The Berlin Wall divided a city and the whole world.

In 1985 I was on Interrail and visited Berlin for the first time. Back then, a divided city by the Berlin Wall; now, I was looking for evidence.

These pictures were taken in 1985, four years before the Wall was torn down. The picture above is from the West, and the one below is from the East.

Brandenburger Tor

Most people know the Wall’s history; it was built in 1962 and stayed up for 28 years. When I first visited, I was curious to see this city and the Wall. In some ways, it was hard to imagine how it could be. I find it difficult to understand how a country can have the urge to rule over other countries and their people. But, you can see with the war in Ukraine these days that this bullying is still evident.

Today Brandenburger Tor is the most famous -and most photographed- landmark in Berlin. It went from a symbol of division to a symbol of German reunification. Now it is back to its great glory as the entrance to the grand boulevard Unter den Linden. (With Norwegian linden trees).

The Wall

There is not so significant part of the Wall left today. You have Bernauer Strasse and The East Side Gallery. You can also see it marked with cobblestones and signs in many places where thWallll once was. In Leipziger Strasse, we find a sculpture of two people in an active move to push something, like a wall. “Mauern durchbrechen” – “To break the wall.”

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie got its name from the third letter in the alphabet. I also crossed this gateway when crossing into East Berlin 1985 since it was the principal gateway for foreigners between 1961 and 1990. This symbol of the Cold War is today a must-place for Instagram pictures.

The East Side Gallery

The longest surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall now has the name The East Side Gallery. In 1989 the grim divider of humanity, the Berlin Wall, had to come down. Most of it was quickly dismantled, but around 1,3 km stretches along Mühlenstrasse became the East Side Gallery. Today it is a memorial to the fall of the Wall and the peaceful reunification that followed.

My God, help me to survive the deadly love. The gallery’s best-known painting – shows Soviet and GDR leaders locking lips with eyes closed. There are so many strong and striking paintings along the gallery, and I can not show them all here, so you have to go for yourself to see them.

It happened in Novembe. Here you see a wave of people squeezed through a breached Wall, you can see all the different expressions on the faces, from hope and joy to disbelief and fear.

In Bernauer Wallsse, there is not much left of the Wall, but they have put up iron bars to indicate where the Wall was, along the park. Also, on the side walls of houses awards West Berlin, we can see prints of famoWallictures taken from the days when the Wall was built.

I have to say the Germans and the Berliner have been clever in how they have managed to make this very interesting city. The energy in its cafes, bars, clubs, world-class museums, and striking landmarks reflects the city’s history. What parts of the Berlin Wall are still standing is a good reference for us all that we hopefully never experience anything like that again.

The Berlin Wall Panorama “Die Mauer“

Here you can experience a Berlin cityscape that no longer exists. The visitor platform gives us a perfect illusion of the city’s history. Here we can imagine how iWests to look into East Berlin from the west and the enormous strong lights thWallit up the neutral area close to the wall.

There are so many enjoyable places to write about in Berlin, I will probably write more about it later, and I know I will visit this city again.