On the way to a wedding in Poland we stayed a couple of days in historical Berlin. In the twentieth century there were two losing world wars and the loss of Berlin as the capital of Germany. These events created untold hardship on the citizens of Europe. After World War I, the economy of Germany collapsed. Inflation ran rampant destroying the German Mark. Million mark notes were printed, but were worthless by the time they hit the streets. Because of the humility of losing and the suffering of it’s citizens, the people were hoping for someone to step up and lead them from their misery. A gifted orator named Hitler rose to power and took the lead in 1933 as Chancellor of Germany. He did turn the economy around (Volkswagen in every driveway and the Autobahn), but his aim to be dictator, his craving for a universal Germany, and the Final Solution (elimination of Jews) eventually destroyed Germany again. Communism filled the void for Eastern Germany and the ten foot high, 155 km (93 miles) Berlin wall was constructed in 1948. Some 5000 escaped East Berlin. More than 16oo were shot trying to escape. Hot air balloons, airplanes, and zip lines were built to go over the wall, tunnels to go under, while many were smuggled in trucks and cars across the border at places like Checkpoint Charley. This site was manned by American solders on the West Berlin side, thus the name. Berlin lost the capital to Bonn. Berliners languished under Communism until the night the wall came down, so to speak, Nov. 9, 1989. The Soviet Union imploded shortly after that. The capital came back to Berlin. Today, Berlin is a beautiful, bustling, modern city. The locals call the construction crane the city bird. I counted 22 in one scan across the skyline. Because of 800 years of history, the city has an abundance of museums. The Checkpoint Charlie museum gave an account of the people during the time of the Berlin wall and the ingenuity of desperate citizens to escape. Berlin is worth a visit. We will be back.
