Saturday, we docked in Warnemunde, Germany and took a 3-hour train ride to Berlin. Our tour of Berlin began at the Victory Column. It was designed in 1864 to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian War, but by the time it was inaugurated in 1873, Prussia had also defeated Austria in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71).
Our next stop was the Reichstag. It opened in 1894 and housed the German parliament until it was damaged by a fire in 1933. It was fully restored between 1990-1999 and once again became the home of parliament.
Our third stop was the Brandenburg Gate. It was erected as a symbol of "peace" in 1791. It underwent a complete restoration between 2000-2002, so it was covered when we visited Berlin in 2001. It was nice to actually see it this time.
Standing on the other side of the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag is visible about a block away.
Next, we visited the Gendarmenmarkt Square. The square contains 3 major buildings: the French Cathedral, built in 1705 (in the center of the picture below), the Concert House, built in 1821 (on the left), and (behind the camera)...
...the German Cathedral, built in 1708 (which faces and resembles the French Cathedral).
Checkpoint Charlie was one of the few places to cross between East and West Berlin during the Cold War/Berlin Wall era.
We then visited Humboldt University. It was in this square that the Nazis burned 20,000 books on May 10, 1933.
Not much of the Berlin Wall is left, but I salvaged a small piece of it from here.
