Berlin is an old city with tons of history. Here are three of the most surprising things that I learned during my time here!
1. If it looks old, it probably isn’t.
Eighty percent of the city was destroyed during World War II, so most of what visitors see was actually rebuilt. (They made it look old on purpose).
Fun fact: The Berliner Dom is only about 100 years old. It was built in 1905 but the renaissance architecture makes it look a lot older, especially because the stone absorbed smoke that came from the bombings in the war. The cathedral does, however, have a bunch of old dead kings in the crypt.
2. Gentrification is impacting Berlin.
Historical buildings, squatter houses, gritty bars and the like are being torn down and replaced with fancy restaurants, arenas and apartments. You can see this in Media Spree area. This region is home to the famous East Side Gallery, a chunk of the Berlin Wall covered, including the famous one featuring Communist dictators Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker smooching. Developers here are building a giant arena by the river, and in a spectacularly sneaky move only accomplished through a loophole they were able to literally pick up chunks of the Berlin Wall and move them so that their new building has a view of the river. People are pissed, and in true Berlin fashion, responded with public art (see below).
The city has also banned Airbnb-ers from renting out whole apartments. This was done to stop landlords from kicking out tenants and selling pricy Airbnbs to travelers. You can still book a single room or a couch or whatever with Airbnb, but technically you can’t go to Berlin and use the site to book an entire house or apartment for your stay anymore.
3. The city doesn’t forget.
Berlin has a dark past, but instead of shying away from it, the city has its history on display. From monuments and museums to bullet holes in old buildings and pieces of the Berlin Wall scattered around the city, reminders of the past are everywhere.
For example, I biked along a strip of bricks that marks the former wall and was able to cross back and forth from the former east to the former west. There are also small plaques scattered around the city that mark the former residences of Jewish citizens who were deported and killed during the Holocaust. If you’re ever in Berlin, you’ll see these markers nestled into the cobblestones all over the place. It’s a harrowing feeling to look up at a building and realize that a family lived there before they were taken away to be killed, but the reminder is important. Things like this can never happen again.
There is one crucial spot that the city refuses to commemorate with a formal memorial – the site where Hitler killed himself. The infamous former bunker where Hitler shot himself has long been bombed out and filled in, and the land above it is now a parking lot. This was done on purpose – it goes without saying, but he absolutely doesn’t deserve to be remembered. Additionally, it stops potential followers from congregating at a gravesite. In the end, Hitler didn’t even get a real final resting place – his ashes were dumped in a river.
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A big thank you to our guides, Mereen from The Original Berlin Walks and Andrew and Hanna (pictured below) from Fat Tire Bike Tours, for sharing their knowledge with us. My legs and feet will probably never forgive me for all the cobblestone-walking and bike-peddling, but I learned a lot.
Global Gabs 
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