Berlin: A Modern City of Antiquities

Berlin Cathedral, with the "pope's revenge", the star-crossed TV tower, in the background.

Don't let the soaring modern architecture fool you; Berlin is chock full of some of the oldest remnants of civilization. The Pergamon Alter, the Ishtar Gates of Babylon, the 2000-year old bust of ancient Egyptian queen—and that's only a small part of what you'll find in Berlin, as modern a European city as it's possible to find. 

I first visited Berlin 20 years ago, right after the "fall" of the Berlin wall (the wall was mostly still there, but free travel was possible). The worn out architecture of the East, which had been the pride of the Soviet empire, is now gone, replaced by the towers of Potsdamer Platz, and modern hotels, office buildings and monuments.

But don't despair; the old stuff—the 19th century museums, built to house the treasures German archaeologists brought back from their explorations, are still there. They've been restored to their former glory. In fact, the New Museum—the Neues Museum—has recently reopened after decades of restoration. The long wait was worth it—it's a fantastic museum. 

Let me back up. No, not twenty years ago—Berlin seems eager to forget its divided past. It's only the tourists who flock to Checkpoint Charlie and the scattered remnants of The Wall. The rest of the inhabitants have gotten over it. No, back to when I arrived, to a darkened city full of lights. On the eighth floor of our hotel, we looked out over the Otto Bock building, a smaller building with dancing lights prancing on its side as if hung by a mobile. And next door a giant green beam made a light show on the side of the hotel. And on top of the Otto Bock building was a modern garden with giant modern sculpture.

Light shows are pretty common in Berlin. A walk at night is a spectacle, as we found out when we walked across the edge of Tiergarten to the Reichstag. The Reichstag, where the Bundestag (Germany's parliament) meets, is an imposing old building, built in 1894. But now it sports a modern glass dome observatory. It's hard to describe the inside. You walk up a spiral walkway inside the dome, while an audio guide tells you what you're looking at. Then you walk back down, and at some point you look down in the middle and realize that way below is where the Bundestag sits, in bright blue chairs the size of pin cushions. (Warning: don't do this if you're afraid of heights. I almost lost it when I glanced down.)

"Vibrant" is the word someone used to describe Berlin to me, and it's easy to see why, looking out at a sparkling city of lights. 

Unter den Linden, with new linden trees.

But then you walk down Unter den Linden, the old thoroughfare named after the linden trees (lime trees in England, basswood in North America) replanted in the 1950s after being damaged in the war. There was a lot of war damage in Berlin, some of it still obvious on the walls of the old buildings. In Bebelplatz, where in 1933 fascist Brownshirts burned books they considered subversive, among them books by Helen Keller, there's now a haunting memorial consisting of a square of plate glass overlooking a room with empty bookshelves.

In London, modern buildings are set aside, on an island formed by the Thames. In Berlin, it's the old buildings that get their own island. Crossing the River Spree, you come to Museum Island, the spit of land where nineteenth century Berlin showcased its treasures in a series of museums. At one end the rounded Bode Museum fits perfectly at the tip, on the other end the Altes Museum (the Old Museum) looks out over the Lustgarden. But don't get carried away—the Berlin Dom, the cathedral, stands overlooking the Lustgarden just in case anyone tries to take its name too seriously.

The Altes Museum is tempting, standing there in its Classical glory. But it's not worth much more than an admiring glance—much of its Egyptian collection was moved to the Neues Museum. And don't stand in line at the ticket booth outside the Neues, either. Go into the Pergamon and buy your ticket there, and get a combined ticket, since you'll want to see the Pergamon too.

Market Gates of Miletus

If you only have time for two museums, the Pergamon and the Neues are the ones to choose. (Unless you're into Renaissance art, then go to the Bode.) You'll need a timed ticket to get into the Neues, so spend the hours beforehand touring the Pergamon. It's a very hands on museum, so to speak. You can climb the steps of the Pergamon Alter, go through the market gate of Miletus, and then reverse through the Ishtar Gates after proceeding down the Ishtar Processional Way, lined with lions and daisies.

Be sure you don't miss your timed entry into the Neues Museum, however. I found it to be the best museum I'd ever visited, for the simple reason that instead of a vast, dim space, like many museums offer, the Neues is well lit by the sun streaming in through the large windows. Secret confession: I don't really like museums that much, since it's so hard to read labels in dim light. I had no trouble reading the labels here, written in German and English. There's also an audio guide, which allows you to find out even more about many of the objects. It's a vast collection of antiquities from Egypt, Rome, Greece, Europe, plus an interesting collection of Paleolithic items (which particularly interested me, as I was able to see some of the items we've seen in my archaeology class in a proper setting).

Nefertiti, in her new home in the Neues Museum.

Not all Berlin's museums are on Museum Island, of course. The Jewish Museum is also worth a visit, for the architecture of the place alone. And Checkpoint Charlie museum, while a little shabby these days, is interesting, especially now that the anniversary of the fall of the wall is coming up.

If it's monuments you're after, a walk through Tiergarten will do. I ran into a badly damaged Goethe, Bismark, and others, sternly overlooking the visitors to the park. There's also the Victory Column, or Siegessäule as she's known. This is the spot where Barack Obama spoke last summer, though it's hard to imagine 200,000 impassioned Germans filling the space between the Column and Brandenburg Gate.

A visit to The Kennedys Museum, just past the Brandenburg gate, helps explain the fascination the Germans have with our president. Along with a fine collection of photographs of John F. Kennedy and his family, a current exhibit shows Obama and Kennedy in similar poses and situations. For instance, a cute photo of Jack Kennedy with his daughter Caroline is positioned over a photo of Senator Obama with a young Malia. Don't miss the film footage of Kennedy's trip to Berlin, when crowds gathered close (much closer than would be allowed today) and screamed "Ken-ne-dy!" over and over. It's easy to see how he's become to be regarded as an honorary resident of this city he once proclaimed his own.

Just like Nefertiti, who faces possible deportation (the Egyptians are now demanding her back, since she's turned out to be such a popular tourist attraction). I would imagine the plucky young queen loves her new home in Berlin. For despite its tragic past, Berlin has emerged as a plucky survivor.

For more photos of Berlin, check out my photo album here.

Comments

[kathy a.]

oh, i would love to go visit all the places you see!

i think that egypt has righteous claims on its antiquities that have resided in berlin and london for so long. but, it must be amazing to see something as wonderful as nefertiti, in person. i may never get to egypt, but have seen both of the traveling king tut exhibitions in the US [one in the early '80's in san francisco, and the current one in los angeles a few years ago].

[KathyF]

I think Egypt is doing this for political reasons, over spite from not getting the UN cultural minister position. Normally I'd side with them on antiquities, but in this case the bust seems to have been rightfully given to the archaeologist who found her--they most likely didn't realize her value, or rather the value she'd have after being viewed by millions of European and Western visitors.

I have more sympathy with Greece's claims to the Elgin Marbles.