Visiting political and cultural Berlin,
with a side-trip to Weimar

by Lucy Komisar

Cruising down the Spree on a wonderful summer afternoon, one is struck by the dramatic views of Berlin, both the imposing buildings from one or two centuries past – the Reichstag, the aptly named Berliner Dom (the cathedral), the Neues Museum of antiquities reopened in October – but also the people lounging in canvas-back chairs along the river. This is a vibrant city, many think the most exciting in Europe, grown even livelier and more diverse since The Wall came down 20 years ago.

The eastern former Communist half of the city is certainly bright and colorful today compared to the dreary gray I saw when I visited in the 1980s. Unlike other world capitals, the period of division enforced by The Wall kept it from being overbuilt, so there is a mood of spaciousness, a sense of having the country in the middle of the city. While German cities like Frankfurt and Hamburg turned into banking and corporate hubs, with high-rises all but shutting out the sun, Berlin is the perfect place for visitors to relax soak up the culture.

Germany is big on history. We noticed that during last year's commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. You may want to head for Wall sites and memorabilia, but I'd rather start with the Reichstag, which of course begins earlier. It's a late 19th century neo-Renaissance stone building with a façade of columns under a pediment. It was damaged in the 1933 fire (blamed on the communists but carried out by the Nazis), and wartime bombings, then left empty by the Communists and was finally reconstructed in the 1990s.

Of course, it's the place where the German parliament – the Bundestag—now meets.  We got to see it with a "tour guide" who turned out to be not your ordinary "500 meters high" type, but a historian and lawyer with a marked wit who did this for his own pleasure. As you can image, the discussions our small group had were quite fascinating.

He explained that the design was politically very careful. A large white symbolic eagle looks over the semi-circle of purple-blue seats. The bird was designed to look unthreatening, and members of parliament call it "the fat chicken." The décor of the room was chosen to avoid any party's colors – which ruled out most of the bright ones. The 622 parliamentarians sit on a spectrum between left and right, depending on their parties. The chairs are modular, so they can be regrouped easily as elections change the party numbers. Starting on the left, there is The Left, the SPD (socialists), the Greens, the Christian Democrats and Social Christians, and the Free Democrats, known as the liberals (European style). Galleries for press and visitors are at the top. The Bundestag was not in session, so we sat in gallery seats to hear political background and commentary from our very erudite guide. He took us past the party offices: The Left has a large pink poster on its door, and the Greens have a green one!

Our guide pointed out the graffiti – now preserved under glass – of the Russian soldiers who occupied the building in 1945 when they took over what became East Berlin at the end of World War II. The comments range from "You got what was coming to you, you sons of dogs!" to "Blessed are the dead for their hands do not freeze" and "Ivan was here, 1945." The scrawls were hidden for thirty years and were found by staff of the architect Norman Foster who began work on the building in 1995. There is even now a book of the graffiti. Some Germans wanted to erase the words, but others insisted they be left to commemorate the Russian dead. And they were.

Now, here's a tip. Go back to the photo that shows the Reichstag building with a line of people waiting to get in. There are 15,000 to 25,000 visitors a day, 40 million a year. Entrance is free, but if you don't reserve, you may wait for hours to get in. Plus, then you get to go only to the terrace with the new glass and steel cupola atop the building. But you don't get to visit the building or get the guided tour, which is either in German or English depending on the hour. You'll still go to the terrace at the end of the tour and stay as long as you like. There's a wonderful 360-degree view from there, and a restaurant. Be sure to pick up the English "Outlooks" guide that marks all the buildings in the panorama. If you want the full visit, which is kept to a small group, make an email reservation – preferably some weeks in advance.

But just because the "West" has finally occupied the Reichstag, that doesn't mean there's nothing left of the "East." After the West won the battle of the Cold War, some in the East adopted a version of "if you have a lemon, make lemonade." You can buy GDR (German Democratic Republic) memorabilia all over. In German, that's DDR, Deutsche Demokratische Republik. It's the new German kitch. I saw this collection on a stall set up along the Spree, the river that runs through Berlin and is a center of commerce and entertainment. Boat rides on the Spree are pretty popular and we found it a good way to get a sense of the city.

