The first weekend in October, we headed to Berlin with the Canfields ! A city filled with history. We stayed in a hotel one block from the East Berlin Wall! We walked down the street where "check point Charlie", the US Army checkpoint to enter East Berlin. A little history I looked up on the internet about checkpoint charlie and the Berlin Wall:
East German leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and maneuvered to get the Societ Union's permission to construct the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop Eastern Bloc emigration and defection westward throught the Societ boarder system, preventing escape across the city sector border from communist East Berlin into West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became a symblol of the Cold War, representing the separation of East and West. Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961.
East German leader Walter Ulbricht agitated and maneuvered to get the Societ Union's permission to construct the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stop Eastern Bloc emigration and defection westward throught the Societ boarder system, preventing escape across the city sector border from communist East Berlin into West Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie became a symblol of the Cold War, representing the separation of East and West. Soviet and American tanks briefly faced each other at the location during the Berlin Crisis of 1961.
Tony and Steve goofing around at Check Point Charlie....
This picture below is what it actually looked like during the cold war.
The City of Berlin is very grey
This statue below is a statue erected in 1840 of Frederick II, the King of Prussia ...During WWII the statue was incased in concrete for protection. It is to honor the King. The figures at the bottom depict the great men of that time period.
The picture below is the Brandenburg Gate and is probably the most famous building
in Berlin. It was built at the end of the 18th Century under the order of the Prussian King, Friedrick Wilhelm II. It marks the border between East and West Berlin over 25 years ago and became the symbol for the Reunification after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
This is what it looked like in the 1930's
This picture below is the Berlin Cathedral (Dom). A Protestant church. There are 270 steps inside to the top of the dome - which Tony climbed! The three of us stayed behind. The inside was pretty ornate.
Inside the Dom
Look at that massive organ
Tony, Steve and Anita (Canfield)
This is the "Gate of Melitus" as reference in Acts 20 where the Apostle Paul ..."sent to Ephesus, and called for the elders of the church..." He then taught them and expressed his love to them and testified to them of Christ and of his love for preaching the gospel and how he has dedicated his life to this one thing....."I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship." This is the actual gate that has been moved from Melitus and rebuilt with the same bricks here in Berlin for all to see. The bricks were numbered so they could re-construct it once it got to Berlin. Fascinating !
This picture gives you and idea of how large this wall is (and this is only a portion of it)
We walked around with head sets to listen to the history of the wall.....see the description below this next picture for the history of how and when it was found and rebuilt.
These next photo is a picture of the actual entrance to the market place in Jerusalem at the time that Lehi would have left Jerusalem before its destruction 587BC. When we looked closely, we could see where new pieces had been used to reconstruct this fabulous structure. It is amazing to me how much was preserved after the destruction of Jerusalem in.
Tony and Anita reading and listening from Acts about the Apostle Paul
We sat outside and had a small snack while we waited to get into the museum to see the Miletus wall ..... and the birds ate from our hands!
We visited the Neues Museum in Berlin to get a look at the ancient sculpture of Nefertiti.
Neferiti is the Royal wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten. She is considered to be one of the most famous woman of the ancient world and an icon of feminine beauty. A German Archeological team discovered the bust in 1912 in the sculptor "Thutmose's" workshop in Amarna Egypt. It is believed that he crafted it in 1345 BC. This picture below, I took off the internet because, as you can see in the next picture....we had to stand quite far away to take photos of her and they didn't come out clear. It amazed me that I was looking at a piece of art that was sculptured in 1345 BC!
My photo of Nefertiti from a distance.
The architecture in Germany is incredible and so well preserved
Tony loves a fancy car! This was a car museum of some sort that we just happened to go in out of curiosity. I think they were actually a dealership and these cars were for sale.
The Berlin Wall
Another picture of the Wall from a different perspective. I am standing in East Berlin, there is the wall and West Berlin on the other side. These people are looking at a historical display of Hitlers Atrocities ......
This picture below is one I took from the above display showing homeless Germans around 1843
Tony at the Wall
Fall is here and I could not resist taking this....this is Ivy that has turned red.....so pretty
This is the wall to a beautiful village called Dresden
We stopped on our way to Freiburg in a town called Dresden and had lunch at an Italian Cafe where Anita could speak Italian to the waiter.
In Germany, there are many churches, this one is in the square in Dresden. Dresden was once part of the East side of Germany and ruled by Russia. Dresden had been badly destroyed in the bombing raids in 1945 but has undergone massive reconstruction. This picture below is the Dresden Frauenkirche which was finished being reconstructed in 2005 for the 800th anniversary, mostly from privately raised funds. There is a gold cross at the top of the church that was mostly funded by the British and the House of Windsor.
Inside this beautiful cathedral. This is an Evangelist church.
We have become good friends quickly with the Canfield's and have had so many fun times with them already...... We will go home in January 2019 and they leave in February 2019. They are from San Clemente and we plan on visiting them when we return to the States.
And.....as it so often does here....it rained!
But, with the rain and our crazy schedules .... we are having a ball and loving Europe and our time we get to serve here.
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