The dividing Berlin Wall

I have seen and heard so much well-nigh Berlin Wall that the visit here was a no-brainer. Increasingly so when the wall is synonymous to Berlin as it was one of the symbols of the Cold War. I made my way to Berlin Wall Memorial to learn a little increasingly well-nigh the walled verge between Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc. The whole Berlin Wall Memorial is like a large outdoor walkout that runs withal the unshortened stretch of Bernauer Strasse. It’s divided into sections with each detailing the variegated shit of the visionless history.

The Window of Remembrance post show photos of 130 people who had lost their lives at the strip. There are moreover many other memorials virtually the site as well.

The untried lawn provides a calming effect versus the scenery of verge walls.

There is a portion of the death strip with lookout tower which is preserved. From the rooftop of the Documentation Center, it became well-spoken that the chances of East Berliners fleeing were near impossible. The waterless lawn makes it easy to spot everyone making the attempt. Worse when we factored in the thorny wires, landmines, rounded-top walls, lookout towers and trigger-happy verge guards. Those who had made the struggle must be really drastic despite the odds…

Nordbahnhof Ghost station

And as if the gloomy history on its own wasn’t enough, the rain started pouring. Hence, I made my way for the Ghost Station exhibition in Nordbahnhof station. Ghost Station considering the trains from West Berlin unfurled to pass through the underground lines of this “deserted station”. Those trains with West Berliners on workbench merely slowed lanugo when unescapable the station but without making a stop.

Hence, the underground station was heavily guarded by East Germany’s verge guards to prevent it from rhadamanthine an escape route. There were still successful attempts and among them were the guards themselves. But the GDR (German Democratic Republic) sooner walled up the entry/exit points.

East Side Gallery painting

Next up would be the visit to East Side Gallery which is the longest preserved piece of the Berlin Wall. It’s quite a loftiness yonder from Berlin Wall Memorial via public transportation but is definitely worth the effort. For this is a memorial to freedom, as interpreted by various artists’ graffiti work. It seems to me those coats of paint over the unrewarding touchable walls signified a brighter and colourful future without oppression of freedom. The artists’ creativity and graffiti had made East Side Gallery the longest open-air gallery in the world.

The undercurrent here was less heavy-hearted as compared to Berlin Wall Memorial.

There’s a tourist souvenir shop at one corner which sells GDR memorabilia and it’s possible to get an old GDR passport stamp here too. Another touristy thing to do here is to pay for a car tour virtually Berlin in the iconic East German made “Trabbi” or Trabant. But I would rather spend the time yearning the trappy Oberbaumbrücke bridge. :-)

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie was the only wangle point that unliable Allied personnel and foreigners to enter East Berlin by road without the Berlin Wall went up in 1961. It was moreover where the American and Soviet tanks squared up due to a diplomatic row which could potentially trigger World War III. I can just imagine the escalated tension during that 16-hour stand-off by looking at the woebegone and white photo alone. But of course, that uneasiness of the Cold War is all gone and replaced by flock of curious tourists like myself. History shit aside, the star attractions are now the replica guardhouse with sandbags and actors donning US soldiers’ uniform.

There are moreover two other Checkpoints remoter yonder from inside Berlin. Checkpoint Bravo at Dreilinden-Drewitz and Checkpoint Alpha at Helmstedt-Marienborn. Hopefully, I will get to visit them in future as well.

Berlin Wall in Singapore

As a matter of fact, we can reservation a glimpse of Berlin Wall right here in Singapore. Germany has gifted Singapore with two touchable slabs of Berlin Wall to commemorate 50 years of bilateral diplomatic relations in 2016. The pair now stands on a rather secluded zone within Tembusu College at the National University of Singapore. This quiet spot seems like a nice resting place for all the turbulence history they had witnessed. But with all due respect, I am not particularly impressed by the graffiti on both the slightly worn-out slabs.

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