European Backpacking Adventure 2014: Berlin Monument Course 2.0

After touring the classical monuments of Berlin, my friend and I headed to the modern parts of the city. However, it was impossible not to stumble upon artifacts of the Berlin Wall and the old city.

Our first stop was the Bundestag, since we weren't able to enter the dome yesterday we showed up early to reserve our tickets. Read my previous post if you want more information of the Bundestag.

After getting some great shots of the city, we headed through Grosser Tiergarten (large garden). There we stumbled onto the Soviet War Memorial, commemorating the soldiers that died during the Battle of Berlin. It was quite interesting to read the historical panels of the memorial. A couple months after the Battle of Berlin the memorial was completed with a plaster statue. It was some of newly constructed buildings in the post-war, bombed out Berlin and was a lone building in the flattened Berlin city.

The Soviet War Memorial features a statue of a Soviet soldier saying bye to his comrades.

The Soviet War Memorial also features the first T-34 tanks to arrive in Berlin.

My friend and I pretending to fire the ML-20 152 mm gun-howitzer artillery.

After admiring the Soviet Memorial, it was crucial to get some Currywurst and so we viewed the massive Sony Complex, which serves as the Sony center for marketing and sales in the European region. This location is known for it's many International movie premieres.

The Sony Center Complex. This is a completely covered plaza where international movie premieres for Germany are often held.

Yum! More currywurst; another stop in our extended search for the best currywurst in Berlin.

One train stop away is the Berlin Zoo. It houses the largest number of species of any zoo and is a short walk from the only remaining church that survived the WWII bombings of Berlin. While only a bombed out Bell Tower remains, it is flanked by a modern church with a blue glass facade running along the entirety of modern cathedral walls.

A reminder of the destruction of WWII. The sole surviving church in Berlin, still didn't survive untouched.

Don't feed the rhinos at the Berlin Zoo.

From this point, we took a short bus trip to see more of the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie was one of three crossings from East Germany to West Germany. Nearby are panels detailing some of the bold attempts by people to flee East Germany and the Eastern Bloc. Although nothing remains of the original Checkpoint Charlie, a replica of a guard house was built to memorialize the spot. It is important to note that Checkpoint Charlie is a tourist trap. While I appreciate the historical significance, it was merely a checkmark on the things to see in Berlin.

A picture of Checkpoint Charlie, before the wall fell.

A re-creation of a small guardhouse to memorialize the former Checkpoint Charlie.

The next stop was the iconic Victory Column. This column was originally built by the Prussian King to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, but by the time it was completed, it was a symbol for two other victories, the Prussian victory over Austria and France in the Austrian-Prussian War and Franco-Prussian War, respectively. During WWII, the column was moved from it original location in front of the Bundestag to its current location. From it current location, one can get an excellent view of the city of Berlin.