Berlin 2026 – part seven

Wednesday was our last day in Berlin and we had specifically not planned too much as we wanted to be rested (and packed) in preparation for the long journey on Thursday.

Our first port of call was the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church – I hadn’t quite grasped what we were going to see and, possibly, this poster might give an idea.

As you see there is little left of the original building but the decision to reconstruct the main body of the church and the bell over as separate things is inspired.

I have very rarely been as stunned by a space, religious or otherwise, as I was on walking into the church. I could honestly barely talk and certainly not move.

The above was the view immediately from the front door. Each piece of glass was hand made and the effort of the morning sun coming through was close to magical.

The old part of building (or what is left of it) houses a really very good set of linked exhibitions about the church, the restoration and the organ as well as a telling story of a “drive into a crowd at the Christmas market” event. In an understated and moving tribute the victims names & origin are noted and a virtue made of the crack caused by the incident.

After this we decided to go back to another bus tour inspired location and had our first go on the Underground. Like all Berlin public transport it is easy to use and efficient. Our target was the opposing cathedrals (French and German) separated by a large square and the Konzerthaus.

After a pleasant 20 minutes or so sitting on a bench and watching the world go by it was time to head back to the hotel, drop off our ‘tourist’ bags and have lunch. We chose the tapas place we had been to on Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed it even though we were., for most of the time, in splendid isolation.

And that is it! I am writing this as we speed through parts of Germany we have never heard of. Erfurt is the next stop in10 minutes and we will still have almost 6 hours to go. That said these ICE trains (joint DB & SNCF) are good. Comfy seats, plenty of luggage space AND a sainted service at seat. I have just cleared a very generous “Französisches Frühstück” with bread, croissant, preserves & butter washed down with as very passable coffee.

We have enjoyed Berlin and we are glad we made the effort to come – the added bonus of the concert made it a special holiday. Lovely as it is Berlin doesn’t go on the to “must come back” list. That is, of course, our preferences kicking in. We can and do manage big capital cities – but e.g. Paris (next destination) & London (not stopping this time) are familiar to us and we know the quieter corners.

As for me I have both enjoyed writing these and been surprised at managing to keep up to date. More will follow on our next trip away but, currently at least, we have nothing firm planned other than our Golden Wedding celebrations (in Belfast) and a family wedding in October in Cornwall