Checkpoint Charlie and the Holocaust Memorial

After a tasty brunch, Arne and I set out for the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in downtown Berlin. The subway stop where we got off was only a block or two away from the museum itself. The entrance fee was €10.

Checkpoint Charlie was apparently a crossing point between East and West Berlin when the city was divided. American and Soviet panzer tanks confronted each other on the border there. Many people tried to escape through the checkpoint. The museum showed all the various ways people tried to escape—by hiding in the front hood of a Volkswagen, in a modified welding machine, in suitcases and stereo systems. Some people sewed uniforms to bluff their way past the checkpoint. The museum also showed other methods of escape which did not involve the checkpoint—using vehicles to break through weak spots in the Wall, digging tunnels, rappelling from power lines, using a hot air balloon, or flying amateur aircraft.

Outside the museum was the actual checkpoint, guarded by an American soldier and a French soldier, each holding their own country’s flag. A sign marking the border stood on the street corner.

After all that, Arne and I walked around the city for a bit, searching for the Holocaust Memorial which we stumbled upon just when we were about to give up. There was no plaque or sign to tell the significance of the memorial—just a series of grey blocks standing in rows. The ground was covered in small square tiles of a similar material, and sloped down to the center of the area. I had no idea how tall the monuments were in the center of the square until I walked among them. We happened to hit the memorial late in the evening, and I got a few good pictures of the sunset glancing off the shiny surface of the blocks.

To one side of the memorial was a strip of small cafes and tourist traps. We stopped outside one of the little cafes for a refreshing slushie and watched the sun set. Although lovely, the red and orange hues took on a very somber feeling from the cold stones below, reflecting a terrible history the depths of which I cannot fathom.

Once it was dark, Arne and I wandered around town for a bit and eventually met his cousin Viyan at Mehringdamm. The two of them decided that I had to try some curryworst since it’s a famous food in Berlin, so we ate at Curry 36 before exploring the night life. The dish is basically sausage in curry sauce with fries and mayonnaise—very tasty, actually. After eating we went chose a restaurant/bar to sit down, have a drink and chat. I had my first pina colada! Soon afterwards we went to a different spot, a new Spanish place that Viyan hadn’t been to yet. There we had a beer and some good craic.

When Arne and I returned to the apartment, we were too tired to watch a movie, so we just took off our shoes, called it a day, and zonked out.