Exploring Berlin - Part Two

Rotes Radhaus - the impressive Prussian built city hall. 1/25s 50mm F4.0 ISO 400.

Check out part one by clicking here.

Hopping off the Flixbus from Poland (more about that in an upcoming blog), I wasted no time in exploring another important part of Berlin’s history – the grand Tempelhof airport, once the biggest building in the world before the opening of The Pentagon. What makes it so bizarre is that it currently sits empty having closed as an airport in 2008. Its iconic status saved it from redevelopment with Berliners heavily rejecting the idea in a 2014 referendum that also keeps the vast 355 hectares of open land (more than fifty percent bigger than the entirety of Monaco) free for public recreation. It’s little wonder that it used to be the Kaiser’s parade ground and it makes the centre of Berlin that much more remarkable for its open spaces of land.

Tempelhof airport remains one of the largest buildings in the world. 1/200s 50mm F5.6 ISO 100.

Wondering around such a large disused space is a surreal experience. 1/200s 50mm F5.6 ISO 100.

The former entrance to Tempelhof airport. Enormous. 1/80s 50mm F5.6 ISO 100 - Three photo panoramic.

The head of an eagle statue that once sat atop the airport entrance. Taken after the war to the United States, it was later returned and put on display. 1/1000s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

Coming into the last few days of my trip I had to use my time wisely in order to see everything I had planned (and a bit more). My next full day took me to the Topography of Terror and the newly opened Samurai Museum. The former certainly lives up to its name with a section of the Berlin wall sitting on top of a small part of the ruined Gestapo headquarters. Everything above ground was obliterated during the dying days of the Second World War, but the remains of the basement have been repurposed into an outdoor exhibition on the rise of fascism and the repression of those who the Nazis deemed as ‘undesirables’. It’s another great example of Berlin combining education with real pieces of history and seeing remnants of two authoritarian regimes side-by-side makes you realise how much the city suffered in just a few decades.

Bikes are a popular mode of transport in Berlin, aided by numerous cycling lanes. 1/1250s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

Tempelhofer Feld has become a beloved outdoor space for the general public. 1/80s 50mm F8.0 ISO 100.

Look down at your feet periodically and you may see small memorial plaques to jews who were deported from the area during the Holocaust. 1/60s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

The Topography of Terror - where the authoritarian regimes of Nazism and Communism intersect. 1/3200s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

Peering through a crack in the Berlin Wall. 1/3200s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

With my keen interest in Japan the Samurai Museum was a must see ever since I found out it opened in Spring of last year. I was not disappointed. Whilst I have tried to see as much Japanese history on display as I could back in the UK, exhibits are often limited in size and scope. So, to see such a huge range of armour, swords and other decorative items in one place was just incredible. I imagine few people in the West outside of museum curators have been able to see such a thorough collection.

A visitor takes inspiration from samurai armour in her drawings at the Samurai Musuem. 1/30s 50mm F1.8 ISO 2000.

A traditional Japanese mask used in Noh theatre. 1/30s 50mm F1.8 ISO 250.

Samurai face & neck armour. The design helped the wearer look more intimidating. 1/30s 50mm F1.8 ISO 640.

Being a brand-new museum, the experience is very much one of the twenty first century. A set of items is supported by a large touch screen that goes into more detail than you could possibly absorb in both English and German. Certain items also sit on a plinth that you can rotate with a button and periodically a booming performance of drums is played on stage by a hologram. There’s nothing stuffy or boring here and even if you have just a passing interest in Japanese history its well worth the €12 price of admission.

Some pieces of armour have highly intricate decorations. 1/30s 50mm F2.8 ISO 1250.

Visitors can enjoy holographic music shows. 1/30s 50mm F2.8 ISO 2000.

The most impressive display of Japanese swords that I had ever seen. 1/30s 50mm F2.8 ISO 800.

Luckily whilst being in Berlin I was there at the same time at the annual Festival of Lights, and better still I had a local guide with me in the form of a woman I’d been speaking to on the language exchange app HelloTalk. Given the looming energy crisis the festival was somewhat toned down in comparison to previous years but it was still nonetheless impressive and a little surreal to see such lifelike projections on famous buildings like the Brandenburg gate. What gave me the most satisfaction though was speaking extensively in German to someone in person. Something I had never been able to do before up until this point.   

The Brandenburg Gate was one of the main attractions during the Festival of Lights. The projections were constantly changing. 1/25s 40mm F4.0 ISO 640.

The display on the Berlin State Opera on the other hand was permanent and unchanging. 1/25s 40mm F4.0 ISO 640.

Powerful projectors are required to make the magic happen. 1/6s 40mm F4.0 ISO 640.

