DAY 4 - SIGHTSEEING IN BERLIN
Sunday morning already and time for breakfast at Uschi and Harald's home. This breakfast was even more involved with the usual selections as well as boiled eggs in egg cups with little cup covers. One could get used to this more relaxed life. I don't know how they do it as both Uschi and Harald still work though Gerhard is retired. I would have to get up at 5 am to have this kind of leisurely breakfast at home.
Following breakfast, at 10:30 am (90 minutes spent at breakfast), we got in their car and headed for Berlin proper. Accompanying us was their dog, Kira.
First stop was the old area of Berlin where Gerhard had lived as a child. The apartment his mother and he lived in during WWII is still standing though it was heavily bombed. We stopped at this apartment building first so Gerhard could show us the place where he returned to after the war. Their apartment was on the second floor of this building, in a corner position, with the balcony still standing.
Gerhard told me a very poignant story. When he was 7 his father, Otto Kolberg, died of a heart attack at the age of 33. When Gerhard was 15, his mother remarried to a family friend. When the war began, Gerhard was only 12 and all the children in their area were sent away to the forests of Poland with teachers to go into hiding in order to protect the children as best as possible. Gerhard also was taken away and in the following three years he lived in a variety of camps with these students and their teachers and had no contact with his mother or grandparents. At the same time his mother also shared the apartment with her parents and Gerhard had no way to know what was happening back in Berlin.
Three years later, at the age of 15, the war was over and the students were taken to the German/Polish border and left there and told to "go home". Gerhard walked for two weeks back to Berlin not knowing if his mother was still living, whether the home was still standing or what he would find. When he finally returned to the apartment his grandfather answered the door and cried "the youngster is home". The grandmother and Gerhard's mother were overjoyed to see him and he was so happy that his family was still alive. This is the home he returned to:
A few blocks from this home stood another building which was the dental office of Gerhard's father, Otto. It is not a dental office now but it was interesting to see and imagine how it was in the 1920-1930 time period. We stood outside the building and talked about these times as well:
Back to the car we went for a drive further into Berlin where a parking space was found and we began walking again with a stop at the "Brown Bear Cave". Schnute and Maxi, mother and daughter, are living in this cave which is lovely with many flowers and flowering trees:
A short walk further and we were at the Spree River. On this river is a river boat restaurant called Cafe Deckshaus Bistro and we decided to eat there though not outside as it was quite chilly. I had wiener schnitzel which has been a long time favorite of mine:
After our meal we took another walk though an area of street vendors along with gift shops all open on Sunday. I did buy some postcards and saw many other lovely items but resisted the urge to spend more Euro. Did see an old style bakery and thought it was reminiscent of the Bavarian bakeries:
Now we were to head toward the Berliner Dom which had been one of my requested sites to see. Also called "The Berlin Cathedral", the Berliner Dom is a remarkable building. It is the largest and most impressive Protestant church in Berlin. Consecrated on February 27, 1905, it sustained severe damage during an air raid in WWII and was left as is until 1975 when an extensive rebuilding program began. Visitors are able to climb to the Dome Walkway up 267 steps in a circular pattern where I, as well as others, had to stop numerous times to catch our breath. The view from the walkway is outstanding and one can see Berlin below with all of its monuments and landmarks. The walk down was a little better than the walk up!
In the lower level of the building are the catacombs with the Hohenzollern Crypt containing the graves of the monarchy of Germany. This is called one of the historically most important sepulchers in Europe. It was a wonderful historical site to visit and a moving tribute to the Evangelical church at the time:
It seemed that my German cousins, as well as little Kira the dog, were having no problem navigating these walks on cobblestone streets. Hope I dropped another 20# on this walk!
On the drive out of this area we passed some remnants of the Berlin wall:
If I were to think this was the end of the day I would be mistaken. Back at Uschi and Harald's apartment (6 pm) it was time for coffee, tea and cakes. Then they began to watch the German Emmy Awards and I joined them for the presentations. It was interesting to see German Emmy awards where a majority of the writers and producers, directors, etc were women. During this time they stopped for the standard supper fare but I was absolutely not hungry.
At 11 pm it was time to return to my apartment and to bed.
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