Guten tag! I’m in Berlin! the Brandenburg Gate and I say hallo!

It’s at least 20 degrees cooler here than anywhere in Italy, and while I pass the time until my new apartment is available at the tail end of summer, I thought, why not visit someplace new and learns some new tricks? Germany filled the bill!🇩🇪

My intro to Berlin was the darling little flower shop on the Kurfurstendamm, the avenue on which I’m staying. What a charming addition to a city! I might be in love!

I arrived yesterday late afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful dinner at a bistro (what’s the German word? somebody tell me) and then fell asleep in my spacious, modern, air-conditioned hotel with a down comforter ad down pillow. Traveling from Italy is chaos always and I was tired.

Today I walked to Tiergarten and specifically on my way to the Brandenburg Gate. The first monument I encountered was this, the remnant of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, the most famous landmark in the western city center. In honor of Wilhelm I, the first German Kaiser, his grandson Wilhelm II planned a magnificent church. Build between 1891 and 1895 in the Neo-romantic style, it had 5 spires and reflected the flamboyant taste of times of the Kaiser.

Air raids in 1943 damaged the church this badly and the roof collapsed. The Allies were unwilling to rebuild it, as it was seen as a symbol of excessive national pride. Instead, the ruin stood as a constant reminders to Berliners of the horror of war.

In the late 1950s, the ruin was integrated as a part of the design of a new church, built between 1959-61.

Pictures below show the lovely pavement in the memorial, as well as the mosaic ceiling and vaulted walls of the surviving room.

Below, a picture of the back of the ruin.

The River Spree and a marker from the 1950s for a bridge that spans it.

I’m excited to learn more about Berlin and Germany in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more! Auf Wiedersehen!