In the last episode, we saw the opening of the Festival of Lights. Today, we want to show more impressions of this colorful spectacle. During the week, many Berlin monuments are illuminated with fascinating light installations that often tell complex stories and send important messages to the world. Typically Berlin, it’s all about peace, togetherness, friendship, love… The Festival of Lights attracts around 3 million people to the city annually.
THE CITY’S HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL
The Long Night of the Museums is also a crowd-puller every year. This time, many people were particularly drawn to the Pergamon Museum. Here, everybody could admire the wonderful Ishtar Gate for the last time. It was once part of the city wall of Babylon (now Iraq) and dates back to King Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC).
Therefore, it’s around 2,600 years old. The museum has been closed for 14 years as it urgently needs renovation. But some parts will be open to the public again sooner.
During the long night of the museums, an extremely large number of houses open their doors. Precise planning in advance makes sense. But even then, you will be able to visit just a fraction of all of these interesting facilities.
THE CITY’S MUSEUMS
Apart from the Pergamon Museum, this time we chose the Altes Museum and the Neues Museum. Here, we delved into the history of Greece, Rome, Byzantium, and Egypt, among other things. Hence, we saw the stunning sculpture of Nefertiti again.
Afterward, we went to the Humboldt Forum in the newly built Berlin City Palace. The castle was badly damaged in World War II. Located in the heart of the former East Berlin, the government of the GDR at the time was naturally bothered by the symbol of the monarchy and the emperor, who triggered the First World War.
It was, therefore, replaced by the Palace of the Republic, which was open to all citizens of the GDR. Unfortunately, this magnificent piece was completely unnecessarily demolished after the city was reunified. But politics also played an essential role here.
Because, this palace was a symbol for the East, for socialism and communism, and of course that wasn’t possible in the new Germany. How stupid. Regardless, today’s palace was accepted by Berliners more quickly than many modernized places in the city, such as Potsdamer Platz.
THE CITY IS AN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM
Then, we walked along the Unter den Linden boulevard – which is actually a kind of open-air museum, as there are many historical buildings to see here – to the beautiful Gendarmenmarkt and then to the Academy of Arts at the Brandenburg Gate.
THE CITY AND THE Charité
After a little refreshment, our cultural trip ended in the Medical History Museum of the Charité. The Charité is one of the most famous medical facilities in the world with a fascinating history. But that’s a completely different story.
Text & Images (unless otherwise stated): Marco Kokkot