Berlin general

The memorial in the Tiergarten to the Sinti and Roma ("Gypsies") Murdered under National Socialism (Nazi). The memorial is not particularly well marked from other parts of the park and is lightly visited, which was fortunate since it was then easier to explore it and understand the issues.

The timeline in the glass wall documents the murder of a significant number of the Sinti and Roma population during the Holocaust. The actual number killed is difficult to determine due to the populations not having fixed residences, but estimates range from 220,000 to 1.5 million. See: www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/romasinti.html

Some of the names of intake centers and concentration camps. The unfamiliarity of many of the names provide yet another indicator of the extent of the bureaucratic network surround the Holocaust. Westerbrook (lower right) was a processing center in the Netherlands (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westerbork_transit_camp) and Belgrad Semlin (center left) was an extermination center and concentration camp just outside Belgrade(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sajmi%C5%A1te_concentration_camp). There is another site noted on the upper right but I could not make out its name.

In the center of the memorial, a reflecting pool surrounded by stepping stones, many marked with the names of concentration camps where Sinti and Roma were murdered. Around the edge of the pool, just below the surface of the water, is a poem, "Auschwitz". Though the letters of the poem are visible, I could not get a picture of them due to the reflection from the water.

The Reichstag, in the background of the memorial to murdered Sinti and Roma.

Across from the Museum of Communication and the Bulgarian Embassy, a commercial building constructed in 1905. There is a picture of it from 1908 (link below) that better shows the building. The WMF over the lower windows stands for Wurttembergische Metallwarenfabrik, which once appeared in the curved space over the doors. The company was founded in 1880 and grew over the years, making flatware and utensils. The company still exists. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wurttembergische_Metallwarenfabrik and www.wmf.de Photo: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Eisenlohr#/media/File:Berlin,_Geschaeftshaeuser_Leipziger_Strasse,_Foto_von_Waldemar_Titzenthaler,_1909.jpg

Reagan's famous statement hanging over the entrance to the Brandenburg U-Bahn station. Many question whether Reagan had any effect on the end of the Wall given that it was said at a point when the end of the Eastern Block nations had become almost inevitable.

Anhalter Bahnhof, just a short walk from my hotel, was a major rail station in Germany prior to it being heavily damaged by Allied bombing in WWII. As described in the adjacent picture (#2834), the station was a major site for deportations from 1942 to 1945.

The remaining facade of the Anhalter Bahnhof, from what would have been the train platforms. The area that was the tracks is now park and public land that stretches south past the Deutsches Technikmuseum. The Wikipedia page on the station includes excellent photos of the station intact, as well as the damage after the war. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Anhalter_Bahnhof I could not find a name for the building in the background or for the stripes depicting the sky. If you look close you can see that the top of the building has the outline of "Saskatchewan" as a building name.

Two access points to the Anhalter Bahnhof station of the underground north-south S-bahn that cuts through the middle of Berlin. This portion of the S-bahn was opened in 1939 as part of Hitler's public works program that was designed to "pacify workers by reducing the high unemployment" (see Wikipedia link). Considering the design of these two access points, they may be as originally constructed. This portion of the S-bahn was closed for construction when I was there. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Anhalter_Bahnhof

"Commemoration of the deportations to Theresienstadt”. A plaque describing in detail the Nazi deportation of Jewish citizens, primarily older people, from Anhalter Bahnhof; the plaque includes a list of the 160 convoys from this station and the number of people on each convoy and that each of the 9,600 deportees (from this station) wore the prominent yellow star on their clothes. " It was just the sort of detail provided on this poster that made me aware of the level of bureaucracy and visibility involved in the extermination of Jews (and others) during the Nazi era, and thus the level of involvement and awareness of the general population. Considering the commonality of humanity across ages, it leaves one wondering what it would take to return to such a condition. Clearly the Bosnian genocide indicates such possibilities, as does my own childhood in the U.S. South when public, and celebratory, lynching of blacks was common in my parent's young adult years. As the poster acknowledges, Theresienstadt (in the Czech Republic) was just a stopover, with most deportees sent further east to concentration or extermination camps. Possibly Carl Jachmann (see photo #0105) was deported from this site. I was impressed by the extent Berlin described and acknowledged its past in such plaques; the plaque is readable in the larger version of the picture.

The Fruchtbarkeitsbrunnen (fertility fountain) in Arnswalder Platz; popularly known as the bull fountain.

I was on the tram and saw this bulky looking statuary fountain out the window, so had to check. The fountain (see also later picture) is the Fruchtbarkeitsbrunnen (fertility fountain) in Arnswalder Platz; due to the prominence of very large bulls it is popularly known as the bull fountain. The fountain was commissioned by the Weimar Republic and finished in 1934. It had originally been intended for another park, but due to the weight of the statues (they're solid stone) another location had to be found and they ended up here. The fountain in the middle reportedly works, but isn't turned on. I saw no comment as to why there was an assumed need for a fertility fountain. The Wikipedi page is in German: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnswalder_Platz

A powerful statue in front of the Bulgarian embassy titled "Breaking the Wall" by Georgi Tchapkanov (Tchapp) a well-respected contemporary Bulgarian artist. Though the Bulgarian embassy is relatively near the former location of the wall and Checkpoint Charlie, I did not find whether "Breaking the Wall" referred specifically to the Berlin Wall or to the metaphorical walls that we construct around us. See: www.rakursi.com/artists/tchapkanov_en.htm

The original Checkpoint Charlie from the Berlin Wall days. Everything I read said that there isn't really much to see here even though it is a tourist magnet. That seemed to be true.

Start of uploading additional pictures from Germany to fill in various parts from that trip (see the 'article' on this). The crowds, and the classic sign, at Checkpoint Charlie, which is mainly a tourist site now.

Visible from multiple spots in the neighborhood, a C-47 (DC-3) hanging in front of the museum. The C-47 commemorates the role of that plane in the Berlin airlift in 1948-49. I had intended to visit the museum since it has an extensive transportation collection, but ran out of time.

Taken early in my trip when I was still aghast at the frequency of finding McDonald's everywhere -- here in Berlin's main train station.