In Search of the Third Reich, II

Checkpoint Charlie and other Roadside Attractions

BERLIN, Oct. 19-20--If Wilson is going to exercise his role as a One World Futbol, then in my opinion, he should see a little bit of the world. So I brought him along this week when I flew to Nuremberg to see my son and his wife. A few days ago you heard a bit about Nuremberg, and in a few days I'll have more to share. But for now I'd like to share some of the experiences we had while touring the point where East met West over the barrel of some guns. Seventy-five years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, the reality of that war is still a presence in Germany, both in the form of entertainment, and in somber reflection. The  photos that follow tell only a very tiny part of the story.

One small part of the story occurred in Dresden, enroute to Berlin. Dresden was arguably the most beautiful city in Germany, until it was firebombed late in the war, and for other than military reasons. The incendiary bombs dropped on that city created firestorms that ate the civilian population alive. The three pictures below give only a hint of what was lost.

This ornate building complex reveals the beauty of the architecture of Dresden.

This is a closer look at the mural in the preceding photograph.

This photo discloses the ornate tile work of that mural, and how lovely the City of Dresden had been.

In Berlin, I, my son, Tracy, and his wife, Shira, stayed at the Angleterra Hotel, and this was the Marquee over the nearest staircase to the underground:

If you don't know what Checkpoint Charlie was, you must be very young.

France, Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union shared control of Germany and of Berlin at the close of World War II, and as relationships between the allies soured, Checkpoint  Charlie was the place where America and the Russians stood eyeball-to-eyeball. But nowadays,as Tom Robbins might observe,  it's just Another Roadside Attraction:

You can learn about the neighborhood and buy some trinket at the Checkpoint Charlie museum.

Tourists stand next to actors at the re-created Checkpoint Charlie for a photo-op.

A local eatery capitalizes on name recognition.

If the sun's too bright, or it's rainy, there are plenty of hats for sale.

Things got quiet at night. The actors went home. The tourists thinned out. But there were still lights to illuminate the sign below, reminding anyone who passed by that this was a corner of historic significance:

The English and Russian carry the same message, irrelevant as it now is.

Wilson took advantage of the lighter evening foot traffic to hang around the checkpoint for a while. The sandbags are filled with concrete now; no vandal is likely to purloin one as a souvenir.

McDonald's has a location to die for, but sorry, that war's over. And it's late.

Berlin has many, many monuments, and here is a grab-bag of monument photos, in no particular order of importance, starting with the least important, and yet still evocative:

Attached to a light standard is a reminder that a 45-year-old bicyclist died here.

This large building mural depicts 19-year-old Conrad Schumann, jumping over barbed wire to freedom on Aug. 15, 1961, two days after construction began on the Berlin Wall. Sadly, his flight to freedom did not bring happiness. The secret police pressured his family to encourage him to return. He was reportedly considered a traitor by former associates. 27 years later, Conrad Schumann hanged himself following a family argument.

You can almost be swallowed up in the monoliths of the Jewish memorial.

A "quadriga" steered by Victoria, Goddess of Victory, pulls a chariot atop the Brandenburg Gate.

More than a million bricks were used to build the neo-classical Brandenburg Gate, which is 65 meters wide and 26 high. It opened for traffic in 1791. When the German Empire collapsed in 1918, soldiers of the defeated imperial army returned through the gate.  Fifteen years later, columns of Storm Troopers marched through to celebrate  the Nazi assumption of power. Artillery fire heavily damaged the gate 12 years later during the fall of Berlin, with only one horse's head left intact. It was largely rebuilt in the 1950s with the help of East Berlin specialists.

The wall

A tourist's eyeglasses captures an image of  Leonid Brezhnev smooching Erich Honecker.

Pieces of the Berlin Wall remain, covered with street art and iconic images. In the photo below, Conrad Schumann once again makes his leap for freedom; the communist leaders of the USSR and East Germany embrace in a passionless kiss, and an East German, head down, slips under the barrier bar in his Trabant, the most common vehicle in East Germany. Note the flying roof, torn off by the undisturbed bar; the Trabant was not known as an imposing vehicle.

More than art was left on sections of the wall. This one became a depository for chewing gum.

The DDR museum

There is a museum for the wonders of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik. Products and aspirations of the people's paradise are on display, as well as an interrogation room and a prison cell, the likes of which was experienced by some 250,000 East Germans.

Visitors have an opportunity to drive a Trebant in a simulator.

Luxury products -- producded to drain off excess cash caused by the shortage of consumer goods.

Wilson peeked through a heavy door at a prison cell where enemies of the state could spend many thoughtful hours in reflection.

Wilson and I consulted each other on what crimes we might want to confess to.

A mural on a wall in what was East Berlin speaks for itself.

The Soviet Memorial

According to literature at the memorial, 22,000 Soviet soldiers died taking Berlin.

The story of the USSR's suffering and response is told in several murals at the enormous memorial.

A soldier kneels with his machine gun.

The imposing entry to the Soviet Memorial.

Memories of The War are everywhere in Berlin, And occasionally, you see an image like the one below, which was photographed stuck on a wall of a subway car. The message: Resist Nazism!

You wonder. Why is that last image still necessary?

Love,

Robert,
and Wilson.