Berlin, Germany - Michael Dykstra

Berlin, Germany

Berlin is a beautiful and expansive city that could be explored for weeks. I was impressed with their ownership of their history. All of it. The amazingly strong economy that seems impossible to stop as well as the atrocities that occured at the hands of their former leaders. The Berlin Wall Memorial and Topography of Terror were the two most impactful sights for me.

Mother with Her Dead Son
Central Memorial of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Victims of War and Tyranny. This is a small memorial commemorating the Holocaust. Unknown remains from both a Jew and a Nazi soldier were buried beneath this statue.
Whose Side Are You On?
Cemetery that was a point of contention during the era of the Berlin wall. Half the people buried there were from each side of the wall, leaving many dissatisfied mourning families.
American Quarter
What was once a US military checkpoint is now just the foreground to what our country truly represents- fast food.
River Boat
A long exposure of the Spree River, the Fernsehturm television tower, and a moving riverboat tour, captured the evening magic of this city after a delightful dinner.
Alone in a Crowd
This is the new Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, built in 2005 as another reminder not to forget their past. The feeling I got in this place, which I later read was one of the goals of this place, was profound loneliness. When you are in the center of these silent, narrowly-spaced pillars, you wouldn't know anyone else was there despite all the visitors.

Lustgarten
The Lustgarten is most famous for being the venue for many of Adolf Hitler's speeches, including his May Day speech. The images I have seen of that scene, gloom military control and swastika flags, is a stark contrast to this bright, cheery day and mini-rainbow. The building is now the Altes Museum.

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