Tag Archives: Cold War

Bullet Holes Remember Berlin’s Past

The signal sent to my consciousness was a slight prickling of the skin at the back of my neck as the baby-fine hairs raised and brushed against my silk scarf. “We’re walking around in history. Can you feel it?”

“Yes,” Mark answered — “and those are bullet holes all over that building!”

A sunny Sunday in Berlin — Easter Sunday in fact — and there were throngs of people in the public squares. But the side streets were quiet and I was able to take quite a lot of photos without being jostled by crowds.

The buildings around us were a mix of old and new and some of them still retained their stunning late-19th or early-20th century facades. Although I am a huge fan of modernism and contemporary architecture, these handsome structures made me wish that all new construction still had such attention paid to the small details and bits of ornamentation.

On either side of that visually arresting entry were the bullet holes — intentionally left unrepaired so memories of the tumultuous past of this city do not entirely fade.

Architectural detail of classical head over entry of building from early 1900s

World War II bullet holes in stone building

Bullet holes in stone building

Further down the street, we had a chance to have a laugh and then do a double-take. Here’s why.

Four weeks ago we were in London and we passed by the short street leading to 10 Downing Street where the British Prime Minister resides. The amount of security personnel and high tech security gear all around that area was rather interesting to see. Apparently, much like the President of the USA, both heads of state believe that they are in a constant state of threat.

Now contrast that with the pictures of the residence below. And this is where the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel lives. Not only are there only two guards out front, but there is a man with two red shopping bags having a casual conversation with the guards while a young dark-haired woman sits on the edge of the sidewalk. You can even see the cones and bit of construction items including a site caravan from the ongoing construction all up and down that street. There are no high tech gates or fences or any such ‘necessary’ items of security outside. Even the windows are quite open to the front of the very accessible street. She may live quite high up in the building and the inside may be fortified, but the very fact that she lives on a normal street instead of behind locked gates shows an amazing sense of trust. And I find all of that quite refreshing!

Apparently low-tech security at Chancellor Merkel's house

Come back soon for another post from beautiful and fascinating Berlin!

Berlin On A Sunny Sunday – Part One

Quick, quick preview with a couple of pictures. A longer post will be coming later today or tomorrow morning with lots more wonderful photos of Berlin from a walk on a sunny Sunday. The two pictures below were taken in what was the old East Berlin and it’s now a lovely and lively area!

The Fernsehturm or television tower was a strong image, not just for the German people, but for the world during the division of Berlin into East Berlin and West Berlin. Built by the GDR during the Cold War period of the mid-1960s, it was meant to be a symbol of power for the eastern side and visible throughout the city, but there are also some amusing facts about it. So click on the link to read the history!

Sunny Sunday in old East Berlin with Fernsehturm shining in the distance

Do you remember the post from Hannover? I included a photo of one of these vehicles sitting empty and I wondered what it would look like with people on it. Here’s a fully loaded version! They look like they are having quite a good time on this multi-passenger bike.

Fully loaded multi-passenger cycle

Check back soon for more wonderful pictures of Berlin!

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Heilandskirche – Waiting Near The Waterside, Trapped by the Berlin Wall

“We might be too late for photographs,” he said. But we quickly left the car and hurried up the gravel path, swishing aside the clouds of mosquitoes in the air as we walked. I heard myself exclaim aloud, “Oh my!” And I sped up a bit since the sun was swiftly sinking and the sky was already flat and gray.

Italian Romanesque Revival style Campanile at the Heilandskirche near Berlin

I might have momentarily thought that I was standing on the edge of a lake in Italy — but I was at the waterside in Germany, looking at a the Heilandskirche, the Church of the Redeemer — a place that was frozen in time and held hostage for decades by the construction of the Berlin Wall.

Heilandskirche at the water's edge

Gazing up at the campanile and ambling through the solemn but serene columned arcade on either side of the church, I could barely imagine how devastated the parish would have been when the wall was built right up to the church and the GDR border troops prevented people from entering for worship.

Columned walkway on right side of the Heilandskirche

And so it sat — crumbling into disrepair until the Berlin Wall came down, a campaign was mounted to raise funds to restore the church, and once again everyday citizens and tourists alike could have a quiet moment by those now-peaceful shores.

Columned walkway on left side of Heilandskirche

Sculpted plaque on the courtyard side of the Campanile

As you look at the picture of the columned walkway above, you can see a tower in East Berlin off in the foggy distance on the other shore of the lake.

I am grateful to our friend Stefan Hoffmann for taking us to this remarkable place and sharing the story with us this week.