Continuing with the family vacation, after Athens and a short time in Vienna we continued on to Berlin. Berlin is probably one of my favorite cities because there is so much to learn and do there.
We stayed at the Radisson Blu Hotel! SO COOL! This giant aquarium is in the middle of the hotel. You can take an elevator tour that goes up the middle of it. For a marine bio nerd like me, this was basically the best hotel ever. Our room even faced the aquarium. Excellent.
The TV Tower and the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall) near Alexanderplatz.
“Mother with dead son” sculpture by Käthe Kollwitz at the Victims of War and Tyranny memorial site.
“The Empty Library” by Mischa Ullman
This is one of my favorite monuments. It’s found at Bebelplatz, the site of the Nazi book burning on May 10th, 1933. There is enough shelf space for each of the burned books. Around the monument are plaques that tell the story of that day as well as this quote, “Das war ein vorspiel, nur wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen.” (“Where they burn books, they ultimately burn people.”) This was written by Heinrich Heine in 1821, nearly 100 years before the book burning. It’s best, in my opinion, to see this monument at night in order to get the full effect.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
The floor and columns are uneven throughout the memorial. The architect Peter Eisenman wanted people to experience the memorial in their own way so he didn’t give an exact reason for the way he designed it.
Gendarmenmarkt
View of Museum Island from the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral).
“Dem Deutschen Volke”, (To) the German People, written on the Reichstag, the German Parliament.
Reichstag
The Foreign Traveler 