The city isn't divided only by politics, past and present. There are different social-cultural groups in Berlin, and they have their own places to hang out. One evening, the painter Sarah Haffner showed us some of her work and then we all went to dinner in the Winter Garden of the Literaturhaus, a literary center. Others were dining in the charming outdoor garden. Another night, after hearing some writers talk at the Free University of Berlin, everyone piled into cars and set off for the famous writers hang-out, the Café Einstein. It was a villa that belonged to Henny Parton, a silent film star. When films became "talkies, everyone realized she couldn't act! We pulled some tables together in the garden and enjoyed a late supper and wine. The café is one of those places where newspapers attached to wood clips are available to folks who come to pass an hour or so with a coffee or wine. There's now a second popular version with side-walk tables on Unter den Linden in the old Eastern sector across from the Russian Embassy.

A little more downscale on the cultural real estate map is Kreuzberg, a mix of the old New York's East Village and the Turkish quarter, where the radicals and house squatters used to live and Turks still do. When I was there in the 1980s, I would see sheets hanging out of the windows announcing a house takeover. Now there are fewer squats on the streets and more photos about them in the museum of the history of Kreuzberg. There also still plenty of street cafes that serve good and inexpensive Turkish food and some places to hear night-time jazz.

One morning we took a day trip to Weimar, famous as the cultural center of Goethe and Schiller. It was a fast 2-hour 20-minute journey on the comfortable ICE intercity line. From the central train station, we could easily walk to the tourist center. There, street musicians were serenading people who were strolling and enjoying the sun. We headed for the site where everyone pays obeisance to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the master German novelist, poet, playwright, and philosopher who lived from 1749 to 1832. He was a powerful literary force till late in his life and even now is held as a literary god. Think Shakespeare. And of course, think "Faust." We visited his 1709 baroque style house and garden and even the "garage" which holds a horse-drawn carriage, minus the horse.

Weimar was also the home of Friedrich Schiller, another great German (1759-1805) poet, playwright, historian and philosopher, who was Goethe's friend and sometimes collaborator. We saw them still together, albeit as a bronze statue cast by Ernst Rietschel in 1857. The double statue sits on the Theaterplatz in the center of town, in front of the German National Theater. That neo-classical building was completed in 1908, just in time for post-World War I Germans to meet there and draw up the country' first democratic constitution. That's why the government they founded was called the Weimar Republic. A little boy, maybe 9 years old, stood in front of the statue and, facing an unseen audience, loudly recited something in German. At the end he paused and said, "Schiller!" It was one of those travel moments I'll never forget.

If you go

If you're traveling between several cities in Germany or within Europe, the best solution may be a money-saving Eurailpass. Depending on your itinerary, you can get one for a single country, for several, or for numerous destinations across Europe. Contact RailEurope for a Eurailpass and even for advance single tickets. In both cases, you'll avoid waiting on train station lines. www.raileurope.com or 800-622-8600 in the USA, 800-361-RAIL (7245) in Canada. Monday - Friday, 9:00am to 7:30pm and Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm Eastern Time.

Reichstag/ Deutscher Bundestag
Platz der Republik 1
11011 Berlin-Tiergarten

To reserve, write the visitors service: besucherdienst@bundestag.de

Talks are held in the visitors' gallery of the plenary chamber of the German Bundestag during periods when parliament is not sitting.

www.bundestag.de

Roof terrace opened 8 to midnight, last admission at 10pm.
Interactive tour at www.berlin.de/berlin360.
S-Bahn Unter den Linden

Café im Literaturhaus/ Wintergarten
Fasanenstrasse 23
10719 Berlin
49 (0)30 882 54 14
www.literaturhaus-berlin.de/
U-Bahn Uhlandstrasse

Café Einstein
Kurfürstenstrasse 58
10785 Berlin
49 (0)30 263919-0
www.cafeeinstein.com
U-Bahn Nollendorfplatz

Kreuzberg Museum
Adalbertstrasse 95A
10999 Berlin
49 (0)30 5058 5233
www.kreuzbergmuseum.de
Wed to Sunday 12pm to 6pm; free admission.
U-Bahn Kottbusser Tor

Goethe House
Frauenplan 1
Weimar
www.weimar.de/en/tourism/homepage/sights/museums
/details/national-goethe-museum-and-goethe-house/
April-September Tue-Sun: 9am-6pm, Sat: 9am-6pm
October-March Tue-Sun: 9am-4pm
Closed Monday 

Photos by Lucy Komisar