5 Things to do in Berlin, Germany

Other than Italy, European countries in general don’t fascinate me as much as the other countries. But when I moved to the Netherlands for work, the Schengen area had to be explored at least a bit 🙂 Germany interested me quite a bit because of its history through World Wars 1 and 2 and the Cold War.

Let’s begin with my list of 5 things to do in Berlin, Germany

1) Berlin Wall – East Side Gallery

It has numerous paintings along the remnants of the Berlin Wall stretching about 1 Km. Below are some of my favourites from the paintings.

Fraternal Kiss or “My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love” is possibly the most famous among the paintings. It is the replication of a photograph showing Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker in a fraternal embrace during the 30th anniversary celebration of the foundation of the German Democratic Republic. The socialist fraternal kiss is a special form of greeting between the statesmen of Communist countries.

Unified German and Israeli flags

Trabant car(famous symbol of the Communist East Germany) breaking through the Berlin Wall

Thousands of East German faces, floating to the West

West German jumping over to the East as a symbolic gesture of freedom

Worlds People

2) Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

For me travel is not just about beautiful places. It’s also a way for me to know about the dark side of humanity, of our past. I have got my heart broken by the Killing Fields of Cambodia which was the 5th worst genocide in history. And here I was face to face with the worst one – The Holocaust which killed more than 5 million Jews.

Nazi Concentration Camps were used to hold and torture Jews, Communists, homosexuals – all of whom the Nazis thought were impure.

The Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is located on the outskirts of Berlin and the location made it the administrative & training centre of all concentration camps in Europe.

Entrance Gate – Arbeit Macht Frei / “Work makes (you) free”

Entering this Jewish barrack, my heart clenched and my eyes were wet.

Gas Chamber

Cremation ovens

3) Holocaust Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

It is a memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, made of more than 2000 concrete slabs. It is not a cemetery, even though it looks like one.

As one walks downwards into centre, the grey pillars begin to grow taller than oneself. There is also a museum in the basement with information and photos of the Holocaust.

The Brandenburg Gate is also near this – It was here that Ronald Regan issued his command to his cold war adversary “Mr. Gorbachov – tear down this wall!” refering to the Berlin Wall.

4) Checkpoint Charlie

It is the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. Oh-so-touristy with people dressed up as guards. We went here just to get a feel of the past.
This is a picture from the back escaping the tourist trap.

5) FOOD!

Currywurst – Bratwurst/Sausage cut into bite-sized chunks and seasoned with curry ketchup & curry powder. You can find it anywhere and everywhere.

We had the best from Curry61 and Curry66

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte – The original Black Forest Cake
The dessert is not named after the Black Forest mountain range in Germany, but from the liquor(made from sour cherries) of that region – Schwarzwälder Kirschwasser. Unlike the Black Forest cakes I’ve tried all my life, the original German version was lightly boozy because of the kirschwasser, light and mildly sweet. German law mandates that kirschwasser must be present in the cake for it to be labelled a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte from Der Kuchenladen and Konditorei Buchwald. The former was more delicious. The other cake you see is the bamukuchen or spit cake having tree like rings. I didn’t like it much.

Bienenstich – Bee sting cake
My favourite German dessert! Cake or pastry with a topping of caramelized almonds and filled with vanilla custard.

Bienenstich from Bäckerei Alpenstück and Brotmeisterei Steinecke(Berlin Ostbahnhof) – Loved both!

Maultaschen – German Ravioli with a filling of meat & spinach

Maultaschen from Repke Spätzlerei

Käsespätzle – German egg pasta mixed with grated cheese and fried onion

Käsespätzle from Spätzle & Knödel

Cinnamon rolls from Zeit für Brot

We also had things like the famous German Pretzels (brezels) and Flammukuchen but they weren’t the best so as to include in a must try list.

Moving Around – We took day tickets for around 7 Euros each, which can be used to ride the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, bus and trams. Very convenient!

Stay – We stayed in an Airbnb – , it was an OK place to stay; Neat and Clean, I would recommend it only if you are going to use it just to sleep in.

We also visited the Topography of Terror, which can be skipped. We wanted to see the Jewish museum but when we reached, they said the permanent exhibition was closed for some weeks.