My travel in Europe:
By train in Northern Germany, 2022

Content:

• Planning for a round trip in Northern Europe
• Day 1 to 2, from Stockholm to Rostock
• Day 3, from Rostock to Wismar and back
• Day 4, from Rostock to Warnemunde and back
• Day 5, from Rostock to Stralsund and Berlin
• Day 6, Berlin 2nd day
• Day 7, Berlin 3rd day
• Day 8, Berlin to Magdeburg
• Day 9, Magdeburg to Wernigerode
• Day 10, Wernigerode 2nd day
• Day 11, Wernigerode to Hanover, Bremen
• Day 12, Bremen 2nd day
• Day 13, Bremen to Hamburg
• Day 14, Hamburg to Schwerin
• Day 15, Schwerin 2nd day
• Day 16-17, Schwerin to Rostock and Stockholm

Day 6, Berlin 2nd day:

We waked up at 8:30 and get down to the breakfast room, lot of tasty food to chose from. There are also a lot of people here and a bit loud.

Here is a map of Berlin:

Today we were in the central region of Berlin only.

Moltebrucke:

When we were finished at the hotel we go out from the hotel and walk to the bridge Moltebrucke where we were yesterday evening. But before we walk over the bridge we decided to follow the river Spree at this side.

It could be a bit confusing when you walk around in Berlin, are you in the former West or East Berlin ? Here is map with the Berlin Wall that help to orientate:

• https://berlinwallmap.info/ map/ (Berlin Wall Map)

Spree river:

The river Spree is big and a lot of river boats take the tourists on it. We start walking along it and look for another bridge over to the garden on the other side of the river. After a while we found it to be too far away and walk back to the bridge Moltebrucke we passed by earlier.

Moltebrucke, the same bridge as we used yesterday evening. An old bridge from 1886, surely destroyed during the WW II but rebuilt 1945.

The bridge has beautiful sculptures on the bridge lamps.

Reichstadt building:

Yesterdays evening light was wonderful, now in daylight it's not the same look of the Reichstadt building. This place was in the former West Berlin.

Grosser Tiergarten:

At South we have the Tiergarten, a big city park. The street is Strasse des 17, juni. This park was in the former West Berlin.

Walking through the park and looking at all statues and here is a pond.

The composers Beethoven, Hayden and Mozart on a memorial statue.

Here is more information about Tiergarten park:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Tiergarten (park) (Tiergarten, Wikipedia)

Potsdamer Platz:

Potsdamer Platz is on our list of interesting things to look at and it's not far from the Tiergarten park. Earlier it was more like an empty area here. Now they have built a lot of big buildings around the square. Here was the border between East and West Berlin. Do you see the markers at the street near the lady with red hair to the right ? To the right West Berlin and on this side East Berlin.

A small fragment of the Berlin Wall is left on this square.

This subway entrance was in the former East Berlin and it was possible to take the subway to West Berlin until they blocked it in the 1960s. At this place Siemens AG installed Europe's first traffic light, in the 1920s. You see it in the background in front of the white house.

A close up of the traffic signal, I didn't know about this until I was home again. Otherwise I had took a better photo of it.

Here is more information about Potsdamer Platz:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Potsdamer Platz (Potsdamer Platz, Wikipedia)

The street Niederkirchnerstrasse:

We continue walking and follow the street Niederkirchnerstrasse to get to Checkpoint Charlie, also on our list what we want to look at. This house is Berlin's Abgeornetenhaus, Congress house.

Checkpoint Charlie:

At the other end of this street is the Checkpoint Charlie, DDR must have loved all these grey concrete walls. Did they ever asked the people who lived here what they wanted ?

Part of the Berlin Wall or maybe something older.

We are now closing in and on the other side is the Trabworld, on the streets we saw a Trabant car parade.

At last we found it, Checkpoint Charlie, how many movies haven't we looked at with this little white house. There were a lot of people here and difficult to get a photo without them. In the background former East Berlin, totally different 35 years ago.

Here is more information about Checkpoint Charlie:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Checkpoint Charlie (Checkpoint Charlie, Wikipedia)

Humboldt University:

Next stop will be at the Museum Isle. To get there we walk in Northern direction until we came to the street Unter den Linden. Go East from here and we came to the Humboldt University. In the park we say hallo to the statues of Max Planck and Helmoltz, old friends from my studies at the University.

On the other side of he street we have the Bebelplatz and the Faculty of Law.

One last big building before we walk over he bridge to the Museum Isle. It's the Deutsches Historisches Museum.

Museum Isle:

After we entered the Museum Isle, a photo of the Schlossbrucke that lead us over to Museum Isle.

At this island we found a lot of fantastic buildings, this is the Berliner Dom. The German Emperor William gave order to built this, it was built the years from 1894 to 1905. It's the TV Tower in the background.

Here is more information about Berlin Cathedral:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Berlin Cathedral (Berlin Cathedral, Wikipedia)

To the left of that building is the Altes Museum, Alte = History. It's even older and built 1825.

