Exploring an open history book

Despite non-stop changes, Berlin takes time to remember its World War II, Cold War past

By Karl Weisel

U.S. Army Garrison Hessen Public Affairs Office

Like a phoenix emerging from the rubble of World War II and the economic stagnation of Soviet occupation, Berlin continues to dazzle and amaze.

Where once bullet-scarred buildings, weed-covered no-man’s land and ugly, post-war dwellings dominated the landscape, the once-divided city has blossomed into a showcase of the old and the new. Towering, glass skyscrapers crowd over stately, stone structures at Potsdamer Platz, modern government offices and consulates share park space with the president’s regal Bellevue Palace at the Tiergarten and everywhere one looks cranes continue to shift the debris of years past to make way for the future.

Thankfully, though, for those fearing Berliners might eliminate all traces of the past in their rush to fuse the two halves of the reunited city into one whole again, reminders of the German capital’s turbulent past and the grim separation of the Cold War years have been preserved.

Despite the makeover in recent years, Berlin remains a city of contrasts. There are the contrasts between what remains of the East Berlin post-war buildings to the latest architectural marvels of metal and glass to spring up throughout the city. There are contrasts between the quiet, residential neighborhoods of Schoeneberg and Zehlendorf and the bustling restaurant and club scenes in Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg.

But perhaps the most striking contrast is the one between the vibrant, multicultural makeup of the city as it is today to the repressive societies that existed under National Socialism and the German Democratic Republic for more than half a century.

While enjoying the reunited city’s vast conglomeration of restaurants, markets, shopping opportunities, museums, concerts, parks and everything else a modern, cosmopolitan city has to offer, take some time to remember the history of the place. Start by hopping aboard a double-decker bus (catch the 100 or 200 at the Zoo train station) for a lofty view of the city as it wends its way past the Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial Church, the Reichstag, Brandenburger Gate and other sights.

Purchasing either a day ticket at one of the public transportation ticket machines or a Welcome Card at the Zoo train station valid for 48 or 72 hours (and with coupons valid for reduced admission to various museums, etc.) provides a convenient way to explore Berlin.

While strolling up the broad boulevard of Unter den Linden away from the Brandenburg Gate (built by Frederick the Great as a symbol of German nationalism) consider stopping in the German History Museum Berlin at Unter den Linden 2. Not only does the museum provide a whirlwind tour through the historic events of Germany, but a special exhibition running through April 29 offers a fascinating comparison of how Italy, the Soviet Union, Germany and United States used art and other media in its propaganda efforts before and during World War II. Even the building itself offers another contrast — between the older stone of the former Prussian armory building and the modernistic swirls of the new exhibition hall designed by famed architect I.M. Pei and opened in 2003.

Visit www.dhm.de for more information on the museum and the Art and Propaganda exhibit.

A short walk from the German History Museum takes one to a wealth of sights for all interests — whether its ancient history on a grand scale in the Pergamon Museum, paintings in the Old National Gallery or the dominating presence of the Berlin Cathedral on the banks of the Spree River. Excursion boats offer visitors another way to explore the city and leave from various spots around the “Museum Island.”

Those wanting to learn more about the times that produced National Socialism and allowed it to flourish in Germany in the 20th century may also want to visit one of Berlin’s more recent exhibitions. A short walk from Potsdamer Platz takes one past a still standing East German guard tower that once overlooked the Berlin Wall to Niederkirchnerstrasse 8 and the Topography of Terror Exhibit.

The free open-air exhibit which opened in 1997 and is situated on the grounds of the former Secret State Police Headquarters, provides a chilling look into the cruelty and inhumanity demonstrated at the Gestapo prison. Photos, letters and testimony detail the men and women who passed through the interrogation chambers (many of whom did not survive) and those who conducted the planning of executions on a massive scale from the SS headquarters. In addition to the many photos and text, one can listen to recorded judicial proceedings and testimony by the likes of Hermann Göring and Ernst Kaltenbrunner during the Nürnberg trials following the war.

Exiting out of the back entrance of the exhibit and turning right takes one along another display which describes the history of the Berlin Wall and leads one to the former border crossing point of Checkpoint Charlie. Large photos and text depict the often tense stand-off of the Allied and Soviet forces in the divided city during the Cold War. Visitors can also visit the Checkpoint Charlie Museum for a closer look at the many methods devised by the citizens of East Germany to flee the repressive regime.

Half the fun of visiting Berlin is mingling with fellow sightseers from all over the globe and listening as parents and grandparents describe the past and often their immediate connection to the city to their children. Whether it’s descriptions of the Allied efforts to keep the citizens of West Berlin supplied during the Berlin Blockade, the thousands of men and women who played roles during the Cold War or the desperate measures people took to attempt to escape over the Wall, it seems everyone has some connection to the city and what it represents. As President John F. Kennedy said in his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech from the steps of the Schoeneberg Town Hall in 1963: “All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin.”

