Berlin is the capital and the biggest city of Germany. It is in the East of Germany. The local time zone is Central European Time (MEZ or MET, MEZ = GMT+1) with Daylight Savings Time in the Summer (MESZ = GMT+2).
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History of this Great City - This City has about 2000 years old history.
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Salvic people used to live there. German emperor extended their border to cover this area. In 1200’s AD, the village Berlin started growing on the bank of river Spree.
AD 1400’s
– Berlin became an important town. Ruler of Brandenburg State made it as their capital in 1470.
30 years of War
– Berlin experienced the burns of this war from 1618 to 1648 followed by epidemic. Half of the population was either killed or had to run away to save life.
Era of Frederick William – 1640 to 1688. During this period Industry and Construction grown substantially. A Canal was built to connect two rivers Spree and Oder. From 1701, his son, Frederick I continued the good governance and made Berlin as capital of Prussia. In 1709, Berlin, Konll and some more areas merged and formed City of Berlin. Berlin continued to grow in trade and industry. It became nerve center for science and arts.
Berlin was under the control of Napoleon I for about three years from 1806 to 1809.
After that Berlin continued to flourish in all field as Capital of Prussia.
German Capital - In 1871 after formation of German Empire, Berlin became its capital. Berlin continued to grow till early 1900’s.
World War- I – In 1918, German empire collapsed at the end of world war –1. Berlin remain as Capital of newly formed Weimar Republic. There was post war unrest due to inflation, strikes, riots. But Berlin continued to grow and in 1920, some cities, villages were attached to Berlin.
Era of Hitler – Adolf Hitler captured power in 1933 by taking advantage of world wide economic depression in 1930’s, As a result world had to see the ugly scenes of World War-2 and Germany was one of the worst sufferer.
Due to Air Raids followed by land battle from 1940-1945, third of the Berlin was destroyed and thousands of people lost their life. Ultimately in 1945 Hitler lost the battle and Allied Army divided Berlin in four parts. Forces of France, USSR, UK, and USA each occupied one part. Allied forces divided Germany into four zones.
Post World War-2 - Berlin was in Soviet zone and allied forces expected the Soviet Union allowed them to live in Berlin. To drive allied forces out of Berlin USSR blocked all rail, water, and road routes from the Soviet zone to the Western sectors of Berlin in 1948. To counter this Soviet move, Western nations launched Berlin Airlift. This operation was to supply essential commodities to West Berlin. During this US directed operation planes landed in West Berlin at the rate of one every minutes. The Soviets finally gave up and lifted blockade in May 1949.
A divided Germany - In late 1948, East and West Berlin established separate governments with independent infrastructure.
In 1949, Soviet occupied part became East Germany and parts with Western countries combined as West Germany. East Berlin became East Germany’s capital. Bonn was made West Germany’s capital.
Initially, in 1950’s, there were free movements of people and as a result there were influx of refugees in West Germany.
The Berlin Wall - Thousands of people started fleeing to West Germany to escape from communist rule. As a result, on 13th Aug 1961, East German police began building a concrete wall to stop emigration.
The Berlin Wall was about 42 kilometers long and about 3.5 to 4.5 meters in height. Hundreds of people lost their lives in the hand of East German police while crossing this wall. Unfortunately this wall remain there till Nov 1989 when East German authority lifted all travel restriction due to wide spread protest.
Non-Communists won control of the government of East Germany in March 1990 after free elections. In 3rd October 1990, East and West Germany united into a single nation.
My visit to Berlin –
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I was lucky enough to visit this undivided city in the middle of May. Weather was very comfortable and fortunately there was no rain.
I reached Berlin at the middle of the night by train after traveling about six hours from another German industrial city Wuppertal. During the weekend this train, started somewhere from Switzerland, was jam-packed.
Unlike some of the German cities, night was quite young at 2320 hrs. My hotel was about 5 minutes drive from the railway station. Walking might also take equal time but could not do so because I was not traveling light.
Next day, after breakfast I chose a half-day package costing about DM 35. Next day I went for Potsdam tour.
Sites to visit:-
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Brandenburg Gate - famous symbol of Berlin, stands between the city’s two central areas (east & west). The gate’s huge stone colonnade was completed in 1791.
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church – Was badly damaged during war. Was rebuild but bomb damaged tower preserved as a symbol of war.
Teufelsberg (Devil’s Mountain) - An artificial hill in the Grunewald used for rock climbing, skiing, and sledging. It was built from rubble left after World War II.
Olympic Stadium - The stadium was built for the 1936 Olympic Games. Seating Capacity about 100000 spectators.
Tiergarten (Zoological Garden) - One of the city’s largest parks, a former game reserve that covers about 250 hectares. The Tiergarten has a zoo and an aquarium.
The TV tower – A huge transmission tower. I have not gone to the top but must be a nice place to see the skyline of Berlin.
The Checkpoint Charlie – There’s museum that tells the story of the Berlin Wall and how people have suffered during communist era in East Berlin.
Shopping – They’re huge shopping centers. Good place for window-shopping. Prices are comparable to other parts of Europe.
Food – There are many hotels and restaurants to satisfy almost all type of people. I preferred to live on Turkish Kebab, Burgers and Hotdogs. Indian food is very costly.
Drinks – You will get thousands of varieties. I preferred Mexican Beer.
Transportation – Berlin has two International airports and very good train & bus net work. Many people understand English so traveling is not very difficult. There are many tours for sight seeing.
Nightlife – Well, there are many attractions from Cabaret to Drama to satisfy different needs.
Hotel – My hotel was booked by the organization so could stay in luxury. However, this city can accommodate any one with a decent budget. One can book hotel from the railway station and airport with the help of visual boards and telephone.
On the fourth day I flown back to Frankfurt with a lesson - Enterprising people can keep growing in spite of odds.