Berlin – 775th Birthday!

Nikolai Church

Berlin, the capital city of Germany, is hosting its 775^th birthday celebration this August 25-October 28, 2012 commemorating the finding of the first documentation dated 28 October 1237 which reveals the existence of Berlin’s sister city Cölln.  The anniversary culminates with the jubilee festival October 28.

Berlin and Cölln were originally two tiny villages on either side of the Spree River which later grew into trading centers.  They were destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, but celebrated a cultural re-emergence under Prussian rulers Friedrich Wilhelm I and his successor, Frederick the Great.

A unique addition to the city for the celebration includes a large (VERY large) scale 1:775 outdoor ground map of 18^th century Berlin recently installed on Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site located on the Spree River. 

There are five museums on Museum Island, some recently restored, which cover more than 6,000 years of culture and art.

The city will set up a system of temporary guided paths to lead visitors through an historical walk through medieval Berlin and her sister city Cölln.  Recent excavations and preserved documents will help paint a picture of the double city in the Middle Ages.

The exhibits on display include findings made in January 2010 during excavations for the U-Bahn in front of the Red Town Hall, two churches, and sites along the city walls.  Excavations have recently discovered a 13^th century drinking well, a 16^th century belt clasp, a 17^th century key, and the remains of a medieval Latin school.

A highlight of the celebration will be to feature the 800 years of immigration and cultural diversity in a variety of exhibits.

The Berlin Nikolai Church will also be celebrating its 800^th anniversary this year as the oldest parish church in Berlin.  It was recently completely renovated and will be the site of the finale of the October 28 jubilee.

Tip - Collapsible Water Bottles

Two of our travelers gave me this tip about an inexpensive collapsible water bottle that will be great for travel.  The cost – only $1 at Dollar Tree!  Can’t get any better than that! 

According to the Dollar Tree web site: “It is the ideal water bottle for people on the go!  When empty, the plastic water bottle completely collapses and folds for easy travel and packing.  Fill it up and it stands on its own, plus it has a metal carabiner for easy attaching to bikes, bags, and more.  Plus, it’s top-rack dishwasher safe and reusable, made of FDA-approved BPA-free plastic.”

The bottles hold over 16 ounces (I measured! and that’s 17.5 ounces according to the package).  It has a sip-top lid and cap, and comes in assorted colors according to what is available at the Dollar Tree you visit: pink, orange, red, yellow, green, blue, yellow designed, and black designed.  You can also order cases of 36 from their web site for the same price at $36 for the case plus shipping.

I decided to test them out this week and bought several in a variety of colors.  I’ve carried one to work and so far it has worked exactly as advertised.  I’ve seen other collapsible water bottles advertised, but the prices are $5 - $10 each and over.  You can’t go wrong with a dollar. 

As a traveler, you can fold and put into your carry on, backpack, purse, or pocket or hook it to a handle.  Once through security at the airport, fill it at the water fountain.  Its shape is also conducive to fitting in the seat back pockets of cars and planes.  Also you could fill with about a cup of water and put in the freezer (remember it will expand) and pull out whenever you’re ready to go somewhere and have cold water as it melts.

Great for travel, stocking stuffers, summertime gifts for friends or your child’s soccer or football team, outdoor jobs and gardening, school or work, on your kid’s belt loop at an amusement park, and on bike rides. Would love to hear your comments if you have other ideas.

To be fair, there are some drawbacks.  They do not fit in round cup holders, it usually takes two hands to tip and drink (it’s flexible, remember), it perspires if cold (and so does my regular water bottle and tea glass!), and I doubt it has a lifetime guarantee!

But again, for a dollar you can buy several, pack several, and have a spare if something goes wrong.  For traveling when you need to conserve space in your luggage and weight of the baggage, these look to be a good idea.

Berlin - Brandenburg Gate

The most recognizable site in Berlin has to be the famous Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) located on Pariser Platz (Paris Plaza).  As the national symbol of Germany, during the Cold War, it stood between East and West Germany as part of the impassable Berlin Wall. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which Berlin was once entered. 

The Gate closed when the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, but reopened in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell following a peaceful revolution that ended the Cold War and again united the country.  It now stands as a symbol of a reunified Germany.

Commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II to represent peace, the Gate was designed by Karl Gotthard Langhans.  Built in 1791 in a design based on the Propylaea, the gateway to the Acropolis in Athens, it served as the grand entrance to the boulevard “Unter den Linden” leading to the palace of the Prussian monarchs before the destruction of the city castle.  The bas-reliefs of scenes from Greek mythology took another four years to complete. 

The Gate has twelve columns, six on the entrance side and six on the exit.  The columns form roadways, and citizens originally were allowed to use only the outer two.  Only the royal family was allowed to pass through the central archway.  The Gate was topped in 1793 by the bronze Quadriga, a four-horsed chariot driven by Victoria, the winged goddess of victory, which faces east.

The Brandenburg Gate has witnessed much in history.  During the Napoleonic Wars in 1806, Napoleon took the Quadriga sculpture back to Paris as a war trophy.  After the Battle of Waterloo, it was returned to Berlin as a symbol of victory.

And it was through the Brandenburg Gate in 1933 that Nazismarched to celebrate Hitler’s rise to power.  Heavilydamaged during World War II, the Brandenburg Gate was refurbished in 2000 and reopened to the public in December 2002.  In June 1987, President Ronald Reagan made his famousspeech at the Gate and urged, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Some of the Gate’s most beautiful photographs are ones shot at night as it is lighted against the evening sky. This 360degree panorama of Pariser Plaza and the Brandenburg Gate is gorgeous.  It does need Java to run, but my computer had a popup to click “Run this time” and it worked.  The widescreen view is the best.

This BBC documentary about bringing down the Berlin Wall, “BBC Brandenburg Gate,” (2:14) is quite informative.  This video is an interesting modern and historical perspective of the gate and shows it from various views, “Carl Gotthard Langhans: Brandenburg Gate, Berlin” (4:00).