Berlin Sightseeing: History, Science, and Music

Slightly belatedly,  I thought I would share some details of our final day of Berlin sightseeing before getting the plane home.

The Berlin Wall Memorial

We had discovered that the Berlin Wall Memorial was a stone’s throw from our hotel in Berlin Mitte and within a five minute walk after breakfast we had arrived there.  The Memorial consists of a 1.4 km section of the wall  and an adjacent documentation centre. Together these tell the history of how the wall was constructed. They commemorate the people (often young people) who lost their lives trying to escape over the wall to the west.

Standing next to a section of the wall on a grey Berlin day, the reality of what it must have felt like to see this wall be built and to live daily in its presence became much more apparent.  Rather than just being something I’d read about, happening in some foreign country, it was real. It did really exist and people’s lives were hugely affected by it. Although I was glad to have seen it, it was a bit depressing if I’m honest and we didn’t linger too long.

The Berlin Wall Memorial

The Natural History Museum

Next on our day of Berlin sightseeing and looking for something a little more lighthearted to enjoy on our last day, we doubled back to our hotel. And then walked further up Invalidenstrasse to the Natural History Museum (Museum for Naturkunde). I’m not one for museums typically but I have to say, I really enjoyed my time here. I guess you would say it’s an old school type of museum. It was packed full of exhibits, traditionally displayed in cabinets but a great learning resource all the same.

The place was full of children who like ourselves had mostly come to see the dinosaurs. I guess I never imagined I’d be sharing a picture of a dinosaur on this blog but this is definitely a sight worth seeing. It’s the world’s biggest dinosaur skeleton, a Brachiosaurus, that stands 13.27 metres high.

Some other exhibits

The Schlot Jazzclub

By the time we left the museum (we spent a lot longer than we thought) it was getting late. So we made our way back to the hotel for a bite to eat and a bit of a rest. An hour or so later, we  headed out to the final stop of our trip – the Schlot Jazzclub. Luckily for us, this was just across the street on Invalidenstrasse, through an office block and in typical Berlin style, down some steps to the basement beneath.  Packed full with locals and some tourists, we listened to some great tunes for an hour or two while enjoying a few drinks. The perfect way to end our three day stay in Berlin.

In summary

All in all, we really enjoyed this final day of Berlin sightseeing. We found Berlin to be a wonderful, vibrant city with an unforgettable past but one that is carving out a new future.

Thanks for stopping by,

Paula

Useful Links

Other travel posts to enjoy:-

Discovering Berlin: From the Berlin Wall to Gendarmenmarkt

A sunny afternoon at Schloss Charlottenburg Berlin

Bakkehuset: Literary Museum & Garden in Copenhagen

Postcards from Copenhagen