Germany Part 1: Berlin & Hamburg – Kubitz Family Photo Journal

We started our exploration of Berlin at Mauerpark, one of the former border frontiers between East and West Berlin. Today it serves as a community gathering place. The Fernsehturm (TV tower) – installed by the Communist regime – looms in the background.

The map shows that the Berlin wall goes right through the park. This was the wall that we found.

Kids getting to make big soap bubbles; Paxton joined in, of course.

A group of guys were putting on a break dancing show.

One of the many colorful people we saw.

One of many flea markets in the city.

This guy was selling all kinds of everyday items turned into secret containers…for contraband?

Overlooking the park is a graffiti wall. This guy was painting when we got there.

On the other side of graffiti wall is the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, which is now in a state of decay and slated to be redeveloped.

The park is also next to Max-Schmeling-Halle, a multipurpose arena and community building.

All the upcoming shows…my personal favorite being David Hasselhoff on October 3rd.

We saw a youth basketball game being played and decided to watch some of it.

Our more formal tour of Berlin started at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which stands as a reminder to all the damage done to Berlin during WWII. It currently serves as an anti-war memorial to peace and reconciliation.

Among all the hustle and bustle of the busy Posdamer Platz, stands a portion of the Berlin wall.

If given the opportunity, artists will unite the world; a poster for a concert by Iranian and Israeli musicians.

This fence has an interesting documentation of a family escaping East Berlin from the top of the building to the right. According to a website, “During the night of 28th July 1965, the Holzapfel family achieved the feat of climbing over the Wall, by sliding along a rope thrown from the roof of the Ministries House in the East and held taut on the Western side by relatives who knew about the escape.”

A sculpture of people peering through the wall.

One of many bear statues throughout the city.

Remnants and reminders of the wall remain all over the city.

A line of bricks trace the footprint of the Berlin wall throughout the city.

Checkpoint Charlie was best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War (1947–1991). Our tour guide said this was just a recreation of Checkpoint Charlie.

On the building near Checkpoint Charlie.

With over 80% of Berlin destroyed during WWII, our tour guide told us this building and many, many others in the former East Berlin were only several decades old; recreations by the Soviets to make them look regal and old.

Affordable apartment buildings.

The top of this building near Alexanderplatz has the Berlin flag with a bear on top.

The top of the Berliner Fernsehturm (TV tower) in Alexanderplatz, visible from all over Berlin. It was created to be a symbol of Communist power and of East Berlin.

In between Alexanderplatz and the Brandenberg Gate there was some construction going on and on the barrier wall were these pictures of various pairings of people on what looks like the subway train. Curious.

Brandenburg Gate is one of Berlin’s most famous landmarks. Built in the 18th century and once a symbol of the division of Berlin and Germany, it is now a national symbol of peace and unity. It is flanked by various embassies…most notably the Russian embassy.

I don’t remember what building this was on, but it features the following message: “By defending the liberty and unity of Ukraine we defend the liberty and unity of the countries of Europe. Vladimir Putin: abandon your geopolitical ambitions and set the whole of Ukraine free.”

The Victory Column built 1873 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War.

The Berlin Holocaust Memorial

The Berlin Philharmonic building. The architect said he designed it to represent a phoenix rising.

Chairs are set up along the river for people to relax on a warm day.

The golden dome of the Neue Synagogue in the Jewish neighborhood.

Taking some time out for Paxton at the Lego Experience center.

This climbing wall was cool; it kept running on a loop and the speed could be adjusted.

We arrived in Hamburg early in the morning after and overnight train journey from Oslo, Norway. With time to kill before our Airbnb was available, we started out to explore the area around the docks. We read that this old restaurant was popular among the fishermen at the docks.

One of it’s claim to fame is that the building is so old, it’s leaning.

We found this park in the middle of some new housing developments. It was a fun time.

After the park, we headed over to the Miniatur Wunderland, where they have two large floors full of the most amazingly detailed miniature figures and buildings that are representative of various countries in Europe (and parts of the USA). This was a recreation of a huge arena concert by a popular German singer. Thousands of little figures filled the stadium; maybe an inch tall. A video of the concert played on the screen behind it.

All of the scenes were whimsical and beautifully imaginative.

Every 15 minutes or so, the lighting changed in the rooms from day to night. This was a model of Las Vegas at night.

There were endless little funny details like this couple making out in the middle of a sunflower field.

This festival concert was another masterpiece in detail. Including the rows of port-a-potties with people waiting.

Throughout all the various countries, there were countless accidents with police and firetrucks responding. This one was my favorite; a cheese truck losing it’s load along the road.

You can see the people working on new models and figures.

Another day we took a chocolate tour at the Chocoversum to see how chocolate is made. It isn’t a real factory, but shows real, working machines and the processes used.

Paxton volunteered at the beginning of the tour to try some cocoa butter from a cocoa pod. He liked it.

This machine ground the cocoa beans.

This machine wrapped the individual chocolate bars.

We got to make our own chocolate bars with toppings of our choice.

Modern lederhosen fashion.

Walking through the Sternschanze neighborhood.

We arrived at the Rote Flora. It was a building slated to be turned into a concert venue. But since 1989, the Rote Flora has had squatters living in it and functions as a cultural center and serves as a meeting point for the city’s left-wing activists.

Activists were busy preparing for the climate change rally the next day.

One of the Rote Flora bathroom doors.

Inside the building the bar area had tables covered with what looked like space blankets.

On September 20, we joined the Hamburg participants of the world-wide climate strike, which was three days before the United Nations Climate Summit.

The place was packed. The media estimated about 100,000 people joined in.

During our time in Hamburg, we found out that the annual Reeperbahn music festival was just kicking off. Setup much like the South by Southwest festival with many different bar an club venues, we decided to check it out.