Some sights in Mitte

On Sunday we went on a walking tour of the city center, an area referred to as Mitte. We got up close and personal with the Brandengurger Tor, last time I visited with my mom and aunt the gate was closed because of a street fair. We walked through the gate, and it's massive. Everything about it is massive. It is the only gate that survived the war, built in the late 1700's, that marked the old boundaries of the city of Berlin.

Right on the other side of the gate there is a line of stone running through the street and sidewalk representing the place where the wall once stood. The wall was rounded at the top, except for this small section running behind the Brandengurger Tor, where the top of the wall was flat. Those iconic photos you see of people on top of the wall when it was coming down? All of those pictures were taken from that very spot. It was very cool to know that a monumental moment in history unfolded right where we where standing. 

Not far from this there were crosses lined up against a fence commemorating those who lost their lives trying to escape to the West and away from communism. People still bring fresh flowers and wreaths to honor those who have died. 

And the most solemn stop was the memorial to the Sinti and Roma of Europe who were killed during the Nazi period. The memorial was beautiful, a reflective pond with a single stone in the middle, on which a fresh flower is placed every morning. Around the pond are stones, some bearing the names of various ghettoes, concentration camps, and death camps. There was soft music playing in the background. 

Well it is getting late and I'm exhausted! I had way more to say but I'm too tired to articulate those thoughts right now so bis morgen (until tomorrow)! 

Gute Nacht!