Berlin

Berlin is now, as it was formerly, the capital city of the reunified Germany. Having suffered from years of division into East and West, the massive investment in revitalizing the unified city both by the German government and by the many foreign companies anxious to do business in Germany really shows. There are still a lot of construction projects going on and giant crane towers were visible around the city, but much of the historic governmental, museum, and commercial districts are now really gorgeous. Besides history, Berlin now sports some of the swankiest shopping districts in Germany. Chief among the upscale shopping centers is the "KaDeWe" (pronounced "kah-day-vay"), which is short for "Kaufhaus des Westens" or "Department Store of the West". Berlin's answer to London's "Harrod's", this store is unbelievably huge. It is also the first place that many of the East Berlin escapees wanted to visit when the Berlin Wall was opened up, because this kind of celebration of sheer excess wasn't something they could see in the former Communist East.

As a guy, though, I was much more interested in History than shopping, so most of my photos are of the many historic landmarks of the city. Before German unification after the Frano-Prussian War in 1871, Berlin had been the capital of the largest German kingdom, Prussia. You'll see below some photos of several important monuments to the famous Prussians of history, including Frederick the Great and Otto von Bismarck, the man most responsible for the creation of modern Germany as we know it today.

Berliner Bear	Berlin Wall	me @ Berlin Wall	Topography of Terror	Checkpoint Charlie West
Leaving the West	Checkpoint Charlie East	Entering the West	9/11 Wreath	Checkpoint Bear
Brandenburg Gate under wraps	caged Gate	Parliament Building	Möchten Sie ein Eis?	Pergamon Museum Entrance
Pergamon Entry Pharaoh	Pergamon Altar side	Pergamon Frieze	statue of a Caesar	Ishtar Gate
Berlin Cathedral	dome closeup	entrance closeup	Altes Museum	Armory Side
Armory Front	Bike Rally	Neue Wache	Victim's Memorial	State Opera House