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when i first moved to germany,i lived in berlin for ten years. another ten years after i leftto live in the country, i decided the time was rightto pay a polite visit, and see how the city was getting on without me. it can be frustrating,because it’s still rebuilding after decades of first war and then division. the water table is so high in this area that water has to be pumped outof any hole that’s dug, although some berliners claim thathalf the pipes are pumping beer in.
so in what follows,a lot of the sights are behind scaffolding. don’t let that put you off. the oldest part of berlin itself is,like so many of berlin’s historical attractions, mostly a reconstruction. it’s the st nicholas quarter, which wascompletely destroyed in world war two and rebuilt by the east germans in 1987, in time for the official 750th anniversaryof the founding of the city. with limited resources, many of the houseswere built using modern materials, but with faã§ades that gave an impressionof how they might have looked.
st nicholas’s church dates from about 1200, so was in fact more than 750 years old in 1987. the date taken to calculate berlin’s age, 1237, is the date of the oldest knownofficial reference to... colonia. the earliest reference to berlin is 1244, and not until 1307 were the two settlementscombined into one. not much else is knownabout the origins of these settlements, as many historical documents were lostin a fire in 1380. the area is also home to an inncalled “zur rippe†— “the ribâ€.
the bones that are its signare, according to legend, a rib and a shoulder bladeof the last of the giants that lived here before the humans came. it’s thought they actually come from a whale. most of the rest of old berlin,though, is gone. st mary’s church is all that remainsof the st mary’s quarter. after the war, the ruins of thispart of the city were completely removed to make way for the new, modern, east berlin, the centrepiece of which is the television tower.
this is the tallest structure in germany, and currently the fourth tallestfree-standing building in europe. it was completed in 1969with a total height of 365 metres; in the 90s, the antenna was extended,giving the tower an additional three metres. ordinary berliners, with their typical brandof cynical wit, soon noticed thatwhen the sun shines on the sphere, it reflects in the shape of a cross; a slight embarrassment considering the wayeast germany strove to be an atheist state. and so people startedcalling it “the pope’s revengeâ€,
or “st walter’sâ€, after the leader ofthe gdr at the time, walter ulbricht. excavation work for the extensionof an u-bahn line recently uncovered some remains of the old city; most excitingly, those of the original city hall. the u-bahn station had to be slightly redesignedto avoid completely destroying them. the current city hall was builtin the late 19th century, and still serves as the official office ofthe mayor of berlin and the city senate. it’s known as the red city hall for itsactual colour, not the colour of its politics. a frieze around the outer walldepicts the history of berlin
from the 12th centuryto the founding of the second reich in 1871. nearby are the bomb-damaged ruinsof a mediaeval franciscan monastery, the so-called grey monastery. it is one of the last surviving examplesof gothic architecture in the city. also in the area is “zur letzten instanzâ€, probably one of berlin’s oldest surviving inns. it was certainly there in 1561,although under a different name. it was built against the wall: not the famous wallthat divided the city in 1961,
but an older mediaeval wall that protected the city fromthe 12th century to about the 17th. as the city grew, the old wallwas demolished and new ones built, but a few metres of it remain. it was prince elector friedrich wilhelm who, in the 17th century,laid the foundations of berlin’s success. he instituted a policy ofimmigration and religious tolerance, inviting refugees to live in berlin: fifty jewish families from austria;
political refugees from bohemia and poland; and, most importantly,about 6,000 huguenots from france. the integration of this last groupis honoured by the gendarmenmarkt, with the playhouse,originally the national theatre, flanked by the so-calledgerman church on one side, and the french church on the other. due to an unfortunate translation error, these churches are sometimesmistakenly referred to as “cathedralsâ€, which, of course, they’re not.
over the next few centuries,berlin grew into a city fit for a king. the city schloss was demolished after the war to make way for a military parade ground, and then the main debating chamber ofthe east german government, the palace of the republic. this was itself demolished in 2008, and the humboldt forum is currently being built: the plan for its faã§ade to bea replica of that of the schloss. one small remnant of the original,a single portal,
was incorporated into theeast german state council building. opposite is the berlin cathedral, completed in 1905to replace an 18th century original. in the crypt are the tombs ofmany members of the royal house of hohenzollern. right next door is a collectionof museums and galleries. the old museum, with artefactsfrom ancient greece. the new museum, showcasing ancient egypt. the pergamon museum, with the pergamon altarand exhibits from babylon. the old national gallery, with paintingsand sculptures from the 19th century.
the bode museum, with its collectionof coins and byzantine art. together with the pleasure gardens,now a public park, this forms what is called museum island. from here, central berlin’s main street,unter den linden, leads to what was the royal hunting grounds. and many important buildingswere sited along this road. the 18th century arsenal oncecontained 150,000 weapons and trophies; it now houses the german historical museum. a modern reconstructionof the old commander’s office.
the new guard house, now a memorial tothe victims of war and tyranny. the crown prince’s palace. the state opera house. the humboldt university was founded in 1809, originally calledthe friedrich wilhelm university, and was housed in an empty palace. opposite the main buildingis the faculty of law, but in the 1930s this buildinghoused the university library. it was here, on 10th may 1933,
that books written by people the nazisconsidered “degenerate†were burned. a monument in the middle of the plazacommemorates this event. unter den linden eventually leadsto the brandenburg gate, which provides access to the tiergarten.originally a royal hunting ground, it is now a wooded park stretching westtowards charlottenburg. by the 1730s, berlin had grown to cover roughly what is nowthe locality of mitte. a new wall was built,but not for military protection: instead, it was a customs wall,
so the authorities could controland tax imports and exports. some of the names of the various gates survive as names of u-bahn stations,streets and squares, so it’s possible to tracethe rough course of this wall. the brandenburg gateis the only one still standing, but it’s not the original,which was a much more modest affair. king friedrich wilhelm ii, though,wanted a fitting memorial to his recently-deceased uncle. the new gate was opened in 1791, butnot completely finished for another two years.
the architect, carl gotthard langhans, was apparently inspired bythe parthenon in athens; but he’d only ever seen engravings of it, and had mistaken it for a gateway. there is a myth that saysthat at some point in its history, the quadriga was turned aroundto face the other way. in fact, it has always faced east, as it represents, depending on who you ask, either peace or victory returning to the city.
it is coincidence that, in 1961,the infamous berlin wall happened to follow the course of the18th-century customs wall at this point, leaving the brandenburg gatestranded in no man’s land, a potent symbol of the iron curtain:a gate through which none could pass. the buildings around pariser platzare all post-reunification, but some of them are copies of the originals. the hotel adlon was originally built in 1907; the new version opened 90 years later. this is the hotel from which michael jacksonfamously dangled his son in 2002.
if you’re wondering,a night in the presidential suite will probably cost you about €16,000. the famous jewish artist max liebermannlived in the house that stood here. on the night the nazis paraded through the gate, he is said to have commented thathe couldn’t eat the amount he would like to puke.