Wandering Around Berlin

We are staying in Hannover, Germany and decide to make some day trips around Germany, starting with Berlin, about an hour and a half train ride away.  Exiting the Berlin train station, we come across a group of workers protesting, many of whom have arrived from all over Germany on the same train and several others.

Protest at the train station

Leaving the station, we follow the River Spree past the the modern buildings along the river housing the German Government, then the Reichstag Building, home of the Bundestag, the national parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany.  The Reichstag was built in 1894 to house the Imperial Diet (Reichstag) of the German Government, was damaged during the wars, and was rebuilt in 1999 to house the Bundestag.

German government

Reichstag

Look up the Spree

Leaving the river we approach the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), where the demonstrators from the train station have gathered to march down Unter den Linden to Pariser Platz just in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Protest marches

Brandenburg Gate

Heading down Under den Linden away from the Brandenburg Gate, we reach Museum Island, a complex of five museums on the northern part of Spree Island.  Built from 1830 to 1930, this has become one of the most important museum sites in Europe and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wandering past the museums

Also on Museum Island, the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom) was consecrated in 1454 as a Roman Catholic Church and now serves as a German Evangelical Church.

Berliner Dom

Across the river, the Berliner Fernsehturm television tower rises 368 meters (1200 feet) above the city and is visible from much of Berlin.

Views of Fernsehturm

Crossing the Spree on the other side of Museum Island, we find the Marx Engels Forum, a park created by the German Democratic Republic in 1986 to honor Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, authors of the Communist Manifesto in 1848.

Leaving Museum Island

Marx-Engels Forum

Continuing along the Spree to the east, we wander through a delightful community on the river, with apartments, house boats, locks and restaurants.

Continuing along the Spree

We continue our walk through Berlin to see what we can find for our next posting.