reichstag Building,
the Paul-Löbe-Haus and the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus
are two other buildings that form part of the German parliamentary
complex. United by their striking architecture and two bridges
spanning the River Spree, the buildings were designed as
a single architectural ensemble. Their architect described
the bridges as a "leap over the Spree". They symbolise
the reunification of East and West Germany, as the River
Spree at this point formed part of the border between the
two during the period of division.
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We visited the Wall
Memorial in the Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus. It was
very moving to see how many people had died each year since
the wall was constructed in 1961 until it was finally breached
in 1989. |
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A few months before
the trip, we booked a tour of the Reichstag
Building, mainly to visit the dome, but as a bonus we
got a fully guided tour of the building. The tour was booked
for 3pm and it was almost time to go inside. |
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Security procedures
were understandably very strict and it took some time to
get inside, but we made it finally! |
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Our guide was keen to
give us a really interesting tour and in this he succeeded. |
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We began by going down
into the basement which has several interesting aspects,
including this thought-provoking feature by French artist
Christian Boltanski. It consists of thousands of rust-coloured
metal boxes, one for every democratically elected member
of Germany's national parliaments since 1919. Every MP is
represented equally, regardless of rank or fame. Boxes commemorating
MPs murdered by the Nazis are marked with black bands, making
the installation a powerful memorial to German democracy
and those who died defending it. It is deliberately located
in a quiet basement corridor to encourage reflection. |
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The Reichstag is linked underground to
the other parliamentary buildings, including the Paul-Löbe-Haus
and Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus. The tunnels form
part of a large underground logistics and transport network
used by MPs, staff, deliveries and secure vehicle access.
At one point, our guide pointed out that we had crossed
from what was once West Berlin into East Berlin, before
crossing the psychological divide once again.
From the basement we took the lift up
to the viewing gallery, from where we could look down
into the Plenary Chamber.
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Stepping outside from
the viewing gallery, we got some good views of the dome
that we would be visiting a bit later. |
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We were then led down
to the public gallery for a better view of the chamber.
Several aspects of the chamber were pointed out to us.
1. The large federal eagle ("Bundesadler"), nicknamed
the Fette Henne ("Fat Hen"), mounted on the front
wall behind the speaker's podium.
2. The President of the Bundestag's chair at the centre
of the dais.
3. The semicircular arrangement of members' seats, designed
to encourage debate rather than confrontation.
4. The extensive use of blue and grey colours, chosen by
architect Norman Foster during the rebuilding to create
a calm, modern atmosphere.
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Looking up, we couldn't
help feeling impressed by the gallery that we had visited
earlier. |
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Once the guided tour
was over, we took a lift up to the dome itself. |
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We loved the experience.
The interior was every bit as impressive and the exterior
view. |
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Geoff was slight nervous
about taking the spiral walk to the top, but as soon as
he started, he realised that it was quite manageable. |
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We were rewarded with
some excellent views from the top. |
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The lift going down was
every bit as busy as the one going up! |
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Back at ground level,
we set off for the thirty minute walk to the Schnitzelei
Mitte restrestaurant, which we remembered fondly from
our last visit in 2019. We had allowed an hour in which
to do the walk, which meant that we arrived a bit early
and were hoping that they would allow us in, because we
were both quite tired and thirsty. Luckily our table was
ready. It wasn't long before the restaurant became very
busy and we were pleased that we had thought to book well
in advance. |
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We both ordered the
"Vom Landschwein Country pig from Swabian-Hall, pounded
thin and baked in our homemade breading". It was superb! |
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Our waiter was an interesting
character... so very "Berlin"! |
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Geoff decided that he
couldn't eat any dessert after that feast, but Bruce wasn't
going to miss out, so he ordered the "Kaiserschmarrn
- Sliced pancake with raisins, pan-fried with butter and
served with plum compote". |
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Geoff thought Bruce
might allow him to share some of his dessert. Bruce wasn't
too keen on the idea... but he relented and we both loved
it. |
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Geoff also enjoyed his
schnapps. |
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Afterwards, we decided
to walk back to our hotel, which took thirty minutes. There
was no risk of getting lost as the route was almost entirely
in a straight line along Friedrichstraße. |
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A look back at our walking
route today. |
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This map links to a
website with an interactive map showing the exact position
of the wall at various locations. |
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