Berlin Melancholy | Walking in the City of Solitude

“Berlin is a city condemned forever to becoming and never to being.”

Karl Scheffler, 1910

At the end of February I spent a few days in Berlin. On my first day I wandered the streets of Berlin, saw the Brandenburg Gate by day and night, visited Friedrich Strasse, Holocaust Memorial, Tiergarten, Berlin Wall Memorial in the Potsdam Square, the Open Air Museum depicting the rise of the totalitarian regime to power, Charlie Checkpoint, Einstein Cafe, Dussmann Bookshop, the Bundestag by night and I ate an apple strudel. I loved the quietness of Berlin streets and its airy and spacious train stations.

On my second day I visited the Museum Island which is situated in the centre of Berlin and it encompasses five large Berlin museums built under the Prussian rulers as well as a reception and exhibition building, James Simon Gallery. The museum island received its name in 1870s. Five museums on the island are:

Altes Museum displays the Ancient Greek and Roman art and was open in 1830. The main floor of the museum provides a chronological tour through the art of Ancient Greece from the 10th up to the ist century BC. On the upper floor the art and culture of the Etruscans and Roman Imperial Period is on display. This is one of the largest Etruscan Collections outside Italy. One of the most famous exhibits are the portrait busts of Caesar and Cleopatra.
Neues Museum displays artefacts from the ancient cultures stretching from the Middle East to the Atlantic and from North Africa to Scandinavia. It was open in 1855. The most famous exhibit there is the Bust of Nefertiti from the Amarna period. This is the only artefact that is not allowed to photograph. The rest of the objects show the evolution of the ancient Egyptian and Nubian art.
Alte Nationalgalerie displays collections of European art from between the French Revolution and the Firs World War and was open in 1876.
The Pergamon Museum is currently closed for extensive renovation work. In 2027, the Pergamon Hall with the Great Frieze, the Collection of Classical Antiquities and the Museum of Islamic Art with the Mshatta façade will be on display again. It was originally open in 1930.
Bode Museum displays the Byzantine Art and it was open in the 1930s.

Just five minutes’ walk from the Bode Museum the 19th century synagogue is located called the Neue Synagogue. Its history goes back to the mid 19th century. Since then it has been rebuilt in the early 20th century. It was burnt and partially destroyed during the Kristalnacht in 1938. It suffered further damage during WW2. During the 1920s and early 1930s this was a place of not only worship that could sit 3000 people at one time but also a place of cultural exchange and social gatherings. Music concerts taking place there were common and Albert Einstein was one of the frequent attendees. There is a heavy security to go through if you want to visit it and for security reasons no photos are allowed. But I would encourage everyone to visit the Neue Synagogue if you are in Berlin.

After my visit to the synagogue, I walked towards Friedrich Strasse until I reached Unter den Linden. It was already evening and from there I went to see the Bebel Square where the Nazis burnt the books on 10 May 1933. The Israeli artist Micha Ullman designed the library memorial, which was unveiled on 20 March 1995 in the middle of the Bebel Square.

On my last day in Berlin, I went to Unter den Linden to see the Avenue in a daytime. I then walked towards the Jewish Museum which was such a compelling experience. I then took a bus back to the hotel, picked up my bag and took a train to Eastern Europe. I arrived in Poland late in the evening and I spent the next day visiting the old square and eating cheesecake at one of the loveliest cafes. I then took a plane back to London.