Here is more information about Altes Museum:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Altes Museum (Altes Museum, Wikipedia)

The Museum Isle isn't very big and here we have left it. Looking back and on the Southern side of Under den Linden street, the Humboldt Forum. Modern architects doesn't have the same feeling as in earlier times. But still an impressive building. The Museum Isle belonged to the former East Berlin.

On the rivers of Berlin there are a lot of river boats passing by, we want to take a trip with one of them. But it was very confusing to understand the information about the routes of the boats and what language the guide speak. Overall it's not common to find information in other languages than Germany, strange.

Toward Alexanderplatz:

Next to see is the Alexanderplatz, on the way we found another building they have talked about, the Red Town Hall. This is the former East Berlin and of course it must be a red building, Rotes Rathaus. It was built 1861 in Northern Italy renaissance style.

Here is more information about Rotes Rathaus:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Rotes Rathaus (Rotes Rathaus, Wikipedia)

The TV Tower that we can see from all places in Berlin we want to come close to. It wasn't difficult to find this tower, we have seen it in the background the last two hours. Is it a restaurant up there or a viewpoint ? After we read something about it we now know that it's the tallest building in Germany with its 368 meter height. There is a restaurant and a bar and it's rotating slowly. It was constructed and built between 1965 and 1969 by DDR. A couple from Netherland we met later told us that they have paid 20 Euro each to get up there, we spent that money on a dinner at ground level instead.

Here is more information about the TV Tower in Berlin:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Fernsehturm Berlin (Fernsehturm Berlin, Wikipedia)

Alexanderplatz:

Walking on after the dinner, now it's the Alexanderplatz we have come to. This is the World Clock, it has the time for 148 major cities. This clock was also built during the DDR era in the 1960s.

Here is more information about the World Clock:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ World Clock (Alexanderplatz) (World Clock, Wikipedia)

The square at Alexanderplatz with a tall building. A lot of people has told us that we must see this place, but we were a bit disappointed, the World Clock was fine, but what else ? Maybe we missed something, we are in a hurry on our vacation.

Here is more information about Alexanderplatz:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Alexanderplatz (Alexanderplatz, Wikipedia)

Towards Berlin Wall Museum:

One last thing to visit until the day ends, the Berlin Wall Museum. After Alexanderplatz we walk in the Northern direction and follow the streets Munzstrasse, Gipsstrasse, Kliene Auguststrasse. This is the Mitte district and it was very nice. Not so big buildings but small nice and some of them not renovated yet. Look at the ornaments on top of this building.

Another building that's need of care but we like to get a feeling of how it was here in earlier days. There are also a lot of restaurants in the Mitte district, small cozy ones that we want to visit later in the evening.

The last street that take us to the Berlin Wall museum is the Ackerstrasse, it goes along a wall to a grave yard. We took a walk into it, walk and walk, no where to get out and we had to get back from where we entered it. We saw a lot of beautiful tombstones, some very old.

Berlin Wall Museum:

Now we are at the Berlin Wall museum, it's a outdoor museum. These Iron walls encapsulates a piece of history, the Berlin Wall.

A sneak peek behind and you see a part of the Berlin Wall. Grey and grey and a lot of grey concrete.

Through the slits you can see into the passage between the walls, this area was overviewed by soldiers who shot everyone who try to pass through over these 20 meters.

A watch tower where the soldiers stood.

The wall on the other side, also built of grey concrete.

At another part of the museum is this iron wall. It has photos of all people that where murdered when they tried to escape this barrier. Many of them were very young people, very sad to see.

A last good buy of this sad place, what a terribly crime they committed against its own population.

My feet are killing me after all this walking today, we took a tram back to the hotel.

Evening Walk at Rosenthalerplatz:

After a shower and a long rest at the hotel we were rested to once again enter the city. It's now evening and we are hungry, of course. We looked at the maps where we have the restaurants and we found that the district Mitte where we were earlier looks to be the best place. It's easy to get there with the tram and we took it to Rosenthalerplatz where we started our evening restaurant walking.

Here is more information about the Mitte district:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Mitte (Mitte, Wikipedia)

We had some difficulty to find a restaurant that appeal to both of us. But at last we decided to eat dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. I found that they had Vietnamese pizzas, it could not be wrong, or ? Lets say: It was interesting but in the future I take a more normal pizza for dinner.

In the evening it's always exiting to see all the colors that appear. Even if I only use my smartphone I think I get the feeling on photo that I can share to you.

We walk slowly back towards the hotel, the street is Torstrasse.

I'm not sure, maybe it was an Association for Music in this building. It's at the street Fredrichstrasse.

We change street and now walk at the street Reinhardtstrasse and found this exiting building. Nowadays it's an art collection here, but former it must have been a defense tower and shelter room. One thing on the list of what we want to see are those Flakturms, but we leave that until we comes to Hamburg. They are enormous compare to this one.

The last part we walked along the river Spree and here we had come to the 3XN Cube where we started, our hotel is behind. We never felt any danger to walk in Berlin during the evening which we will feel at other cities the coming days.

Here is more information about Berlin:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Berlin (Berlin, Wikipedia)