Berlin in Photos

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I went to Berlin last weekend! I spent three days there and had a great time sightseeing and just walking around the city :) I wasn't really prepared for how sad all the historic museums were, but I still saw lots of cool things and took some pretty pictures.

Sightseeing

The Brandenburg Gate! There was a demonstration by the metal workers union going on the last day I was there, and all the fences and tents are set up here in preparation.

The Reichstag is the meeting place of the German parliament. It was burned down in 1933, and wasn't rebuilt until after the reunification of Germany in 1990.

This is a conference center that I accidentally walked through :) I thought the roof design was so interesting!

The East Side Gallery

This is a section of the Berlin Wall that was left standing and now houses powerful graffiti and other art by artists from around the world. These are some of my favorite ones that I saw.





Gorbechov kissing JFK - by far the most famous painting that I saw!


On the East German side, there were actually two walls. It was built to keep the East Germans in East Berlin, so they put up an extra wall and heavily guarded the no-mans land in between. This is one of the only parts where both walls are standing. 

More Sightseeing

The Holocaust Memorial was very depressing and very powerful. Walking through all these blocks was disorienting and scary, which was exactly the intent of the artist.

One of the most famous parts of Berlin is Museum Island, which houses tons of museums and also has some of the coolest architecture in the city. I'm not totally sure what this building is used for...

The Berliner Dom is the main church of Berlin, and like in most of Germany, it serves as the center of the city. I spent a lovely afternoon reading a book while sitting on the lawn.
Overall, Berlin wasn't exactly what I was expecting but it was still a super fun experience. I highly recommend this city for history buffs, and it even had me wishing I had paid more attention in AP Euro!

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