Kiel Canal and Berlin

After leaving Amsterdam at 5PM, we cruised in a northerly direction into the North Sea and then east along the coasts of The Netherlands and northwest Germany to the Elbe River. Of course, we were sleeping during most of this time, though the North Sea was fairly rough and the boat rocked us as we slept or tried to sleep. The next morning, we were anchored in an area where the river enters the North Sea near a German town called Brunsbüttel, which is at one end of the Kiel Canal. The canal cuts across Germany to the Baltic Sea and allows a ship to avoid having to travel all the way around Denmark (essentially a large peninsula that stands between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea). You can read more about the canal and even see webcams of activity on the canal by clicking here.

I previously posted a picture of a tug boat pulling the stern of the Prinsendam around so that we could directly enter the canal. Here is another shot of our ship in the lock that controls entry to the canal and one looking back at the lock as we began our trip through the canal.



The day passing through the canal was delightful. It was sunny and comfortable to be out on the deck in a lounge chair, and since it was a Sunday, many people were out along the canal (which seemed to have bike or walking paths on both sides) enjoying the day. They loved seeing the cruise ship pass by and waved and waved at us all along the way. We could see the German countryside, as well as small communities and some larger ones. It was quite late and dark when we finally exited the canal at its entrance to the Baltic Sea. During the night we passed along the northern shore of Germany, arriving the next morning at Warnemünde, Germany. While the ship was docked there during the day, we traveled by train to Berlin for a tour. The train trip was three hours each way, and we spent about seven hours in Berlin, so it was a long day but a very interesting one. Unfortunately, it was quite rainy during the morning. We toured by motor coach, and though we did get out occasionally, it was usually too wet too spend much time outside. I took lots of pictures through the windows of the bus, so some of what you will see below may be a little blurry.

Our impressions of Berlin were very mixed. We liked the city, but we were deeply struck by its sometimes severe feel. Obviously, it is a city and a citizenry that has suffered a great deal over the past 60 years. The buildup and oppression of the Nazis was soon followed by the near total (85%) destruction of the city by the Allies' bombing campaign. Then the city was ripped apart by its separation into east and west Berlin. The two sides of the city were markedly different and had different feels. Much of the city has been restored through replication of original structures, so you see "old" buildings that are actually relatively new. Here are just a few of the sites we took in.

You may recall the historic 1933 photograph or movie of Nazi-motivated burning of books by students and Nazi brown-shirts at a plaza called Bebelplatz. The "window" below is in the surface of the plaza where this burning took place and allows one to look down into an empty library that represents a memorial to this censorship event.


A visit to Berlin would not be complete without a stop at "Checkpoint Charlie", the most famous of several points where passage between east and west Berlin could occur. It was here that a famous confrontation between the US and USSR took place in October of 1961 with tanks facing off against each other. Today, the US guard station still stands, and photographs of a US soldier looks east, while on the other side a USSR soldier looks west.


Most of the Berlin wall is now gone, but its presence is recorded and memorialized throughout the city by a brick line that follows its original path across streets, walks, and plazas. Elsewhere, short sections of the wall have been kept as a reminder of that period of Berlin's history.



In 2005, a Holocaust Memorial was opened to the public. You can read much more about it here and also here. I took the following photograph through the bus window. It is ironic that the bunker Hitler used in his last days is merely 100 yards away from this site.


Other famous buildings and sites we visited included the Reichstag (still a principal government building), the Berlin Cathedral, and the Brandenburg Gate. (You can click on each of these to learn more.) We only drove past the Reichstag, but we toured the Cathedral and stopped to walk near the Brandenburg Gate. Photos of each are below--sorry about them being so dark, but as I said above, it was quite a rainy day.