This post starts out east of Alexanderplatz, heart of the former East Zone, and then loops back to the heart of Mitte, the central borough of Berlin.
Soviet-style architecture on Karl-Marx-Allee. An instructor in one of my classes said apartment building toilets in the East Zone often used to be in a central courtyard. Eventually, toilets were moved indoors — off a corridor and shared. Today the apartments probably have been updated and may have their own toilets, but they still rent at very reasonable prices.
A closer look at a facade along Karl-Marx-Allee. Buildings constructed of large, prefabricated concrete slabs are called “Plattenbau” here.
Several tour companies run buses along major streets, offering “on/off” privileges to ticket holders. But the original “on/off” service was the city’s 100 bus, which starts at Alexanderplatz and still runs past the Brandenburg Gate and the government quarter, around the Tiergarten (central park) and ends at the zoo.
The TV tower in Alexanderplatz, a symbol of Berlin, is the tallest man-made structure in Germany at 1,200 feet high. I looked around the square for the Zeiss-Ikon store, where in the ’70s I sweated while waiting to buy a sextant for a sailor acquaintance. I was illegally using hundreds of East-Zone marks he had acquired on the black market for one-tenth the official price. But the store is gone.
The blue-and-white tents around Alexanderplatz are for Oktoberfest, which is celebrated in Berlin, too.
After leaving Alexanderplatz, Bus 100 stops in front of Berlin Cathedral, which anchors the southern end of Museum Island. You can go up. 270 steps.
The Old Museum (antiquities collection of the Berlin State Museums), one of the Big Five museums on Museum Island.
The Bode Museum (sculpture, Byzantine art, and coins and medals) sits at the top of the island.
Tropical Islands? In your dreams. The temperature never reached 50 and the wind gusted 15-20 mph. Wind is a more constant companion than rain.
Sculptures of four nymphs grace the bank of the Spree river opposite the cathedral.
The 100 bus passes within sight of Philharmonic Hall, home of the Berlin Philharmonic, which would make anybody’s list of half a dozen best orchestras in the world. When it’s in town, the orchestra offers a free short concert on Tuesdays at 1 p.m.
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