Brandenburg Gate & Jewish Memorial

After lunch, we returned to the subway and headed to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This is a large square with over 2,000 grey concrete blocks of varying sizes and heights. The ground between the blocks sloped in unpredictable ways. The main point of this memorial is to disorient. Groups of visitors who explore the memorial would get split up and they would rarely come out in the same place, an experience that mirrored what happened to Jewish families in World War II. It was a thought provoking experience that was marred a little by people sitting on the blocks - that just didn't seem respectful.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/memorial-to…

Sandwiched between the Memorial and the Brandenburg Gate is the US Embassy. As with other US embassies the world over, this embassy is an imposing structure presumably meant to communicate the US' (self-perceived?) stature in the world order. This embassy, in particular, stood out for me because it is situated in a prime location right next to two potent symbols of Germany's past. I was stoked to see the Pride flag flying underneath the US flag at the embassy. I recalled that under the Trump administration, US embassies were ordered to not fly the Pride flag during Pride month.

Our next stop was the Brandenburg Gate, built in the late 18th century to commemorate Prussian victory over an uprising. The scene here was lively. On our return here after visiting Tiergarten, we saw a large panda (there was probably a person inside it) dancing to an electric violin played by a woman behind them.

https://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/blog-…Read more