Berlin

We had a bit of a slower start this morning with Daniel going for a run and gab doing a call to do some organisation for a hens party when we get back.

We then set out to explore Berlin for one last day on foot - the theme of today is the Cold War and the Berlin War. Our first stop was the Ernst Thailmann statue. This represents a prominent socialist figure in the post WWII era and so has been heavily graffitied. It is huge and there were many of these statues all around East Germany during the division of Germany. We moved on from the statue and headed towards the Museum at the Kulturbrauerei.

This is a museum dedicated to the everyday life of people living in East Germany (otherwise known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR) or Communist East Germany) from the late 60s to 1990. The musesum is located at the site of a former brewery. The GDR was of course not democratic or a republic; rather it was a dictatorship with no elections, division of powers or freedom of movement.

It was very interesting seeing and hearing the perspectives of people living during this time. The musesum addressed various parts of everyday life such as work, culture, leisure, supermarkets, fashion, restaurants, the press, housing, holidays, surveillance and censorship. The exhibition pointed out many positives and negatives of the GDR and how criticisms of the regime increased over time (especially as there were mass shortages on food and resources and people became dissatisfied with the lack of access to goods). Everyone was given a basic house, food and free child care. However, because everything was supposedly evenly spread there was lots of food shortages and people constantly seeking support from the west, which was banned. We also learnt about the FDJ - which was the GDR's way of getting school children involved in the socialist movement from a young age.

After the museum, we headed to the Berlin Wall Memorial. This is a very beautiful outdoor memorial which is on the site of a section of the former Berlin Wall. It depicts the location of the inner and outer walls, where guard towers would have been and how some brave people attempted to tunnel under from east to west. Some did succeed, however 136 people lost their lives during the walls existence from 1961 to 1989. There are interesting exhibitions here about escapes and these people's stories.

In a very fitting way to end this day and our last one in Berlin, we travelled to the East Side galleries. These are murals painted on the longest standing section (approx 1km) of the Berlin Wall which represent the freedom that the tearing down the wall signified. West Germany was seen as progressive or ‘hippies’ by the East and, of course, freedom of expression was banned in the east. The tearing down of the wall in 1989 not only signifies the reunification of a country but the freedom presented to those forced to live in the East against their will. We really enjoyed walking around the East Side Galleries - Gab has been here before and maintains its her favourite place to visit in Berlin. The images contain various messages and images - mostly representing hope and unity!

We then made our way back to the hostel to chill out for a bit before heading to a comedy club for our last night in Berlin! It was open mic night and the acts were definitely very varied from all over the globe - US, India, Latvia and England plus also a 6 year old girl. It was a very fun night and a nice light hearted way to finish our time in Berlin after learning about a lot of dark history of the last few days.Read more