This week was broken up by a holiday, German Labor Day, which occurs on the first of May. The entire country shuts down with a few exceptions for beer gardens and cafes. In Berlin, May 1st means protests and often riots. Groups of all kinds schedule protests on Labor Day - some are for labor related issues but most of them seem to be for various nationalistic issues. Some are just hate groups trying to cause a scene. One flyer we read on a street post was encouraging individuals to come together to protest against the Kurdish people - just straight up open bigotry. 

In years past these groups have gathered in Kreuzberg, marched for whatever hate filled message they subscribe to, and then end up purposely causing trouble with the police until a full on riot breaks out. Typically they are armed with rocks and other various blunt objects since firearms are incredibly regulated in Germany. Several years ago a group trying to promote a better message created a family friendly street fair with food and entertainment to combat the violence and try to regain a civil celebration in Kreuzberg. While that festival still goes on it is less than safe. Just a few years ago it was over run by one of these riots and families got hurt. It was amazing to us that one of the most modern countries in the EU - and one of the most democratic - could tolerate such violence on a reoccurring basis. We watched with great interest as the news talked about how many police they would have and which areas to avoid. In the end, violence was held to a minimum this year and the police marked it as a successful year. Regardless, we still found it strange that this is somehow still a thing in 2018. Imagine if the events in Charlottesville, a year ago, were an annual occurrence in The States and more over that everyone knew it was going to happen. In our time here we have often heard rebuttals of how uncivilised the discourse in America is and how dangerous America is with all of it’s guns. That may or may not be true; but one thing is for sure, in no city in America are yearly riots a thing.

Below are images from riots in 2004, 2008, & 2009.

We stayed about as far away from Kreuzberg as possible and went to a beer garden we’ve been wanting to try. Brlo, was a beer that was introduced to us when we received a nice assorted welcome package from our Philly friends back in January. We had been wanting to try it out but the weather has only recently been able to support the mostly outdoor seating area. Beer gardens are popular places to hang out in Germany. Often people spend a good chunk of the day at a garden. Most gardens have some kind of kids activity, food menu and in the summer ice-cream stands. Adults gather and chat or play games while kids play on the playground or sandbox. Brlo had a cool sandbox, fun blocks and a vintage photo booth - all of which Logan really enjoyed.

Saturday brought good weather and a chance to explore some of our Kiez. Often times the old buildings of Berlin have layered construction which provide for nestled courtyards and hidden shops. What seems like an unassuming entryway quickly turns into an hour of exploration as you go deeper into maze of interesting shops and cafes. We had a great time exploring one of these cool mazes and seeing all the artisan crafts and shops.

Saturday also brought the Berlin Beer Fest to our Kiez - one of many beer fests scheduled throughout the summer.  This fest is in celebration of the many craft breweries local to Berlin. There were over two dozen individual breweries in attendance, various foods stands, and of course a DJ (all activities in Berlin come with a DJ). Something that is new to Berlin is Shuffle Board. Where you can find this fun bar game in many places in many bars in the US, there is actually only a handful in Europe and one location in all of Berlin. To generate more awareness the shuffle board manufacture was in attendance and encouraging people to learn. Logan was better than most of the adults.

The good weather continued on Sunday and gave way to a nice bike ride experience. We have really taken to riding bikes around Berlin as transportation and as a way to explore the city. On Saturday Logan’s new bike seat arrived and we couldn’t wait to use it. We picked a route that traveled through Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, two areas that we wanted to explore further. The first point of interest was the Eastside Gallery. This is a section of the wall that was left up and is known for its street art. Each individual section of the nearly 500 meter stretch has a perfectly curated mural. Unlike many parts of the city, these are murals and there is no tagging to be seen. It’s unclear what the process is for creating a mural or how it’s policed but many of the pieces are beautiful, thought provoking and in some cases not distinguishable from any modern art seen in a museum.

At the end of the Eastside Gallery sits the famous Oberbaumbrücke bridge. This bridge is wildly considered one of Berlin’s most famous landmarks. If you’ve never been to Berlin you might have seen it in the 1998 film Run Lola Run or in the second season of Berlin Station. 

The roots of the bridge go back to the early 1700s. Originally a wooden drawbridge built in 1732, the Oberbaumbrücke was the demarcation line of the city and the rural areas of the city. The name roughly means “Upper [Upstream] Tree Bridge” and comes from the practice of placing a large tree trunk, covered in metal spikes, in the river which was used as a deterrent to smugglers. 

In 1879 the bridge went through a massive reconstruction and was converted to stone. In 1896 the ‘Brick Gothic’ style bridge was opened and supported both the U-Bahn on the top and the pedestrian walkway on the bottom. The towers are cosmetic and represent the Brandenburg and Prenzlau districts of the city. In 1920 the new boroughs of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg were established and the bridge provided a crossing for the citizens. In 1945 the Wehrmacht blew up the bridge to prevent Russian troops from gaining access to the city. In 1961 the bridge was a part of East Berlin and the U-Bahn route was forced to terminate just before the crossing. During the DDR times the bridge was a crossing only for West Berliners until that process became untenable. In the 1970s the towers were demolished due to “safety concerns” of children jumping into the Spree. During this time no-one could be rescued if they fell into the Spree for fear of being shot. It wasn’t until the late 1970s when East and West would come to an agreement for rescues. After the wall came down in 1989 the bridge was restored to it’s former glory with the addition of a steel beam in the centre for support. An additional roadway was added on the North side to support vehicles crossing the Spree.

Today the bridge stands as a reminder of the great history of Berlin and the unification of the East and West communities of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg. It’s one of only a few gothic style monuments left in the city and stands out as a major landmark.

As we continued on our ride we got to see a part of Kreuzberg that we hadn’t seen before. This is an older but renovated part of the city that truly takes in the beauty of the Spree river and the many different walkways that weave throughout the community. Along the winding river are thousands of little cafes and eateries - we mused about how long it would take to try them all or if it was even possible.

On our way home we saw another major landmark, the Viktoriapark waterfall. This was a monument built as a dedication for King Frederick William III. It’s a memorial to the success of the Liberation Wars that were fought at the end of the Sixth Coalition against France during the Napoleonic Wars. The monument sits at the top of the hill while a man-made waterfall cascades down. When we have more time we’ll have to go back and see the monument at the top and play in the stream.

It was a great week and we had a lot of fun. We are looking forward to a wonderful summer and all of our upcoming experiences in and out of Berlin.

Until next time,

The McNeills