Berlin — Friedrichshain

The East Side Gallery had the exhibit I was looking for. Their multimedia presentation inside gives you a timeline of events from 1945 to 1989. They use interviews with East German guards and escapees — some successful and some who failed and were imprisoned. News reels bring you through the years with speeches from Kennedy, Reagan, Gorbachev, and Kohl. They present you with a barrage of video from the days leading up to the wall coming down, and then three glorious rooms devoted to the November day when the people flooded the Brandenburg Gate. Then you take a walk along a stretch of wall they have preserved which has been transformed by artists into a series of murals. It sits right along the Spree river that cuts through the city and it has a park-like setting. It was packed with people. Clearly one of Berlin’s biggest attractions. I think Berlin should be a celebration, and not just a memorial, and this place captures that feeling.Read more