Sunday 21 September 2014

Day 14 - Berlin

We had a free morning this morning so were able to have a leisurely start.  We started with a visit to the Kaiser-Wilhelm memorial church.  The original church was bombed during WW2 and only the western spire and an inner room - which has been reconstructed as a memorial hall - remain. Next door a magnificent octagonal new church has been constructed of concrete honeycomb with glass inlays.  The bell tower is under restoration,
Kaiser-Wilhelm memorial church
Mosaics in memorial hall
New church building
We visited the KaDeWe Department Store which is huge.   We were amazed at the food hall on the 6th floor - cheeses, meat, drinks, chocolate - everything in abundance.  To say nothing of the pastries!!!

This afternoon we visited the Stasi Museum and it was interesting to see their headquarters and learn about the methods they used for spying on people and recruiting informants.
Stasi Headquarters - now museum
Spy camera is installed in handle of watering can -
for use in cemeteries and gardens
Car door with infra-red cameras 
Refurbished communist era building - now desirable apartments
We finished our tour with a farewell dinner tonight.  Its been a great tour, with good travelling companions, and we have enjoyed it immensely.

1 comment:

  1. We didn't see any of these things you saw today! Must go back!

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