Arbeit macht frei

I was pretty tired this afternoon so I came home and had a nap. I woke up around 8 PM with Berlin's nightlife already well underway, but not feeling up to going out tonight it seems appropriate to download my digital camera's pictures and perhaps talk a little about Berlin.


Berlin Cathedral in profile.

I've spent the last few days doing a lot of exploring. I've also taken many pictures - many very poor, sadly, some less so. This is a side view of the Oberpfarr- und Domkirche, in English, the Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church. More simply, the Berlin Cathedral. It's a truly majestic building. The statues on the building, interestingly, are blackened to this day by the war damage and fires.

Right next to it, Altes Museum. Very dramatic.


Altes Museum was originally built to house the Prussian Royal family's private art collection.

Another very beautiful area is Gendarmenmarkt, where I snapped this picture of the Deutscher Dom, the German Cathedral.


Deutscher Dom. Like with many prominent Berlin buildings, the Nazis stripped the figureheads and statues off the building when Berlin was first bombed by the Allies. They hid them underground and in river beds for safekeeping. They were recovered, restored and placed back after the war.


Brandenburg Gate

I took very few pictures at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, but it moved me very deeply. I spent a long time at the camp, six hours or so, but it's an amazing and completely unforgettable experience. I am very glad to have gone.


Entrance to the Sachenhausen concentration camp where at least 60 000 inmates were murdered. The literal translation of 'Arbeit Macht Frei' is 'Works Makes Free', or work will free you. It was a lie, of course. There was no rehabilitation or escape from the camps.

Many of these photos are from a few days ago, I did however take a few today which were of interest. The one below is the Soviet War Memorial to commemorate the fallen Russian soldiers of World War 2. The text reads, translated: "Eternal glory to the heroes who fell in battle with the German fascist occupiers for the freedom and independence of the Soviet Union". It was constructed with looted marble from Hitler's Chancellery, and is flanked by two T34 Russian tanks, apparently, the first two Russian tanks in Berlin.


Berliners, who have a superbly dark sense of humour, refer to it as Grabmal des unbekannten Vergewaltigers - 'Tomb of the Unknown Rapist".

Tomorrow I'm headed off to the Museums and if I can wake up early enough (7 AM) the Reichstag to get onto the roof. I was there today, but the queue was massive.


The Reichstag. 5000 Russian soldiers died taking just this building at the end of WW2.

Oh, and I got a tip from a local as to where the best place for Currywurst is - under the train tracks at Eberswalde Straße:


I went all the way here for Currywurst...


...but it was rather good!