27/7/24 Checkpoint Charlie , Brandenburg Gate ,Berlin HBF

 

    Today we head into Berlin to have a look at something that moved the world - Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall . We picked the best day to be out & about yesterday , today however, is looking to be wet. We took the subway to the checkpoint and walked down the street , the original building at the entrance through the wall has gone , and is in the Allied Museum . This one is a replica - it didn't have a quiet moment while we were there , people snapping photo's all the time - even in the pouring rain .       

  Checkpoint Charlie marked the start of the American sector in Berlin , the other side was East Germany , with heavy communist control . Residents on the east side weren't allowed to go through to the west , and many people died in attempts to cross over , after being shot or injured in the attempt .  

 There's an outdoor museum on the opposite corner which we looked at , it had 2 sections of the wall . On top of that was a steel pipe - put on so that escapees couldn't get a grip on the top to climb over .

     The atmosphere created by the displays was quite moving . We decided to go 500m down the street to check out more sections of the wall that were on display . There were some strange people wandering the opposite direction , but we carried on finding the wall sections at the end of a large square . Some pieces were lying down , some upright . Each section was 3.6m high ; 1.2m wide and weighed 2.75tons per segment . Each one cost 831.50 East German Marks .

    We headed back up to Checkpoint Charlie as the weather was looking like it was about to pour rain . We made it back up and went into McD's for a toilet stop , just as the rain really started coming down . We sat it out until the restaurant got a bit busy , then moved out to a covered section just up the street . Back to the subway when the rain eased and up to Brandenburgh Gate - the one in the city . There were crowds of people as we made our way up , there were gates & barricades up and police , but we kept going and approached one of the police . He told us we couldn't get access into the gate as it's closed for an event , Pride Parade apparently - that explained the odd outfits we'd been seeing !! This was as close as we could get .

    Back to the subway and to my least favourite train station , rain was starting to clear , so we headed outside into the square . This is the outside of the Berlin Train Station .

    Here's some of the inside the S platforms were down below , the U platforms were up & to the right and the other outside platforms were up again and to the left . There's lot's of shopping in here as well .

    Outside in the square is an appropriate building - the Cube Berlin .

    Across from the square is the Spree River , the Berlin TV Tower could also be seen .

    The path we followed took us down to the parliament building . There's a glass dome at the back , apparently you can get in there and walk around in it . We didn't , the concert area wasn't far away , we could see the barricades again , and the police presence was certainly there as well, so we headed back to the apartment .

    Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1lNyPdpKEf4rKBZL8a-nzXsUVnRt3FRE&usp=sharing