My final full day took me to the grand abodes of the Prussian Kings – Sanssouci in Potsdam. Sanssouci Palace itself, built by King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, is famous for its extravagant Rococo design that has to been seen to be believed. It’s not big, with the self-guided tour only taking forty minutes, but it gives a good insight into who Frederick the Great was and his devotion to culture and the arts. Much of the furniture and paintings from that time period are still there, including the very chair that he died in, in 1786. Originally he wasn’t buried onsite despite having the crypt built during his lifetime. It wasn’t until German reunification in 1991 that he was finally interred there, and well-wishers often leave potatoes for the Kartoffelnkönig for his role in making the humble potato a staple of the everyday diet in his Kingdom. Sadly, I completely missed this as I didn’t realise where his grave was until I had left Potsdam. Looks like I will be going back on day (with a potato or two).

My trip to Sansoucci was the perfect opportunity to play around with my Kodak pocket camera. 1/2500s 50mm F2.8 ISO 100.

Grapes have long been grown on the terraces directly outside of the Sanssouci Palace. 1/500s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

I caught a classic car that looked like it was off to a wedding outside of the Castle Courtyard. 1/200s 50mm F4.0 ISO 100.

Frederick the Great even went as far as building mock ruins to decorate the land around the water tank that was required for all the water features around the palace. 1/500s 50mm F4.0 ISO 100.

Neu Palais was also built by Frederick the Great and is the largest palace at Sanssouci Park. 1/160s 50mm F5.6 ISO 100.

Unfortunately I spent so much time in Sanssouci I never got a chance to wander around Potsdam itself. Seeing the St. Nicholas Church reminded me I needed to go back one day. 1/30s 50mm F5.6 ISO 800.

My final day in Berlin actually gave me a decent amount of time up until early afternoon to explore some more of the city before my flight back to the UK. Having left my hostel, I hopped on the U-Bahn to the Brandenburg Gate before wondering into the Tiergarten, another large public park dotted with many small monuments and statues. Seeing as it is fifty percent bigger than Hype Park there’s plenty to wander around and being a sunny autumn day, many people were sat out on the banks of the lakes and ponds. In fact, I had been incredibly lucky with the weather the entire time I was there. I never saw a drop of rain and the sun was constantly shining almost every day.

The Tiergarten was in full colour in Autumn. Many smaller dedicated gardens sit within it. 1/125s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

Looking closely at some of the statues you can see blast damage from the assault on Berlin at the end of the Second World War. 1/400s 50mm F2.8 ISO 100.

The beautiful sunny Autumn weather was a perfect time to sit on by the water in the Tiergarten. 1/320s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

The imposing Soviet memorial was built in dedication to the Russians who died taking the city in 1945. It’s all the more thought provoking in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 1/125s 50mm F4.0 ISO 100.

The Siegessäusle (Victory Column) originally sat near the Reichstag but was moved during the Nazi era to make way for Albert Speer’s ambitious redesign of the city which never came to fruition. It’s relocation probably saved it from major damage during the Battle of Berlin. 1/800s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

Along my walk through the Tiergarten both the Soviet War Memorial and the Sigessäule (Victory Column) certainly grabbed my attention. But the thing that really blew me away and what I would say was the most impressive sight of the entire trip came right at the end. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. As I worked my way from the Tiergarten to the church it suddenly loomed out at me, this colossal ruin severely damaged during the Second World War. It’s hard to describe how I felt when I first saw it, but there’s just something so emotional about seeing such a grand building as a ruin. The damage and destruction of war is that much more tangible when you behold it. The true power of the explosives that rained down on the city laid bare. Of all the monuments left in tribute to Berlin’s tumultuous twentieth century history, this is by far the most effective. It wasn’t lost on me either that at the foot of this colossus was the small memorial to those who died in a more recent tragedy. The 2016 terrorist attack on a Christmas market which claimed the lives of thirteen people. Small portraits alongside a red candle and white stones mark each victim and a golden fissure marks the exact location where the truck came to a stop.

The imposing Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The sight of its ruin provokes strong emotions. 1/80s 50mm F11 ISO 100 Two photo vertical panoramic.

Despite the exterior damage much of the gilded interior remains intact in the surviving structure. 1/80s 50mm F2.8 ISO 200.

The new church was built next to the ruins of the old one. From the outside it looks unimpressive or even ugly, but step inside and you’ll be treated to a panoramic display of beautiful stained glass. 1/30s 50mm F2.8 ISO 1250 Three photo panoramic.

Near the church is another memorial to the victims of the Berlin Christmas market terrorist attack in 2016. 1/640s 50mm F1.8 ISO 100.

The Goldener Riss marks the location where the truck from the terrorist attack came to a stop. 1/60s 50mm F5.6 ISO 100.

Despite its modern reputation as a party city of hippies, there’s a deep sense of memory that permeates every corner of this city. From the large monuments and memorials to the small plaques on the ground that mark individual victims of the Holocaust, the more you look the more you see the scars of the past. But with death there is also rebirth. The city has seen huge amounts of rejuvenation since the fall of the wall that still carries on to this day. In fact, 2020 saw the completion of the reconstructed Berlin Palace that had been originally demolished after the Second World War and replaced by the East German Palace of the Republic which in turn was demolished in 2008. A reminder Berlin remains very much a city that is and not just a city that was.

Waiting for my plane back to the UK at the end of my trip. 1/60s 50mm F5.6 ISO 100.

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