Exploring Berlin by Bike

May 23, 2007
by Anne Ryan

On Wednesday we ventured on a four-hour bike tour around Berlin given by the New Berlin Company. Our tour guide was named Dave and happened to be from Kansas and a KU graduate. The tour began with an eight-minute German history lesson in front of the "New Synagogue" that was torched by SS officers. The synagogue survived Kristallnacht, because a local police chief bluffed his way past SS officers to have the fire extinguished. Unfortunately, the building was bombed during the World War II, but they rebuilt it along with 90 percent of the city.

We moved on to visit the Brandenburg Gate that was inaccessible when the Berlin Wall was erect. The gate actually stood in what was called the "death zone" located between the Berlin wall and an inner wall. The death zone got its name from people being shot on site when attempting to cross over to western Berlin. Hidden mines and barbed wire were also part of the death strip that made it almost impossible to cross. The gate, built by Friedrich Wilhelm II in the 18th century, includes a statue of the goddess of peace, which was originally the goddess of victory, but was changed after the statue was won back from Napoleon, who had taken it during his height of conquering Europe. The square was also named "Paris Square" to remind Napoleon of Germany's victory over his rule. While on the tour we also discovered a brick trail was placed in the streets and sidewalks to show where the Berlin wall once stood.

Another enjoyable venture on our bike tour included a ride through the "Tiergarten," the former royal hunting grounds, with a stop in a beer garden. We took a nice break from our bikes to enjoy some Pretzels and refreshments.

On the second part of the tour we visited a Holocaust memorial created by American architect Peter Eisenman that is located in the middle of Berlin. The tour also took us to Humboldt University where 20,000 books were once burned by the Nazis. As a tribute to this historical event an underground chamber was built that houses enough bookshelves for those 20,000 books that were lost, as well as a plaque with a famous quote by Heinrich Heine from 1813 was placed outside that reas, "they start by burning books and end by burning people." The tour continued with visits to churches, opera houses and what is still left of the Berlin Wall and ended with a stop on Museum Island.

After the bike tour we took a private tour of Germany's Parliament where we learned about the history of the building, how it went through three renovations, and how it burnt down during the Nazi take over. We were shown the graffiti Russian soldiers painted on the walls and a tribute to all the Parliament members who were killed during the reign of the GDR. We also learned the chairs used in the main debate floor are blue because it is the only color that does not represent a political party on the floor.

Once we completed the tour we ventured to the roof of the building where we travelled up a spiral, mirrored ramp for a view of the city. Tomorrow we are heading to Potsdam to see Fredrick the Great's summer castle.