Whether one travels to Berlin to enjoy the night-life, to go shopping or to simply enjoy all that a major metropolitan European city has to offer, the city remains one of Europe’s most intriguing capitals — an open history book inviting all to take a look. (Editor’s note: Visit the Herald Union Online at www.usaghessen.eur.army.mil/hunion/hunionupdates.htm, your local library or local SATOTravel Office for more on Berlin travel).

 

Berlin’s Underworld

Tours offer unique look at World War II, Cold War history

By Dennis Johnson

U.S. Army Garrison Hessen Public Affairs Office

Berliners and tourists pass by a green door in the Pankstrasse subway station in the northern district of the city every day without a thought. Little do they know that behind the door is a vast nuclear fallout shelter meant to protect selected Berliners from a nuclear attack.

This Cold War-era shelter is just one of the many underground sites you can visit with the Society for the Exploration and Documentation of Subterranean Architecture, also known as the Berlin Underworld.

The non-profit group leads four tours through underground Berlin, sites primarily associated with World War II and the Cold War. Tour One takes visitors through one of the few remaining Third Reich bunkers as it was found at the end of the war. Being Germany’s capital, Berlin endured relentless bombing by Allied forces that reduced about 80 percent of the city to rubble. Berliners fled into cellars and subway stations to survive the attacks. During each tour the guide will also discuss other structures built beneath Berlin in the past 150 years, such as the subway system.

Tour Two begins above ground at the only intact anti-aircraft artillery battery left in Berlin. The so-called “flak tower” stands in Humboldthain Park across from the Gesundbrunnen U-bahn stop where the tours begin. This huge concrete structure, an artificial hill in itself, held anti-aircraft guns to defend the city from Allied bombers. Soldiers and ammunition were housed inside the structure. Today anyone can walk around the outside of the tower, but to get inside and see the partially collapsed interior you’ll have to join a tour.

Tour Three — the Subways, Bunkers and Cold War tour — leads visitors through two World War II and Cold War-era bunkers built above subway stations. The World War II bunker was built in a heavily reinforced storage room that runs the length of the platforms above the Gesundbrunnen U-bahn station. Phosphorus paint was used to guide people when the lights went out. The 1940s glowing paint is still visible on the walls and the guide turns out the lights so you can experience the spooky glow from the paint. Visitors pass through room after room used as sleeping areas and toilets, and at one point can look through an emergency exit down onto the subway tracks below.

The tour group then boards a train to the Pankstrasse station where they pass through the nondescript green door. Behind it is a vault-like blast door designed to survive a nuclear explosion in the city above and as a “trap” to keep out any radioactive materials. Here the lucky few — previously selected government officials and their families — would strip down and shower to ensure they carried no contaminants into the shelter. Cold concrete rooms with industrial cots and furnishings were all the sheltered people could expect. Not a single bit of decoration graces the shelter. This was the ultimate in no-nonsense living. The sleeping areas, kitchens, toilets and medical facilities are permeated with the dank thick air of an underground tomb, which was just as likely to be the people’s fate from the awesome power of Cold War nukes.

During the tour visitors also learn about efforts to prevent people from escaping East Berlin through the vast number of underground tunnels and sewer pipes.

Before Berlin was divided by the Berlin Wall in 1961 the subway and sewer systems snaked across the entire city. After the division some subway lines from West Berlin passed under East Berlin, and the sewer lines passed across the dividing lines all over (actually under) the city. It was soon apparent that people were heading underground to make their escape from the East, and extreme measures were implemented to stop the fleeing population.

East Germany laid beds of nails next to the train tracks to impale anyone attempting an escape, not to mention removing the guards from the electrically charged third rail to increase the chances of electrocuting anyone walking along the tracks. The East Germans permanently stationed a special squad of Soldiers underground to hunt down any escapees.

You’ll want to wipe your shoes after the part of the tour when you learn how gratings were installed across all the sewer tunnels to keep people from escaping through the sewers. These grates had the nasty habit of becoming clogged with paper and debris and human waste. From 1961 to the early 1990s when the last of these grates were removed, a crew of two sanitation workers, one East German and one West German, would descend into the sewers every week to clear the filth from the gratings.

Tour Four highlights a little known system used in the days of the telegraph. A vast network of pneumatic pipes blew post cards, letters and telegrams around the city. The first stretch was opened in November 1865 between the main telegraph office and the stock exchange. The Rohrpost system had more than 250 kilometers of lines throughout the city. Parts of the system lasted until 1976. The tour explores the basement levels of the central telegraph office where evidence of the Rohrpost still exists.

All tours start at the Gesundbrunnen U-bahn stop in the northern section of Berlin. You’ll want to wear good shoes and warm clothing as the underground can be chilly. Tickets are not available in advance. Buy your tickets at the Berlin Underworld office in the southern exit of the U8 station, Gesundbrunnen. The office opens 30 minutes before the tours. These tours are not suitable for disabled people. For more information go to www.berliner-unterwelten.de. Group tours are available. Email info@www.berliner-unterwelten.de to arrange a tour.